-*/#": ,-.v/v.;. .V* :: .'...'. '^Is^ffl bsbSSSSI Vk!t^l,,fH'E0 7?t>< / PHILADELPHIA: T. U. AND P. G. COLLINS, PRINTERS. TO JOSEPH PARBISH, M.D., AND THOMAS T. HEWSON, M. D., AS A MARK OF RESPECT FOR THEIR PRIVATE WORTH AND PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER, AND AS AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THEIR NUMEROUS KIND OFFICES, THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY THEIR FRIENDS, THE AUTHORS. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. The objects of a Dispensatory are to present an account of medi- cinal substances in the state in which they are brought into the shops, and to teach the modes in which they are prepared for use. The importance of these objects, and the general value and even neces- sity of a work of this nature, will not be disputed. It may, however, be a question, how far the wants of the medical and pharmaceutical community in this country are supplied by the Dispensatories already in circulation; and whether such a deficiency exists as to justify the offer of a new one to the public attention. The great merits of the works severally entitled " The Edinburgh New Dispensatory," and " The London Dispensatory," the former edited by the late Andrew Duncan, M.D., the latter by Anthony Todd Thomson, M. D., are well known wherever the English language is spoken. Founded, as they both are, upon the excellent basis laid by Lewis, they are never- theless entitled, from the great addition of valuable materials, and the distinctive character exhibited in the arrangement of these materials, to be considered as original works; while the style in which they have been executed speaks strongly in favour of the skill and indus- try of their authors. But they were calculated especially for the sphere of Great Britain, and are too deficient in all that relates ex- clusively to this country, to admit of being received as standards here. In the history of our commerce in drugs, and of the nature, growth, and collection of our indigenous medical plants; in the che- mical operations of our extensive laboratories; and in the modes of preparing, dispensing, and applying medicines, which have gradually grown into use among us; there is much that is peculiar, a knowledge of which is not to be gained from foreign books, and is yet necessary to the character of an accomplished American pharmaceutist. We have, moreover, a National Pharmacopoeia, which requires an ex- 1* VI Preface. planatory commentary, in order that its precepts may be fully ap- preciated, and advantageously put into practice. On these accounts it is desirable that there should be a Dispensatory of the United States, which, while it embraces whatever is useful in European pharmacy, may accurately represent the art as it exists in this coun- try, and give instruction adapted to our peculiar wants. It appears due to our national character, that such a work should be in good faith an American work, newly prepared in all its parts, and not a mere edition of one of the European Dispensatories, with here and there additions and alterations, which, though they may be useful in themselves, cannot be made to harmonize with the other materials so as to give to the whole an appearance of unity, and certainly would not justify the assumption of a new and national title for the book. Whether, in the Dispensatories which have been published in the United States, these requisites have been satisfactorily fulfilled, it rests with the public to determine. That valuable treatises on Materia Medica and Pharmacy have been issued in this country, no candid person, acquainted with our medical literature, will, be dis- posed to deny. In offering a new work to the medical and pharma- ceutical professions, the authors do not wish to be considered as undervaluing the labours of their predecessors. They simply con- ceive that the field has not been so fully occupied as to exclude all competition. The pharmacy of continental Europe is ground which has been almost untouched; and much information in relation to the natural history, commerce, and management of our own drugs, has lain ungathered in the possession of individuals, or scattered in sepa- rate treatises and periodicals not generally known and read. Since the publication of the last edition of our National Pharmacopoeia, no general explanation of its processes has appeared, though required in justice both to that work and to the public. The hope of being able to supply these deficiencies may, perhaps, be considered a suffi- cient justification for the present undertaking. The Pharmacopoeia of the United States has been adopted as the basis of this Dispensatory. It is followed both in its general divi- sion of medicines, and in its alphabetical arrangement of them under each division. Precedence is, in every instance, given to the names which it recognises, while the explanations by which it fixes the sig- nification of these names, are inserted in immediate connexion with the titles to which they severally belong. Every article which it designates is more or less fully described; and all its processes after being literally copied, are commented on and explained whenever Preface. vii comment and explanation appeared necessary. Nothing, in fine, has been omitted, which, in the estimation of the authors, could serve to illustrate its meaning, or promote the ends which it was intended to subserve. This course of proceeding appeared to be due to the national character of the Pharmacopoeia, and to the im- portant object of establishing, as far as possible, throughout the United States, uniformity both in the nomenclature and preparation of medicines. In one particular, convenience required that the plan of the Pharmacopoeia should be departed from. The medicines be- longing to the department of Materia Medica, instead of being arranged in two divisions, con i\ -priding with the Primary and Se- condary Catalogues of that work, have been treated of indiscrimi- nately in alphabetical succession; and the place which they respect- ively hold in the Pharmacopoeia is indicated by the employment of the term Secondary, in connexion with the name of each of the medicines included in the latter catalogue. But, though precedence has thus been given to the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, those of Great Britain have not been neglected. The nomenclature adopted by the different British Colleges, and their formulae for the preparation of medicines, have been so extensively followed throughout the United States, that a work intended to repre- sent the present state of pharmacy in this country would be imperfect without them; and the fact that the writings of British physicians and surgeons, in which their own officinal terms and preparations are exclusively employed and referred to, have an extensive circula- tion among us, renders some commentary necessary in order to prevent serious mistakes. The Pharmacopoeias of London, Edin- burgh, and Dublin have, therefore,, been incorporated, in all their essential parts, into the present work. Their officinal titles are uniformly given, always in subordination to those of the United States Pharmacopoeia, when they express the same object; but in chief, when, as often happens, no corresponding medicine or prepa- ration is recognised by our national standard. In the latter case, if different names are applied by different British Colleges to the same object, that one is generally preferred which is most in accord- ance with our own system of nomenclature, and the others are given as synonymes. The medicines directed by the British Colleges are all described, and their processes either copied at length, or so far explained as to be intelligible in all essential particulars. Besides the medicinal substances recognised as officinal by the Pharmacopoeias alluded to, some others have been described, which, viii Preface. either from the lingering remains of former reputation, from recent reports in their favour, or from their important relation to medicines in general use, appear to have claims upon the attention of the phy- sician and apothecary. Opportunity has, moreover, been taken to introduce incidentally brief accounts of substances used in other countries or in former times, and occasionally noticed in medical books; and, that the reader may be able to refer to them when desi- rous of information, their names have been placed with those of the standard remedies in the Index. In the description of each medicine, if derived immediately from the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdom, the attention of the authors has been directed to its natural history, the place of its growth or production, the method of collecting and preparing it for market, its commercial history, the state in which it reaches us, its sensible properties, its chemical composition and relations, the changes which it undergoes by time and exposure, its accidental or fraudulent adulterations, its medical properties and application, its economical uses, and the pharmaceutical treatment to which it is subjected. If a chemical preparation, the mode and principles of its manufacture are indicated in addition to the other particulars. If a poison, and likely to be accidentally taken, or purposely em- ployed as such, its peculiar toxicological effects, together with the mode of counteracting them, are indicated; and the best means of detecting its presence by reagents are explained. The authors have followed the example of Dr. A. T. Thomson, in giving botanical descriptions of the plants from which the medicines treated of are derived. In relation to all indigenous medicinal plants, and those naturalized or cultivated in this country, the ad- vantages of such descriptions are obvious. The physician may often be placed in situations, in which it may be highly important that he should be able to recognise the vegetable which yields a particular medicine ; and the apothecary is constantly liable to imposition from the collectors of herbs, unless possessed of the means of distincniish- ing, by infallible marks, the various products presented to him. A knowledge of foreign medicinal plants, though of less importance, will be found useful in various ways, independently of the gratifica- tion afforded by the indulgence of a liberal curiosity in relation to objects so closely connected with our daily pursuits. The introduc- tion of these botanical notices into a Dispensatory appears to be peculiarly appropriate ; as they are to be considered rather as objects for occasional reference than for regular study or continuous perusal Preface. ix and therefore coincide with the general design of the work, which is to collect into a convenient form for consultation all that is practi- cally important in relation to medicines. The authors have endea- voured to preserve a due proportion between the minuteness of the descriptions, and their value as means of information to the student; and, in pursuance of this plan, have generally dwelt more at length upon our native plants, than upon those of foreign growth: but, in all instances in which they have deemed any botanical description necessary, they have taken care to include in it the essential scientific character of the genus and species, with a reference to the position of the plant in the artificial and natural systems of classification; so that a person acquainted with the elements of botany may be able to recognise it when it comes under his observation. In preparing the Dispensatory, the authors have consulted, in addition to many of the older works of authority, the greater number of the treatises and dissertations which have recently appeared upon the various subjects connected with Pharmacy, and especially those of the French writers, who stand at present at the head of this de- partment of medical science. They have also endeavoured to collect such detached facts, scattered through the various scientific, medical, and pharmaceutical journals, as they conceived to be important in themselves, and applicable to the subjects under consideration: and have had frequent recourse to the reports of travellers in relation to the natural and commercial history of foreign drugs. The occasional references in the body of the work will indicate the sources from which they have most largely drawn, and the authorities upon which they have most relied. In relation to our own commerce in drugs, and to the operations of our chemical laboratories, they are indebted for information chiefly to the kindness of gentlemen engaged in these branches of business, who have always evinced, in answering their numerous inquiries, a promptitude and politeness which merit their warm thaaks, and which they are pleased to have this oppor- tunity of acknowledging.* It has not been deemed necessary to follow the example of the British Dispensatories, by inserting into the work a treatise upon * The authors deem it proper to state that they are peculiarly indebted for assistance to Mr. Daniel B. Smith, president of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, to whom, besides much important information in relation to the various branches of the apothe- cary's business, they owe the prefatory remarks on Pharmacy which are placed at the commencement of the second part of the work, and the several articles, in the Materia Medica, upon Leeches, Litmus, and the Carbonate and Sidphate of Magnesia. X Preface. Chemistry, under the name of Elements of Pharmacy. Such a trea- tise must necessarily be very meagre and imperfect; and, as systems of chemistry are in the hands of every physician and apothecary, would uselessly occupy the place of valuable matter of less easy access. The authors may, perhaps, be permitted to observe, in relation to themselves, that they have expended much time and labour in the preparation of the work; have sought diligently for facts from every readily accessible source; have endeavoured, by a comparison of authorities, and a close scrutiny of evidence, to ascertain the truth whenever practicable; and have exerted themselves to the extent of their abilities to render the Dispensatory worthy of public approba- tion, both for the quality and quantity of its contents, and the gene- ral accuracy of its statements. They are conscious, nevertheless, that, in so great a multiplicity of details, numerous errors and defi- ciencies may exist, and that the faults of undue brevity in some cases, and prolixity in others, may not have been entirely avoided; but they venture to hope that a candid public, will make all due allowances; and they take the liberty to invite from all those who may feel interested in the diffusion of sound pharmaceutical know- ledge, the communication of friendly suggestions or criticisms in relation to the objects and execution of the work. Philadelphia, January, 1833. PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH EDITION. In the several editions of this Dispensatory subsequent to the first, such modifications of the original plan as set forth in the foregoing preface, and such additions and emendations have been made, as were thought calculated to increase the usefulness of the work, and to maintain it on a level with the advancing knowledge of the times. In the second edition, an Appendix was introduced containing notices and descriptions of numerous drugs, which, though not in general use, were possessed of some interest from their former or existing relations to Medicine and Pharmacy. In the third edition, the authors adopted the present plan of treating, in the body of the work, of those medicines and preparations exclusively which are recognised in the American and British Pharmacopoeias, while all others deemed worthy of notice were placed in the Appendix; thus giving a precision to the arrange- ment which was before wanting. In the preparation of the fourth edition, many eh tinges were rendered necessary by the previous publication of the revised London Pharmacopoeia of 1836. On no revision of the Dispensatory did the authors bestow so much labour as on the one preparatory to the fifth edition. The new editions of the United States and Edinburgh Pharmaco- poeias required comment; and the recent pharmacological treatises of Dr. Pereira and Dr. Christison, containing much original observation, and the Medical Flora of Dr. Lindley, not to speak of other valuable works in different departments of Materia Medica and Pharmacy, afforded a great mass of new material for selection and arrangement. The periodical press had also pre- sented much that demanded notice; and the changes in the commerce in drugs, and the various modifications in pharmaceutical operations, resulting from increased experience and the advancement of science, called for careful personal examination and inquiry. It was the aim of the authors, by pruning redundances and concentrating the new matter within the smallest space, to swell the Dispensatory as little as consisted with the great object of utility; but, with all their endeavours, they were compelled to exceed the former limits by more than one hundred pages. Comparatively little addition was required in the sixth and seventh editions; and the same remark is applicable to the present. The authors, however, have endeavoured to select and con- dense from the periodic-til journals, and from recent European treatises, every thing of value which came within the scope of the work; and, in offering it for the eighth time to the public, they feel themselves justified in expressing the hope that it will be found, not less than formerly, to meet the wishes of the medical and pharmaceutical community. Philadelphia, July, 1849. ABBREVIATIONS EMPLOYED IN THE WORK. U. S.—" TnE Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America. By authority of the National Medical Convention, held at "Washington, A. D. 1840." Lond.—London Pharmacopceia, A. D. 1836. Ed.—Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, A. D. 1841. Dub.—Dublin Pharmacopoeia, A. D. 1826. Off. St/n.—Officinal Synonymes, or the titles employed by the Pharma- copoeias with the accompanying explanations, when these titles are not given in chief. Sex. Syst.—The Sexual System, or the artificial system of Linmeus, founded on the sexual organization of plants. Nat. Ord.—The Natural Order to which any particular genus of plants belongs. When not otherwise stated, it is to be understood that the natural orders referred to are those recognised by Professor Lindley, of the University of London, in his " Introduction to the Natural System of Botany." Gen. Ch.—The Generic Character, or scientific description of any par- ticular genus of plants under consideration. Off. Prep.—Officinal Preparations; including all the preparations into which any particular medicine directed by the U. S. Pharmacopceia or the British Colleges enters. When the same preparation has received different names in the different Pharmacopoeias, only one of these names is mentioned, and precedence is always given to that of the U. S. Phar- macopoeia. Sp. Gr.—Specific Gravity. Equiv., or %—Chemical Equivalent, or the number representing the smallest quantity in which one body usually combines with others. Linn., Linnaeus.—Juss., Jussieu.—De Cund., De Candolle.__Wdld. Sp. Plant., WILLDF.NOW'S EDITION OF THE SPECIES PLAXTARUM OF LlNN^EUS. — Wood v. Med. Bot, Woodville's Medical Botany, 2d edition.__B. Baume's Hydrometer. Fr., French. — Germ., German. — Ital, Italian. — Span., Spanish.— Arab., Arabic. THE DISPENSATORY OF THE UNITED STATES, PART I. MATERIA MEDICA. The Materia Medica, in its most comprehensive sense, embraces all those substances which are capable of making sanative impressions on the human system; but, as the term is employed in this work, it has a more restricted signification. The Pharmacopoeias of the United States and Great Britain very appropriately arrange medicines in two distinct divisions, one including all those which are furnished immediately by nature, or thrown into com- merce by the manufacturer; the other, those which are prepared by the apothecary, and are the objects of officinal directions. The former are enu- merated under the title of " Materia Medica;" the latter, under that of " Preparations," or " Preparations and Compositions." In Dispensa- tories, which may be considered as commentaries on the Pharmacopoeias, the same arrangement is usually followed; and the authors of the present work adopt it the more willingly, as, independently of the weight of authority in its favour, it has the recommendation of being the most convenient. By this plan, all the directions which relate to the practical operations of the apothe- cary are collected in one place, and are thus more easily referred to than if mixed indiscriminately with other matters, as they must be by any mode of arrangement which makes no distinction between the original medicinal sub- stances and their preparations. Under the head of Materia Medica, there- fore, in this Dispensatory, we treat of medicines in the state only in which they are produced by nature, or come into the hands of the apothecary. Of these medicines, such as are recognised by our National Pharmacopoeia are most minutely described; but we consider also all that are included in the officinal catalogues of the British Colleges. Another point in which we accord with the Pharmacopoeias is the alpha- betical arrangement of the objects of the Materia Medica. As a.Dispensatory is intended rather for reference than for regular perusal, it is important that its contents should be so disposed as to facilitate consultation. Medicines, in a work of this kind, are considered as independent objects, to be studied 1 2 Materia Medica. part i. separately, and without any reference to community of source, or similarity of character. Their scientific classification belongs to works which treat of them rather in their relations than their essential properties; and different systems have been adopted, according to the set of relations towards which the mind of the author has been especially directed. Thus, the naturalist classi- fies them according to the affinities of the several objects in nature from which they are derived; the chemist, according to their composition; the practi- tioner of medicine, according to their effects upon the system in a state of health and disease. But none of these classifications is without imperfections; and a simple alphabetical arrangement is decidedly preferable, in every case in which the medicines are considered solely in their individual capacity. Yet, as it comes within the scope of this work to treat of their physiological and therapeutical effects, and as the terms by which these effects are expressed are also the titles of classes to which the medicines belong, it will not be amiss to present the reader with the outlines of a system of classification, by consulting which he will be enabled to ascertain the precise meaning we attach to the terms employed to designate the peculiar action of different medicinal substances. Remedies are divided into general and local, the former acting on the whole system, the Litter on particular parts or organs. I. GENERAL REMEDIES include 1. Arterial Stimulants, some- times called Incitants, which, while they raise the actions of the system above the standard of health, exhibit their influence chiefly upon the heart and arteries; 2. Narcotics, which especially affect the cerebral functions, and are either stimulant or sedative according as they increase or diminish action; 3. Antispasmodics, which, with a general stimulant power, exert a peculiar influence over the nervous system, exhibited in the relaxation of spasm, the calming of nervous irritation, &c, without any special and decided tendency to the brain; 4. Tonics, which moderately and permanently exalt the energies of all parts of the frame, without necessarily producing any appa- rent increase of the healthy actions; and 5. Astringents, which have the property of producing contraction in the living tissues with which they may come in contact. U. LOCAL REMEDIES maybe divided into four sections: a. Those affecting the function of a part, namely, 1. Emetics, which act on the sto- mach, producing vomiting; 2. Cathartics, which act on the bowels, pro- ducing a purgative effect; 3. Diuretics, which act on the kidneys, producing an increased flow of urine; 4. Antilithics, which act on the same organs, preventing the formation of calculous matter; 5. Diaphoretics, which in- crease the cutaneous discharge; 6. Expectorants, which augment the se- cretion from the pulmonary mucous membrane, or promote the discharge of the secreted matter; 7. Emmenagogues, which excite the menstrual Secre- tion; 8. Sialagogues, which increase the flow of saliva; and 9. Errhines which increase the discharge from the mucous membrane of the nostrils' />. Those affecting the organization of a part, including 1. Rubefacients' which produce redness and inflammation of the skin; 2. Epispvstics or Vesicatories, which produce a serous discharge beneath the cuticle formin" a blister; and 3. Esciiarotics or Caustics, which destroy the life of the part upon which they act: c. Those operating by a mechanical agency, consisting of 1. Demulcents, which lubricate the surface to which they are applied° and prevent the- contact of irritating substances, or mingle with these and dimmish their acrimony; and 2. Emollients, which serve as vehicles for the application of warmth and moisture, at the same time excluding the air- d. Those which act on extraneous matters contained within the organs inelud' part I. Materia Medica. 3 ing 1. Anthelmintics, which destroy worms, or expel them from the bowels; and 2. Antacids, which neutralize acid, whether existing in the alimentary canal, or circulating with the blood. It is believed that all substances employed as medicines, with the exception of a very few which are so peculiar in their action as scarcely to admit cf classification, may be distributed without violence among the above classes. Some substances, however, in addition to the properties of the classes to which they are severally attached, possess others in common, which give them practical value, and authorize their association in distinct groups, not recog- nised in the system of classification, but constantly referred to in medical language. Thus, we have Refrigerants, which, when internally adminis- tered, diminish animal temperature; Alteratives, which change, in some inexplicable and insensible manner, certain morbid actions of the system; and Carminatives, which, by promoting contraction in the muscular coat of the stomach and bowels, cause the expulsion of flatus. It is common, moreover, to attach distinct names to groups of remedies, with reference to certain effects which are incident to the properties that serve to arrange them in some more comprehensive class. Thus, Narcotics frequently promote sleep and relieve pain, and, in relation to these properties, are called Soporifics and Anodynes ; and various medicines, which, by diversified modes of action, serve to remove chronic inflammation and enlargements of the glands or vis- cera, are called Deobstruents. These terms are occasionally employed in the following pages, and are here explained, in order that the sense in which we use them may be accurately understood. W. 4 Absinthium. PART I. ABSINTHIUM. U. S., Lond., Ed. Wormwood. "The tops and leaves of Artemisia Absinthium." U.S. "Artemisia Absinthium." Lond. " Herb of Artemisia Absinthium." Ed. Off. Sj/ii. ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM. Summitates florentes. Dub. AL. Plant, iii. 1844; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 54. t. 22. Wormwood is a perennial plant, with branching, round, and s-riated or furrowed stems, which rise two or three feet in height, and are panicled at their summit, The lower portion of the stem lives several years, and annually sends up herbaceous shoots, which perish in the winter. The radical leaves are triply pinnatifid, with lanceolate, obtuse, dentate divisions; those of the stem, doubly or simply pinnatifid, with lanceolate, somewhat aoute divisions; the floral leaves are lanceolate; all are hoary. The flowers are of a brownish-yellow colour, hemispherical, pedicelled, nodding, and in eract racemes. The florets of the disk are numerous, those of the ray few. This plant is a native of Europe, where it is also cultivated for medical use. It is among our garden herbs, and has been naturalized in the moun- tainous districts of New England. The leaves and flowering summits are the parts employed, the larger parts of the stalk being rejected. They should be gathered in July or August, when the plant is in flower. They preserve their peculiar sensible properties long when dried. PART I. Absinthium.—Acacia. 5 Wormwood has a strong odour, and an intensely bitter, nauseous taste, which it imparts to water and alcohol. A dark green volatile oil, upon which the odour depends, is obtained by distillation. The constituents, according to Braconnot, are a very bitter, and an almost insipid azotized matter, an ex- cessively bitter resinous substance, a green volatile oil, chlorophylle, albumen, starch, saline matters, and lignin. Among the saline substances, Braconnot found one consisting of potassa, and an acid which he supposed to be pecu- liar, and denominated absinthic acid, but which is now asserted to be per- fectly identical with the succinic. This acid may be recognised among the products of the dry distillation of wormwood. [Annal. der (Jhem. und I-'harm. xlviii. 122.) The substance formerly called salt of xcormwood (sal absinthil) is impure carbonate of potassa, obtained by lixiviating the ashes of the plant. By precipitating an infusion of wormwood with acetate of lead, separating the excess of lead by sulphuretted hydrogen, evaporating the liquor to dryness, digesting the residue in a mixture of alcohol and ether, and submitting the resulting tincture to slow evaporation, Caventou obtained a very bitter, im- perfectly crystalline substance, which he considered as the active principle, and for which the name of absinthin has been proposed. Medical J Properties and Uses. AVormwood was known to the ancients. It is highly tonic, and probably enters the circulation, as it is said to render the flesh and milk of the animals fed with it bitter. It formerly enjoyed great reputation as a remedy in numerous complaints, attended with a debilitated condition of the digestive organs, or of the system generally. Before the introduction of Peruvian bark, it was much used in the treatment of inter- mittents. It has also been supposed to possess anthelmintic virtues. At present, however, it is little used in regular practice on this side of the At- lantic. A narcotic property has been ascribed to it by some writers, in con- sequence of its tendency to occasion headache, and, when long continued, to produce disorder of the nervous system. This property is supposed to depend on the volatile oil, and, therefore, to be less obvious in the decoction than in the powder or infusion. In large doses, wormwood irritates the stomach, and excites the circulation. The herb is sometimes applied externally, by way of fomentation, as an antiseptic and discutient. The dose in substance is from one to two scruples; of the infusion, made by macerating an ounce in a pint of boiling water, from one to two fluidounces. Off. Prep. Extractum Artemisise Absinthii. Dub. W. ACACIA. U.S., Lond. Gum Arabic. " The concrete juice of Acacia vera and other species of Acacia." U. S. "Acacia vera. Gummi." Lond. Off. Si/n. GUMMI ACACIAS. Gum of various species of Acacia. Ed. ACACIA ARABIC A et ACACIA VERA. Gummi. Dub. Gomtne Arabique, Fr.; Arabisches Gummi, Germ.; Gomma Arabica, Ital.; Goma Ara- biga, Span; Samagh Arabee, Arab. Acacia. Sex. Syst. Polygamia Monoecia.—Nat. Ord. Leguminosae, Trib. Mimosese. This genus is one of those into which the old genus Mimosa of Linnaeus was divided by Willdenow. The name Acacia was employed by the ancient Greeks to designate the gum-tree of Egypt, and has been appropriately applied to the new genus in which that plant is included. Gen. Oh. Hermaphrodite. Calyx five-toothed. Corolla five-cleft, or 6 Acacia. PART I. formed of five petals. Stamens 4-100. Pistil one. Legume bivalve. Male. Calyx five-toothed. Corolla five-cleft, or formed of five petals. Stamens 4-100. Willd. Several species of Acacia contribute to furnish the gum Arabic of the shops. Among the most important are A. vera and A. Arabica, confounded together by Linnaeus under the title of Mimosa Nilotic a. Acacia vera. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1805; Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib. &c. x. 34. This is a tree of middling size, with numerous scattered branches, of which the younger are much bent, and covered with a reddish-brown bark. The leaves are alternate and bipinnate, with two pairs of pinnae, of which the lower are usually furnished with ten pairs of leaflets, the upper with eight. The leaflets are very small, oblong-linear, smooth, and supported upon very short footstalks. On the common petiole is a gland between each pair of pinnae. Both the common and partial petiole are smooth. Two sharp spines, from a quarter to half an inch long, of the colour of the smaller branches, and joined together at their base, are found at the insertion of each leaf. The flowers are yellow, inodorous, small, and collected in globular heads sup- ported upon slender peduncles, which rise from the axils of the leaves, in number from two to five together. The fruit is a smooth, flat, two-valved legume, divided by contractions, occurring at regular intervals, into several roundish portions, each containing a single seed. This species flourishes in Upper Egypt and Senegal, and is probably scattered over the whole inter- vening portions of the xifrican continent. A. Arabica. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1805; Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib. x. 32; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. i. 31.—Acacia Nilotica, Delille, III. for. de VEgypt, p. 79.—Acacia vera. Vesling. vEgypt. p. 8. This species, though often little more than a shrub, attains in favourable situations the magnitude of a considerable tree, being sometimes forty feet high, with a trunk a foot or more in diameter. The leaves are alternate and doubly pinnate, having from four to six pairs of pinnae, each of which is furnished with from ten to twenty pairs of minute, smooth, oblong-linear leaflets. The common petiole has a gland between the lowest pair of pinnae, and often also between the upper- most pair. Both the common and partial petiole, as well as the young branches, are downy. The thorns are straight, and disposed as in the former species. The flowers are also arranged as in A. vera, and the fruit is of a similar shape. A. Arabica is perhaps the most widely diffused of the gum- bearing species. It grows in Upper and Lower Egypt, Senegal, and other parts of Africa, flourishes also in Arabia, and is abundant in Hindostan, where its gum is used for food by the natives. Besides the two species above described, the following afford considerable quantities of gum:—A. Karroo, of the Cape of Good Hope, formerly consi- dered by some as identical with A. vera; A. Senegal, a small tree, inhabiting the hottest regions of Africa, and said to form vast forests in Senegambia • A. gummifera, seen by Broussonet in Morocco near Mogador; A. Ehren- bergiana, a shrub six or eight feet high, named in honour of the German traveller Ehrenberg, who observed it in the deserts of Lybia, Nubia, and Dongola; A. Scyal, growing in the same countries with the last-mentioned species, and also in Upper Egypt and Senegambia; A. Adansonii of the Flore de Senegambie, which is said to contribute a portion of the Senegal gum; and A. tortilis, which sometimes attains the height of sixty feet and inhabits Arabia Felix, Nubia, Dongola, and the Lybian desert. It is highly probable that gum is obtained also from other species not hitherto described growing in the hot latitudes of Africa. A. decurrens and A. jloribvnda are said to yield it in New Holland. Other trees, moreover, not belonging to the PART I. Acacia. 7 genus, afford a similar product, especially the Feronia elephantum of Hin- dostan, the gum of which, according to Ainslie, is used for medical purposes by all the practitioners of Lower India. The gum-bearing Acacias are all thorny or prickly trees or shrubs, calcu- lated by nature for a dry and sandy soil, and flourishing in deserts where few other trees will grow. We are told that camels, attached to the caravans, derive from them their chief sustenance in many parts of those desolate regions in which Africa abounds. In these situations, they have a stunted growth, and present a bare, withered, and uninviting aspect; but in favourable situa- tions, as on the banks of rivers, they are often luxuriant and beautiful. Their bark and unripe fruit contain tannic and gallic acids, and are some- times used in tanning. An extract was formerly obtained from the immature pods of A. Arabica and A. vera, by expression and inspissation. It was known to the ancients by the name of acacise verse succus, and was highly lauded by some of the Greek medical writers; but is at present little used. It is a solid, heavy, shining, reddish-brown substance, of a sweetish, acidulous, styptic taste, and soluble in water. Its virtues are probably those of a mild astringent. On the continent of Europe, a preparation is said to be substi- tuted for it called acacia nostras, obtained by expression and inspissation from the unripe fruit of the Pi-unus spinosa, or wild plum tree. The gum of the Acacias exudes spontaneously from the bark of the trunk and branches, and hardens on exposure; but incisions are sometimes made in order to facilitate the exudation. This is supposed by some to be favoured by disease; and it is stated by Jackson that, in Morocco, the greatest product is obtained in the driest and hottest weather, and from the most sickly trees. An elevated temperature appears to be essential; for in cooler climates, though the tree may flourish, it yields no gum. According to Ehrenberg, the varieties in the colour and other characters of the gum do not depend upon difference in the species of the plant. Thus, from the same tree, the gum will exude frothy or thick, and clear or dark coloured, and will assume, upon hardening, different shapes andv.sizes; so that the pieces, when collected, require to be assorted before being delivered into commerce. Commercial History and Varieties. The most common varieties of this drug are the Turkey, the Barberry, the Senegal, and the Indian Gum; to which may be added the Cape Cum. 1. Turkey Gum. Gum xVrabic was formerly procured, chiefly, if not exclusively, from Egypt and the neighbouring countries; and much is still obtained from the same sources. It is collected in Upper Egypt, Nubia, Kordofan, and Darfur, whence it is taken down the Nile to Alexandria. A considerable quantity is also brought to the same port from Arabia. We obtain it in this country through Smyrna, Trieste, Marseilles, or some other entrepot of the Mediterranean commerce. Two varieties of the gum have long been noticed, one more or less coloured, the other white, which were formerly, and, on the continent of Europe, are still distinguished by the titles of gvm gedda, and gum turic, derived from the ports of the Red Sea, Jidda and Tor, from which the varieties were erroneously supposed to be respect- ively exported. The gum from Egypt is commonly known to our druggists by the name of Turkey gum, and is the kind with which the apothecaries are usually supplied. Though interspersed with roundish pieces of various sizes, it consists chiefly of small, irregular fragments, which are commonly whitish, or slightly tinged with yellow or reddish-yellow. It is, on the whole, lighter coloured, more brittle, more readily soluble, and much freer from impurities than the other commercial varieties, and contains much of that form of gum Arabic, which is characterized by innumerable minute fissures pervading its substance, and impairing its transparency. 8 Acacia. rART 1- 2. Barbary Gum. Much gum Arabic is at present obtained from Bar- bary; and Mogador, a port of Morocco, is the chief entrepot of the trade. According to Jackson, the natives call the tree which affords it attaleh. They gather it in the months of July and August, when the weather is hot and very dry. Two kinds are brought to Mogador, one from the neighbouring provinces, the other by caravans from Timbuctoo. This may account for the fact, that the Barbary gum in part resembles the Turkey, in part the Senegal. When first deposited in the warehouses, it has a faint smell, and makes a crackling noise, occasioned by the spontaneous rupture of the small masses as they become more dry. The Barbary gum is exported in casks, and reaches the United States through the route of English commerce. 3. Senegal Gum. This variety was first introduced into Europe by the Dutch. The French afterwards planted a colony on the western coast of Africa, and took possession of the trade; but since the last great European war, it has been largely shared by the English. St. Louis, at the mouth of the Senegal, and Portendic, considerably further north, are the ports in which the commerce in gum has chiefly centred. Immense forests of the Acacia exist at some distance in the interior. These are composed chiefly of two different trees, called by the natives vereck or nereck, and nebuel or nebued, the former of which yields a white gum, the latter a red. These are probably distinct species, the verecJc being, according to M. Rain, A. vera, and the nebuel, A. Senegal. According to Adanson, there are several other species in the neighbourhood which yield gum. In the month of November, the juice begins to exude from the trees. The dry winds, which prevail after the rainy season, cause the bark to crack; the juice flows out, and hardens in masses, which are often as large as a pigeon's egg, and sometimes, according to M. Rain, as large as the egg of the ostrich. At this period, the Moors and negroes proceed to the forests in caravans, collect the gum in leather sacks, and convey it to the coast, where they exchange it for British goods. Senegal gum is imported into the United States chiefly from Bordeaux. It is usually in roundish or oval unbroken pieces, of various sizes, sometimes whitish, but generally yellowish or reddish, or brownish-red, larger than those of the Turkey gum, less brittle and pulverizable, and breaking with a more conchoidal fracture. The French give the name of Gum Galam (Gomme de Galam) to a variety consisting of pieces more irregular in shape, often angular and broken, and mixed with small fragments, so as to resemble Turkey gum in appearance. (Guibourf.) 4. India Gum. Considerable quantities of gum are imported into this country from India. Ainslie states that it is derived from A. Arabica; and it is not improbable that much of it is taken to Calcutta in the Arab vessels from the ports of the Red Sea. It is in pieces of various size, colour, and quality, some resembling the broken fragments of the Turkey gum, though much less chinky; others large, roundish and tenacious, like the Senegal. Its taste is sweeter than that of the other varieties. It is usually much con- taminated, containing, beside the genuine gum Arabic, portions of a different kind of gum, having the characteristic properties of that known by the name of Bassora. This is distinguished by its insolubility in water, with which however, it unites, swelling up, and forming a soft viscid mass. It owes its properties to the presence of bassorin, The pieces of this gum bear a con- siderable resemblance to those of the genuine article, and may easily escape detection. Their want of solubility, however, is a ready test. More or less of a similar substance is found in the parcels of gum Arabic from other sources • and we have seen one parcel, said to have come from Barbary, chiefly com- posed of it. Besides this impurity in the India gum, there are often others PART I. Acacia. 9 more readily detected. Among these, we have observed a yellowish-white resinous substance, which has the sensible properties of the turpentines. If proper care be used in assorting this commercial variety, it may be employed for all the purposes of good gum Arabic. The India gum is brought into this country, partly from Calcutta, partly by way of England. It usually comes in large cases. We have seen a parcel of gum said to have come directly from the Red Sea, enclosed in large sacs made of a kind of matting, and bearing a close resemblance to the gum from Calcutta, except that it was more impure, and contained numerous large, irregular, very brittle masses, not much less than the fist in size. 5. Cape Gum. Pereira mentions that gum has recently been imported into Great Britain from the Cape of Good Hope, where it is collected probably from Acacia Karroo, which grows abundantly on the banks of the Gariep and in other parts. It is of a pale yellow colour, in tears or fragments, and is considered an inferior variety. General Properties. Gum Arabic is in roundish or amorphous pieces, or irregular fragments of various sizes, more or less transparent, hard, brittle, pulverizable, and breaking with a shining fracture. It is usually white, or yellowish-white; but frequently presents various shades of red, and is some- times of a deep orange or brownish colour. It is bleached by exposure to the light of the sun. In powder it is always more or less purely white. It is inodorous, has a very feeble, slightly sweetish taste, and when pure dissolves wholly away in the mouth. The specific gravity A'aries from 1-31 to 1-48. (Bcrzclius.) Gum Arabic consists essentially of a peculiar proximate principle of plants usually called gum, but for which the name of arabin* originally proposed by Chevreul, has been adopted by the French chemists. In de- scribing its chemical relations, therefore, we describe those of the principle alluded to. Water, either cold or hot, dissolves it, and forms a viscid solu- tion called mucilage, which, when evaporated, yields the gum unchanged. (See Mucilago Acacize.) It is insoluble in alcohol, ether, and the oils; and * Much confusion has existed in the use of the word gum, which has been employed to express various concrete vegetable juices, and, at the same time, a peculiar proximate principle of plants. It is now proposed to restrict the term to the former of these appli- cations, and to designate the principle alluded to by a distinct name. Within a few years, the subject of the gums has been investigated by M. Guerin, who has repeated and cor- rected the experiments of former chemists, and thrown new light upon the nature of these substances. Several of the facts mentioned in the text have been derived from his memoir, published in the Ann. de Chim.et de Phys.,t. xlix. p. 248. M. Guerin considers as characteristic of gums, the property of affording mncic acid, when acted on by nitric acid. He recognises in the different gums three distinct proximate principles; namely, 1. arabin, or the pure gum of chemical writers, which is the essential constituent of gum Arabic in all its varieties; 2. bassorin, which enters largely into the composition of Bas- sora gum and tragacanth; and 3. cerasin, which constitutes the portion of cherry gum insoluble in cold water. Of arabin sufficient is said in the text. Bassorin will be treated of under the head of Bassora gum. (See Appendix.) Of cerasin it may be proper to say a few words in this place. The gums which exude from the cherry, apricot, peach, and plum trees, and which the French call gomme dn pays, appear to be identical in compo- sition, consisting of a portion soluble in cold water, which is arabin, and a portion inso- luble, which was formerly thought to be the same with bassorin, but has been proved by M. Guerin to be different, and is appropriately denominated cerasin. This principle is colourless, semi-transparent, tasteless, inodorous, uncrystallizable, insoluble in alcohol, in- soluble in cold water, in which it softens and swells a little, and convertible by the action of boiling water into arabin, with which it appears to be isomeric. In this last property it differs materially from bassorin, which is not changed by boiling water. M. Guerin suggests that the natural heat of the climate, in tropical countries, produces the same effect upon the exuded gums as artificial heat in colder regions, and that consequently the acacia gum consists chiefly of arabin.—Note to the third edition. 10 Acacia. PART I. alcohol precipitates it from its aqueous solution. The diluted acids dissolve it, but not more freely than water. The concentrated acids decompose it. Triturated with sulphuric acid at ordinary temperatures, it is converted into a substance similar to the gummy product which results from the action of the same acid on linen rags and saw-dust. Heated with concentrated sul- phuric acid, it is decomposed with the evolution of carbon. The diluted acid, when boiled with it, gives rise to the formation of a saccharine substance. Strong nitric acid converts it into mucic acid, and at the same time produces oxalic and malic acids. It combines with several of the salifiable bases. With the alkalies and earths it forms soluble compounds. By the subacetate of lead it is precipitated from its solution, in the form of a white insoluble com- pound of gum and protoxide of lead; and a delicate test of its presence in any liquid is thus afforded. It enters into combination with several salts. A solution of borax coagulates it. When added to a solution of silicate of potassa, it precipitates a compound of gum, potassa, and silica, while a com- pound of gum and potassa remains dissolved. Its solution yields a precipi- tate with nitrate of mercury, and forms a brown, semi-transparent jelly, when mixed with a strong solution of sesquiehloride of iron. In solution it unites with sugar; and the liquid, when evaporated, yields a transparent, solid sub- stance, which is not susceptible of crystallization. Gum Arabic undergoes no change by time, when kept in a dry place. Its aqueous solution, if strong, remains for a considerable length of time unal- tered, but ultimately becomes sour, in consequence of the production of acetic acid. At a temperature between 300° and 400°, the gum becomes soft, and may be drawn into threads. At a red heat it is decomposed, yielding, among other substances, a minute proportion of ammonia. When burnt, it leaves about three per cent, of ashes, consisting, according to Guerin, of the car- bonates of potassa and lime, a little phosphate of lime, chloride of potassium, oxide of iron, alumina, magnesia, and silica. The lime exists in the gum combined with an excess of malic acid, which gives to its solution the pro- perty of reddening litmus paper. Besides pure gum, or arabin, gum Arabic contains a very small proportion of some azotized body, which is thought to occasion a slight opalescence in its solution, several saline substances, and a considerable quantity of uncombined water, amounting, according to Guerin, to 16 or 17 per cent. Pure gum may be obtained by treating the compound of gum and protoxide of lead with sulphuretted hydrogen. Its ultimate con- stituents are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Its formula has been variously given, C12H130I3; C12H10010; and C12 Hu On. The properties above enumerated belong to gum Arabic generally. There are, however, pharmaceutic varieties which present differences deserving no- tice. 1. Gum that is transparent and readily soluble. This constitutes bv far the greater portion of the commercial varieties distinguished by the names of Turkey gum and Senegal gum. ^t is characterized by its transparency ready solubility, and the comparatively slight degree of thickness and viscidity of its solution. Under this head may be included the gomme blanche fen- dillee of Guibourt, and other French writers. It is distinguished by the whiteness and deficient transparency pf the pieces, attributable to the minute cracks or fissures with which they abound, and which render them very brittle and easily pulverizable. This peculiar structure is generally ascribed to the influence of solar heat and light; but is conjectured"by Hayne to arise from the exudation of the juice in the frothy state noticed by Ehrenberg. Though the pieces are somewhat opaque, each of the minute fragments into which they may be broken is perfectly transparent and homogeneous. This variety in consequence of its prompt and entire solubility, is usually preferred for PART I. Acacia. 11 medical use, and for most purposes in pharmacy. 2. Gum less transparent and less soluble. Guibourt has proposed for portions of this gum the name of gornme peUiculec, from the circumstance that the masses are always appa- rently covered, on some part of their surface, by a yellowish opaque pellicle. Other portions of it have a mamillary appearance on the surface. Its trans- parency is less perfect than that of the former variety; it is less freely and less completely dissolved by water, and forms a more viscid solution. It melts with difficulty in the mouth; and adheres tenaciously to the teeth. It is found in all the commercial varieties of gum, but least in that from Egypt. Its peculiarities may probably be ascribed to variable proportions of bassorin associated with the soluble arabin. Between these two varieties of gum there are insensible gradations, so that it is not always easy to classify specimens. Impurities and Adulterations. In parcels of gum Arabic there are some- times pieces of a dark colour, opaque, and incorporated with ligneous, earthy, or other impurities. The inferior are often mixed with or substituted for the better kinds, especially in powder; and portions of insoluble gum, bdellium, and other concrete juices of unknown origin, are found among the genuine. Flour or starch is sometimes fraudulently added to the powder, but is easily detected by the blue colour which it produces with tincture of iodine. In consequence of the impurities, and difference in quality, gum Arabic should generally be assorted for pharmaceutical use. Medical Properties and Uses. This gum is used in medicine chiefly as a demulcent. By the viscidity of its solution, it serves to cover and sheathe inflamed surfaces; and by blending with and diluting irritating matters, tends to blunt their acrimony. Hence, it is advantageously employed in catarrhal affections and irritation of the fauces, by being held in the mouth and allowed slowly to dissolve. Internally administered, it has been found especially useful in inflammatory affections of the gastric and intestinal mucous mem- brane; and its employment has even been extended to similar affections of the lungs and urinary organs. Whether it is beneficial in the latter cases in any other manner than by the dilution resulting from its watery vehicle, is a doubtful point. By some physicians it is thought to possess a positively seda- tive influence over the action of inflamed surfaces to which it is applied in the state of solution. As an article of diet in febrile cases, and others requiring an adherence to a very rigid regimen, it is perhaps superior to almost any other substance. If not positively sedative, it is certainly not in the least irritating; while it is sufficiently nourishing to prevent the injurious action of the organs upon themselves. Its nutritive properties have been denied; but the tact of their existence rests on incontrovertible evidence. The Moors and negroes live on it almost exclusively during the period of its collection and conveyance to market; the Bushman Hottentots, in times of scarcity, support themselves upon it for days together; and we are told that the apes of South Africa are very fond of it. Six ounces a day are said to be suffi- cient to sustain life in a healthy adult. In many cases of disease, its solution may with propriety constitute the exclusive drink and food of the patient. It is best prepared by dissolving an ounce of the gum in a pint of boiling water, and allowing the solution to cool. An excellent demulcent, known by the name of gum pectoral, is made by dissolving equal parts of gum Arabic and sugar in water, and evaporating by means of a water-bath. It is held in the mouth, and allowed slowly to dissolve. In pharmacy, gum Arabic is exten- sively used for the suspension of insoluble substances in water, and for the formation of pills and troches. Of. Prep. Confectio Amygdalae, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Amygdalae, U.S., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Cretse, U.S.; Mucilago Acacia?, U.S., Loud., 12 Acacia.—Acetosella. PART I. Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Cretrc Compositus, Lond., Dub.; Pulvis Tragacanthae Compositus, Lond., Ed.; Trochisei Aeaciae, Ed. *> ■ ACETOSELLA. Lond. Wood-sorrel. " Oxalis Acetosella." Lond. Oseille de bucheron, Surelle, Fr.; Sauerklee, Germ.; Allelnja, Ital.; Acederilla, Span. Oxalis. Sex. Syst. Decandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. Oxalidacea3. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved. Petals five, connected by the claws. Sta- mens unequal, the five shorter exterior ones connected at the base, (-apsides opening elastically at the corners, five-angled. Seeds covered with an arillus. Pursh. Oxalis Acetosella. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 780; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 563, t. 201. The wood-sorrel is a small perennial, herbaceous, stemless plant, with numerous radical leaves, which are all ternate, and supported upon slender hairy petioles. The leaflets are obcordate, entire, hairy, of a yellowish- green colour, but frequently purplish on their under surface. The scape or flower-stalk, which usually exceeds the petioles in length, is furnished with two scaly bractes near the middle, and terminates in a large white, or flesh- coloured flower, marked with red streaks. The styles are of the same length with the inner stamens. This plant is a native both of Europe and North America. In this country it is found chiefly in the mountainous regions of the interior. It selects shady places, such as woods, groves, and hedges, and flowers in May. Other indigenous species of Oxalis, more widely diffused than the 0. Acetosella, might be substituted for it without disadvantage; as they possess similar pro- perties. They all have ternate leaves with obcordate leaflets, and, with the single exception of O. violacea, bear yellow flowers. The whole herbaceous portion may be used. Properties. Wood-sorrel is without smell, and has an agreeable sour taste. It owes its acidity to binoxalate of potassa, which is sometimes separated for use, and sold under the name of salt of sorrel. This is prepared in Switzerland and Germany, from different species of Oxalis and Rumex, by the following process. The plants, previously bruised, are macerated for some days in water, and then submitted to pressure. The liquid thus ob- tained is mixed with clay, and occasionally agitated for two days. At the end of this time, the clear liquor is decanted, and evaporated so that crystals may form when it cools. These are purified by solution and a new crys- tallization. Five hundred parts of the plant afford four parts of the acidu- lous salt. The same salt may be prepared by exactly neutralizing with potassa one part of oxalic acid in solution, then adding one part more'of the acid, and evaporating the solution so that it may crystallize upon cooling. Binoxalate of potassa is in rhomboidal crystals, of a sour, pungent, bitterish taste, soluble in forty parts of cold and six parts of boiling water (Kane), and unalterable in the air. It contains 72 parts or two equivalents of oxalic acid, 47-15 parts or one equivalent of potassa, and 18 parts or two equivalents of water. Quadroxalate of potassa is often substituted for the binoxalate. It is prepared in the same manner, except that, instead of one part, three parts of the acid are added to the original portion neutralized by potassa. Both salts are kept in the shops under the names of salt of sorrel and essential salt of lemons, and are employed for removing iron mould and PART I. Acetosella.—Acetum. 13 ink stains from linen, and sometimes as a test for lime. Both are poisonous, though in a less degree than uncombined oxalic acid. Mei/iral, Properties. This and other species of sorrel are refrigerant; and their infusion, or a whey made by boiling them in milk, may be used as a pleasant drink in febrile and inflammatory affections. A solution of the binoxalate of potassa is used on the continent of Europe, as a substitute for lemonade. The fresh plant, eaten raw, is said to be useful in scorbutic cases. Oralis crassicaulis, a Peruvian species, yields an edible root, and, by expres- sion from its leaves, a very sour and astringent juice, which is employed in the form of syrup, in hemorrhages, chronic catarrh, bowel affections, and gonorrhoea, with asserted advantage. W. ACETUM. U.S., Lond, Vinegar. " Impure dilute acetic acid prepared by fermentation." U. S. " Acetum. Fermentatione paratuni." Lond. Off. S,,n. ACETUM BRITANNICUM. British vineqar. ACETUM GAUiTCUM. French vinegar. Ed. ACETUM VINE Dub. Vinaigre, Fr.; Essig, Germ.; Aceto, Ital.; Vinagre, Span. Vinegar is a sour liquid, the product of the acetous fermentation. Viewed chemically, it is a very dilute solution of acetic acid, containing foreign mat- ters. (See Acidum Aceticum.) The acetous fermentation may be induced in all liquors which have under- gone or are susceptible of the vinous fermentation. Thus sugar and water, saccharine vegetable juices, infusion of malt, cider, and wine, may be con- verted into vinegar, if subjected to the action of a ferment, and exposed, with access of air, to a temperature between 75° and 90°. The acetous fermenta- tion is developed under the influence of a microscopic fungus, called torvula aeefi. In different countries, different liquors are used for conversion into vinegar. In France and other wine countries, wine is employed; in Britain, infusion of malt; and in the United States, for the most part, cider. The method pursued in making wine vinegar at Orleans, in France, where it is manufactured in the greatest perfection, is as follows. Casks are em- ployed of about the capacity of 88 wine gallons, those being preferred which have been previously used for a similar purpose. They are placed upright in three rows, one above another; each cask having an opening at the top of about two inches in diameter. In summer, no artificial heat is used; but in winter, the temperature of the manufactory is maintained at about 68°. The wine intended to be converted into vinegar is kept in separate casks, containing beech shavings, on which the lees are deposited. Twenty-two gallons of good vinegar, boiling hot, are first introduced into each vinegar cask, and, at the end of eight days, about two gallons of the wine, drawn off clear, are added; and the same quantity is added every eight days, until the casks are full. After this, the vinegar takes about fifteen days to form. At the end of that time, only half the contents of each cask is drawn off; and it is filled up again by the addition of two gallons of wine every eight days as at first. In some cases, however, the quantity of wine added, and the intervals between the successive additions, are greater or less than those here indicated; the variations in this respect depending upon the progress of the fermenta- tion. To determine this point, the vinegar makers plunge a stave into the cask; and if, upon withdrawing it, the}' find it covered with froth, they 14 Acetum. PART I. judge that the fermentation is going on properly, and, accordingly, add more wine. When the infusion of malt is employed, the process is as follows. The infusion, when properly cooled, is put into large and deep fermenting tuns, where it is mixed with yeast, and kept in fermentation for four or five days. The liquor is now distributed into smaller vessels, placed in a room heated by means of a stove, and kept there for about six weeks, or until the whole is soured. It is then transferred to common barrels, which are placed in the open air, the bung-holes being simply covered with a tile to keep out the rain; in which situation they are allowed to remain for several months, or until perfect vinegar is formed. The process is then completed in the follow- ing manner. Large tuns are prepared with false bottoms, on which is put a quantity of the refuse of raisins and other fruit, technically called rape. These tuns are worked in pairs, one being completely filled with the vinegar from the barrels, and the other only three-fourths filled. In the latter, the fermentation takes place more rapidly; and the process is rendered more active alternately in one or the other tun, by filling up each daily from the other, until the process is completed. In the United States, vinegar is often prepared from cider. When it is made on a large scale, the cider is placed in barrels with their bung-holes open, which are exposed during the summer to the heat of the sun. The acetification is completed in the course of about two years. The progress of the fermentation, however, must be watched; and, as soon as perfect vinegar is formed, it should be racked off into clean barrels. Without this precau- tion, the acetous fermentation would run into the putrefactive, and the whole of the vinegar be spoiled. Vinegar is now made by the improved German method, by which the time consumed in its formation is greatly abridged. A mixture is made of one part of alcohol of 80 per cent., four to six parts of water, and one-thousandth of honey or extract of malt, to act as a ferment. This mixture is allowed to trickle through a mass of beech shavings, previously steeped in vinegar, and contained in a deep oaken tub, called a vinegar generator. The tub is fur- nished, near the top, with a wooden diaphragm perforated with numerous small holes, which are loosely filled with packthread about six inches long, prevented from slipping through by a knot at one end. The alcoholic mixture, heated to between 75° and 83°, is placed on the diaphragm, and slowly percolates the beech shavings, whereby it becomes minutely divided. It is essential to the suc- cess of the process that a current of air should pass through the tub. In order to establish this current, eight equidistant holes are pierced near the bottom of the tub, forming a horizontal row, and four glass tubes are inserted vertically in the diaphragm, of sufficient length to project above and below it. The air enters by the holes below, and passes out by the tubes. The contact of the air with the minutely divided liquid rapidly promotes the acetification, which consists, essentially, in the oxidation of the alcohol. During the process, the temper- ature rises to 100° or 104°, and remains nearly stationary while the process is going on favourably. The liquid is drawn off by a discharge pipe near the bottom, and must be passed three or four times through the tub, before the acetification is completed, which generally occupies from twenty-four to thirty- six hours. J Vinegar may be clarified, without injuring its aroma, by throwing about a tumbler full of boiling milk into from fifty to sixty wine gallons of the liquid, and stirring the mixture. This operation has the effect, at the same time, of rendering red vinegar pale. The series of changes which occur during the acetous fermentation is called PART I. Acetum. 15 acetification. During its progress, there is a disengagement of heat; the liquor absorbs oxygen, becomes turbid, and filaments form, which are ob- served to move in various directions, until, finally, upon the completion of the fermentation, they are deposited in a mass of a pultaceous consistence. The liquor now becomes transparent, its alcohol has disappeared, and acetic acid lias been formed in its place. How then is this change of alcohol into acetic acid effected ? Liebig supposes that it takes place in consequence of the formation of a new substance, called aldehyd, into which the alcohol is changed by the loss of a part of its hydrogen. The alcohol, consisting of four eqs. of carbon, six of hydrogen, and two of oxygen, loses two eqs. of hydrogen through the influence of the atmosphere, and becomes aldehyd, com- posed of four eqs. of carbon, four of hydrogen, and two of oxygen. This, by the absorption of two eqs. of oxygen, becomes four eqs. of carbon, four of hydrogen, and four of oxygen; that is, hydrated acetic acid. Thus the con- version of alcohol into acetic acid consists in, first, the removal of two eqs. of hydrogen, and afterwards the addition of two eqs. of oxygen. Aldehyd is a colourless, very inflammable, ethereal liquid, having a pungent taste and smell, its density is 0-79. It absorbs oxygen with avidity, and is thus con- verted into acetic acid, as just stated. Its name alludes to its relation to alcohol, a/cohol ffrfyyefrogenated. Its aqueous solution is decomposed by caus- tic potassa, with formation of aldehyd resin. This is a soft light-brown mass, which, when heated to 212°, gives off a very nauseous soapy smell. Properties. Vinegar, when good, is of an agreeable penetrating odour, and pleasant acid taste. The better sorts have a grateful aroma, which is proba- bly due to the presence of an ethereal substance, perhaps acetic ether. The colour of vinegar varies from pale yellow to deep red. When long kept, par- ticularly if exposed to the air, it becomes muddy and ropy, acquires an un- pleasant smell, putrefies, and loses its acidity. The essential ingredients of vinegar are acetic acid and water; but besides these it contains various other substances, derived from the particular vinous liquor from which it may have been prepared. Among these may be men- tioned, colouring matter, gum, starch, gluten, sugar, a little alcohol, and fre- quently malic and tartaric acids, with minute portions of alkaline and earthy salts. According to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, vinegar should be free from sulphuric acid, and of such a strength that a fluidounce would require, for saturation, about thirty-five grains of crystallized bicarbonate of potassa. In the last Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia (1S41), two kinds of vinegar have been made officinal, malt vinegar and wine vinegar, under the names of Bri- tish vinegar and French vinegar. The former is stated to vary in density from 1-006 to 1-019, the latter from 1-014 to 1022. Specific gravity, how- ever, is not an accurate index of the strength of vinegar. Malt vinegar has a yellowish-red colour. The strongest kind, called proof vinegar, contains from 4-6 to 5 per cent, of acetic acid. That of British manufacture usually contains sulphuric acid, which the manufacturer is allowed by law to add in a proportion not exceeding one-thousandth part. The Edinburgh College does not recognise this impurity, although sanctioned by the British laws, and, therefore, rejects the vinegar if it give evidence of the presence of free sulphuric acid. On the contrary, the London College admits the vinegar, if the precipitate of sulphate of baryta, obtained on the addition of a solution of chloride of barium, does not exceed 1-14 grains to the fluidounce (Imperial measure). Wine vinegar is nearly one-sixth stronger than pure malt vinegar. It is of two sorts, (he white and the red, according as it is prepared from white or red wine. White wine vinegar is usually preferred, and that made at Orleans 16 Acetum. PART I. is the best. Bed wine vinegar may be deprived of its colour and rendered limpid, by being passed through animal charcoal. According to the Edin- burgh Pharmacopoeia, wine vinegar may be distinguished from malt vinegar by the addition of ammonia in slight excess, which causes in the former " a purplish muddiness, and slowly a purplish precipitate," and in the latter, either no effect, or a dirty brownish precipitate. Adulterations. The principal foreign substances which vinegar is liable to contain, are sulphuric and sulphurous acids, certain acrid substances, and cop- per and lead, derived from improper vessels used in its manufacture. Muri- atic and nitric acids are but rarely present. Chloride of calcium will detect free sulphuric acid, when boiled with the vinegar, without causing the least precipitate with the minute quantity of sulphates, almost always present in the liquid. (Boetfgrr.) Chloride of barium is not a suitable test here; as it will cause a precipitate with these sulphates, when no free sulphuric acid is present. Sulphurous acid may be detected and estimated, by first precipi- tating the sulphates and free sulphuric acid by baryta water, next acting on the vinegar with arsenic acid, which converts sulphurous into sulphuric acid, and finally precipitating the newly formed sulphuric acid by chloride of ba- rium. From the sulphuric acid in the last precipitate, its equivalent of sul- phurous acid is easily calculated. (Laroque.) Muriatic acid may be disco- vered by adding to a distilled portion of the suspected vinegar, a solution of nitrate of silver, which will throw down a curdy white precipitate. If nitric acid be present, an improbable impurity, it may be detected by its producing a yellow colour, when the suspected vinegar is boiled with indigo. The acrid substances usually introduced into vinegar are red pepper, long pepper, pelli- tory, grains of paradise, and mustard seed. These may be detected by evapo- rating to an extract, which will have an acrid, biting taste, if any one of these substances be present. By far the most dangerous impurities in vinegar are copper and lead. The former may be detected by a brownish precipitate on the addition of ferrocyanuret of potassium to the concentrated vinegar; the latter, by a blackish precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen, and a yellow one with iodide of potassium. Pure vinegar is not discoloured by sulphuretted hydrogen. According to Chevallier, wine vinegar, which has been strength- ened with acetic acid from wood, sometimes contains a minute proportion of arsenic. In this case the deleterious metal is probably derived from arsenife- rous sulphuric acid, employed in preparing the acetic acid. Mediccd Properties. Vinegar acts as a refrigerant and diuretic. With this view it is added to diluent drinks in inflammatory fevers. It is sometimes used as a clyster, diluted with twice or thrice its bulk of water. It has been supposed to be a powerful antidote to the narcotic poisons, but this is a mis- take. In the case of opium, the best authorities unite in considering it worse than useless; as it gives activity to the poison rather than neutralizes it. Externally it is employed as a fomentation or lotion in bruises and sprains. Diluted with water, it forms the best means of clearing the eye from small particles of lime. Its vapour is inhaled in certain states of sore-throat, and is diffused through sick rooms under the impression that it destroys pestilen- tial effluvia, though, in fact, it has no other effect than to cover unpleasant smells. The dose is from one to four fluidrachms; as a clyster, from one to two fluidounces. Off. Prep. Acetum Destillatum, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Cataplasma Smapis, Lond., Dub.; Ceratum Saponis, Lond.; Emplastrum Ammoniaci U.S.; Linimentum ^Eruginis, Lond.; Syrupus Aceti, Ed.; Tinctura Opii Acetata, U S. j> PART I. Acidum Arseniosum. 17 ACIDUM ARSENIOSUM. U.S., Lond. Arsenious Acid. "Sublimed arsenious acid in masses." U.S. "Acidum Arseniosum. Sublimatione paratum." Lond. Off. K,jn. ARSENICUM ALBUM. Ed. ABSENICI OXYDUM AL- BUM. Dub. White arsenic; Acide arsenieux, Arsenic blanc, Fr.; Arsenichte Siiure, Weisser Ar- senik, Germ.; Arsenik, Dan., Swed., Polish; Acido arsenioso, Arsenico, Ital.; Arsenico bianco, Span. The basis of all the arsenical preparations is a peculiar metal called arsenic. It is brittle, and of a steel-gray colour, and possesses much brilliancy when recently broken or sublimed. Exposed to the air, its surface becomes dull and blackens. Its texture is granular, and sometimes a little scaly. Rubbed on the hands, it communicates a peculiar odour; but it is devoid of taste. Its sp. gr. is 5-7 according to Berzelius, 5-9 according to Guibourt. When heated to about 356° of Fahr. (Berzelius), it sublimes without fusing, giving rise to vapours having an alliaceous or garlicky odour. Its equivalent num- ber is 75. It forms two well characterized combinations with oxygen, both having acid properties, called arsenious and arsenic acids. Preparation, dr. Arsenious acid is prepared chiefly in Bohemia and Saxony, where it is procured on a large scale, as a collateral product, during the smelting of cobalt ores, which are almost invariably accompanied by ar- senic. These ores are roasted in reverberatory furnaces, with long horizontal flues. The arsenic is converted, by combustion, into arsenious acid, which rises in vapour, and condenses on the sides of the flues. In this state it is not pure, and requires a second sublimation, which is performed in cast iron vessels, fitted with conical heads of the same material, having an opening at the summit. The vessels are placed over a furnace, and brought to a red heat, when a portion of the impure arsenious acid is thrown in through the opening, which is immediately stopped. This portion being sublimed, a second portion is introduced in a similar manner. Finally, the vessels are allowed to cool; and, upon removing the heads, the purified acid is found attached to them in vitreous layers, at first as transparent as glass, but gradu- ally becoming, by contact with the air, opaque at their surface. These are broken into fragments of a convenient size, and thrown into commerce. The arsenious acid which reaches this country is generally packed in casks, con- taining from two to five hundred pounds, and is shipped principally from the ports of Hamburg and Bremen. Properties. Arsenious acid, as it occurs in commerce, is in masses exhi- biting a vitreous fracture. It is of a milk-white colour exteriorly, but, in- ternally, often perfectly transparent. As first sublimed, the whole mass is transparent; but it gradually becomes white and opaque, the change proceed- ing progressively from the surface inwards. The nature of this change has not been well determined. According to Guibourt, the sp. gr. of the trans- parent variety is 3-73, of the opaque 3-69. The experiments, however, of Dr. J. K. Mitchell and Mr. Durand make the density of the former variety from 3-208 to 3-333. As it occurs in the shops for medical use, it is often in the form of a white powder, almost as fine as flour. In this state it is sometimes adulterated with powdered chalk, or sulphate of lime, a fraud which is easily detected by exposing the powder to a heat sufficient to evaporate the arsenious acid, when these impurities will be left behind. In consequence of 18 Acidum Arseniosum. PART I. the liability of the acid to contain impurities when in powder, it is directed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia to be kept in masses. When pure, it is com- pletely dissolved by boiling water. It is erroneously stated to have an acrid taste. Dr. Christison asserts that it possesses hardly any taste; inasmuch as it produces merely a faint sweetish impression on the palate. In strong, hot solution, it has an austere taste, most nearly resembling that of sulphate of zinc. (Mitchell and Durand.) It has no smell, even when in a state of vapour. The garlicky odour, which is sometimes attributed to it, belongs only to the vapour of the metal; and, when apparently arising from the acid itself, is, in fact, owing to its reduction. Its point of sublimation, according to Berzelius, is at an incipient red heat; but, according to Mitchell and Durand, it is lower instead of higher than that of metallic arsenic, being only 425° of Fahr. When slowly sublimed, it condenses in regular octahedral crystals, exhibiting a sparkling lustre. It consists of one equivalent of arsenic, 75, and three of oxygen 24=99. Arsenic acid is composed of one equiva- lent of arsenic and five of oxygen. Arsenious acid is soluble in water. According to Bussy, at the temperature of 55°, a pint of water dissolves 293 grains of the transparent variety, and only about 92 grains of the opaque. Thus the transparent acid, so far from being less, as heretofore supposed, is much more soluble than the opaque variety. The following particulars are given on the same authority. The transparent acid dissolves much more rapidly than the opaque. By prolonged ebullition with water, the opaque variety attains the same solubility as the transparent, and may be supposed to be converted into the latter. Thus, at the boiling temperature, a pint of water dissolves 807 grains of both varieties. The transparent variety, in cold saturated solution, gradually lessens in solu- bility, until it reaches the solubility of the opaque, no doubt in consequence of being changed into the latter. Pulverization lessens the solubility of the transparent variety, without affecting that of the opaque. The mixture of the two varieties of the acid in the same solution, serves to explain the anomalies heretofore observed in its solubility. (Journ. de Pharm., Nov. 1847.) In relation to some of these results, Bussy has been anticipated by Taylor. (See Lond, and Ed. Phil. Mag. for Nov. 1837.) Medical Properties. Internally, the action of the preparations of arsenic is alterative and febrifuge; externally, for the most part, violently irritant. They have been considered as peculiarly applicable to the treatment of dis- eases of a periodical character. At the commencement of their exhibition, the dose should be small, and afterwards gradually increased, the operation being carefully watched. When the specific effects of the medicine are produced, it must be immediately laid aside. These are, a general disposition to oedema, especially of the face and eyelids, a feeling of stiffness in these parts, itching of the skin, tenderness of the mouth, loss of appetite, and uneasiness and sickness of the stomach. The peculiar swelling produced is called oedema arsenicalis. Sometimes salivation is produced, and occasionally the hair and nails fall off. The principal preparations now in use are the arsenious acid the substance under consideration, and the solution of arsenite of potassa or Fowler's solution. The arseniates of potassa and soda are also occasionally employed. One grain of the arseniate of soda, dissolved in a fluidounce of water, forms the arsenical solution of Pearson. It may be questioned whether the different arsenical preparations, when ex- hibited internally, act precisely in the same way. It is supposed by some that the selection need only be regulated by the convenience of exhibition' The late Dr. Physick held a different opinion; for, with regard to the ar semous acid, and the solution of arsenite of potassa (Fowler?s solution) the PART I. Acidum Arseniosum. 19 result of his experience was that they act differently, and cannot be substituted for each other. Cases of the efficacy of the metal, when given in the form of Fowler's solution, will be noticed under the head of Liquor Potassse Ar- senitis. For a complete list of the diseases in which arsenic has been tried, the reader is referred to Mr. Hill's paper in the Edin. Med. Journal, vols. v. and vi. Some writers have entirely proscribed the use of the arsenical preparations in medicine. Amongst these, one of the most authoritative is Mr. Brande, who considers their introduction into the Pharmacopoeias as a great evil, on account of the facilities afforded, by legalizing the medicinal use of the poison, for its employment for self-destruction and murder. At the same time, he believes that more harm than benefit has resulted from its administration. (Man. of Pharm., p. 29.) We confess that we do not share these opinions with Mr. Brande. Arsenic is a virulent poison, and is frequently employed for criminal purposes; but when it is considered how extensively it is used in the arts, it is questionable whether its exclusion from the Materia Medica would materially lessen the facility of obtaining it. On the other hand, it may be asked, are poisons more dangerous as medicines than other medicinal substances, if given in their appropriate doses? We think not; though we admit that dangerous mistakes are more apt to occur from their use. If the views of Mr. Brande were carried out, they would lead to the discarding of the corrosive chloride of mercury, hydrocyanic acid, strychnia, and other arti- cles from the Materia Medica; but we believe that no practitioner will be found willing to strike these substances from the list of remedies. Arsenious acid has been exhibited in a great variety of diseases, the prin- cipal of which are scirrhus and cancer, especially cancer of the lip; anomalous ulcers; intermittent fever; chronic rheumatism, particularly that form of it attended with pains in the bones; diseases of the bones, especially nodes, and firm swellings of the small joints of the hands; frontal neuralgia; and different painful affections of the head, known under the names of hemicrania and periodical headache. Mr. Henry Hunt, of Dartmouth, England, found it useful in mitigating the pain of ulcerated cancer of the uterus, and in monor- rhagia; also in irritable uterus, attended with pain and bearing down in the erect posture. He gave it in pill, in the dose of a twentieth of a grain three times a day. In this dose the remedy seldom produces unpleasant feelings, and may be continued for three or four months, for which period it must sometimes be employed, in order to produce the desired effect on the uterus. Arsenious acid has been extolled as a remedy in certain cutaneous affections, particularly lepra. Dr. Pereira says that he has seen it used in a large num- ber of cases of this disease without a single failure to cure. Its external application has been principally restricted to cancer, and anomalous and ma- lignant ulcers, especially of the kind denominated noli me tangere. Arsenic is thought highly of by some in the treatment of lupus, and of ill-looking sores of the face, lips, and tongue, and sometimes effects a cure. Dupuytren was in the habit of using with advantage a powder composed of one part of arsenious acid and twenty-four parts of calomel, as a topical appli- cation to herpes exedens, and to the foul ulcers occurring in those who have undergone repeated courses of mercury. Arsenic is the chief ingredient in nearly all the empirical remedies for the cure of cancer by external application. Plunket's caustic was a remedy of this kind, of great celebrity, and consisted of the Ranunculus acris and Ranunculus Flammula, each an ounce, bruised, and mixed with a drachm of arsenious acid, and five scruples of sulphur. The whole was beaten into a paste, formed into balls, and dried in the sun. When used, these balls are 20 Acidum Arseniosum. PART I. rubbed up with yolk of egg, and spread on pig's bladder. The use of the vegetable matter is to destroy the cuticle; for, unless this is done, the arsenic will not act. Mr. Samuel Cooper thinks that this caustic was never_ of any permanent benefit in genuine cancer, but has effected perfect cures in some examples of lupus, and malignant ulcers of the lips and roots of the nails. In onychia maligna, Mr. Luke, of London, regards an ointment composed of two grains of arsenious acid and an ounce of spermaceti ointment as almost a specific. (Pereira, Mat. Med., 647.) At Paris, an arsenical paste of the following composition is used as an ap- plication to malignant ulcers:—Red sulphuret of mercury 70 parts; dragon's blood 22 parts; arsenious acid 8 parts. It is applied, made up into a paste with saliva. The pain produced by this composition is very severe, and its application dangerous. The practice of sprinkling unmixed arsenious acid on ulcers is now, reprobated, as fraught with the greatest danger. Mr. S. Cooper characterizes it as a murderous practice. The acid may, however, be used either in solution, or reduced by some mild ointment. A lotion may be formed of eight grains of arsenious acid and the same quantity of carbonate of potassa, dissolved in four fluidounces of distilled water; and a cerate, of half a drachm of arsenious acid and six drachms of simple cerate. The cerate is sometimes formed of half this strength. The lotion is in effect a solution of arsenite of potassa. Febure's remedy for cancer consisted of ten grains of arsenious acid dis- solved in a pint of distilled water, to which were added an ounce of extractum conii, three fluidounces of liquor plumbi subacetatis, and a fluidrachm of tinc- tura opii. With this the cancer was washed every morning. Febure's for- mula for internal exhibition was, arsenious acid two grains, rhubarb half an ounce, syrup of chicory q. s., distilled water, a pint. Of this mixture, a tablespoonful, which contained about the sixteenth of a grain of the acid, was given every night and morning, with half a fluidrachm of the syrup of pop- pies. The dose was gradually increased to six tablespoonfuls. The average dose of arsenious acid is the tenth of a grain, three times a day, given in the form of pill. It is sometimes combined with opium, which enables the stomach to bear the medicine better. A convenient formula is to mix one grain of the acid with ten grains of sugar, and to beat the mixture thoroughly with crum of bread, so as to form a pilular mass, to be divided into ten pills. The Asiatic pills, so called, consist of arsenious acid and black pepper, in the proportion of 1 part of the former to 80 of the latter. Properties of Arsenious Acid as a Poison. Arsenious acid, in an overdose, administered internally, or applied externally, acts with very great energy, and generally destroys life in a short time. The symptoms it produces are an austere taste; fetid state of the mouth; frequent ptyalism; continual hawk- ing; constriction of the pharynx and oesophagus; the sensation of the teeth being on edge; hickups; nausea; anxiety; frequent sinkings; burning pain at the prsecordia; inflammation of the lips, tongue, palate, throat, and oesophagus; irritable stomach, so as not to be able to support the blandest drinks; vomit- ing of matters, sometimes brown, at other times bloody; black, horribly fetid stools; small, frequent, concentrated, and irregular pulse, but occasionally slow and unequal; palpitations; syncope; insatiable thirst; burning heat over the whole body, or a sensation of icy coldness; difficult respiration; cold sweats; scanty, red, and bloody urine; change in the countenance; a'livid circle round the eyelids; swelling and itching of the body; livid spots over the surface, and occasionally a miliary eruption; prostration of strength- loss of feeling, especially in the feet and hands; delirium; convulsions, often ac- companied with insupportable priapism; falling off of the hair; detachment PART I. Acidum Arseniosum. 21 of the cuticle, &c. Sometimes there exist inflammation and burning pain m the urino-genital organs. It is very rare to observe all these symptoms in the same individual. In some cases, indeed, they are nearly all wanting, death taking place without any pain or prominent symptom. After death, the morbid appearances are various. In some cases, no vestige of lesion can be discovered. The appearances, however, in the generality of cases, are the following. The mouth, stomach, and intestines are inflamed; the stomach and duodenum exhibit spots resembling eschars, and perforations of all their coats; and the villous coat of the former is in a manner destroyed, and re- duced to the consistence of a reddish-brown pulp. Dr. Christison divides the poisonous effects of arsenious acid into three orders of cases, according to the character and violence of the symptoms. In the first order, the poison produces symptoms of irritation and inflammation along the course of the alimentary canal, and commonly kills in from one to three days. In the second, the signs of inflammation are moderate, or even altogether wanting, and death occurs in five or six hours, at a period too early for inflammation to be always fully developed. In the third order of cases, two stages occur, one in which inflammatory symptoms are developed, as in the first order; the other, marked by symptoms referable to nervous irritation, such as imperfect palsy of the arms or legs, epilepsy, tetanus, hysterical affec- tions, mania, and coma. It is a general character of this poison to induce inflammation of the stomach in almost all instances, provided death does not take place immediately, whatever be the part to which it is applied. Thus the poison, when applied to a fresh wound, will give rise to the same morbid appearances in the stomach and intestines, as when it is swallowed. In some cases, observed by Drs. Mall and Bailie, the rectum was much inflamed, while the colon and small intestines escaped. The precise rank which should be assigned, in the scale of poisons, to arsenious acid when applied externally, is still undetermined. One set of observers contend that its external application is not attended with great danger; while another party conceives that it acts as a virulent poison. Hunter, Sir Everard Home, Jeeger, Brodie, Dr. Campbell, of Edinburgh, Smith, and Orfila, have all adduced experiments on the inferior animals, which prove that arsenious acid, inserted into a recent wound, causes death after a longer or shorter period. Indeed, some observations go to prove that its poisonous effects are developed in a smaller dose, when used in this way, than when taken into the stomach. Nor are there wanting many well authenticated facts of its deleterious effects, externally applied, on the human constitution. Roux reports the case of a young woman under his care, whose death was caused, after agonizing sufferings, by the application of an arsenical paste to a cancerous breast. A case is related of death from the application of an arsenical paste to a soft tumour of the temple; the poisonous effects on the system at large being the cause of the fatal result. (Archives Generales, ii. 2o0.) Sir Astlcy Cooper, in his lectures, bears testimony to the dangerous effects of arsenic, externally applied. On the other hand, some writers con- tend for the safety of the external application of this poison. Mr. Blackadder applied it in large quantities to sores, and never witnessed a single instance in which it acted constitutionally. The late Dr. Randolph, of this city, stated that Dr. Physick frequently and successfully employed arsenic by external application, without its being productive of the injurious consequences which have been attributed to it. (North Amer. Med. and Surg. Journ., v. 257.) In weighing such conflicting testimon}-, we are constrained to believe that the circumstances of the different experiments and observations must have been different; and we think that the observations of Blackadder and Harles 22 Acidum Arseniosum. PART I. show in what this difference consists. It seems to depend entirely on the circumstances of the application, as being favourable or otherwise to ab- sorption. Blackadder attributes his very success to the large quantities of the arsenic which he employs, and which, he contends, kills the part without being absorbed; and this is probably the fact. Harles's observations may be explained on the same principle. He contended that the outward application of arsenic is comparatively safe to ulcers, either"common or malignant; but is dangerous to parts recently wounded and pouring out blood. Here the difference would seem to consist in the greater liability to absorption in the latter than in the former case. The very dilution caused by the blood, may be an efficient promoter of absorption; for the experiments of Dr. Campbell show that arsenic acts with more energy, when dissolved in water, than when in the solid state. The case in which Dr. Randolph employed this mineral, by the advice of Dr. Physick, was one of ulcerated scrotum, in which it acted by producing the death of the diseased part, a state evidently unfavourable to absorption. The formula employed was one part of arsenious acid to five of the flowers of sulphur. Arsenious acid, when it produces the death of a part, does not act, strictly speaking, as an escharotic. It destroys the vitality of the organized structure, and its decomposition is the consequence. The true escharotic acts chemically, producing decomposition of the part to which it is applied; a state incom- patible with life. This distinction being borne in mind, we can explain why the operation of arsenious acid is often limited to the destruction of diseased formations, which are known to possess a feeble vitality; while the true escharotics destroy both the diseased and healthy structure. When the arseni- ous acid succeeds as an external application to cancers, which is a very rare occurrence, it acts on this principle; destroying the vitality of the diseased portion only, and causing it to be thrown off as something foreign to the system. Upon the whole, new facts are wanting to clear up this difficult subject. Judging from the lights we possess, the external application of arsenious acid, in case it is absorbed, is attended with very great danger; and the conditions of a part, and of the system at large, favourable or otherwise to absorption, are too little understood, to make it warrantable to use this poison externally without the greatest caution. Treatment of Poisoning by Arsenious Acid. Before the antidote, to be mentioned presently, can be obtained, the poison should be dislodged as far as possible by free vomiting, induced by the finger, the feather part of a quill, and the administration of an emetic of sulphate of copper, or sulphate of zinc. The same object is promoted by the use of the stomach-pump. Demulcent drinks should at the same time be freely given, such as milk, white of eggs and water, or flour and water, which serve to encourage the vomiting and envelope the poison. The antidote above referred to is the hydrated sesquioxide (peroxide) of iron in the moist or pulpy state. As soon as it is ready, it must be given in doses of a tablespoonful to an adult, of a dessertspoonful to children, every five or ten minutes, until the urgent symptoms are relieved. It is calculated that the cjuantity taken should be at least twelve times the supposed amount of the poison swallowed; but, as the antidote is perfectly innocent it is pru- dent to give it in larger quantities. According to the experiments of E. Riegel, one part of arsenious acid in solution is so fully precipitated by ten of the dry oxide that, after its action, not a trace of the poison can be detected even by Marsh's test. (Chem. Gaz., Aug. 1, 1847.) Its efficacy is of course greater, the sooner it is administered after the ingestion of the poison • but part I. Acidum Arseniosum. 23 even after delay, its use will prove advantageous, so long as there is reason to believe that a portion of the poison still remains in the stomach. The anti- dote acts by producing with the poison, by a transfer of oxygen from the oxide to the acid, an insoluble, and therefore inert, subarseniate of protoxide of iron (4Fe(),As05). The manner of preparing the antidote will be given under another head. (See Fori Oxidum Hydration, U. S.) It should be kept by all apothecaries ready for use. This antidote for arsenious acid was discovered by Drs. Bunsen and Berthold of Giittingen, in 1834, and its efficacy has been abundantly confirmed by ex- periments on inferior animals, and by its successful application to numerous eases of poisoning in the human subject. Among others, the reader is referred to the following:—1. The case of M. Blondel, in which two drachms of arsenic had been swallowed. (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., new series, i. 350, from the dourn. de Chim. Med.) 2. Two cases treated by Dr. Buzorini, (French Lancet, Nov. 17, 1835.) 3. A case reported by Mr. John Robson, in which more than a drachm and a half of the poison had been swallowed, and the antidote was not administered until two hours after the poison had been taken. In the last-mentioned case, about an hour after the ingestion of the poison, the stomach-pump was used, but unsuccessfully, on account of the instrument becoming choked with the remains of food. (Amer. dourn. of the Med. Sci., xx. 522, from the Lond. Med. Gazette, Nov. 5, 1836.) 4. Case related by Dr. Thomas, of Baltimore, in which twenty grains of the poison had been swallowed. (Amer. Med. Library and Intelligencer, ii. 205.) 5. Case of Dr. Macdonald in the New York Journ. of Medicine and Surgery, ii. 205. 6. Case reported by Dr. Gerhard, (Med. Exam., iii. 250.) 7. Cases related by Drs. Smiley and Wallace of this city. Eight persons in one family were poisoned, of whom six recovered and two died. In the fatal cases, the patients could not retain the antidote. (3Ied. Exam., iii. 679.) Several valuable observations have been latterly made in relation to the antidotal powers of the different oxides of iron, and the circumstances which influence their efficacy. The forms of oxide experimented with, are the anhydrous sesquioxide (colcothar), the dry hydrated sesquioxide (rust of iron, and the subcarbonate of iron of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which are both essentially hydrated oxides), the hydrated oxide in the state of pulp or mag- ma, and the same oxide kept under a stratum of water. Orfila has shown that colcothar is without effect, because it does not combine with the arsenious acid. Dr. Von Specz, of Vienna, has proved that rust of iron acts as an anti- dote to arsenious acid; but, as it is much less powerful than the pulpy hydrate, it should be used only in the absence of the latter, and until it can be pro- cured. Orfila agrees with Von Specz as to the degree of efficacy of the rust, and attributes its inferior power to its inability completely to neutralize the arsenious acid. According to the French toxicologist, it forms with the acid a subsalt which is poisonous, though much less so than the free arsenious acid. , All the best authorities unite in considering the hydrated oxide in the state of pulp or magma to be the best form of the antidote; but opinions are divided as to the necessity of its being freshly prepared as well as moist, and as to the relative advantage of much or little water, to maintain it in the moist state. An able paper, published by Mr. William Procter, jun., of this city, appears to have settled these disputed points. (Amer. Journ. of Pharmacy, xiv. 29 April, IS42.) He has proved that the moist oxide gradually decreases in its power of neutralizing arsenious acid, the longer it is kept; and that this de- crease in power is more rapid in the oxide, when mixed with much water than when in the form of a thick magma. The cause of this diminution of neutralizing power, on the part of the moist oxide by being kept, is explained 24 Acidum Arseniosum. PART I. by the experiments of G. C Wittstein. This chemist finds that the hydrated oxide of iron, recently precipitated, dissolves readily in acetic and other vege- table acids in the cold, but becomes nearly insoluble when kept for some time under water. This change in solubility is attributed by Wittstein to two causes, the gradual change of the oxide from the amorphous to the crystalline state, and its partial dehydration; for, after being kept a long time, the oxide loses half its water. From these considerations, Wittstein prefers the more recent oxide as an antidote for arsenic, and recommends that the preparation should be remade every six months or year, by dissolving the old oxide in muriatic acid, and precipitating by ammonia. (Journ. de Pharm., Fev., 1847, from Buchners Repert., xliii. 366.) In the latter remarks, Wittstein has only confirmed what had been previously observed by Procter. It follows from the above facts and observations, that the forms of sesqui- oxide of iron are efficacious as antidotes to arsenic in the following order, beginning with the one having the least power :—1, dry hydrated oxide; 2, hydrated oxide, long kept and mixed with much water; 3, the same long kept, and in the form of a thick magma; 4, the same just precipitated and still pulpy. The form of antidote which can be obtained first must be used first, although not the best, and may be replaced by a better as soon as it can be procured. The apothecary should, therefore, always keep the oxide in the form of thick magma, and be prepared, at a moment's warning, to make the antidote. When applied to for it, he must instantly furnish the magma, or, if unprovided with this, the rust or precipitated subcarbonate, and imme- diately proceed to prepare the antidote, which may be done in ten or fifteen minutes, if the proper solutions are always kept ready for effecting the preci- pitation. (See Ferri Oxidum Hydratum.) > The antidote having been faithfully applied, the subsequent treatment con- sists in the administration of mucilaginous drinks. Should the patient survive long enough for inflammatory symptoms to arise, these should be combated on general principles. Accordingly, venesection and leeches may become necessary; and, in the course of the treatment, emollient enemata, antispasmo- dics, and narcotics will often prove useful in mitigating pain and allaying nervous irritation. Convalescence is generally long and distressing, and hence it is of the greatest importance to attend to the diet, which should consist ex- clusively of milk, gruel, cream, rice, and similar bland articles. Recently, Bussy has proposed light magnesia, or the kind which has not been too strongly calcined, as well as recently precipitated gelatinous magne- sia, as an antidote for arsenious acid; and a case is given by him in which it proved efficacious. (Journ. de Pharm., x. 81.) The dense kind has very little efficacy. Dr. Christison also saw a case in which this antidote seemed very serviceable. A successful case is also reported by Cadet-de-Gassicourt (Journ. de Pharm., Mars, 1848); and another by Dr. E. Bissel, of Norwalk Conn. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sei. for July, 1848.) For the full precipitation of arsenious acid, eighteen times its weight of anhydrous magnesia are re- quired. (E R,egel.) Like the oxide of iron, the magnesian antidote is con- veniently kept, in a pulpy state, in stoppered bottles under water For the salts of the acids of arsenic, the subacetate of the sesquioxide of iron 1ms been suggested as an antidote by Duflos. In poisoning by these salts, the sesqui- oxide is said to be without effect. ^ Reagents for detecting Arsenious Acid. As arsenic is so frequently em- ployed for criminal purposes, it becomes important to detect its presence in medico-legal investigations. The tests for it may be divided into 1st those which indicate indirectly its presence; and 2d, those which demonstrate its presence mcontestably, by bringing it to the metallic state. The former PART I. Acidum Arseniosum. 25 embrace all the liquid reagents, so called; the latter, the different processes for metallization. The most characteristic reagents, according to Dr. Christison, are sid- phuretted hydrogen, ammoniacal nitrate of silver, and ammoniacal sulphate of copper. In the opinion of that writer, the concurrent indications of these three tests are all-sufficient for detecting, in an infallible manner, the presence of arsenious acid; but we think that, in questions involving life, the metalliza- tion of the poison should never be omitted. In using sulphuretted hydrogen, the solution must be neutral. An excess of alkali may be neutralized with acetic acid; and an excess of nitric or sul- phuric acid by potassa. A slight excess of acetic acid is not hurtful, but rather favours the subsidence of the precipitate, which is the tersulphuret of arsenic. According to Dr. Christison, this test is so exceedingly delicate, that it detects the poison, when dissolved in one hundred thousand parts of water. The colour it produces is lemon or sulphur-yellow; but the presence of vegetable or animal matter commonly gives it a whitish or brownish tint. Some medical jurists recommend the use of sulphuretted hydrogen water; but the gas is far preferable. It can be applied with much convenience by using one of Dr. Hare's self-regulating gas reservoirs. The ammoniacal sulphate of copper is a test of very great delicacy. The precipitate occasioned by it is the arsenite of copper, of an apple-green or grass-green colour. Its operation is prevented by muriatic, nitric, sulphuric, acetic, citric, and tartaric acids in excess; as also by ammonia. Of the three tests mentioned, perhaps sulphuretted hydrogen is the most delicate; and it has the advantage of yielding a precipitate eligible for sub- sequent reduction. But they are all liable to the objection of being obscured in their indications, where the amount of poison is minute, by the presence of organic principles; a complication constituting the most difficult profclem that can be presented to the attention of the medical jurist. As this case includes all others of more easy solution, we shall suppose it to occur, and shall indi- cate the steps which are to be pursued. Having obtained general indications of the presence of arsenic, the first step will be to separate the organic matters; the second to throw down the arsenic by means of sulphuretted hydrogen; and the third, to reduce the precipitate obtained. The following are the directions given by Dr. Christison for separating the organic principles. Boil the suspected matter with distilled water for half an hour, and filter, first through gauze to separate the coarser particles, and afterwards through paper. To the transparent solution thus obtained, add acetic acid, which will coagulate some animal principles. To ascertain whether the solution has been sufficiently freed from animal matter by this measure, neutralize with ammonia, and test a small portion of it with the ammoniacal nitrate of silver. If this gives a characteristic precipitate, the solution is sufficiently deprived of animal matter; if not, another measure must be adopted to separate it. This consists in first rendering the solution neutral or slightly alkaline, next faintly acidulating with muriatic acid, and then adding an excess of nitrate of silver. This salt precipitates the animal matter in combination with oxide of silver. After this step, the excess of silver is thrown down by a slight excess of chloride of sodium, and the solu- tion filtered. Having in this manner disembarrassed the solution of organic matter, the free nitric acid is neutralized by potassa in slight excess, and the solution acidulated with acetic acid. A stream of sulphuretted hydrogen is then passed through it, which will throw down the arsenic as the tersulphuret. If the proportion of arsenic be very small, a yellowishness only will be pro- 26 Acidum Arseniosum. PART I. duced, owing to the precipitate being soluble in an excess of the precipitant. In this case it is necessary to boil, to drive off the excess of sulphuretted hydrogen. The precipitate is then collected and dried. If it be very minute, it must be allowed to subside, and the clear liquid having been with- drawn, the remainder is to be poured upon a filter. After filtration, the precipitate is washed down to the bottom of the filter, by means of the pipette, an instrument employed for washing scanty precipitates. The filter is then gently pressed between folds of bibulous paper, and the precipitate removed with the point of a knife before it dries, and then dried in little masses on a watch-glass. In this manner, Dr. Christison states that it is easy to collect a portion of the tersulphuret so small as the twenty-fifth part of a grain. When the precipitate is small and not easily separated, Devergie recommends to dissolve it in a small quantity of ammonia, to filter the solution, and then evaporate it in a watch-glass, when the tersulphuret will be left. The pre- cipitate is then to be reduced by means of a flux, which this author recom- mends to consist of two parts of ignited carbonate of soda and one of charcoal, as preferable to black flux. The best flux for arsenious acid is freshly ignited charcoal. A method different from that of Dr. Christison has been recommended by M. Maufflier for separating organic substances. It consists in adding to the liquid, resulting from the decoction of the suspected matters, a solution of oxide of zinc in potassa. The oxide precipitates in union with the organic substances, while the potassa unites with the arsenious acid and remains in solution. The clear solution, obtained by decantation or filtration, beinf then acidulated with muriatic acid, the arsenic is precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen, as recommended by Dr. Christison. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 192.) The general formula for reduction is as follows. The operation is performed in a smalfr glass tube. If the matter to be operated on is small, it is intro- duced to the bottom of the tube, and then a little of the flux is added to cover it, care being taken that the materials are conducted to the place they are to occupy, by means of a small glass funnel with a slender stem, without soiling the empty part of the tube. The heat is applied by means of a spirit lamp, the upper part of the material being first heated with a small flame, and afterwards the lower part with a larger flame. A little water, disengaged at first, should be removed with a roll of filtering paper, before sufficient heat has been applied to sublime the metal. When the dark crust begins to form, the tube should be held quite steady, and in the same part of the flame. This crust is the metallic arsenic, having the surface next the tube resplendent and polished, and the interior surface crystalline. Its characters are quite distinct, even when it does not amount to more than the three-hundredth part of a grain. If any doubt should be felt as to the nature of the crust, it may be driven up and down the tube, so as to convert it into sparkling octahedral crystals of arsenious acid, the triangular facets of which may be seen with a magnifying glass. Finally, the crystals may be dissolved in a drop or two of distilled water, and the solution will react characteristically with the liquid tests. A new method of testing for arsenic has been proposed by Mr. Marsh. (Edin. New Phil. Journ. for Oct. 1836.) It consists in taking advantage of the power, which nascent hydrogen possesses, of decomposing the acids of arsenic, with the result of forming water and arseniuretted hydrogen. The liquid from the stomach, or obtained from its contents by boiling water is mixed with some dilute sulphuric acid, and placed in a self-regulating reser- voir for hydrogen, in which a piece of zinc is suspended. Thematerials are here present for the production of hydrogen; but if the liquid from the sto- mach contain arsenic, the nascent hydrogen will combine with the metal and PART I. Acidum Arseniosum. 27 the nature of the compound gas formed may be ascertained by burning a jet of it from a fine jet-pipe connected with the reservoir. The flame will have a characteristic blue colour, and, by holding a piece of white porcelain over it, a thin film of metallic arsenic will be formed. Liebig and Mohr bear testi- mony to the delicacy of this test; but, to remove every source of fallacy, it is necessary to be sure of the purity of the apparatus by a preliminary trial of the hydrogen, before the suspected liquid is added; as ziinc and sulphuric acid are both liable to contain a minute proportion of arsenic. The piece of zinc employed should be cnanged after every experiment. A modification of Marsh's apparatus, which is praised by Berzelius for the certainty and dis- tinctness of its results, is figured in the 54th No. of the Chem. Gazette. Lassaigne has proposed to pass the arseniuretted hydrogen through a solu- tion of nitrate of oxide of silver. Arsenious acid is formed, nitric acid set free, and metallic silver deposited in black flocculi. Muriatic acid is cautiously added to the decanted liquid to decompose the excess of the nitrate, by throw- ing down its silver in the form of a chloride. The filtered liquor will contain nitric and arsenious acids, the latter of which may be detected by the usual tests. Or it may be evaporated to dryness, whereby the arsenious becomes arsenic acid, by oxygen derived from the nitric acid. The solution of arsenic acid, obtained from the dry residuum, is then tested by nitrate of silver, which forms with it a brick-red precipitate of arseniate of silver. Marsh's test has been objected to by Mr. L. Thompson, who alleges that antimony forms a compound with hydrogen, very similar to arseniuretted hydrogen, both in the colour of its flame, and in the metallic crust which it deposits during combustion on cold surfaces. Still, the two metals may be discriminated by acting on the metallic crust with a drop or two of fuming nitric acid, with the assistance of heat. Arsenic will thus be converted into the soluble arsenic acid, precipitable brick-red by nitrate of silver; antimony, on the other hand, into the insoluble antimonic acid. Another mode of discriminating between arsenical and antimonial crusts or stains, dependent on the difference of temperature at which the two metals are sublimed, has been recently proposed by Dr. D. Maclagan, of Edinburgh. It consists in subjecting the metallic stain to about the temperature of 500°, by means of a bath of olive oil; when, it will be totally volatilized, if arsenic, but remain unchanged, if antimony. (Ed. Month. Journ., Nov. 1848.) Professor Reinsch has proposed a new method for detecting arsenic in organic liquids, which is praised by Dr. Christison as having the advantage of leaving none of the metal in the subject of analysis. It also has the merit of facility and celerity. It consists in acidulating the suspected liquid with muriatic acid, and boiling in it, for ten minutes, a slip of copper foil, on which the arsenic is deposited as a white alloy; and then separating it in the state of arsenious acid, by subjecting the copper, cut into small chips, to a low red heat in the bottom of a small glass tube. The peculiar crystalline appearance of arsenious acid, mentioned in the last page, is conclusive of its presence. The form of copper, preferred by Dr. Maclagan, is that of copper wire, No. 24, made bright by being rubbed with sand-paper, and rolled into a loose spiral, about an inch long, by being twisted round a small pencil. In this form, the copper is easily removed from the organic mixture, and affords an extensive surface for the deposition of the arsenic. The merit of Reinsch's test is not that it gives a characteristic deposit on the copper; for bismuth, tin, zinc, and antimony give a similar deposit; but that it furnishes the arsenic without loss, and in a convenient form for applying the liquid and subliming tests. Off. Prep. Arsenici Oxydum Album Sublimatutn, Dub.; Liquor Potassae Arsenitis, U. S., Lond., Ed. B. 28 Acidum Qitricum. PART I. ACIDUM CITRICUM. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Citric Acid. Acidum limonis, Lot.; Acide citrique, Fr.; Citronensiiure, Germ.; Acido citrico, Ital, Span. Citric acid is the peculiar acid to which limes and lemons owe their sour- ness. It is present also in the juice of other fruits;'such as the cranberry, the red whortleberry, the berry of the bittersweet, the red gooseberry, the cm-rant, the strawberry, the raspberry, the tamarind, and the red elderberry (fruit of sambucus racemosa rubra.) The latter berry contains citric acid so abundantly, that it has been proposed as a source of the acid by M. Thibierge, of Versailles. The acid is extracted from lemon or lime juice by a very simple process, for which we are indebted to Scheele. The boiling juice is first completely saturated with carbonate of lime (chalk or whiting), in fine powder, and the citrate of lime formed is allowed to subside. This is then washed repeatedly with water, and decomposed by diluted sulphuric acid. An insoluble sulphate of lime is immediately formed, and the disengaged citric acid remains in the supernatant liquor. This is carefully concentrated in leaden boilers, until a pellicle begins to form, when it is transferred to other vessels in order to cool and crystallize. The late Mr. Parkes, in his Chemical Essays, has given a very interesting account of the manufacture of citric acid, which is made in large quantities in London for the use of the calico-printers. As Mr. P. was himself engaged in this manufacture, the following outline of the process which he pursued, may be received with the greater confidence. The heated juice is placed in large square vats, in which it is saturated with clean soft chalk or whiting, gradually added to prevent excessive effervescence. The insoluble citrate of lime is allowed to subside, and the supernatant liquid, containing mucilage, saccharine matter, and a little malic acid, is drawn off by means of a syphon. The citrate is then passed through a sieve, and washed with warm water, until all remaining mucilage, and other soluble impurities are removed. It is then decomposed, while yet moist, by sulphuric acid, taken in the propor- tion of nine pounds and a half of the strong acid diluted with seven gallons of water, for every ten pounds of chalk used. Some deduction, however, may be made from the water of dilution, in consideration of the water present in the moist citrate. The quantity of chalk expended may be easily ascertained by weighing out more than is sufficient for the purpose of saturation, and then weighing the remainder after the saturation has been completed. The sul- phuric acid is gradually poured in immediately after the water has been added to it, in order that the decomposition may be assisted by the heat generated by its dilution; and, at the same time, the whole is well stirred, in order to prevent the citrate from running into lumps and thus escaping the action of the acid. As the point of complete decomposition of the citrate approaches, the sulphate of lime precipitates more and more quickly, and the quantity of supernatant liquid becomes sensibly greater. When the decomposition has been completed, the solution of citric acid is drawn off, and the sulphate of lmie washed repeatedly with cold water to separate any remains of acid. The solution of the acid, together with the washings, is then concentrated by evaporation in leaden boilers, until it reaches the sp. gr. of about 1-130- when the fire is withdrawn, and the acid removed to a smaller leaden-vessel where it undergoes a further concentration by means of a water-bath. When PART I. Acidum Citricum. 29 the bulk of the acid liquor becomes very much reduced by evaporation, it must be transferred to a still smaller leaden boiler, where it is further evapo- rated by the same means, until the liquor acquires the consistence of very thin molasses. It is then watched with the greatest attention for noting the production of a pellicle, upon the appearance of which over the whole surface of the liquor, the acid is to be deemed sufficiently concentrated, and must be immediately removed from the water-bath, and put aside to cool and crystal- lize. If at this stage of the process the acid were not removed from the fire, the whole would be in danger of being charred and spoiled. The liquor is allowed to remain at rest four days, that crystals may be formed, from which the mother waters, presenting a black colour, are to be drained. These are then diluted with ten or twelve times their bulk of water, saturated anew by means of carbonate of lime, and treated in all respects as if they had consisted of fresh lemon juice. By this proceeding, a new crop of crystals will be obtained. Whatever care may be taken in conducting the process, the first crop of crystals will be of a light brownish colour; but if the solution has been burnt during the evaporation, or the mucilage imperfectly separated, they will be dark-brown or black. In order to have the crystals perfectly pure and white, it is necessary to subject them to repeated solutions and crystallizations. Ac- cording to Mr. Parkes, a gallon of good juice, if the process be well conducted, will yield eight ounces of white crystals. But the product depends very much on the proportion of citric acid in the juice, which is very variable. The more recent the juice the better the quality. That which is stale will some- times be quite sour, without containing any citric acid, in consequence of its having undergone the acetous fermentation. In decomposing the citrate of lime by sulphuric acid, it is not prudent to trust altogether to the appearance of the liquor, in deciding when the decom- position is complete. A more certain criterion is to filter a small portion of the liquor, and test it with acetate of lead. If no sulphuric acid be present in excess, the precipitate will consist of citrate of lead, and be entirely soluble in nitric acid. On the contrary supposition, the precipitate will be a mixture of citrate and sulphate of lead, the latter of which will remain undissolved on the addition of nitric acid. It is desirable to have a slight excess of sulphuric acid; as it rather favours than otherwise the crystallization of the citric acid. It is found necessary, also, to add occasionally a small proportion of sulphuric acid to the citric acid liquor, during the progress of its concentration. Citric acid is manufactured in different cities of the United States, for use in the arts and in medicine. In Philadelphia it is made in the usual manner, from the juice of limes and lemons. The imported juice furnishes from four to six ounces of the pure crystallized acid to the gallon. Citric acid is properly placed in the Materia Medica list of the United States Pharmacopoeia, as an article purchased from the manufacturing chemist. The British Colleges place it among the preparations. The following is an outline of the process of the London Pharmacopceia of 1836, for preparing this acid. Four ounces and a half of prepared chalk are added by degrees to eighty fluidounces of heated lemon juice. The resulting citrate of lime is carefully washed with tepid water, and decomposed, while yet moist, by the addition of twenty-seven and a half fluidounces of diluted sulphuric acid, and forty fluidounces of distilled water. The liquor is boiled for a quarter of an hour, and, after having been strained through a cloth with strong compression, is filtered. The filtered liquor is then evaporated by a 30 Acidum Citricum. PART I. gentle heat, and set aside to crystallize. The solution and crystallization are to be repeated several times, in order to get the crystals pure. The process of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia is substantially the same with that of the London. The principal differences are, that the Edinburgh College purifies the lemon juice to a certain extent from mucilage by boiling, rest, and subsidence, before it is boiled with a view to the addition of the chalk, and indicates the proportion of the diluted sulphuric acid to the chalk expended, without fixing the absolute quantities. These are improvements; for the presence of much mucilage interferes with the purification of the crystals, and the quality of the juice is too variable to allow the quantity of chalk necessary for saturation to be fixed. Dr. Christison states that the juice is advantage- ously clarified by albumen. In the process of the Dublin College, the citrate of lime, which is unne- cessarily directed to be dried, is decomposed by a quantity of diluted sulphuric acicl, equal to eight times the weight of the chalk employed. Properties. Citric acid is a white crystallized solid, often in large crystals, having the form of rhomboidal prisms with dihedral summits. It is perma- nent in a dry air, but becomes moist in a damp one. Its sp. gr. is 1-6. Its taste is strongly acid, and almost caustic. When heated, it dissolves in its water of crystallization, and, at a higher temperature, undergoes decomposi- tion, becoming yellow or brown, and forming a very sour syrupy liquid, which is uncrystallizable. By destructive distillation, it gives rise to water, empy- reumatic oil, acetic and carbonic acids, carburetted hydrogen, and a number of p}Togenous acids, among which is the aconitic. A voluminous coal is left. Citric acid dissolves in three-fourths of its weight of cold, and half its weight of boiling water. It is also soluble in alcohol. A weak solution of it has an agreeable taste, but cannot be kept, as it undergoes spontaneous decomposi- tion. It is incompatible with alkaline solutions, whether pure or carbonated, converting them into citrates; also with the earthy and metallic carbonates, most acetates, the alkaline sulphurets, and soaps. It is characterized by its taste, by the shape of its crystals, and by its forming an insoluble salt with lime, and a deliquescent one with potassa. If sulphuric acid be present, the precipitate by acetate of lead will not be entirely soluble in nitric acid; the insoluble portion being sulphate of lead. Sometimes large crystals of tartaric acid are substituted for or mixed with the citric, a fraud which is readily detected by adding a solution of carbonate of potassa to one of the suspected acid; when, if tartaric acid be present, a crystalline precipitate of bitartrate of potassa (cream of tartar) will be formed. Lime or other fixed impurity is detected by incinerating the acid, either alone or by the aid of red oxide of mercury, when the fixed matter will be left. Composition. The formula of this acid, considered dry, as it exists in the citrate of silver, is C^HsOu. As crystallized from its solution by cooling, it contains four eqs. of water. _ Medical Properties. Citric acid is principally employed for making a sub- stitute for lemonade, and in the composition of effervescing .draughts. It is used also for preparing the neutral mixture, for which a formula was intro- duced into the U. S. Pharmacopceia at its last revision. (See Liquor Potassx C it rat is, U. S.) When added in the quantity of nine drachms and a half to a pint of distilled water, it forms a solution of the average strength of lemon juice. Of this solution, or of lemon juice, a scruple of bicarbonate of potassa saturates three fluidrachms and a half: a scruple of carbonate of potassa, four fluidrachms; and a scruple of carbonate of ammonia, six fluidrachms. 'Half a fluidounce of lemon juice, or of an equivalent solution of citric acid, when saturated, is considered a dose. An agreeable substitute for lemonade may PART I. Acidum Muriaticum. 31 be formed by dissolving from two to four parts of the acid, mixed with a little sugar and oil of lemons, in nine hundred parts of water; or a scruple of the acid may be dissolved in a pint of water, and sweetened to the taste with sugar which has been rubbed on fresh lemon-peel. Off. Prep. Liquor Potassa? Citratis, U. S. B. ACIDUM MURIATICUM. U.S., Dub. Muriatic Acid. "Aqueous solution of chlorohydric acid gas of the specific gravity 1-16." U V Off. S>/n. ACIDUM HYDROCHLORICUM. Lond. ACIDUM MU- RIATICUM PURUM. Hydrochloric acid. ACIDUM MURIATICUM. Hydrochloric acid of commerce. Ed. Spirit of sea-salt, Marine acid, Hydrochloric acid, Chlorohydric acid; Acide hydrochlo- rique, Fr.: Salzsaure, Kochsalzsiiure, Germ.; Acido muriatico, Hal., Span. The muriatic acid of pharmacy and the arts is a solution of muriatic acid gas in water. It is sometimes called liquid muriatic acid, but more properly hydrated muriatic acid. The acid is officinal in its pure form in the U. S., London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, and in its pure and commercial forms in the Edinburgh. The sp. gr. of the pure acid is directed to be 1-16 in the U.S., London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, and 1-17 in the Edinburgh. The three British Colleges give processes for the preparation of the pure acid; while, in the United States Pharmacopoeia, it is placed exclusively in the list of the Materia Medica, as an article to be procured from the manufacturing chemist. Preparation. Muriatic acid is obtained by the action of sulphuric acid on chloride of sodium or common salt. The commercial acid is procured on a large scale, by distilling the salt with an equal weight of sulphuric acid, some- what diluted with water, from iron stills furnished with earthen heads, into earthenware receivers containing water. When thus obtained, it is contami- nated with iron and other impurities, and is not fit for medicinal purposes. Commercial muriatic acid is now procured in large quantities in England, during the decomposition of common salt for the purpose of making sulphate of soda, from which soda-ash and carbonate of soda are afterwards manufac- tured in immense quantities. When the object is to obtain sulphate of soda, the decomposition of the sea salt is performed in semi-cylindrical vessels, the curved part, next the fire, being made of iron, and the upper or flat surface, of stone. If the acid be saved, it is conveyed by a pipe to a double-necked stoneware receiver, half filled with water, and connected with a row of similar receivers, likewise containing water. The acid, when required to be pure, is generally prepared, in a laboratory, by saturating distilled water with the gas in a Woulfe's apparatus. A quan- tity of pure fused* common salt is introduced into a retort or matrass, placed on a sand-bath. The vessel is then furnished with an S tube, and connected with a series of bottles, each two-thirds full of water. A quantity of sul- phuric acid is then gradually added, equal in weight to the common salt em- ployed, and diluted with one-third of its weight of water. The materials ought not to occupy more than half the body of the retort. When the extrication of the gas slackens, heat is to be applied, and gradually increased until the * According to Thenard, the fusion of the common salt will very much facilitate the conducting of the process. 32 Acidum Muriaticum. PART i. water in the bottles refuses to absorb any more, or until, upon raising the heat, no more gas is found to come over. As soon as the process is com- pleted, boiling water is to be added to the contents of the retort, in order to facilitate the removal of the residue. During the progress of the saturation, the water in the several bottles increases in temperature, which lessens its power of absorption. It is therefore expedient, in order to obtain a strong acid, to keep the bottles cool by means of water or ice. The connecting tubes need not plunge deeply into the acid. The rationale of the process for obtaining this acid is sufficiently simple. Common salt is a compound of chlorine and sodium; muriatic acid, of chlo- rine and hydrogen; and liquid sulphuric acid, of dry sulphuric acid and water. The water is decomposed; its oxygen, combining with the sodium of the common salt, generates soda, which unites with the sulphuric acid to form sul- phate of soda; while the hydrogen and chlorine, being both in the nascent state, combine and escape as muriatic acid gas. The residue of the process is con- sequently sulphate of soda, or Glauber's salt. It is reserved by the British Colleges, to be dissolved and crystallized, in order to form the officinal sul- phate of soda. (See Sodse Sidphas.) The following is a synopsis of the proportions of the ingredients prescribed by the British Colleges, for obtaining the pure acid:—Loudon, two pounds of dried chloride of sodium, twenty ounces of sulphuric acid, and twenty-four fluidounces of distilled water;—Edinburgh, equal weights of purified and well dried salt, pure sulphuric acid, and water;—Dublin, one hundred parts of dried salt, eighty-seven of commercial sulphuric acid, and one hundred and twenty-four of water. The Edinburgh College distils "with a gentle heat by means of a sand-bath or naked gas-flame, so long as any liquid passes over, preserving the receiver constantly cool by snow or a stream of cold water." The Dublin College distils the materials to dryness. One-third of the water prescribed in the Edinburgh formula, and one-half of that directed in the London and Dublin, are mixed with the sulphuric acid; the rest being put into the receiver to absorb the gas. From the above view, it is perceived that the British Colleges differ as to the proportion of acid and salt. Theory calls for a little less than 82 parts of the liquid sulphuric acid to 100 of the common salt; while the London College uses about 83 parts, the Dublin 87, and the Edinburgh 100 parts of acid to that quantity of salt. The London proportions are, therefore, nearest the theoretical quantities, and would even seem to furnish a slight excess of acid; but, from careful experiments made by Dr. Barker, of Dublin, it appears to be demonstrated that, to decompose completely the whole of the salt, 87 parts of strong acid are necessary; for it is a principle now generally conceded, and which was contended for many years ago by the late Dr. Hope, that to produce the complete decomposition of a salt, it is sometimes neces- sary to use more than an equivalent quantity of the decomposing agent. Ac- cordingly, Dr. Hope found that the Edinburgh proportion of equal weights of sulphuric acid and salt gave a larger product of muriatic acid, with less expense of time and fuel, than when a smaller quantity of the decomposing acid was employed. The common' salt is directed to be purified by the Edinburgh College by dissolving it in boiling water, concentrating the solution, skimminw off the crystals as they form on the surface, draining from them the adhering solu- tion, and subsequently washing them slightly with cold water. Dr. Chris- tison states that the object of the process is to separate nitrate of soda which is almost always present in the common salt of commerce. It will also' separate nitrate of potassa if it happen to be present. The same College directs pure PART I. Acidum Muriaticum. 33 sulphuric acid, on the ground that the commercial usually contains nitrous acid. (See Acidum Sulphuricum Purum.) Properties of the Hydrated. Acid. Muriatic acid, when pure, is a trans- parent colourless liquid, of a suffocating odour and corrosive taste. Exposed to the air, it emits white fumes, owing to the escape of the acid gas, and its union with the moisture of the atmosphere. When concentrated, it blackens organic substances like sulphuric acid. Its sp. gr. varies with its strength. When as highly concentrated as possible, its density is 1-21. The medicinal acid has the sp. gr. of 1-16, and 100 grains of it saturate 132 grains of crys- tallized carbonate of soda. When of this strength, it contains rather more than 33-9 per cent, of muriatic acid gas. (Phillips.) It freezes at —60°. When exposed to heat it continues to give off muriatic acid gas, with the ap- pearance of ebullition, until its sp. gr. sinks to 1-094, when it properly boils, and distils over unchanged. As it is desirable to know, on many occasions, in chemical and pharmaceu- tical operations, the quantity of strong hydrated acid, of acid gas, and of chlo- rine, contained in samples of acid of different densities, we subjoin a table by Dr. Ure, containing this information. Table of the Quantify of Hydrated Muriatic Acid of sp. gr. 1-2, of Mu- riatic Acid Gas, and of Chlorine, in 100 parts of Hydrated Acid of different densities. Sp. gr. Hydrated Acid of sp. gr. 1 "2 Arid Gas. Chlorine. Sp. Gr. Hydrated Acid of sp.gr. 1-2 Acid Gas. Chlorine. 1-2000 1-1910 1-1822 1-1721 11701 1-1620 1-1:")'..) 9 1-1515 11410 1-1308 1-1206 100 95 90 85 S4 80 79 75 70 65 60 40-777 38-738 36 700 34-660 34-252 32-621 32-213 30582 28-544 26-504 24-466 39-675 37692 35-707 33-724 33-328 31-746 31-343 29-757 27-772 25-789 23-805 1-1102 1-1000 10899 1-0798 1-0697 10597 10497 1-0397 10298 1-0200 1-0100 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 21-822 20-388 18-348 16-310 14-271 12-233 10194 8-155 6-116 4-078 2-039 22-426 19-837 17-854 15-870 13-887 11-903 9-919 7-935 5-951 3-96S 1-984 Muriatic acid is characterized by forming, on the addition of nitrate of silver, a white precipitate (chloride of silver), which is insoluble in nitric acid, but readily soluble in ammonia. It is incompatible with alkalies and most earths, with oxides and their carbonates, and with sulphuret of potas- sium, tartrate of potassa, tartar emetic, tartarized iron, nitrate of silver, and solution of subacetate of lead. Adulterations. This acid, when pure, will evaporate without residue in a platinum spoon. If sulphuric acid be present, a solution of chloride of barium will cause a precipitate of sulphate of baryta in the acid previously diluted with distilled water. Iron may be detected by saturating the dilute acid with carbonate of soda, and then adding ferrocyanuret of potassium, which will strike a blue colour if that metal be present. Free chlorine may be discovered by the acid having the power to dissolve gold leaf. Any minute portion of the leaf which may be dissolved, is detected by adding a solution of protochloride of tin, which will give rise to a purplish tint. The free chlo- rine is derived from the reaction of nitric or nitrous acid on a small portion of the muriatic acid, which is thus deprived of its hydrogen. Hence it is 3 o 4 Acidum Muriaticum. PART I. that, when free chlorine is present, nitrous acid, or some other oxide of nitro- gen, is also present as an impurity. The nitric and nitrous acids arc derived from nitrates in the common salt, and from nitrous acid in the commercial sulphuric acid, employed in the preparation of the muriatic acid. Muriatic Acid of Commerce. This acid has the general properties of the pure hydrated acid. It has a yellow colour, owing to the presence of sesqui- chloride of iron, or of a minute proportion of organic matter, such as cork, wood, &c. It usually contains sulphuric acid, and sometimes chlorine_ and nitrous acid. But the most injurious impurity to those who consume it in the arts, is sulphurous acid. Mr. T. H. Savory analyzed three samples of commercial muriatic acid, each having a sp. gr. of between 1-16 and 1-17, and found them to contain from 7 to nearly 11 per cent, of sulphurous acid. To detect this acid, M. Girardin has proposed a very delicate test, namely, the protochloride of tin. The mode of using the test is to take about half an ounce of the acid to be tested, and to add to it two or three drachms of the protochloride. The mixture having been stirred two or three times, as much distilled water as of the protochloride is to be added. If sulphurous acid be present, the muriatic acid becomes turbid and yellow immediately upon the addition of the protochloride; and, upon the subsequent addition of the water, a slight evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen takes place, perceptible to the smell, and the liquid assumes a brown hue, depositing a powder of the same colour. The manner in which the test acts is as follows. By a transfer of chlorine, the test is converted into bichloride and metallic tin, the latter of which, by reacting with the sulphurous acid, gives rise to a precipitate of the deutoxide and protosulphuret of tin. In case the sulphurous acid forms but one-half of one per cent, of the commercial acid, the precipitate may not be perceptible. Under these circumstances, a solution of sulphate of copper must be added to the liquid previously warmed, when a brown precipitate of sul- phuret of copper will be immediately formed. (Heiutz.) M. Lembert has proposed the following, which he considers as a more delicate test of sulphu- rous acid. Saturate the suspected muriatic acid with carbonate of potassa. Then add successively a little weak solution of starch, one or two drops of a solution of iodate of potassa, and sulphuric acid, drop by drop. If sulphu- rous acid be present, it will be set free along with iodic acid, and these, by reacting on each other, will develope iodine, which will cause a blue colour with the starch. Another impurity occasionally present in the commercial acid, as shown by Dupasquier, is arsenic. The immediate source of this impurity is the sul- phuric acid used to prepare the muriatic acid. The sulphuric acid derives the arsenic from the sulphur used in its manufacture, and this last from pyrites containing a little of the poisonous metal. The arsenic, when present, is in the form of a chloride, and, from its volatility in this state of combina- tion, is transferred to the muriatic acid, distilled from the commercial acid. This impurity is separated by diluting the acid with an equal volume of water, and passing through it sulphuretted hydrogen, which throws down the arsenic as a sulphuret. Where leaden vessels are used in preparing this acid, it is apt to contain chloride of lead, which may be detected by sulphuretted hydrogen. This impurity, being fixed, may be got rid of by distilling the acid. (Dr. A. Vogd, Jr.) Muriatic acid of commerce is officinal only in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia Its density is directed to be at least 1-180. Dr. Christison states that it varies m this respect from 1-180 to 1-216. Thus the commercial is stronger than the pure acid of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, and consequently more fuming. Mr. Phillips states that he has never found the commercial acid PART I. Acidum Muriaticum. 35 nearly so strong, and suspects that, when of this specific gravity, it must con- tain a very large admixture of sulphuric acid. The commercial acid is offici- nally defined by the Ed. College to be always yellow, and commonly to con- tain a little sulphuric acid, oxide of iron, and chlorine. Properties of Muriatic Acid Gas. Muriatic acid gas is a colourless elastic fluid, possessing a pungent odour, and the property of irritating the organs of respiration. It destroys life and extinguishes flame. It reddens litmus power- fully, and has the other properties of a strong acid. Its sp. gr. is 1-269. Subjected to a pressure of 40 atmospheres, at the temperature of 50°, it is condensed into a transparent liquid, to which alone the name of liquid muri- atic acid properly belongs. It absorbs water with the greatest avidity, and, according to the temperature and pressure, unites with a greater or less quan- tity of that liquid. Water, at the temperature of 69°, takes up 464 times its volume of the gas, increasing one-third in bulk, and about three-fourths in weight. Water thus saturated constitutes the strong hydrated acid already described. Composition. Muriatic acid gas consists of one eq. of chlorine 35-42, and one of hydrogen 1 = 30-42; or of one volume of chlorine and one of hydro- gen, united without condensation. Medical Properties. Muriatic acid is refrigerant and antiseptic. It is exhibited, largely diluted with water, in fevers, some forms of syphilis, and to counteract phosphatic deposits in the urine. Dr. Paris has given it with success in malignant cases of typhus and scarlatina, administered in a strong infusion of quassia. It proves also a good adjunct to gargles in ulcerated sorethroat and scarlatina maligna. The dose for internal exhibition is from ten to twenty minims, in a sufficient quantity of some bland fluid, as barley water or gruel. In the composition of gargles, it may be used in the pro- portion of from half a fluidrachm to two fluidrachms, mixed with six fluid- ounces of the vehicle. (See Ac idem Muriaticum Dilutum.) Toxicological Properties. Muriatic acid, when swallowed, is highly irri- tating and corrosive, but less so than sulphuric and nitric acids. It produces blackness of the lips, fiery redness of the tongue, hiccough, violent efforts to vomit, and agonizing pain in the stomach. There is much thirst, with great restlessness, a dry and burning skin, and a small concentrated pulse. If the acid has been recently swallowed, white vapours of a pungent smell are emitted from the mouth. The best antidote is magnesia, which acts by satu- rating the acid. Soap is also useful for the same reason. In the course of the treatment, bland and mucilaginous drinks must be freely given. When inflammation supervenes, it must be treated on general principles. Muriatic acid is used in the preparation of tartaric acid, tartrate of anti- mony and potassa, oxide of antimony, tartrate of iron and potassa, muriate of morphia (Ed.), sulphate of quinia, bicarbonate of soda, strychnia, and precipitated sulphur. In the following list of officinal preparations, we shall assume that the Edinburgh College intended the use of pure muriatic acid for forming the diluted acid. Off. Prep, of Muriatic Acid. Acidum Muriaticum Dilutum, U.S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Acidum Nitromuriaticum, U.S., Dub.; Antimonii Oxydum Xitromuriaticum, Dub.; Barii Chloridum, U. S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.; Calcii Chloridum, Lond.; Calx Chlorinata, Loud.; Ferrum Ammoniatum, U. S., '..:md.; Liquor Calcii Chloridi, U. S.; Morphias Murias, U. S., Lond.; Tinc- tura Ferri Chloridi, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Zinci Chloridum, U. S. Off. Prep, of Muriatic Acid of Commerce. Calcis Murias, Ed.; Ferri Muriatis Tinctura, Ed. B. 36 Acidum Nitricum. PART I. ACIDUM NITRICUM. U. S., Lond., Dub. Nitric Acid. "Nitric acid of the specific gravity 1-5." U. S. Off. Syn. ACIDUM NITRICUM PURU3I. Pure nitric acid. ACIDUM NITRICUM. Nitric acid of commerce, Ed. Spirit of nitre; Aqua fortis; Acide nitrique, Acide azotique, Fr.; Salpetersilure, Germ.; Zalpeterzuur, Sterkwater, Dutch; Skedwatter, Swed.; Acido nitrico. Ital, Span. Nitric acid is now officinal in three forms; the strong, the commercial, and the diluted. The strong and commercial acids will be noticed here; the diluted, under another head. (See Acidum Nitricum Dilutum.) The strong acid is officinal in all the Pharmacopoeias, and is directed to have the sp. gr. 1-5 in the U.S., Lond., and Ed. Pharmacopoeias, and 1-49 in the Dublin. The commercial acid is a new officinal of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, and peculiar to it, and is defined by the College to have a density varying from 1-38 to 1-39. In the British Pharmacopoeias, the strong acid is directed to be obtained according to a given formula; but it is more properly placed in the Materia Medica list of the UT. S. Pharmacopoeia, as an article to be pur- chased from the manufacturing chemist. The usual process adopted in the laboratory for obtaining this acid, is to add to nitrate of potassa in coarse powder, contained in a retort, an equal weight of strong sulphuric acid, poured in by means of a tube or funnel, so as not to soil the neck. The materials should not occupy more than two- thirds of the capacity of the retort. A receiver being adapted, heat is ap- plied by means of a spirit-lamp, the naked fire, or a sand-bath, moderately at first, but afterwards more strongly when the materials begin to get solid, in order to bring the whole into a state of perfect fusion. Red vapours will at first arise, and afterwards disappear in the progress of the distillation. Towards its close they will be reproduced, and their reappearance will indi- cate that the process is completed. The rationale of the process, when ordinary sulphuric acid is used, is as follows. Nitrate of potassa is a dry salt, consisting of one eq. of nitric acid and one of potassa. Hydrated sulphuric acid of ordinary strength (sp. gr. 1-8433, Phillips), consists of one eq. of dry sulphuric acid, and one and a quarter eqs. of water; and hydrated nitric acid of Pharmacopoeia strength, of one eq. of dry acid, and one and a half eqs. of water. The equivalent quantities of the materials for mutual decomposition are one eq. of nitrate of potassa, and two eqs. of commercial sulphuric acid, containing two and a half eqs. of water. Two eqs. of dry sulphuric acid combine with one eq. of potassa, forming one eq. of bisulphate of potassa, which remains in the retort retaining one eq. of water; while the remaining one and a half eqs. of water from the sulphuric acid, uniting with one eq. of dry nitric acid, form one eq. of sesqui- hydrated nitric acid, which distils over. The nitric acid thus formed is, according to Mr. Phillips, the strongest procurable, and varies in density from 1-5033 to 1-504. J If, in the above process, the decomposition were performed by the strongest sulphuric acicl, the proportions, in round numbers, would be one eq. of the salt 102, and two eqs. of sulphuric acid 98, containing two eqs. of water. Now this approaches nearly to equal weights; and when in practice an equal weight of the commercial weaker acid is taken, the increased quantity merely furnishes the additional portion of water, necessary to make up two and a half PART I. Acidum Nitricum. 37 eqs. of water, which is the amount required for the bisulphate of potassa and the nitric acid formed. The British Colleges differ somewhat in the proportion of the materials employed for making this acid. The London College takes equal weights (two pounds, each,) of dried nitrate of potassa and sulphuric acid. These are mixed in a glass retort, and the nitric acid is distilled by means of a sand-bath. About two hundred and seventeen grains of crystallized carbonate of soda are saturated by one hun- dred grains of this acid. The Edinburgh College mixes in a glass retort equal weights of purified nitrate of potassa and of sulphuric acid, and distils into a cool receiver, with a moderate heat, from a sand-bath or naked gas- flame, so long as the fused material continues to give off vapour. The pale- yellow acid thus obtained may be rendered colourless by heating it gently in a retort. The nitrate is purified from the chlorides of sodium and potas- sium (the usual impurities) by two or more crystallizations; the absence of the chlorides being ascertained by the non-action of the nitrate of silver on a solution of the purified salt. The Edinburgh College has dismissed its " Acidum Nitrosum," and substituted the above for its former faulty and wasteful process for nitric acid. The Dublin College mixes one hundred parts of nitrate of potassa with ninety-seven parts of commercial sulphuric acid, "in a glass retort, and, with an apparatus adapted to collecting the acid products, distils until the residuum in the retort concretes, and again becomes liquid." The proportion of equal weights, now adopted by the Edinburgh College after the London, is the best for operations on a small scale in the laboratory. This proportion is preferred by Thenard. In operations on a large scale, where an iron vessel is used, a strong heat applied, and water placed in the receivers to condense the acid, less sulphuric acid may be advantageously em- ployed. Preparation of Nitric Acid for the Arts. Two strengths of this acid occur in the arts;—double aqua fort is, which is half the strength of concentrated nitric acid, and single aqua fortis, which is half as strong as the double. Aqua fortis is sometimes obtained by distilling a mixture of nitre and calcined sulphate of iron. By an interchange of ingredients, sulphate of potassa and nitrate of iron are formed, the latter of which, at the distilling heat, readily abandons its nitric acid. The sulphate of potassa is washed out of the residue, and the sesquioxide (peroxide) of iron which is left, is sold, under the name of colcothar, to the polishers of metals. The distillation is performed in large cast-iron retorts, lined on the inside with a thick layer of reel oxide of iron, to protect them from the action of the acid. The acid is received in large glass vessels containing water. A considerable portion of the acid is decomposed by the heat into reddish vapours, which subsequently dissolve in the water, and absorb the oxygen which had been disengaged. The acid thus obtained is red and tolerably strong, but is diluted with water before being thrown into commerce. The sp. gr. of this acid is about 1-22. In France, nitric acid is manufactured on the large scale from nitre and sulphuric acid in east-iron cylinders. The cylinders are disposed horizontally across a furnace, and are strewed internally throughout their whole length with nitre. Two circular cast-iron plates, each pierced with a hole, serve to close the ends. At one end, the sulphuric acid is poured in, and, by means of a stoneware tube connected with the other, the nitric acid is conducted to receivers. The sulphate of potassa is removed after each operation. The iron cylinders are acted upon by the acid; yet, notwithstanding this disad- vantage, the process, when conducted in such vessels, is attended with a great saving of expense. 38 Acidum Nitricum. PART I. In England, nitric acid is generally procured for the purposes of the arts, by distilling the materials in earthenware retorts, or cast-iron pots with earthen heads, connected with a series of glass or stoneware receivers contain- ing water. The proportion of sulphuric acid, employed by the manufacturer, is between one aud two equivalents to one of the salt; and hence the product has an orange-red colour, which is removed by heating the acid. In the United States, nitric acid is made on the large scale, in a distillatory apparatus, having the same general arrangement as in France and England. Sometimes a cast iron cylinder is used as in France, and sometimes a thick cast-iron pot, with an earthenware head. The pot is set in brick-work over a fire-place, and the materials having been placed in it, the head is luted on with a fat lute, and made to communicate with two receivers, either of stone- ware or glass, connected together by means of a tube. Large demijohns of giass answer the purpose of receivers very well. The incondensible pro- ducts are made to pass by means of a tube into a portion of water. The quantity of sulphuric acid employed in different establishments, varies from one-half to two-thirds of the weight of the nitre. Nitrate of soda, imported into the United States from Peru, is used by some manufacturing chemists to obtain nitric acid. One objection to this salt is that it often contains much common salt. Supposing it pure, it yields a larger amount of acid for a given weight than nitrate of potassa; but the residuum, sulphate of soda, is less valuable than sulphate of potassa. The latter salt, under the name of sal enlxum, is sold to the alum makers. Properties of Strong Nitric Acid. Nitric acid, so called from nitre, is a dense liquid, extremely sour and corrosive. It was discovered by Raymond Lully, in the 13th century, and its constituents, by Cavendish, in 1784. When perfectly pure, it is colourless; but, as usually obtained, it has a straw colour, owing to the presence of nitrous acid. Exposed to the air, it emits white fumes, possessing a disagreeable odour. By the action of light, it undergoes a slight decomposition, and becomes yellow. It acts powerfully on animal matter, producing its decomposition. On the living fibre it ope- rates as a strong caustic. It stains the skin, and most animal substances of an indelible yellow colour. On vegetable fibre it acts peculiarly, abstracting hydrogen or water, and combining with its remaining elements. When di- luted, nitric acid converts most animal and vegetable substances into oxalic, malic, and carbonic acids. The general character of its action is to impart oxygen to other bodies, which it is enabled to do in consequence of the large quantity of this element which it contains in a state of loose combination. It acidifies sulphur and phosphorus, and oxidizes all the metals, except chro- mium, tungsten, columbium, cerium, titanium, osmium, rhodium, gold, pla- tinum, and iridium. In the liquid state, it always contains water, which is essential to its existence in that state. It combines with salifiable bases and forms nitrates. When mixed with muriatic acid, mutual decomposition takes place, and a liquid is formed, capable of dissolving gold, called nitromuriatic acid or aqua regia. (See Acidum Nitromuriaticum, U.S., Dub.) When of the sp. gr. 1-42, its composition being one equivalent of dry acid to four of water, it boils at 250°. When either stronger or weaker than this, it vola- tilizes at a lower temperature; and, by losing more acid than water in the first case, and more water than acid in the second, it constantly approaches to the sp. gr. of 1-42, when its boiling point becomes stationary. Those facts in relation to the tetrahydrate of nitric acid were first observed by Dalton and have recently been confirmed by Mr. Arthur Smith, of London (Phil Mag., Dec. 1847.) " v As a nitric acid below the standard strength is necessarily employed in PART I. Acidum Nitricum. 39 many chemical and pharmaceutical operations, it often becomes important to know the proportion of dry acid, and of acid of the standard strength of 1 -5, contained in an acid of any given specific gravity. The following table, drawn up from experiments by Dr. Ure, gives information on these points. Table shoicing the Quantity of Nitric Acid (sp. gr. 1*5), and of Dry Nitric Acid, contained in 100 parts of the Acid at Different Densities. Hyd. Dry Hyd. Dry Hyd. Dry Hyd. Dry Sp.GrJ Acid Acid Sp. Gr. Acid Acid Sp. Gr. Arid Acid Sp. Gr. Acid Acid in 100 in 100 in 100 in 100 1-2947 ia 100 in 100 1-1403 in 100 in 100 _ 1-500 100 79700 1-4189 75 59-775 50 39-850 25 19-925 1-498 99 78-903 1-4147 74 58-978 1-2887 49 39-053 1 1315 24 19-128 1-4960 98 78-106 1-4107 73 58-181 1-2826 48 38-256 1-1286 23 18-331 1-4940 97 7 7'309 1-4065 72 57-384 1-2705 47 37-459 1-1227 22 17-534 1-4910 96 76-512 1-4023 71 56587 1-2705 46 36-662 1-1168 21 16-737 1-4880 95 75-715 1-3978 70 55790 1-2644 45 35-865 1-1109 20 15-940 1-4850 94 74-918 1-3945 69 54-993 1-2583 44 35068 11051 19 15143 1-4820 93 74-121 1 3882 68 54-196 1-2523 43 34-271 1-0993 18 14-346 1-4790 92 73 324 1-3833 67 53399 1-2402 42 33-474 1-0935 17 13549 1-4760 91 72-527 1-3783 66 52602 1 2402 41 32-677 1-0878 16 12-752 1-4730 90 71-73,0 1-3732 05 51-805 12341 40 31-880 1-0821 15 11-955 1-4700 89 70-933 1-3681 64 51-068 4-2277 39 31-083 i 1-0764 14 11 158 1-4670 8« 70-136 1-3630 63 50-211 4-2212 38 30-280 1-0708 13 10-361 1-4640 87 69 339 1-3579 62 49-414 11-2148 37 29 4 89 : 1-0651 12 9-564 1-4600 86 68-542 1-3529 61 48617 1-2084 36 28-692 ;l-0595 11 8-767 1-4570 85 67-745 1-3477 60 47-820 1 2019 35 27-895 1-0540 10 7970 1-4530 84 66-948 I 3427 59 47023 1-1958 34 27-098 10485 9 7173 1-4500 83 66-155 1-3377 58 4 6-226 [1-1895 33 26 301 1-0430 8 6370 1 4460 82 65354 1-3323 57 45-429 1-1833 32 25-504 1-0375 7 5-579 1-4424 81 64-557 1-3270 56 44632 1-1770 31 24-707 1-0320 6 4-782 1-4385 80 63-760 1-3216 55 13-835 1-1709 30 23-910 10267 5 3985 1-4346 79 62-963 1-3163 54 43-038 1-1648 29 23-113 1-0212 4 3-188 1-4300 78 62-166 13110 53 42241 1-1587 28 22-316 10159 3 2-391 1-4269 77 61-369 1-3056 52 41-444 1-1526 27 21-519 1-0106 2 1-594 1-4228 76 60-572 1-3001 51 10-647 1-1465 26 20-722 1-0053 1 0-797 Nitric acid, when uncombined, is recognised by its dissolving copper with the production of red vapours, and by its forming nitre when saturated with potassa. When in the form of a nitrate, it is detected by its action on gold- leaf, after the addition of muriatic acid, in consequence of the evolution of chlorine; or it may be discovered, according to Dr. O'Shaughnessy, by heat- ing the supposed nitrate in a test tube with a drop of sulphuric acid, and then adding a crystal of morphia. If nitric acid be present, it will be set free by the sulphuric acid, and reddened by the morphia. The same effect is pro- duced by brucia; as also by commercial strychnia, on account of its containing brucia. To prevent all ambiguity, arising from the accidental presence of nitric acid in the sulphuric acid employed, the operator should satisfy himself by a separate experiment, that the latter acid has no power to produce the characteristic colour with morphia. The most common impurities in nitric acid are sulphuric acid and chlorine; the former derived from the acid used in the process, the latter from common salt, which is not an unfrequent impurity in nitre. They may be detected by adding a few drops of the solution of chloride of barium and of nitrate of silver to separate portions of the nitric acid, diluted with three or four parts • of distilled water. If these precipitants should produce a cloud, the chloride will indicate sulphuric acid, and the nitrate, chlorine. These impurities may 40 Acidum Nitricum. PART I. be separated bv adding nitrate of silver in slight excess, which will precipitate them as chloride and sulphate of silver, and then distilling nearly to dryness in very clean vessels. The chlorine may be got rid of, without the use ot nitrate of silver, by distilling the commercial acid, and rejecting the first eighth or fourth which comes over, according to the quality of the acid, and reserving that which passes subsequently, which is absolutely pure. ((h. Barreswil.) The sulphuric acid may also be got rid of by distilling from a fresh portion of nitre: These impurities, however, do not in the least affect the medicinal properties of the acid. Properties of the Nitric Acid of Commerce.—This has the general proper- ties of the strong acid. The Edinburgh acid of commerce is characterized as colourless or nearly so, and, if diluted with distilled water, as precipitating but slightly, or not at all, with solution of nitrate of baryta, or of nitrate of silver. According to M. Lembert, the nitric acid of commerce sometimes contains iodine, probably derived from the native nitrate of soda, in which he found that element. It may be detected by saturating the suspected acid with a carbonated alkali, pouring in a little clear solution of starch, and then adding a few drops of sulphuric acid. If iodine be present, the sulphuric acid will set it free, and the starch solution will become blue. Composition. The officinal nitric acid is a sesquihydrate, and consists of one eq. of dry acid 54, and one and a half eqs. of water 13-5 = 67-5. The dry acid consists of one eq. of nitrogen 14, and five eqs. of ox}^gen 40 = 54; or, in volumes, of one volume of nitrogen and two and a half volumes of oxygen, supposed to be condensed, to form nitric acid vapour, into one volume. The strongest possible liquid acid consists, according to Thenard, of one eq. of dry acid and one of water, and has the sp. gr. 1-513. Mr. Phillips, however, thinks that the strongest acid procurable is the officinal sesquihydrate, which does not exceed the density of 1-504. (See p. 36.) The experiments of Mr. Arthur Smith, of London, rather confirm the statement of Thenard. He obtained a perfectly colourless hydrate, which boiled at 184°, and had a sp. gr. of 1-517 at 60°, and which nearly approached in composition, a mono- hydrate. This acid, even at the boiling temperature, had not the slightest action on tin or iron. (Phil. Mag., Dec. 1847.) Medical Properties. Nitric acid is tonic and antiseptic. Largely diluted with water, it forms a good acid drink in febrile diseases, especially typhus. In syphilis, and in the chronic hepatitis of India, it is highly extolled by Dr. Scott, formerly of Bombay. It has occasionally excited ptyalism. It cannot be depended upon as a remedy in syphilis, but is often an excellent adjuvant in worn-out constitutions, either to prepare the system for the use of mercury, or to lessen the effects of that metal on the constitution. Externally, it has been used with advantage as a lotion to ulcers, of the strength of about twelve minims to the pint of water. This practice originated with Sir Everard Home and is particularly applicable to those ulcers which are superficial and not disposed to cicatrize. In sloughing phagedena, strong nitric acid is one of the best remedies, applied by means of a piece of lint, tied round a small stick. As nitric acid dissolves both uric acid and the phosphates, it was sup- posed to be applicable to those cases of gravel in which the uric acid and the phosphates are mixed; but experience has not confirmed its efficacy in such cases. Nevertheless, when the sabulous deposit depends upon certain states of disordered digestion, this acid may prove serviceable by restoring the tone of the stomach. The dose is from five to twenty minims in three fluidounces or more of water, given three or four times a-day. The diluted acid is more convenient for prescription. Nitric acid, in the state of vapour, is considered useful for destroying con- part I. Acidum Nitricum.—Acidum Pyroligneum. 41 tagion, and hence is employed in purifying gaols, hospitals, ships, and other infected places. It is prepared for use by the extemporaneous decomposition of nitre by sulphuric acid. Half an ounce of powdered nitre is put into a saucer, which is placed in an earthen dish containing heated sand. On the nitre, two drachms of sulphuric acid are then poured, and the nitric acid fumes are immediately disengaged. The quantities just indicated are con- sidered to be sufficient for disinfecting a cubic space of ten feet. Fumigation in this manner was first introduced by an English physician, Dr. Carmichael Smyth, who received from the British Parliament, for its discovery, a reward of five thousand pounds. It may be well doubted whether the nitric acid, as a disinfector, is at all comparable to chlorine; and since the introduction of chlorinated lime, and the solution of chlorinated soda as disinfecting agents, this gas has been brought into so manageable a form, that its use may very well supersede that of every other agent employed with similar intentions. (See Calx Chlorinata and Liquor Sodse Chloriuatx.) Pnperties as a Poison. Nitric acid, in its concentrated state, is one of the mineral poisons- most frequently taken for the purpose of self-destruction. Immediately after swallowing it, there are produced burning heat in the mouth, oesophagus, and stomach, acute pain, disengagement of gas, abundant eructa- tions, nausea, and hiccough. These effects are soon followed by repeated and excessive vomiting of matter having a peculiar odour and taste, tumefaction of the abdomen with excpiisite tenderness, a feeling of coldness on the surface, horripilations, icy coldness of the extremities, small depressed pulse, horrible anxieties, continual tossings and contortions, and extreme thirst. The breath becomes extremely fetid, and the countenance exhibits a complete picture of suffering. The cases are almost uniformly fatal. The best remedies are repeated doses of magnesia as an antidote, mucilaginous drinks in large quan- tities, olive or almond oil in very large doses, emollient fomentations, and clysters. Until magnesia can be obtained, an immediate resort to a solution of soap in large amount will be proper* Nitric acid is used to prepare Acidum Phosphoricum Dilutum, Lond.; Antimonii et Potassaj Tartras, U S.; Antimonii Oxydum Nitromuriaticum, Dub.; Calomelas, Ed.; Ferri Ferrocyanuretum, U. S.; Ferri Oxidum Hy- dratum, U. S.; Ferri Oxidum Nigrum, Ed.; Hydrargyri Oxidum Rubrum, U. S., Loud.; Sublimatus Corrosivus, Ed.; Zinci Chloridum, U. S. In pre- paring Ferrugo (Ferri Oxidum Hydratum, U. S.), the Edinburgh College uses its nitric acid of commerce. Off. Prep, of Nitric Acid. Acidum Nitricum Dilutum, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Acidum Nitromuriaticum, U. S., Dub.; Argenti Nitras, U S., Lond., Ed.; Bismuthi Subnitras, U. S., Lond.; Spiritus .ZEtberis Nitrici, Lond., Ed., Dnb.; Unguentum Acidi Nitrici, Dub.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis, U. S., Loud., Ed., Dub. Off. Prep, of Nitric Acid of Commerce. Bismuthum Album, Ed. B. ACIDUM PYROLIGNEUM. Ed. Pyroligneous Acid. " Diluted acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood." Ed. Acide pyro-ligneux, Fr.; Breuzliche Holzsiiure, Holzessig, Germ.; Acido pyrolignico, Ital. Wood, when charred, yields many volatile products, among which are an acid liquor, empyreumatic oil, and tar containing creasote and some other proximate principles. When the carbonization is performed in close vessels, 42 Acidum Pyroligneum. PART I. these products, which are lost in the ordinary process of charring, may be collected, and, at the same time, a large amount of charcoal is obtained. The carbonization of wood in close vessels, with a view to preserve the con- densible products, was first put in practice by Mollerat m Fr""<-'c- I he appa- ratus employed at Choisy, near Paris, is thus described by Ihenaru. It consists of, 1st, a furnace with a movable top; 2d, a strong sheet-iron cylin- der, sufficiently capacious to contain a cord of wood, and furnished with a sheet-iron cover; 3d, a sheet-iron tube proceeding horizontally from the upper and lateral part of the cylinder to the distance of about a toot; 4th, a copper tube connected with the last, which is bent in such a-manner as to plunge successively to the bottom of two casks filled with water, and, after rising out of the second, is bent back, and made to terminate m the furnace. At the bottom of each cask, the tube dilates into a ball, from the under part of which another tube proceeds, which, passing water-tight through the cask, terminates above a vessel, intended to receive the condensible products. The sheet-iron cylinder, being filled with wood, and closed by luting on its cover with fire-clay, is let down into the furnace by the help of a crane. _ The fire is then applied, and, when the process is completed, the cylinder is re- moved by the same means, to be replaced by another. During the carbon- ization, the volatile products are received by the tube; and those which are condensible, being the pyroligneous acid and tar, are condensed by the water in the casks, and collect in the lower bends of the tubes, from which they run into the several recipients; while the incondensible products, being inflamma- ble gases, are discharged into the furnace, where, by their combustion, they assist in maintaining the heat. Eight hundred pounds of wood afford, on au average, thirty-five gallons of acid liquor, weighing about three hundred pounds. This is the crude pyroligneous acid, sometimes called pyroligneous vinegar. It is a dark brown liquid, having a strong smoky smell, and consists of acetic acid, diluted with more or less water, and holding in solution chiefly tar and empyreumatic oil. The Edinburgh officinal pyroligneous acid is this crude acid purified. Its purification is effected by repeated distillation, and then neutralizing it with lime or carbonate of soda. The acetate formed is decomposed by sulphuric acid, and the disengaged acetic acid repeatedly distilled, until it is obtained nearly colourless. Properties. The pyroligneous acid of the Edinburgh College is a pale straw-coloured liquid, having a strong acetic odour, scarcely empyreumatic if well prepared. Its density must be at least 1-034. One hundred minims of acid of this density neutralize fifty-three grains of carbonate of soda. When acid of this strength is diluted with three parts of water, it forms the wood vinegar of the shops. The acid is often stronger than this. The Scotch acid has sometimes the density of 1-042, and the English, a specific gravity nearly as high as 1-050. (Christison.) As tests of its freedom from copper, lead, and sulphuric acid, the Edinburgh College directs that it should be "unaf- fected by sulphuretted hydrogen or solution of nitrate of baryta." Accord- ing to M. Deschamps, it sometimes contains arsenic, probably derived from arseniferous sulphuric acid, used in its preparation. Thus it appears that this new officinal of the Edinburgh College is nothing but acetic acid, whose density is not to be under 1-034, but may be hio-her. This want of precision in the specific gravity of the acid is objectionable. The name, too, given by the College is indefensible. A complex product of distillation, characterized by the presence of an acid, may be designated by an unchemical name; but the convenience of such a nomenclature is no part I. Acidum Pyroligneum.—Acidum Sulphuricum. 43 reason why the acid, when separated, should be called by the same name, merely on account of its source. On the contrary, the nature of the acid and not its source should determine its appellation. Medical Properties and Uses. Pyroligneous acid, as defined by the Edin- burgh College, is an acetic acid of medium strength, and, therefore, applica- ble to the general purposes of that acid. It is accordingly employed by the College for forming several acetates. Uses of the Crude Acid. The crude acid, in a dilute state, has been used as an application to gangrene and ill-conditioned ulcers. It acts on the prin- ciple of an antiseptic and stimulant, the former property being probably chiefly due to the presence of crcasote. Several cases in which it was suc- cessfully employed, are reported in a paper by Dr. T. Y. Simons, of Charles- ton, S. C. (Am. Journ. of Med, Sci, 0. S., v. 310.) The crude acid is advantageously applied to the preservation of animal food. Mr. William Ramsay (Edin. Phil. Journ., iii. 21) made some inte- resting experiments with it for that purpose. Herrings and other fish, simply dipped in the acid and afterwards dried in the shade, were effectually preserved, and, when eaten, were found very agreeable to the taste. Her- rings slightly cured with salt, by being sprinkled with it for six hours, then drained, next immersed in pyroligneous acid for a few seconds, and afterwards dried in the shade for two months, were found by Mr. Ramsay to be of fine quality and flavour. Fresh beef, dipped in the acid in the summer season for the short space of a minute, was perfectly sweet in the following spring. Professor Silliman states that one quart of the acid, added, to the common pickel for a barrel of hams, at the time they are laid down, will impart to them the smoked flavour as perfectly as if they had undergone the ordinary process of smoking. Off. Prep. Acetum Cantharidis, Ed.; Extractum Colchici Aceticum, Ed.; Morphiae Acetas, Ed.; Pluinbi Acetas, Ed.; Potassae Acetas, Ed. B. ACIDUM SULPHURICUM. U.S., Lond. Sulphuric Acid. "Sulphuric Acid of the specific gravity 1-845." U.S. "Acidum Sul- phuricum. Hujus pondus specificum est 1-845." Lond, Off. Si/n. ACIDUM SULPHURICUM. Sulphuric acid of commerce. Ed.; ACIDUM SULPHURICUM YEN ALE. Dub. Oil of vitriol; Acide sulfurique, Fr.; Vitriolol, Schwefelsilure, Germ.; Acido solfb- rico. Ital.; Acido sulfurico, Span. Sulphuric acid is placed in the Materia Medica list of all the Pharmaco- poeias noticed in this work, as an acid to be obtained from the wholesale manufacturer. Its officinal sp. gr., as given in the U. S. and London Phar- macopoeias, is 1-845; in the Edinburgh, 1-840 or near it; and in the Dublin, 1-850. Preparation. Sulphuric acid is obtained by burning sulphur, mixed with one-eighth of its weight of nitre, over a stratum of water, contained in a chamber lined with sheet lead. If the sulphur were burned by itself, the product would be sulphurous acid, which contains only two-thirds as much oxygen as sulphuric acid. The object of the nitre is to furnish, by its de- composition, the requisite additional quantity of oxygen. To understand the process, it is necessary to bear in mind that nitric acid contains five, sulphuric acid three, sulphurous acid two, nitric oxide two, hyponitrous acid three, and nitrous acid four equivalents of oxygen, combined with one equiv. of their 44 Acidum Sulphuricum. part I. several radicals. One equiv. of sulphur decomposes one equiv. of nitric acid of the nitre, and becomes one equiv. of sulphuric acid, which combines with the potassa of the nitre to form sulphate of potassa. In the mean time, the nitric acid, by furnishing three eqs. of oxygen to form the sulphuric acid, is converted into one equiv. of nitric oxide, which is evolved. This gas, by combining with two eqs. of the oxygen of the air, immediately becomes nitrous acid vapour, which diffuses itself throughout the leaden chamber. AVhile these changes are taking place, the remainder of the sulphur is undergoing combustion, and filling the chamber with sulphurous acid gas. One equiv. of nitrous acid gas, and one equiv. of sulphurous acid gas, being thus inter- mingled in the chamber, react on each other, by the aid of moisture, so as to form a crystalline compound, consisting of one equiv. of sulphuric acid and one equiv. of hyponitrous acid, united with a portion of water. This com- pound falls into the water of the chamber, and instantly undergoes decompo- sition. The sulphuric acid dissolves in the water, and the hyponitrous acid, resolved, at the moment of its extrication, into nitrous acid and nitric oxide, escapes with effervescence. The nitrous acid thus set free, as well as that reproduced by the nitric oxide uniting with the oxygen of the atmosphere, again reacts with sulphurous acid and humidity, and gives rise to a second portion of the crystalline compound, which undergoes the same changes as the first. In this manner, the nitric oxide performs the part of a carrier of oxygen from the air of the chamber to the sulphurous acid, to convert the latter into sul- phuric acid. The residue of the combustion of the sulphur and nitre consists of sulphate of potassa, and is sold to the alum makers. Preparation on the Large Scale. The leaden chambers vary in size, but are generally from thirty to thirty^-two feet square, and from sixteen to twenty feet high. The floor is slightly inclined to facilitate the drawing off of the acid, and covered to the depth of several inches with water. There are seve- ral modes of burning the mixture of sulphur and nitre, and otherwise con- ducting the process; but that pursued in France is as follows. Near one of the sides of the chamber, and about a foot from its bottom, a cast iron tray is placed over a furnace, resting on the ground, its mouth opening externally, and its chimney having no communication with the chamber. On this tray the mixture is placed, being introduced by a square opening which may be shut by means of a sliding door, and the lower side of which is level with the surface of the tray. The door being shut, the fire is gradually raised in the furnace, whereby the sulphur is inflamed, and the products already spoken of are generated. When the combustion is over, the door is raised, and the sulphate of potassa removed. A fresh portion of the mixture is then placed on the tray, and the air of the chamber is renewed by opening a door and valve situated at its opposite side. Next, the several openings are closed, and the fire is renewed. These operations are repeated with fresh portions of the mixture, every three or four hours, until the water at the bottom of the chamber has reached the sp. gr. of about 1-5. It is then drawn off and trans- ferred to leaden boilers, where it is boiled down until it has attained the sp. gr. of 1-7. At this density it begins to act on lead, and, therefore, its fur- ther concentration must be conducted in large glass or platinum retorts where it is evaporated as long as water distils over. This water is slightly acid and is thrown back into the chamber. When the acid is fully°concentrated opaque grayish-white vapours arise, the appearance of which indicates the completion of the process. The acid is allowed to cool, and is then transferred to large demijohns of green glass, called carboys, which, for greater security are surrounded with straw or wicker-work, and packed in square boxes or in flour-barrels sawed in two. " '; PART I. Acidum Sulphuricum. 45 The method of manufacturing this acid, as described by Mr. Parkes, is somewhat different. The mixture is usually spread on iron or leaden plates, resting on stands of lead within the chamber, placed at some distance from each other, and a foot or two above the surface of the water. The sulphur is then lighted by means of a hot iron, and the doors closed. If the sulphur and nitre be well mixed, the combustion will last for thirty or forty minutes; and in three hours from the time of lighting, the condensation of the gases having in that interval been completed, the doors are thrown open for from fifteen to thirty minutes, to admit fresh atmospheric air, and to allow time for the residuary nitrogen to escape, preparatory to the next burning. These operations are repeated with fresh charges of the mixture, every four hours, both night and day, until the water has attained the requisite acid impregna- tion, when it is transferred to leaden boilers, and otherwise treated as just explained. The quantity of the charge for each burning is determined by the size of the chamber, allowing one pound of the mixture for every three hundred cubic feet of atmospheric air which it may contain. As, in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, the nitre is the most expensive material, many plans have been resorted to, for the purpose of obtaining the nitrous acid at a cheaper rate. One plan is to procure it by treating molasses or starch with common nitric acid. In this case, the manufacturer obtains oxalic acid as a collateral product, which serves to diminish his expenses. In some manufactories of sulphuric acid, nitrate of soda is substituted for nitre. The advantages of the former salt are its greater cheapness, and the circumstance of its containing a larger proportional quantity of nitric acid. A new method is now practised by some manufacturers for making sulphuric acid. It consists in filling the leaden chamber with sulphurous acid by the ordinary combustion of sulphur, and afterwards admitting into it nitrous acid and steam. The nitrous acid is generated from a mixture of sulphuric acid with nitrate of potassa or nitrate of soda, placed in an iron pan, over the burning sulphur in the sulphur furnace, where the draught serves to conduct the nitrous acid fumes into the chamber. As, under these circumstances, sulphurous and nitrous acid, and the vapour of water are intermingled in the chamber, it follows that all the conditions/necessary for generating the crys- talline compound, already alluded^to, are present. Of course, the rationale of this new process is the same as that already given. For making sulphuric acid M. Schneider has announced a new process, which consists in converting sulphurous directly into sulphuric acid by means of a porous body, such as pumice-stone. By this process it is asserted that sulphuric acid of full strength may be manufactured without leaden chambers or platinum retorts. (Chem. Gaz., April 1, 1848, from Comptes Rendus.) What is said above relates to the mode of preparing common sulphuric acid; but there is another kind known on the continent of Europe by the name of the fuming sidphuric acid of Nordhmisen, so called from its proper- ties, and a place in Saxony where it is largely manufactured. This acid is obtained by distilling dried sulphate of iron in large stoneware retorts, heated to redness, and connected with receivers of glass or stoneware. The acid distils over, and sesquioxide of iron is left in the form of colcothar. The process for making sulphuric acid by the combustion of sulphur with nitre was first mentioned by Lemery, and afterwards put in practice by an English physician of the name of Ward. As practised by him the combus- tion was conducted in very large glass vessels. About the year 1740, the great improvement of leaden chambers was introduced by Dr. Roebuck, an eminent physician of Birmingham, where the first apparatus of this kind was erected. In consequence of this improvement, the acid immediately fell to 46 Acidum Sulphuricum. PART I. one-fourth of its former price, and was employed for many purposes for which previously it could not be used on account of its cost. _ ... Properties. Sulphuric acid, or, as it is commonly called, oil of vitriol, is a dense, colourless, inodorous liquid, of an oleaginous appearance, and possessing strong corrosive qualities. On the living fibre, it acts as a powerful caustic. In the liquid form, it always contains water, which is essential to nonexistence in that form. When pure and as highly concentrated as possible, its sp. gr. is 1-845, a fluidounce weighing a small fraction over fourteen drachms. When of this specific gravity, it contains about 18 per cent, of water. Whenever its density exceeds this, the presence of sulphate of lead, or of some other im- purity is indicated. The commercial acid is seldom of full strength. Ac- cording to Mr. Phillips, it has generally a sp. gr. of only 1-8433, and contains 22 per cent, of water. The strong acid boils at 620°, and freezes at 15° below zero. When diluted, its boiling point is lowered. When of the sp. gr. 1-78, it freezes above 32°; and hence it is hazardous for manufacturers to keep an acid of that strength in glass vessels in cold weather, as they are liable to burst. With salifiable bases, it forms a numerous class of salts, called sul- phates. It acts powerfully on organic bodies, whether vegetable or animal, depriving them of the elements of water, developing charcoal, and turning them black. A small piece of cork or wood dropped into the acid, will, on this principle, render it of a dark colour. It absorbs water with avidity, and is used as a desiccating agent. It has been ascertained by Professors W. B. and R. D. Rogers to be capable of absorbing 94 per cent, of carbonic acid gas, an interesting fact having an important bearing on analytic operations. When diluted with pure water, it ought to remain limpid, and, when heated sufficiently in a platinum spoon, the fixed residue should not exceed the four- hundredth part of the acid employed. When present in small quantities in solution, it is detected unerringly by chloride of barium, which causes a pre- cipitate of sulphate of baryta. The most usual impurities in it are the sul- phates of potassa and lead, the former derived from the residue on the iron tray, the latter from the leaden boilers in which the acid is concentrated. Occasionally nitre is added to render dark samples of acid colourless. This addition will give rise to the impurity of sulphate of potassa. These impuri- ties often amount to three or four per cent. The commercial acid cannot be expected to be absolutely pure; but, when properly manufactured, it ought not to contain more than one-fourth of one per cent, of impurity. The fixed impurities are discoverable by evaporating a portion of the suspected acid, when they will remain. If sulphate of lead be present, the acid will become turbid on dilution with an equal bulk of water. This impurity is not detected by sulphuretted hydrogen, unless the sulphuric acid be saturated with an alkali. If only a scanty muddiness arises, the acid is of good commercial quality. Other impurities occur in the commercial sulphuric acid. Nitrous acid is always present in more or less amount. It may be detected by gently pour- ing a solution of green vitriol over the commercial acid jn a tube; when the solution, at the line of contact, will acquire a deep red colour, due to the sesquioxidation of the iron by the nitrous acid. The commercial acid is not to be rejected on account of the indications of this test, unless it shows the presence of nitrous acid in unusual quantity. For the mode of removing this im- purity by means of sugar, see Acidum Sulphuricum Purum. AVhen sulphate of potassa is fraudulently introduced into the acid to increase its density it may be detected by saturating the acid with ammonia and heating to redness in a crucible; when the sulphate of ammonia will be expelled, and the sulphate of potassa left behind. The dangerous impurity of arsenic is sometimes pre- PART I. Acidum Sulphuricum. 47 sent in sulphuric acid. In consequence of the high price of Sicilian sulphur, some of the English manufacturers at one time employed iron pyrites for the purpose of furnishing the necessary sulphurous acid in the manufacture of oil of vitriol. As the pyrites usually contained arsenic, it happened that the sulphurous acid fumes were accompanied by this metal, and thus the sulphuric acid became contaminated. From 22 to 35 grains of arsenious acid have been found in 20 fluidounces of oil of vitriol of English manufacture, by Dr. Gr. 0. Rees and Mr. Watson. To detect this impurity, the acid, previously diluted with distilled water, must be examined by Marsh's test. (See Acidum Ar- seniosum.) According to Dupasquier, the arsenic is present in sulphuric acid in the form of arsenic acid, and is not fully precipitated by sulphuretted hydro- gen; but it may be completely separated by the sulphuret of potassium, sodium, or barium, but preferably by the last. The same chemist states that tin is sometimes present in commercial sulphuric acid, derived from the solder- ings of the leaden chambers. It may be discovered by sulphuretted hydrogen, which produces a precipitate of sulphuret of tin, convertible by nitric acid into the white insoluble deutoxide of tin. If the precipitate should be the mixed sulphurets of arsenic and tin, the former is converted by nitric acid into arsenic acid and dissolved, and the latter into deutoxide and left. As sulphuric acid is often under the standard strength, it becomes import- ant to know how much hydrated sulphuric acid of the standard specific gra- vity, and of dry acid, is contained in an acid of any given density. The following table, drawn up by Dr. Ure, gives this information. Table of the Quantity of Hydrated Sulphuric Acid of Sp. Gr. 1-8485, and of Dry Acid, in 100 parts of Dilute Acid at Different Densities. Hyd. Dry Hyd. Dry Hyd. Dry Hyd. Dry Sp. Gr. Acid Acid Sp. Gr. Acid Acid Sp. Gr. Acid Acid lSp. Gr. Add Acid in 100 in 100 in 100 in 100 1-3884 in 100 in 100 in 100 in 100 1-8485 100 81-54 1-G520 75 61-15 50 40-77 1-1792 25 20-38 " 1-8475 99 80-72 1-6415 74 60-34 1-3788 49 39-95 1-1706 24 19-57 1-S4G0 98 79-90 10321 73 59-52 1-3697 48 39-14 1-1626 23 18-75 1-8439 97 79-09 1-6204 72 58-71 1-3612 47 38 32 1-1549 22 17-94 1-8410 9G 78-28 1-6090 71 57-89 1-3530 4G 37-51 1-1480 21 1712 1-837G 95 77-46 1-5975 70 5708 1-3440 45 30-69 11-1410 20 16-31 1-8336 94 76 G5 1-5868 09 56-26 1-3345 44 35-88 1-1330 19 15-49 1-8290 93 75-83 1-5760 68 55-45 1-3255 43 3506 1-1246 18 14-68 1-8233 92 75-02 1-5648 67 54-63 1-3165 42 34-25 1-1105 17 13-86 1-8179 91 74-20 1-5503 06 53-82 1-3080 41 33-43 1-1090 • 16 1305 1-8115 90 73-39 1-5390 G5 53-00 1-2999 40 3261 1-1019 15 12-23 1-8043 89 72-57 1-5280 64 52-18 1-2913 39 31-80 1-0953 14 11-41 1-7962 SS 71-75 1-5170 63 51-37 1-2826 38 3098 10887 13 1060 1-7870 87 70-94 1-5066 62 50-55 1-2740 37 30-17 1-0809 12 9-78 1-7774 8G 70-12 1-4960 61 49-74 1-2054 30 29.35 1-0743 11 8-97 1-7673 85 69-31 1-4860 60 48-92 1-2572 35 28-54 1-0082 10 8-15 1-7570 84 68-49 1-4760 59 48-11 1-2490 34 27-72 1-0614 9 7-34 1-7465 S3 67-68 1-4660 58 47-29 1-2409 33 26-91 1-0544 8 6-52 1-7360 82 66-86 1-4560 57 46-48 1-2334 32 26 09 1-0477 7 571 1-7245 81 66-05 1-4460 56 45-66 1-2260 31 25-28 1-0405 6 4-89 1-7120 80 65-23 1-4360 55 44-85 1-2184 30 24-46 1-0336 5 4-08 1-6993 79 6442 1-4265 54 44-03 1-2108 29 23-65 10268 4 3.26 1-6870 78 63-60 1-4170 53 43-22 1-2032 28 22-83 1-0206 3 1-636 1 0750 77 62-78 1-4073 52 42-40 1-1950 27 2201 1-0140 2 1-63 1-G630 70 Gl-97 1-3977 51 41-58 1-1870 20 21-20 1-0074 1 0-1854 The only way to obtain pure sulphuric acid is by distillation. Owing to 48 Acidum Sulphuricum. part I. the high boiling point of this acid, the operation is rather precarious, in con- sequence of the danger of the fracture of the retort, from the sudden concus- sions to which the boiling acid gives rise. Dr. Ure recommends that a retort of the capacity of from two to four quarts be used in distilling a pint of acid. This is connected, by means of a wide glass tube three or four feet long, with a receiver surrounded with cold water. All the vessels must be perfectly clean, and no luting is employed. The retort is then to be cautiously heated by a small furnace of charcoal. It is useful to put into the retort a few sharp-pointed pieces of glass, or slips of platinum foil, with the view of diminishing the shocks produced by the acid vapour. The dis- tilled product ought not to be collected until a dense grayish-white vapour is generated, the appearance of which is a sign that the pure concentrated acid is coming over. If this vapour should not immediately appear, it shows that the acid subjected to distillation is not of full strength, and the distilled product, until this point is attained, will be an acid water. In the distilla- tion of sulphuric acid, M. Lembert uses fragtnents of the mineral called quart- zite, which act by their asperities in breaking the shocks which the boiling vapour would otherwise occasion. After a time the fragments get worn, and must be changed. (Journ. de Pharm., Sep. 1847.) The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges give formulae for purifying the com- mercial acid. (See Acidum Sulphuricum Purum.) The strong acid is not convenient for medicinal use; and hence a formula for a diluted acid is given in the United States Pharmacopoeia, following the example of the British Colleges. (See Acidum Sulphuricum Dilutum.) Composition. The hydrated acid of the sp. gr. 1-845, consists of one equi- valent of dry acid 40, and one eq. of water 9=49; and the dry acid, of one eq. of sulphur 16, and three eqs. of oxygen 24=40. The ordinary commer- cial acid (sp. gr. 1-8433) consists, according to Mr. Phillips, of one eq. of dry acid, and one and a quarter eqs. of water; or four eqs. of the former to five of the latter. The hydrated acid of Nordhausen has a density as high as 1-89 or 1-9, and consists of two eqs. of dry acid, and one eq. of water. This acid is particularly adapted to the purpose of dissolving indigo for dyeing the Saxon blue. When heated gently in a retort, connected with a dry and refri- gerated receiver, dry or anhydrous sulphuric acid distils over, and the common protohydrated acid remains behind. The anhydrous acid under 64° is in the form of small colourless crystals, resembling asbestos. It is tenacious, diffi- cult to cut, and may be moulded in the fingers like wax, without acting on them. Exposed to the air, it emits a thick opaque vapour of an acid smell. Above 64° it is a liquid, very nearly of the density of 2. Medical Properties. Sulphuric acid is tonic, antiseptic, and refrigerant. Internally it is always administered in a dilute state. For its medical pro- perties in this form, the reader is referred to the title, Acidum Sidphuricum Dilutum. Externally it is sometimes employed as a caustic; but, from its liquid form, it is very inconvenient for that purpose. It is employed also as an ointment, mixed with lard, in swellings of the knee-joint and other affec- tions, in the proportion of a drachm to an ounce. (See Unguentum Acidi Sul- phurici, Dub.) Charpie, corroded by it, forms a good application to gangrene. When mixed with saffron to the consistence of a ductile paste, Velpeau found this acid to form a convenient caustic, not liable to spread or to be absorbed and giving rise to an eschar which is promptly detached. Toxicological Properties. The symptoms of poisoning by this acid are the following:—Burning heat in the throat and stomach, extreme fetidness of the breath, nausea and excessive vomitings of black or reddish matter excruciating pains in the bowels, difficulty of breathing, extreme anguish a part i. Acidum Sulphuricum.—Acidum Tartaricum. 49 feeling of cold on the skin, great prostration, constant tossing, convulsions, and death. The intellectual faculties remain unimpaired. Frequently the uvula, palate, tonsils, and other parts of the fauces are covered with black or white sloughs. The treatment consists in the administration of large quantities of magnesia, or, if this be not at hand, of a solution of soap. The safety of the patient depends upon the greatest promptitude in the application of the antidotes. After the poison has been neutralized, mucilaginous and other bland drinks must be taken in large quantities. Uses in the Arts. Sulphuric acid is more used in the arts than any other acid. It is employed to obtain many of the other acids; to extract soda from common salt; to make alum and sulphate of iron, when these salts command a good price, and the acid is cheap; to dissolve indigo; .to prepare skins for tanning; to prepare phosphorus, chlorinated lime or bleaching salt, sulphate of magnesia, &c. The arts of bleaching and dyeing cause its principal con- sumption. Sulphuric acid is used as a chemical agent, in one or more of the Pharma- copoeias commented on in this work, for preparing the following officinals:— acetic, hydrocyanic, muriatic, and nitric acids; sulphuric ether and spirit of nitric ether; carbonic acid water and chlorine water; ferrocyanuret, hydrated oxide, and black oxide of iron; mild and corrosive chlorides of mercury; solution of chlorinated soda; bicarbonates of potassa and soda; and phosphate of soda. Off. Prep. Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Acidum Sulphuricum Dilutum, U.S.,Lond.,Ed.; Acidum Sulphuricum Purum, Ed., Dub.; Ferri Sulphas, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Hydrargyri Persulphas, Dub.; Hydrargyri Sulphas Flavus, U. S.; Magnesiae Sulphas Purum, Dub.; Oleum jEthereum, U.S., Lond.; Potassa? Bisulphas, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassae Sulphas, Lond.; Quinise Sulphas, U.S., Lond., Ed.; Unguentum Acidi Sulphurici, Dub.; Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum, U. S.; Zinci Sulphas, U. S., Dub. B. ACIDUM TARTARICUM. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tartaric Acid. Acide tartrique, Fr.; Weinsteinsaure, Germ.; Acido tartarico, Ital.,Span. Tartaric acid is placed among the preparations by the British Colleges; but stands more properly, in the United States Pharmacopoeia, in the Materia Medica list, as an article to be purchased from the manufacturing chemist. It is extracted from tartar, a peculiar substance which concretes on the inside of wine-casks, being deposited there during the fermentation of the wine. Tartar, when purified and reduced to powder, is the cream of tartar of the shops, and is found to consist of two equivalents of tartaric acid and one of potassa. (See Potassee Bitartras.) Tartaric acid was first obtained, in a separate state, by Scheele in 1770. The process consists in saturating the excess of acid in the bitartrate of potassa or cream of tartar with carbonate of lime, and decomposing the resulting in- soluble tartrate of lime by sulphuric acid, which precipitates in combination with the lime, and liberates the tartaric acid. The equivalent quantities are one eq. of bitartrate, and one of carbonate of lime. The process, when thus conducted, furnishes the second equivalent, or excess of acid only of the bitar- trate. The other equivalent may be procured by decomposing the neutral tartrate of potassa, remaining in the solution after the precipitation of the 4 50 Acidum Tartaricun. part I. tartrate of lime, by chloride of calcium in excess. By double decomposition, chloride of potassium will be formed in solution, and a second portion of tar- trate of lime will precipitate, which may be decomposed by sulphuric acid in the same manner as the first portion. The process, when thus conducted, will furnish twice as much tartaric acid, as when the excess of acid only is saturated and set free. Preparation on the Large Scale. The mode of obtaining this acid, on the large scale, is as follows. Mix intimately, by grinding in a mortar and pass- ing through a sieve, 100 parts of bitartrate of potassa (cream of tartar) with 26£ parts of pulverized chalk. Throw the mixture, by spoonfuls, into 8 or 10 times its weight of boiling water, waiting until the effervescence shall have ceased, before every fresh addition. Examine the solution by litmus paper, and, if not neutral, make it so by the addition of a little chalk. Wash the tartrate of lime with abundance of cold water, and add to it a quantity of sul- phuric acid equal in weight to the chalk employed, and diluted with from 10 to 16 times its weight of water. Agitate the mixture frequently for 24 hours, and then test a small portion of the clear solution for sulphuric acid by acetate of lead. A precipitate will be formed, which is either tartrate of lead, or a mixture of tartrate and sulphate of lead. If the former, it will dissolve en- tirely in dilute nitric acid; if the latter, only partially, as the sulphate of lead is insoluble in that acid. If a slight excess of sulphuric acid should be indi- cated, it is of no consequence; but if the excess be considerable, it must be removed by a fresh addition of chalk. On the other hand, an excess of tar- trate of lime, which interferes very much with the crystallization of the tar- taric acid, must be decomposed by adding a small quantity of sulphuric acid. The clear liquor, separated from the sulphate of lime, is concentrated by evaporation to the consistence of syrup, and allowed to crystallize. Repeated solutions and crystallizations are necessary to get the crystals white. The mode of ascertaining the quantity of chalk consumed, is to weigh out more than is necessary in the process, and, after the saturation has been completed, to weigh what is left. If the neutral tartrate of potassa be also converted into tartrate of lime, in the manner already explained, the quantity of sulphuric acid for decomposition must be doubled. Sometimes the bitartrate of potassa is decomposed by lime, in which case the whole of the tartaric acid present is converted into tartrate of lime at one operation; but the caustic potassa at the same time liberated renders this process ineligible, by dissolving the tar- trate of lime formed, and preventing it from precipitating. The reader is now prepared to understand the formulae of the British Col- leges. In that of the London College, the Imperial measure is of course employed. "Take of bitartrate of potassa four pounds; boiling distilled water two gal- lons and a half; prepared chalk twenty-five ounces and six drachms; diluted sulphuric acid seven pints and seventeen fluidounces; hydrochloric acid twenty- six and a half fluidounces, or as much as may be sufficient. Boil the bitar- trate of potassa with two gallons of the distilled water, and add, by degrees, the half of the chalk; when the effervescence is over, add the remainder of the chalk, previously dissolved in the hydrochloric acid, diluted with four pints of the distilled water. Then set aside that the tartrate of lime may subside, and, having poured off the liquor, wash the tartrate frequently with distilled water until it is free from taste. Then pour on the diluted sulphuric acid, and boil for a quarter of an hour. Having strained the liquor, evaporate it by a gentle heat, that crystals may form. These, in order to be pure, must be dissolved in water two or three times, and the solution as often strained, evaporated, and set aside." Lond. PART I. Acidum Tartaricum. 51 The formula of the Edinburgh College is substantially the same as that of the London. The following is the Dublin formula. " Take of bitartrate of potassa, reduced to powder, ten parts; prepared chalk, four parts; sulphuric acid, seven parts; water, one hundred and twenty parts. Mix the bitartrate of potassa with one hundred parts of hot water, and gradually add the prepared chalk; then, as soon as the effervescence shall have ceased, pour off the supernatant liquor. Wash the residual tartrate of lime, until it becomes tasteless. Into the clear decanted liquor, drop as much of the water of muriate of lime as may be sufficient to throw down the tar- trate of lime. Let this also be washed with water, and mixed with the former deposit. Then add the sulphuric acid, diluted with twenty parts of water, and, employing frequent agitation, digest the mixture with a medium heat during three days. Pour off the supernatant acid fluid, and wash out the acid from the sediment. Let the liquors, including the first acid liquor and the washings, evaporate with a gentle heat to the point of crystallization. Let the crystals, purified by repeated solutions and crystallizations, be kept in a stopped glass vessel." Dub. The quantity of chalk directed in the Dublin formula is excessive, being two-fifths of the weight of the bitartrate; whereas, by theory, a portion only one-fourth the weight of the latter is required; and making every allowance for impurities, one-third would be amply sufficient. The plan of dissolving the bitartrate in boiling water, and then adding the chalk, is not an eligible one. It is better to mix them together according to the plan given by Dr. Henry, as described in the beginning of this article, and to throw the mix- ture by spoonfuls at a time into boiling water. In this way less water is necessary; and less excess of chalk is required, as less of it escapes decom- position. Instead of prescribing the quantity of chalk, it would, perhaps, have been an improvement, if the Colleges had directed a quantity " suffi- cient for saturation." The London and Edinburgh Colleges have very pro- perly followed the example of the Dublin College, in directing the decom- position of the neutral tartrate of potassa by means of a solution of chloride of calcium. Properties. Tartaric acid is a white crystallized solid, in the form of irre- gular six-sided prisms. Sometimes two opposite sides of the prism become very much enlarged, so as to cause the crystals to present the appearance of tables. As found in the shops, it is in the form of a fine white powder, formed by pulverizing the crystals. It is unalterable in the air, and possesses a strong acid taste, which becomes agreeable when the acid is sufficiently diluted with water. It is soluble in five or six times its weight of cold, and twice its weight of boiling water. It is also soluble in alcohol. A weak solution undergoes spontaneous decomposition by keeping, becoming covered with a mouldy pellicle. In the form of crystals, it always contains combined water, from which it cannot be separated without the substitution of a base. In uniting with bases, it has a remarkable tendency to form double salts, several of which constitute important medicines. When subjected to heat it gives rise to three peculiar acids, described in systematic chemical works. It is distinguished from all other acids by forming a crystalline precipitate, consisting of bitartrate of potassa, when added to a neutral salt of that alkali. Its most usual impurity is sulphuric acid, which may be detected by the solution affording, with acetate of lead, a precipitate only partially soluble in nitric acid. It sometimes contains a minute quantity of lime. When incinerated with red oxide of mercury, it leaves no residuum, or a mere trace. Tartaric acid is incompatible with salifiable bases and their carbonates; with salts of potassa, with which it produces a crystalline precipitate of bitar- 52 Acidum Tartaricum.—Aconitum. part i. trate; and with the salts of lime and lead, with which it also forms preci- pitates. It consists, when dry, of four eqs. of carbon 24, two of hydrogen 2, and five of oxygen 40 = 66; and, when crystallized, of one eq. of dry acid 66, and one of water 9=75. Medical Properties. Tartaric acid, being cheaper than citric acid, forms, when dissolved in water and sweetened, a good substitute for lemonade. It is much used in medicine to form acid refrigerant drinks and effervescing draughts. It is also employed in making soda powders, a preparation which has been made officinal in the last Edinburgh Pharmacopceia, under the name of Pulveres Effervescentes. Tartaric acid is a constituent in the gentle ape- rient called Seidlitz powders. These consist of a mixture of two drachms of tartrate of potassa and soda (Rochelle salt), and two scruples of bicarbonate of soda, put up in a white paper, and thirty five grains of tartaric acid con- tained in a blue one. The contents of the white paper are dissolved in about half a pint of water, to which those of the blue paper are added; and the whole is taken in a state of effervescence. La these powders the tartaric acid is in excess, which renders the medicine more pleasant, without interfering with its aperient quality. Tartaric acid, dried by a gentle heat, and then mixed in due proportion with bicarbonate of soda, forms a good effervescing powder, a teaspoonful of which, stirred into a tumbler of water, forms the dose. The mixture must be kept in well-stopped vials. The neutralizing power of tar- taric acid is about the same as that of citric acid. Off. Prep. Pulveres Effervescentes, Ed.; Trochisci Acidi Tartarici, Ed. B. ACONITUM. U.S., Ed. Aconite. "The leaves of Aconitum Napellus and of Aconitum paniculatum (De Candolle)." U. S. « Leaves of Aconitum Napellus." Ed. Off. Syn. ACONITI FOLIA. ACONITI RADIX. Aconitum panicu- latum. Folia. Radix. Lond.; ACONITUM PANICULATUM. Folia. Dub. Aconit, Fr.; Eisenhut, Monchskappe, Germ.; Aconito, Napello, Ital; Aconito, Span. Aconitum. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Ranunculaceaa. Gen. Ch. Calyx none. Petals five, the highest arched. Nectaries two, peduncled, recurved. Pods three or five. Willd. The plants belonging to this genus are herbaceous, with divided leaves, and violet or yellow flowers, disposed in spikes, racemes, or panicles. In the French Codex three species are recognised as officinal, A. Anthora, A. Cam- marum, and A. Napellus. The Edinburgh College recognises only A. Na- pellus; the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, A. Napellus and A. paniculatum of De Candolle; the London and Dublin Colleges, only the latter. There has been much difference of opinion as to the plant originally employed by Stbrck. Formerly thought to be A. Napellus, it was afterwards generally believed to be A. neomontanum of Willdenow, and by De Candolle was determined to be a variety of his A. paniculatum, designated as Storchianum. But ac- cording to G-eiger, A. neomontanum is possessed of little acrimony and*Dr Christison states that A. paniculatum, raised at Edinburgh from seeds sent by De Candolle himself, was quite destitute of that property. Neither of these, therefore, could have been Storck's plant, which is represented as extraordinarily acrid. It is, however, of little consequence which was used by Storck; as many of the species possess similar virtues, and one is fre quently substituted for another in the shops. Those are probably the best PART I. Aconitum. 53 which are most acrid. Dr. Christison found A. Napellus, A. Sinense, A. Tau- ricum, A. uncinatum, and A.ferox to have intense acrimony; and Gciger states that he has found none equal, in this respect, to A. Napellus. A. uncinatum is the only species indigenous in this country. Most of the others are natives of the Alpine regions of Europe and Siberia. Those employed in medicine appear to be indiscriminately called by English writers wolfsbane or monks- hood. Aconitum Napellus. Linn. Flor. Suec. ed, 1755, p. 186.—A. neuber- gense. De Candolle, Prodrom. i. 62.—A. variabile neubergense. Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib. &c, xii. 14. This is a perennial herbaceous plant, with a turnip-shaped or fusiform root, seldom exceeding at top the thickness of the finger, three or four inches or more in length, brownish externally, whitish and fleshy within, and sending forth numerous long, thick, fleshy fibres. When the plant is in full growth, there are usually two roots joined together, of which the older is dark brown and supports the stem, while the younger is of a light yellowish-brown, and is destined to furnish the stem of the following year. The stem is erect, round, smooth, leafy, usually simple, and from-two to six or even eight feet high. The leaves are alternate, petio- late, divided almost to the base, from two to four inches in diameter, deep green upon their upper surface, light green beneath, somewhat rigid, and more or less smooth and shining on both sides. Those on the lower part of the stem have long footstalks and five or seven divisions; the upper, short footstalks and three or five divisions. The divisions are wedge-form, with two or three lobes, which extend nearly or quite to the middle. The lobes are cleft or toothed, and the laciniae or teeth are linear or linear-lanceolate and pointed. The flowers are of a dark violet-blue colour, large and beau- tiful, and are borne at the summit of the stem upon a thick, simple, straight, erect, spike-like raceme, beneath which, in the cultivated plant, several smaller racemes arise from the axils of the upper leaves. Though without calyx, they have two small calycinal stipules, situated on the peduncle within a few lines of the flower. The petals are five, the upper helmet-shaped and beaked, nearly hemispherical, open or closed, the two lateral roundish and internally hairy, the two lower oblong-oval. They enclose two pediceled nec- taries, of which the spur is capitate, and the lip bifid and revolute. The fruit consists of three, four, or five podlike capsules. The plant is abundant in the mountain forests of France, Switzerland, and Germany. It is also cultivated in the gardens of Europe, and has been introduced into this country as an ornamental flower. All parts of it are acrid and poisonous. The leaves have been usually employed, and should be collected when the flowers begin to appear, or shortly before. After the fruit has formed, they are less efficacious. In the last edition of the London Phar- macopoeia, the root also has been adopted as officinal. According to Dr. Turnbull, this is by far the most active part of the plant. It should be gathered in the spring, before the leaves appear. The seeds also are very acrid. Properties. The fresh leaves have a faint narcotic odour, which is most sensible when they are rubbed. Their taste is at first bitterish and herba- ceous, afterwards burning and acrid, and attended with a feeling of numb- ness and tingling on the inside of the lips, tongue, and fauces, which is very durable, lasting sometimes many hours. When long chewed, they inflame the tongue. The dried leaves have a similar taste, but the acrid impression commences later. Their sensible properties and medicinal activity are im- paired by long keeping. They should be of a green colour, and free from mustiness. The root, though sweetish at first, has afterwards the same effect 54 Aconitum. PART r. as the leaves upon the mouth and fauces. It shrinks much in drying, and assumes a darker colour, but does not lose its acrimony. Those parcels, whe- ther of leaves or roots, should always be rejected, which are destitute ot this property. The analysis of aconite, though attempted by several chemists, has not been satisfactorily accomplished. Bucholz obtained from the fresh herb of A. neomontanum, resin, wax, gum, albumen, extractive, lignm, malate and citrate of lime and other saline matters, besides 83-3o per cent. of water. During the bruising of the herb, he experienced headache, ver- tigo, &c, though water distilled from it produced no poisonous effect. It has been rendered probable by Geiger and Hesse, that there are two active prin- ciples in aconite, one easily destructible, upon which the acrimony depends, the other less acrid, having alkaline properties, and capable of exerting a powerful narcotic influence over the system. For the latter the name of aconitin or aconitia has been proposed. Hesse obtained it from the dried leaves by a process similar to that employed in procuring atropia. (See Bel- ladonna.) The London College has adopted it as officinal, and given a pro- cess for its preparation under the name aconitina. (See Aconitina, in the second part of this work.) Peschier discovered a peculiar acid in aconite, which he called aconitic acid. Medical Properties and Uses. Aconite was well known to the ancients as a powerful poison, but was first employed as a medicine by Baron Storck, of Vienna, whose experiments with it were published in the year 1762. In moderate doses, it has been said to excite the circulation, and occasionally to increase the perspiratory and urinary discharges, while it exercises consider- able influence over the nervous system. Recent writers, however, deny that it possesses any decided diaphoretic or diuretic properties. According to Dr. Fleming, it is a powerful sedative to the nervous system, reducing also the force of the circulation. In moderate doses, it produces warmth in the stomach and sometimes nausea, general warmth of the body, numbness and tingling in the lips and fingers, muscular weakness, diminished force and frequency of pulse, and diminished frequency of respiration. From larger doses, all these effects are experienced in an increased degree. The stomach is more nauseated; the numbness and tingling extend over the body; headache, vertigo, and dimness of vision are induced; the patient complains occasionally of severe neuralgic pains; the pulse, respiration, and muscular strength are greatly reduced; and a state of general prostration may be in- duced, from which the patient may not quite recover in less than two or three days. The effects of remedial doses begin to be felt in twenty or thirty minutes, are at the height in an hour or two, and continue with little abate- ment from three to five hours. In poisonous doses, besides the characteristic tingling in the mouth and elsewhere, it occasions burning heat of the oeso- phagus and stomach, thirst, violent nausea, vomiting, purging, severe gastric and intestinal spasms, headache, dimness of vision with contracted or ex- panded pupil, numbness or paralysis of the limbs, diminished sensibility in general, stiffness or spasm of the muscles, great prostration of strength, pallid countenance, cold extremities, an extremely feeble pulse, and death in a few hours, sometimes preceded by delirium, stupor, or convulsions. All these effects are not experienced in every case; but there is no one of them which has not been recorded as having occurred in one or more instances. Dissec- tion reveals inflammation of the stomach and bowels, and engorgement of the brain and lungs. Life may usually be saved by a timely and thorough eva- cuation of the stomach, and the use of stimulant remedies internally and ex- ternally; and it is wonderful how rapidly the patient passes from a state of imminent danger to perfect health. Pereira states that, when dogs are opened part I. Aconitum.—Adeps. 55 immediately after death from aconite, no pulsations of the heart are visible. Applied to the skin, aconite is said to occasion a feeling of heat and prickling or tingling followed by numbness (Turnbull), and, if in contact with a wound, produces its peculiar constitutional effects. Applied to the eye, it causes contraction of the pupil. (Pereira.) In relation to its mode of action, aconite appears to be locally irritant, and, at the same time, entering the sys- tem, to operate powerfully on the brain, spinal marrow, and nerves, directly diminishing their power, and thus producing, to a greater or less extent, paralysis both of sensation and motion. The heart feels also this paralyzing influence, and hence proceeds the great depression of the pulse under the full action of the medicine. Aconite has been employed in rheumatism, neuralgia, gout, scrofula, phthisis, secondary syphilis, scirrhus and cancer, certain cutaneous diseases, amaurosis, paralysis, epilepsy, intermittent fever, dropsies, and other com- plaints. It has long enjoyed, in Germany, a high reputation as a remedy in rheumatism; and has recently come into great vogue elsewhere in the treat- ment of that disease, especially in its chronic and neuralgic forms. By some practitioners it is considered as one of the most effectual remedies in neural- gia, in which it is used both internally and as a local application. Dr. Flem- ing considers it highly useful as an antiphlogistic remedy, and especially applicable to cases of active cerebral congestion or inflammation; while it is contra-indicated in the headache of anaemia, and in all cases attended with a torpid or paralytic condition of the muscular system. It may be administered in powder, extract, or tincture. The dose of the powdered leaves is one or two grains, of the extract from half a grain to a grain, of the tincture twenty or thirty drops, to be repeated twice or three times a-day, and gradually in- creased till the effects of the medicine are experienced. Dr. Fleming recom- mends a tincture made from the root, carefully dried and powdered, by macerating sixteen ounces with a pint of alcohol for four days, then placing the mixture in a percolator, and adding alcohol until twenty-four fluidounces of tincture are obtained. Of this, five minims may be given three times a day, and gradually increased till its effects become obvious. It is very im- portant to distinguish between the officinal tincture, which is prepared from the leaves, and the saturated tincture just referred to. Few patients will bear more than ten minims of the latter. Aconite may be used externally in the form of the saturated tincture of the root, of extract mixed with lard, of a plaster made with the extract, or of aconitina. (See Extraetum Aconiti, Extractum Aconiti Alcoholicum, and Aconitina.) The tincture may be applied by means of a piece of soft sponge fastened to the end of a stick. Off. Prep. Aconitina, Lond.; Extraetum Aconiti, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Extract. Aconiti Alcoholicum, U. S., Ed.; Tinctura Aconiti, U. S. W. ADEPS. U.S., Lond. Lard. cc The prepared fat of Sus Scrofa, free from saline matter." U. S. " Sus Scrofa. Adeps jrraparatus." Lond. Off. Syn. AXUNGIA. Fat of Sus Scrofa. Ed.; ADEPS SUILLUS PBiEPARATUS. Dub. Axongp, Graisse, Saindoux, Fr.; Schweineschmalz, Germ.; Grasso di porco, Lardo, Ital.; Manteca de puerco, Lardo, Span. Lard is the prepared fat of the hog. The Dublin College gives a process for its preparation; but, as in this country it is pm'chased by the druggists 56 Adeps. PART I. already prepared, the introduction of any officinal directions in our Pharma- copoeia was deemed superfluous. The adipose matter of the omentum and mesentery, and that which surrounds the kidneys, are usually employed; though the subcutaneous fat is said to afford lard of a firmer consistence. In the crude state it contains membranes and vessels, and is more or less con- taminated with blood, from all which it must be freed before it can be fit for use. For this purpose, the fat, having been deprived, as far as possible, by the hand, of membranous matter, is cut into pieces, washed with water till the liquor ceases to be coloured, and then melted, usually with a small por- tion of water, in a copper or iron vessel, over a slow fire. The heat is con- tinued till all the moisture is evaporated, which may be known by the transparency of the melted fat, and the absence of crepitation when a small portion of it is thrown into the fire. Care should be taken that the heat is not too great; as otherwise the lard might be partially decomposed, acquire a yellow colour, and become acrid. The process is completed by straining the fluid through linen, and pouring it into suitable vessels, in which it concretes upon cooling. Lard, as offered for sale, often contains common salt, which renders it unfit for pharmaceutic purposes. To free it from this, the Dublin College directs that it be melted with twice its weight of boiling water, the mixture well agitated and set aside to cool, and the fat then separated. Properties. Lard is white, inodorous, with little taste, of a soft consistence at ordinary temperatures, fusible at about 100° F., insoluble in water, par- tially soluble in alcohol, more so in ether and the volatile oils, dissolved and decomposed by the stronger acids, and converted into soap by union with the alkalies. When melted, it readily unites with wax and resins. According to Braconnot, it contains, in 100 parts, 62 of olein or the liquid principle of oils, and 38 of stearin or the concrete principle. But M. Le Canu ascer- tained that the stearin of Braconnot consists of two distinct substances, dif- fering in fusibility and solubility. For the least fusible of these he retained the name of stearin, and to the other applied that of margarin, from its re- semblance to the principle of the same name in vegetable oils. Most fats and oils, of animal origin, are composed of these ingredients, upon the relative proportion of which their consistence respectively depends. The liquid and concrete principles may be obtained separate by the action of boiling alcohol, which, on cooling, deposits the latter, and yields the former upon evaporation. Another method is to compress fat, or oil congealed by cold, between the folds of bibulous paper. The olein is absorbed by the paper, and may be sepa- rated by compression under water; the stearin and margarin remain. Olein, originally denominated eldin, resembles oil in appearance, is colour- less when pure, congeals at 20° F., has little odour and a sweetish taste, is insoluble in water, but soluble in boiling alcohol, and consists of carbon, hy- drogen, and oxygen. The olein of lard has been introduced extensively into use for burning in lamps. Stearin is white, concrete, of a crystalline appearance like spermaceti, pulverizablc, fusible at about 143°, soluble in alcohol and boiling ether, inso- luble in cold ether and in water, and composed, like the former principle, of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. It may be separated from the concrete mat- ter of lard by treating it with cold ether so long as anything is dissolved. The stearin is left behind, and the ethereal solution yields margarin by eva- poration. The margarin of animal fats resembles stearin very closely, differing only in its melting point, which is about 118°, and in being soluble in cold° ther. Very good candles are now made out of the concrete constituents of lard. PART I. Alcohol. 57 Exposed to the air, lard absorbs oxygen and becomes rancid. It should, therefore, be kept in well closed vessels, or procured fresh when wanted for use. In the rancid state, it is irritating to the skin, and sometimes exercises an injurious reaction on substances mixed with it. Thus, the ointment of iodide of potassium, which is white when prepared with fresh lard, is said to be more or less yellow when the lard employed is rancid. Medical Properties and Uses. Lard is emollient, and is occasionally em- ployed by itself in frictions, or in connexion with poultices to preserve their soft consistence; but its chief use is in pharmacy as an ingredient of ointments and cerates. It is frequently added to laxative enemata. W. ALCOHOL. U.S. Alcohol "Rectified spirit of the specific gravity 0-835." U. S. Off Syn. SPIRITUS RECTIFICATUS. Lond., Ed., Dub. Spirit of wine; AIcool, Esprit de vin, Fr.; Rectificirter Weingeist, Germ.; Alcoole, Acquavite rettificata, Ital.; Alcohol, Espiritu rectificado de vino, Span. SPIRITUS VINI GALLICI. Lond. Brandy. 11 Spiritus. E vino Gallico destillatus." Lond, Eau de vie, Fr.; Brantwein, Germ.; Acquavite, Ital.; Aqua ardiente, Span. The Pharmacopoeias have recognised several pharmaceutical strengths of the liquid, which, in its pure state, is known to the chemist under the name of alcohol. The British Colleges have adopted three strengths of alcoholic liquid; while the United States Pharmacopoeia has admitted only two. The following table presents a view of the names and strengths of the alcohol according to these different authorities; assuming those spirits to be identical, the specific gravities of which approach to equality. U.S. Lond. Ed. Dub. Highest off. C strength. (_ Medium do. < Lowest do. < Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0-835. Alcohol Dilutum. Sp. gr. 0-935. Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0-815. Spiritus Rectifi-catus. Sp. gr. 0-838. • Spiritus Tenuior. Sp. gr. 0 920. Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0-794-6. Spiritus Rectifi-catus. Sp. gr. 0-838. Spiritus Tenuior. Sp. gr. 0-912. Alcohol. Sp. gr. 0 810. Spiritus Rectifl-catus. Sp. gr. 0-840. Spiritus Tenuior. Sp. gr. 0-919. The London College, in its revised Pharmacopoeia for 1836, has introduced brandy, under the officinal name of Spiritus Vini Gallici. As this is an alcoholic liquor, and may be considered as a fourth form of alcohol recognised by that College, its officinal title has been associated with "Alcohol," in form- ing the heading of this article. By the table it is perceived that the officinal "Alcohol" of the United States Pharmacopceia is a rectified spirit of the sp. gr. 0-835; while the spirit, under the same officinal name, of the British Colleges is much stronger. It is certainly to be regretted that the same name has been applied to the 58 Alcohol. PART I. substance of such different strengths, as it leads to confusion. Our principal object, however, in this article, is to describe the alcohol of the United States Pharmacopoeia, corresponding to the British Spiritus Rectificatus; and we shall introduce incidentally our notice of brandy, and of the stronger spirit of the British Colleges, also called alcohol. The Alcohol Ddutum, and the corresponding preparations of the British Pharmacopoeias, will be considered in their appropriate place in the second part of this work. (See Alcohol Dilutum.) Alcohol, in the chemical sense, is a peculiar liquid, generated for the most part in vegetable juices and infusions by a peculiar fermentation, called the vinous or alcoholic. The liquids which have undergone it are called vmous liquors, and are of various kinds. Thus, the fermented juice of the grape is called wine; of the apple, cider; and the fermented infusion of malt, beer. With regard to the nature of the liquids susceptible of the vinous ferment- ation, one general character prevails, however various they may be in other respects; that, namely, of containing sugar in some form or other. It is found, further, that, after they have undergone the vinous fermentation, the sugar they contained has either wholly or in part disappeared, and that the only new products are alcohol, which remains in the liquid, and carbonic acid, which escapes during the process; and these, when taken together, are found to be equal in weight to the sugar lost. It is hence inferred that sugar is the subject-matter of the changes that occur during the vinous fermentation, and that it is resolved into alcohol and carbonic acid. Additional facts in support of this view will be adduced under the head of the composition of alcohol. Sugar, however, will not undergo the vinous fermentation by itself; but requires to be dissolved in water, subjected to the influence of a ferment, and kept at a certain temperature. Accordingly, sugar, water, the presence of a ferment, and the maintenance of an adequate temperature, may be deemed the pre-requisites of the vinous fermentation. The water acts by giving fluidity, and the ferment and temperature operate by commencing and main- taining the chemical changes. The precise manner in which the ferment operates in commencing the reaction is not known; but the fermentative change seems to be intimately connected with the multiplication of a micro- scopic vegetable, in the form of diaphanous globules, contained in the ferment, and called torula cerevisise. The ferment is generally considered to contain a peculiar nitrogenous principle, having a close analogy to albumen and casein, although it has not as yet been isolated. The proper temperature for con- ducting the vinous fermentation ranges from 60° to 90°. Certain vegetable infusions, as those of potatoes and rice, though consisting almost entirely of starch, are, nevertheless, capable of undergoing the vinous fermentation, and form seeming exceptions to the rule, that sugar is the only substance susceptible of this fermentation. The apparent exception is ex- plained by the circumstance, that starch is susceptible of a spontaneous change which converts it into sugar. How this change takes place is not well known, but it is designated by some authors as the saccharine ferment- ation. Thus, Kirchoff proved that, if a mixture of gluten from flour and starch from potatoes, be put into hot water, the starch will be converted into sugar. When, therefore, starch is apparently converted into alcohol by fer- mentation, it is supposed that during the change it passes through the inter- mediate state of sugar. Alcohol, being the product of the vinous fermentation, necessarily exists in all vinous liquors, and may be obtained from them by distillation. For- merly it was supposed that these liquors did not contain alcohol but were PART I. Alcohol. 59 merely capable of furnishing it, in consequence of a new arrangement of their ultimate constituents, the result of the heat applied. Brande, however, dis- proved this idea, by showing that alcohol may be obtained from all vinous liquors without the application of heat, and, therefore, must pre-exist in them. His method consists in precipitating the acid and colouring matter from each vinous liquor by subacetate of lead, and separating the water by carbonate of potassa. Gay-Lussac and Donovan have proved the same fact. According to the former, litharge, in fine powder, is the best agent for precipitating the colouring matter. In vinous liquors, the alcohol is diluted with abundance of water, and asso- ciated with colouring matter, volatile oil, extractive, and various acids and salts. In purifying it we take advantage of its volatility, which enables us to separate it by distillation, combined with some of the principles of the vinous liquor employed, and more or less water. The distilled product of vinous liquors forms the different ardent spirits of commerce. When obtained from wine, it is called brandy; from fermented molasses, rum; from cider, malted barley, or rye, whisky; from malted barley and rye-meal with hops, and rectified from juniper berries, Holland gin; from malted barley, rye, or potatoes, rectified from turpentine, common gin; and from fermented rice, arrack. These spirits are of different strengths, that is, contain different proportions of alcohol, and have various peculiarities by which they are dis- tinguished by the taste. Their strength is accurately judged of by the specific gravity, which is always less in proportion as their concentration is greater. When they have the sp. gr. of 0-920 (0-91984, Drinkwater), they are designated in commerce by the term proof spirit. If lighter than this, they are said to be above proof; if heavier, below proof; and the per centage of water, or of spirit of 0-825, necessary to be added to any sample of spirit to bring it to the standard of proof spirit, indicates the number of degrees the given sample is above or below proof. Thus, if 100 volumes of a spirit require 10 volumes of water to reduce it to proof spirit, it is said to be "10 over proof." On the other hand, if 100 volumes of a spirit require 10 volumes of a spirit of 0-825 to raise it to proof, the sample is said to be "10 under proof." Proof spirit is still very far from being pure; being a dilute alcohol, con- taining about half its weight of water, together with a peculiar oil and other foreign matters. It may be further purified and strengthened by redistilla- tion, or rectification as it is called. Whisky is the spirit usually employed for this purpose; and from every hundred gallons, between fifty-seven and fifty-eight may be obtained, of the average strength of rectified spirit, (sp. gr. 0-835,) corresponding to the alcohol of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and the Spiritus Rectificatus of the British Colleges. When this is once more cautiously distilled, it will be further purified from water, and the sp. gr. attained will l»e about 0-825, which is the lightest spirit which can be obtained by ordinary distillation, and is the pure spirit or alcohol of the British system of excise. It still, however, contains eleven per cent, of water. In the mean while, the spirit, by these repeated distillations, becomes more and more freed from the contaminating oil, called grain oil or fusel oil. If it be desired to obtain alcohol of still greater concentration, it is neces- sary to avail ourselves of certain substances which have a powerful affinity for water. Of this nature are lime, carbonate of potassa, and chloride of calcium. These, being mixed with the rectified spirit, unite with the water and sink, while the purer spirit floats above, and may be separated by decantation or distillation. By using substances of this nature, the British Colleges are 60 Alcohol. PART I. enabled to procure their strongest spirit, which they denominate alcohol. (See tabular view, page 57.) The following are the processes adopted by them. Alcohol (sp. gr. 0-815), Lond.—"Take of rectified spirit, a gallon [Im- perial measure]; chloride of calcium, a pound, Add the chloride of calcium to the spirit, and when it has dissolved, distil seven pints, and five fluid- ounces." Alcohol (sp. gr. 0-794-6), Ed.—"Take of rectified spirit, one pint [Imp. meas.]; lime, eighteen ounces. Break down the lime into small fragments: expose the spirit and lime together to a gentle heat in a glass matrass till the lime begins to slake; withdraw the heat till the slaking is finished, preserving the upper part of the matrass cool with damp cloths. Then attach a proper refrigeratory, and with a gradually increasing heat distil off seventeen fluid- ounces. The density of this alcohol should not exceed 796; if higher, the distillation must have been begun before the slaking of the lime was finished." Alcohol (sp. gr. 0-810), Dub.—"Take of rectified spirit, a gallon; pearl- ashes, dried and still hot, three pounds and a half; muriate of lime, dried, a pound. Add the pearlashes in powder to the spirit, and let the mixture digest in a covered vessel for seven days, shaking it frequently. Draw off the super- natant spirit, and mix with it the muriate of lime. Lastly, distil with a moderate heat, until the mixture in the retort begins to thicken." In these processes, the London College uses chloride of calcium, the Edin- burgh, lime, and the Dublin, both carbonate of potassa and chloride of calcium, for separating the water. These substances are all well fitted to remove the water, on account of their strong attraction for that liquid. Formerly, the London Pharmacopoeia directed the use of carbonate of potassa for this pur- pose; but in the revision of 1836, the chloride was advantageously substi- tuted, which, on account of its solubility in alcohol, is more powerful than the alkaline salt, as an agent for separating water. By the processes of the London and Dublin Colleges, the rectified spirit is not entirely deprived of water; but, by the Edinburgh formula, it is brought at once to very near its highest strength, when it has a specific gravity between 0-794 and 0-796. The officinal alcohol of the London and Dublin Colleges may be brought to the same strength, by very carefully and repeatedly distilling it from chloride of calcium. Soubeiran recommends the following as an easy method for obtaining alcohol free from water, abundantly and economically. 1st. Rectify alcohol, marking 86° of the centesimal alcoholmeter of Gay-Lussac (rectified spirit), by distill- ing it from carbonate of potassa. This operation raises its strength to 94° or 95°. 2d. Raise this alcohol to 97°, by distilling it with fused chloride of calcium, or by digesting it; with quicklime, from which it must be afterwards poured off, in the proportion of a pint of the alcohol to 1£ ounces of the chlo- ride, or 21 ounces of the lime. 3d. Distil the product of this operation slowly with quicklime, in the proportion of 3| ounces to the pint. The pro- duct will be absolute alcohol. The operation may be shortened to two steps, by distilling the alcohol of 94° or 95°, with an excess of quicklime (7£ ounces to the pint). In all cases, before decanting or distilling, the alcohol must be digested for two or three days with the lime, at a temperature between 95° and 100° F. Lime will not answer as a substance to be distilled from unless it be in sufficient excess; for otherwise, towards the end of the distillation the hydrate of lime formed will yield up its water to the alcohol and weaken the distilled product. (Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 1, Jan. 1839.) It thus appears that the process adopted by the Edinburgh College for PART I. Alcohol. 61 depriving alcohol of water, now first introduced into its Pharmacopoeia, is substantially the same as that recommended by Soubeiran. Dr. Christison assures us that, on using pure quicklime, with the precautions mentioned in the Edinburgh formula, he has "always obtained from rectified spirit of the density of 0-838, seventeen-twentieths of its volume of alcohol, of density 0-796; and if the first tenth be kept apart, the rest may be obtained so low as 0-7942." Alcohol, though freed from water by the processes indicated, may still be impregnated with a portion of the essential oil, called grain or fusel oil. This is usually removed by digesting the spirit with charcoal, especially animal charcoal. The same end may be attained on a small scale, by adding a little of the solution of nitrate of silver to the spirit, and exposing it to a bright light. By the action of the oxide of silver on the oil, it is converted into a black powder, and by a new distillation, the spirit is obtained pure. The " alcohol" of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia is submitted to this test. Its purity is directed to be such, that, "when mixed with a little solution of nitrate of silver and exposed to bright light, it remains unchanged, or only a very scanty dark precipitate forms." Properties. Alcohol is a colourless, transparent, volatile liquid, of a pene- trating, agreeable odour, and strong burning taste. When free from water of dilution, it is called anhydrous or absolute alcohol, and has the sp. gr. of 0-79381 at the temp, of 60°, according to the elaborate experiments of Mr. Joseph Drinkwater. (Phil. Mag. for Feb. 1848.) A good way for ascertaining when all the water has been removed, is to drop into the liquid a piece of anhydrous baryta, which will remain unchanged if the alcohol be free from water; other- wise it will fall to powder. Another method for determining the same point, is to allow the alcohol to stand for some time, in a stoppered bottle, on an- hydrous sulphate of copper. If the alcohol be anhydrous, the salt will remain white; otherwise it will become blue. (Casoria.) The density of alcohol progressively increases by dilution, so that its sp. gr. is an index of its strength. When of the sp. gr. 0*820, its boiling point is at 176°; this point being always lower in proportion as the alcohol is stronger. Its specific gravity, as a vapour, is 1-60 compared with air. Absolute alcohol has never been frozen; but Dr. J. K. Mitchell, of this city, succeeded by a cold of 146° below zero, in rendering alcohol of 0-798 viscid, so as to resemble melted wax. In Dr. Mitchell's experiments, alcohol of 0-820 froze readily. On account of the property of alcohol of resisting extreme degrees of cold without freezing, it is used in thermometers for measuring low degrees of temperature. Alcohol is inflammable, and burns without smoke or residue, the products being water and carbonic acid. Its flame is of a bluish colour when strong; but yellowish, when weak. It combines with water and ether in all propor- tions. Its value depends upon the quantity of absolute alcohol which it con- tains; and as this is greater in proportion as the sp. gr. of any sample is less, it is found convenient to take the density in estimating its purity. This is done by instruments with bulbs and long stems, called hydrometers, which, by being allowed to float in the spirit, sink deeper into it in proportion as it is lighter. Any given hydrometer strength corresponds to some particular specific gravity; and, by referring to tables constructed for the purpose, the per centage of absolute alcohol indicated in each case is at once shown. The following table, constructed by Lowitz, and improved by Thomson, is of this kind. We have placed in notes, referring to their respective specific gravities in the table, the names of the different officinal spirits, whereby the per cent- age of absolute alcohol is indicated which they severally contain. 62 Alcohol. PART I. Table of the Specific Gravity of different Mixtures by Weight of Absolute Alcohol and Distilled Water, at the Temperature of 60°. 100 Parts. Sp. Gr. at 60°. 100 Parts. Sp. Gr. at 60°. 100 Parts. Sp.Gr. at 60°. 100 Parts. Sp. Gr. at 60°. Ale. Wat. Ale. Wat. Ale. Wat. Ale. Wat. 100 0 ■796* 76 24 ■857 52 48 •912ft 28 72 •962 99 1 •798 75 25 •860 51 49 •915 27 73 •963 98 2 •801 74 26 •863 50 50 ■917 26 74 •965 97 3 ■804 73 27 •865 49 51 ■920JJ 25 75 •967 96 4 ■807 72 28 •867 48 52 •922 24 76 •968 95 5 •809f •812 71 29 ■870 47 53 •924 23 77 •970 94 6 •70 30 •871 46 54 ■926 22 78 •972 93 7 •815J 69 31 •874 45 55 •928 21 79 •973 92 8 •817 68 32 •875 44 56 •930 20 80 •974 91 9 •820 67 33 •879 43 57 ■933 19 81 •975 90 10 •822 66 34 •880 42 58 •935§§ 18 82 •977 89 11 ■825§ 65 35 •883 41 59 ■937 17 83 •978 88 12 •827 64 36 ■886 40 60 •939 16 84 •979 87 13 ■830 63 37 ■8S9 39 61 •941 15 85 •981 86 14 •832 62 38 •891 38 62 •943 14 86 •982 85 15 •835|| 61 39 ■893- 37 63 •945 13 87 •984 84 16 •83S1T 60 40 ■896 36 64 ■947 12 SS •986 83 17 ■840** 59 41 ■898 35 65 ■949 11 89 •987 82 18 ■843 58 42 •900 34 66 •951 10 90 •988 81 19 •846 57 43 •903 33 67 •953 9 91 •989 80 20 ■848. 56 44 ■904 32 68 •955 8 92 •990 79 21 •851 55 45 •906 31 ^69 •957 7 93 •991 78 22 ■853 54 46 ■908 30 70 •958 6 94 •992 77 23 •855 53 47 •910 29 71 •960 Alcohol is capable of dissolving a great number of substances; as, for example, sulphur and phosphorus in small quantity, iodine and ammonia freely, and potassa, soda, and lithia in the caustic state, but not as carbonates. Among organic substances, it is a solvent of the organic vegetable alkalies, urea, tannic acid, sugar, mannite, camphor, resins, balsams, volatile oils, and soap. It dissolves the fixed oils sparingly, except castor oil, which is abund- antly soluble. It acts on most acids, forming ethers with some, and effecting the solution of others. All deliquescent salts are soluble in alcohol, except carbonate of potassa; while the efflorescent salts, and those either insoluble or sparingly soluble in water, are mostly insoluble in it. It dissolves muriate of ammonia, and most of the chlorides that are readily soluble in water; also some nitrates, but none of the metallic sulphates. Composition. Alcohol consists of four eqs. of carbon, 24, six of hydrogen 6, and two of oxygen 16=46; or, in volumes, of four volumes of the vapour of carbon, six volumes of hydrogen, and one volume of oxygen. These ele- ments may be viewed as united, so as to form a compound of one eq. of ether and one of water (C4H50-f-HO). It has already been stated that, in the vinous fermentation, sugar is con- verted into alcohol and carbonic acid. This conversion is thus explained. The sugar, supposing it cane-sugar, is first changed into grape sugar, or, ac- cording to Mitscherlich and Soubeiran, into uncrystallizable sugar. The two * Alcohol, Ed. | Alcohol, Dub. (nearly.) J Alcohol, Lond. § Lightest spirit obtained by ordinary distillation. || Alcohol U. S. IT Spiritus Rectificatus, Lond., Ed. ** Spiritus Rectificatus, Dub. fj- Spiritus Tenuior. Ed. %% Spiritus Tenuior, Lond, §§ Alcohol Dilutum, U.S. PART I. Alcohol. 63 latter sugars, at the temperature of 212°, consist of C13H12012, and are resolved by the fermentation into two eqs. of alcohol CaH^O^ and four eqs. of carbonic acid (C?08). Medical Properties, &c. Alcohol is a very powerful diffusible stimulant. It is the intoxicating ingredient in all spirituous and vinous liquors, including under the latter term, porter, ale, and cider, and every liquid in short which has undergone the vinous fermentation. In its pure state it is never used in medicine; but, diluted to a greater or less extent, it forms a menstruum for many remedies. In a diluted state, and taken in small quantity, it excites the system, renders the pulse full, communicates additional energy to the muscles, and gives temporary exaltation to the mental faculties. In some states of acute disease, characterized by excessive debility, it is a valuable remedy. In the form of brandy, it is frequently given in the sinking stages of typhus with advantage. 'Other kinds of ardent spirit are occasionally administered, and each is supposed to have its peculiar qualities. Thus, according to Dr. Paris, brandy maybe esteemed simply cordial and stomachic; rum heating and sudorific; and gin and whisky diuretic. Physicians should avoid prescribing alcoholic remedies in chronic diseases, whether alone or in the form of tinctures, for fear of begetting intemperate habits in their patients. Externally, alcohol is sometimes applied to produce cold by evaporation; but, when its evaporation is repressed, it acts as a stimulant. A mixture of equal parts of rectified spirit and white of egg is stated by Dr. Christison to be an excellent application to excoriations from pressure, in their early stage, occur- ring in protracted diseases. It is to be applied frequently by a fine brush or feather, and renewed as it dries, until an albuminous coating is formed over the excoriated surface. As an article of daily use, alcoholic liquors produce the most deplorable consequences. Besides the moral degradation which they cause, their habitual use gives rise to dyspepsia, hypochondriasis, visceral obstructions, dropsy, paralysis, and not unfrequently mania. In the arts, alcohol is used to form drying varnishes, and in chemistry, as an important analytic agent. Being a powerful antiseptic, it is very useful in preserving anatomical preparations. Effects as a Poison. When taken in large quantity, alcohol, in the various forms of ardent spirit, produces a true apoplectic state, and occasionally speedy death. The face becomes livid or pale, the respiration stertorous, and the mouth frothy; and sense and feeling are more or less completely lost. Where the danger is imminent, an emetic may be administered, or the stomach pump used. The affusion of cold water is often very useful. As a counter-poison, acetate of ammonia has been found to act with advantage. After death, abundant evidence is furnished of the absorption of the alcohol. By Dr. Percy it was detected by chemical analysis in the brain, and by others in the ventricles. Dr. Wright has detected it in the urine, after the use of whisky. Mr. R. D. Thomson has proposed the following test for minute quantities of alcohol. Distil one-third of the suspected liquid, and to the distillate add a crystal or two of chromic acid, and stir. If the smallest quantity of alcohol be present, green oxide of chromium, and aldehyd perceptible to the smell, will be developed. Instead of chromic acid, a few grains of powdered bichro- mate of potassa, acted on by a few drops of sulphuric acid, may be used. Pharmaceutic Uses. Alcohol is very extensively employed as a pharma- ceutic agent. Either in its rectified state, or diluted with water, it is used in the formation of all the tinctures, spirits, ethers, and resinous extracts. It is added to the vinegars, some of the medicated waters, and one or more of the decoctions and infusions, to assist in their preservation; and serves as a vehi- 64 A letris.—A Ilium. PART I. cle or diluent of certain active medicines, as in the Spiritus Ammonias, and Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum. It is also employed for various inci- dental purposes connected with its solvent power. Off. Prep, of Alcohol. Alcohol Dilutum, U. S, Ed. Off Prep, of Brandy. Mistura Spiritus Vini Gallici, Lond. B. ALETRIS. U.S. Secondary. Star Grass. " The root of Aletris farinosa." U. S. Aletris. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Liliaceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla tubular, six-cleft, wrinkled, persistent. Stamens in- serted into the base of the segments. Style triangular, separable into three. Capsule opening at the top, three-celled, many seeded. Bigelow. Aletris farinosa. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 183; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot, iii. 92. This is an indigenous perennial plant, the leaves of which spring immediately from the root, and spread on the ground in the form of a star. Hence have originated the popular names of star grass, blazing star, and mealy starwort, by which it is known in different parts of the country. The leaves are sessile, lanceolate, entire, pointed, very smooth, longitudinally veined, and of unequal size, the largest being about four inches in length. From the midst of them a flower stem rises, one or two feet in height, nearly naked, with remote scales, whj.ch sometimes become leaves. It terminates in a slender scattered spike, the flowers of which stand on very short pedicels, and have minute bractes at the base. The calyx is wanting. The corolla is tubular, oblong, divided at the summit into six spreading segments, of a white colour, and, when old, of a mealy or rugose appearance on the outside. The plant is found in almost all parts of the United States, growing in fields and about the borders of woods, and flowering in June and July. Properties. The root, which is the officinal portion, is small, crooked, branched, blackish externally, brown within, and intensely bitter. The bitter- ness is extracted by alcohol, and the tincture becomes turbid upon the addition of water. The decoction is moderately bitter; but much less so than the tincture. It affords no precipitate with the salts of iron. (Bigelow.) Medical Properties. In small doses the root appears to be simply tonic, and may be employed advantageously for similar purposes with other bitters of the same class. When largely given it produces nausea. In very large doses, it is said to be cathartic and emetic, and to produce some narcotic effect. It has been employed, with asserted benefit, in colic, dropsy, and chronic rheumatism. The powder may be administered as a tonic in the dose of ten grains. \y. ALLIUM. U.S., Lond., Ed. Garlick. " The bulb of Allium sativum." U. S., Ed. « Allium sativum. Bulbus." Lond. Off Syn. ALLIUM SATIVUM. Bulbus. Dub. Ail, Fr.; Knoblauch, Germ.; Aglio, Ital: Ajo, Span. Allium. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Liliacese. Gen. Ch. Corolla six-parted, spreading. Spathe many-flowered. Umbel crowded. Capsule superior. Willd. PART I. Allium. 65 This is a very extensive genus, including more than sixty species, most of which are European. Of the nine or ten indigenous in this country, none are officinal. Dr. Griffith states that the bulb of A. Canadense has been sub- stituted for the cultivated garlick, and found equally efficient. (Med. Bot. p. 653.) Of the European species, several have been used from a very early period, both as food and medicine. Three only are officinal—A. sativum, or garlick; A. Cepa, or onion; and A. Porrum, or leek. The U.S. Pharma- copoeia has adopted only A. sativum, and to this we shall confine our observa- tions in the present place, simply stating that few genera present a greater resemblance in medical and sensible properties, among the various species that compose them, than the present. Allium sativum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 68; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 749, t. 256. This is a perennial plant, and li^e all its congeners, bulbous. The bulbs are numerous, and enclosed in a common membranous covering, from the base of which the fibres that constitute the proper root descend. The stem is simple, and rises about two feet in height. The leaves are long, flat, and grass-like; and sheath the lower half of the stem. At the termination of the stem is a cluster of flowers and bulbs mingled together, and enclosed in a pointed spathe, which opens on one side and withers. The flowers are small and white, and make their appearance in July. This species of garlick grows wild in Sicily, Italy, and the south' of France; and is cultivated in all civilized countries. " The part employed, as well for culinary purposes as in medicine, is the bulb. The bulbs are dug up with a portion of the stem attached, and, having been dried in the sun, are tied together in bunches, and thus brought to market. They are said to lose by drying nine parts of their weight out of fifteen, with little diminution of their sensible properties. This species of Allium is commonly called English garlick, to distinguish it from those which grow wild in our fields and meadows. Properties. Garlick, as found in the shops, is of a shape somewhat spherical, flattened at the bottom, and drawn towards a point at the summit, where a portion of the stem several inches in length projects. It is covered with a white, dry, membranous envelope, consisting of several delicate laminae, within which the small bulbs are arranged around the stem, having each a distinct coat. These small bulbs, which in common language are called cloves of garlick, are usually five or six in number, of an oblong shape, somewhat curved, and in their interior are whitish, moist, and fleshy. They have a dis- agreeable pungent odour, so peculiar as to have received the name of allia- ceous. Their taste is bitter and acrid. The peculiar smell and taste, though strongest in the bulb, are found to a greater or less extent in all parts of the plant. They depend on an essential oil, which is very volatile, and may be obtained by distillation, passing over with the first portions of water. It is of a yellow colour, exceedingly pungent odour, and strong acrid taste; is heavier than water; contains sulphur; and when applied to the skin pro- duces much irritation, and sometimes even blisters. Cadet-Gassicourt ob- tained six drachms of it from 20 lbs. of garlick. Besides this oil, fresh garlick, according to the same chemist, contains in 1406 parts, 520 of mu- cilage, 37 of albumen, 48 of fibrous matter, and 801 of water. Bouillon- Lagrange mentions, among its constituents, sulphur, a saccharine matter, and a small quantity of fecula, The fresh bulbs yield upon pressure nearly a fourth part of juice, which is highly viscid, and so tenacious as to require dilution with water before it can be easily filtered. When dried it serves as a lute for porcelain. It has the medical properties of the bulbs. Water, 5 66 Allium. PART I. alcohol, and vinegar extract the virtues of garlick. Boiling, however, if continued for some time, renders it inert. Medical Properties and Uses. The use of garlick, as a medicine and con- diment, ascends to the highest antiquity. When it is taken internally, the active principle is very speedily absorbed, and, penetrating throughout the system, becomes sensible in the breath and various seeretions. Even exter- nally applied, as for example to the soles of the feet, it imparts its peculiar odour to the breath, urine, and perspiration, and, according to some writers, may be tasted in the mouth. Its effects upon the system are those of a gene- ral stimulant. It quickens the circulation, excites the nervous system, pro- motes expectoration in a debilitated state of the vessels of the lungs, produces diaphoresis or diuresis according as the patient is kept warm or cool, and acts upon the stomach as a tonic and carminative. It is said also to be emmena- gogue. Applied to the skin, it is irritant and rubefacient, and moreover exercises, to a greater or less extent, its peculiar influence upon the system, in consequence of its absorption. Moderately employed, it is beneficial in enfeebled digestion and flatulence; and is habitually used as a condiment by many who have no objection to an offensive breath. It has been given with advantage in chronic catarrh, humoral asthma, and other pectoral affections in which the symptoms of inflammation have been subdued, and a feeble condition of the vessels remains. We use it habitually, and with great bene- fit, in such affections occurring in children, as well as in the nervous and spasmodic coughs to which this class of patients are peculiarly liable. Some physicians have highly recommended it in old atonic dropsies and calculous disorders; and it has been employed in the treatment of intermittents. It is thought also to be an excellent anthelmintic, especially in cases of ascarides, in which it is given both by the mouth and the rectum. The juice is said sometimes to check nervous vomiting, in the dose of a few drops. If taken too largely, or in excited states of the system, garlick is apt to occasion gastric irritation, flatulence, hemorrhoids, headache, and fever. As a medicine, it is at present more used externally than inwardly. Bruised and applied to the feet, it acts very beneficially, as a revulsive, in disorders of the head; and is especially useful in the febrile complaints of children, by quieting restlessness and producing sleep. In the same state, it is used to resolve indolent tumours. Its juice mixed with oil, or the garlick itself, bruised and steeped in spirits, is frequently used as a liniment in infantile convulsions, and other cases of spas- modic or nervous disorder among children. The same application has been made in cases of cutaneous eruption. A clove of garlick, or a few drops of the juice introduced into the ear, are said to prove highly efficacious in atonic deafness; and the bulb, bruised and applied in the shape of a poultice above the pubes, has sometimes restored action to the bladder, in cases of retention of urine, from debility of that organ. In the same shape, it has been recom- mended as a resolvent in indolent tumours, and may, perhaps, prove beneficial by stimulating the absorbents. Garlick may be taken in the form of pills; or the clove may be swallowed either whole, or cut into pieces of a convenient size. Its juice is also fre- quently administered mixed witlj sugar. The infusion in milk was at one time highly recommended, and the syrup is officinal. The dose in substance is from half a drachm to a drachm, or even two drachms, of the fresh bulb. That of the juice is half a fluidrachm. Off. Prep. Syrupus Allii, U. S. W. PART I. Allium Cepa.—Aloe. 67 ALLIUM CEPA. Bulbus. Dub. Onion. Ognon, Fr.; Zwiebel-Lanch, Germ.; Cipolla, Ital; Cebolla, Span. Allium. See ALLIUM. U.S. Allium Cepa. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 80. The onion is a perennial bulbous plant, with a naked scape, swelling towards the base, exceeding the leaves in length, and terminating in a simple umbel of white flowers. The leaves are hollow, cylindrical, and pointed. The original country of this species of Allium is unknown. The plant has been cultivated from time immemorial, and is now diffused over the whole civilized world. All parts of it have a peculiar pungent odour, but the bulb only is used. Properties. The bulb is of various size and shape, ovate, spherical, or flattened, composed of concentric fleshy and succulent layers, and covered with dry membranous coats, which are reddish, yellowish, or white, accord- ing to the variety. It has, in a high degree, the characteristic odour of the plant, with a sweetish and acrid taste. Fourcroy and Yauquelin obtained from it a white acrid volatile oil holding sulphur in solution, albumen, much uncrystallizable sugar and mucilage, phosphoric acid both free and combined with lime, acetic acid, citrate of lime, and lignin. The expressed juice is susceptible of the vinous fermentation. Medical Properties and Uses. The onion is stimulant, diuretic, expecto- rant, and rubefacient. Taken moderately, it increases the appetite and pro- motes digestion, and is much used as a condiment; but in large quantities it is apt to cause flatulence, gastric uneasiness, and febrile excitement. The juice is occasionally given, made into syrup with sugar, in infantile catarrhs and croup, in the absence of much inflammatory action. It is also recom- mended in dropsy and calculous disorders. Deprived of its essential oil by boiling, the onion becomes a mild esculent; and it is much more used as food than as medicine. Roasted and split, it is sometimes applied as an emollient cataplasm to suppurating tumours. W. ALOE. U.S., Lond. Aloes. " The inspissated juice of the leaves of Aloe spicata, and other species of Aloe." U. S. " Aloe spicata. Foliorum succus spissatus." Lond. Off. Sun. ALOE BARBADENSIS. ALOE INDICA. ALOE SOCO- TORINA. From undetermined species of Aloe. Ed.; ALOE HEPATICA, ex A. vulgari. ALOE SOCOTORINA, ex A. spicata. Dub. Sue d'aloes, Fr.; Aloe, Germ., Ital; Aloe, Span.; Musebber, Arab. Most of the species belonging to the genus Aloe are said to yield a bitter juice, which has all the properties of the officinal aloes. It is impossible, from the various and sometimes conflicting accounts of writers, to determine exactly from which of the species the drug is in all instances actually derived. Aloe spicata, however, is generally acknowledged to be an abundant source of it; and Aloe Vulgaris and Ahe Socotrina are usually ranked among the medicinal species. In Lindley's Flora Medica, A. purpura seen s, A. arbor- escens, A. Commclyni, and A. multiformis, all natives of the Cape of Good 68 Aloe. PART I. Hope, are enumerated as yielding aloes; and others are, without doubt, occa- sionally resorted to. The U. S. Pharmacopceia and that of London at present recognise particularly only the Aloe spicata. We shall confine ourselves to a description of the three following species, which probably yield most of the aloes of commerce. Aloe. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Liliaceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla erect, mouth spreading, bottom nectariferous. Fila- ments inserted into the receptacle. Willd. Aloe spicata. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 185. This species of aloe was first described by Thunberg. The stem is round, three or four feet high, about four inches in diameter, and leafy at the summit. The leaves are spreading, subverticilate, about two feet long, broad at the base, gradually narrowing to the point, channeled or grooved upon their upper surface, and with remote teeth upon their edges. The flowers are bell-shaped, and spread horizontally in very close spikes. They contain a large quantity of purple honey juice. Beneath each flower is a broad, ovate, acute bracte, of a white colour, with three green streaks, and nearly as long as the corolla. Of the six petals, the three inner are ovate, obtuse, white, with three green lines, and broader than the outer, which otherwise resemble them. The stamens are much longer than the corolla. The spiked aloe is a native of Southern Africa, growing near the Cape of Good Hope, and, like all the other species of this genus, preferring a sandy soil. In some districts of the colony it is found in great abundance, particularly at Zwellendam, near Mossel Bay, where it almost covers the surface of the country. Much of the Cape aloes is said to be de- rived from this species. A. Socotrina, Lamarck, Encycl., i. 85; De Cand. Plantes Grasses, fig. 85; Curtis' Bot. Mag., pi. 472; Carson's Illust. of Med. Bot. ii. 48, pi. 92.— A. vera. Miller, Diet, ed. 8, no. 55. The stem of this species is erect, a foot and a half or more in height, woody, and leafless below, where it is very rough from the remains of former leaves. At top it is embraced by green, sword-shaped, ascending leaves, somewhat concave on their upper surface, convex beneath, curved inward at the point, with numerous small white ser- ratures at their edges. The flowers, which are in a cylindrical, simple raceme, are scarlet near the base, pale in the centre, and greenish at the summit, and have unequal stamens, of which three are longer than the corolla. The plant received its name from the island of Socotra, of which it is said to be a native; and is supposed to be the source of the Socotrine aloes. A. vulgaris. Lamarck, Encycl, i. 86; De Cand. Plantes Grasses, fig. 27; Carson's Blust. of Med. Bot. ii. 46, pi. 90. This species has a very short woody stem, and lanceolate embracing leaves, which are first spreading, then ascending, of a glaucous-green colour, somewhat mottled with darker spots, flat on the upper surface, convex beneath, and armed with hard reddish spines, distant from each other, and perpendicular to the margin. The flower- stem is axillary, of a glaucous-reddish colour, and branched, with a cylindrical- ovate spike of yellow flowers, which are at first erect, then spreading, and finally pendulous, and do not exceed the stamens in length. A. vulgaris is a native of south-eastern Europe and the north of Africa and is cultivated in Italy, Sicily, Malta, and especially in the W. Indies, where it contributes largely to furnish the Barbadoes aloes. The proper aloetic juice has generally been thought to exist in longitudinal vessels beneath the epidermis of the leaves, and readily flows out when these are cut transversely; but, according to M. Edmond Robiquet, who has made elaborate researches in relation to this drug, these vessels are air-ducts and the juice flows in the inter-cellular passages between them. The liquid ob- PART I. Aloe. 69 tained by expression from the parenchyma is mucilaginous, and possessed of little medicinal virtue. The quality of the drug depends much upon the mode of preparing it. The finest kind is that obtained by exudation, and subsequent inspissation in the sun. Most of the better sorts, however, are prepared by artificially heating the juice which has spontaneously exuded from the cut leaves. The chief disadvantage of this process is the conver- sion of a portion of the soluble active principle into an insoluble and com- paratively inert substance, through the influence of an elevated temperature. The plan of bruising and expressing the leaves, and boiling down the re- sulting liquor, yields a much inferior product; as a large portion of it must be derived from the mucilaginous juice of the parenchyma. The worst plan of all is to boil the leaves themselves in water, and to evaporate the decoc- tion. The quality of the drug is also affected by the careless or fraudulent mixture of foreign matters with the juice, and the unskilful management of the inspissation. Commercial History and Varieties. Four chief varieties of aloes are known in commerce, that of the Cape of Good Hope, the Socotrine, the Hepatic, and the Barbadoes, of which the first two are most used in this country. 1. Cape Aloes, which is by far the most abundant, and, by its extraordi- nary cheapness and excellent qualities, almost promises to supersede the other varieties, is imported from the Cape of Good Hope, either directly, or through the medium of English commerce. It is collected by the Hottentots and Dutch boors, indiscriminately from the A. spicata and other species, which grow wild in great abundance. The process is very simple. According to the account of Hallbeck, a Moravian missionary who resided at the Cape, a hole is made in the ground, in which a sheep skin is spread with the smooth side upward. The leaves are then cut off near the stem, and arranged around the hole, so that the juice which runs out may be received into the skin. The juice flows most freely in hot weather. (Un. Breth. Mission. Intelligencer, N Y., vi. 436.) When a sufficient quantity of the liquor has been collected, it is inspissated by artificial heat in iron cauldrons, care being taken to prevent its burning by constant stirring. When sufficiently concentrated, it is poured into boxes or skins, where it concretes upon cooling. The finest kind is collected at the Missionary Institution at Bethelsdorp, and hence called Bethels- dorp aloes. Its superiority is owing exclusively to the greater care observed in conducting the evaporation, and in avoiding the intermixture of earth, stones, and other impurities. (Dunzterville, in Pereira's Mat. Med.) Cape aloes has sometimes been confounded with the Socotrine, from which, however, it differs very considerably in appearance. By the German writers it is called shining aloes. When freshly broken, it has a very dark olive or greenish colour approaching to black, presents a smooth bright almost glassy surface, and, if held up to the light, appears translucent at its edges. The small fragments also are semi-transparent, and have a tinge of yellow or red mixed with the deep olive of the opaque mass. The same tinge is sometimes observable in the larger pieces. The powder is of a fine greenish-yellow colour, and, being generally more or less sprinkled over the surface of the pieces as they are kept in the shops, gives them a somewhat yellowish appear- ance. The odour is strong and disagreeable, but not nauseous. It has not the slightest mixture of the aromatic. Cape aloes, when perfectly hard, is very brittle, and readily reduced to powder; but, in very hot weather, it is apt to become somewhat soft and tenacious, and the interior of the pieces is occasionally more or less so even in winter. It is usually imported in casks or boxes. Dr. Pereira says that a variety of aloes is sometimes imported into England from the Cape, of a reddish-brown colour like hepatic aloes. 70 Aloe. PART I. 2. Socotrine Aloes. The genuine Socotrine aloes is produced in the Island of Socotra, which lies in the Straits of Babelmandel, about forty leagues to the east of Cape Guardafui; but we are told by Ainslie that the greater part of what is sold under that name is prepared in the kingdom of Melinda, upon the eastern coast of Africa; and Wellsted states that the aloes of the neighbouring parts of Arabia is the same as that of Socotra.^ It is probable that the commerce in this variety of aloes is carried on chiefly by the maritime Arabs, who convey it either to India, or up the Red Sea by the same channel through which it reached Europe before the discovery of the southern passage into the Indian Ocean; The species of aloe which yields it is not certainly known. Ainslie says that it is evidently from the same species with the Cape aloes; but he does not give his reasons for the opinion; and the external character of the two varieties is so different, that we cannot but hesitate in admitting their identity of origin. We have been able to discover no good reason for depriving the A. Socotrina of the honour formerly conceded to it, of producing this highly valued variety. According to Wellsted, the plant grows on the sides and summits of mountains, from five hundred to three thousand feet above the level of the plains. It is found in all parts of the island, but most abundantly on the western portion, where the surface is thickly covered with it.for miles. It appears to thrive best in parched and barren places. Much less of the drug is collected than formerly, and in the year 1833 only two tons were exported. The whole produce was formerly monopolized by the Arabian Sultan of Kisseen, who still claims sovereignty over the island. But at present the business of collecting the drug is entirely free to the inhabitants. The leaves are plucked at any period of the year, and are placed in skins into which the juice is allowed to exude. In what way the inspissation is effected we are not informed. The aloes is exported in skins. Its quality differs much according to the care taken in its preparation. The price varies in Muscat from two to four shillings a pound. ( Wellsted's Voyage to the coast of Arabia, and Tour in the fsland of Socotra.) A portion ascends the Red Sea, and through Egypt reaches the ports of Smyrna and Malta, whence it is sent to London. Another portion is carried to Bombay, and thence transmitted to various parts of the world. The little that reaches this country either comes by special order from London, or is brought by our India traders. We have known of two arrivals directly into the United States from the Island of Socotra, and have in our possession par- cels of aloes brought by both. They are identical in character, and corre- spond with the following description. Socotrine aloes is in pieces of a yellowish or reddish-brown colour, wholly different from that of the former variety. Sometimes the colour is very light, especially in the fresh and not fully hardened parcels; sometimes it is a deep brownish-red like that of garnets. It is rendered much darker by exposure to the air; and the interior of the masses is consequently much lighter coloured than the exterior. Its surface is somewhat glossy, and its fracture smooth and conchoidal, with sharp and semi-transparent edges. The colour of its powder is a bright golden yellow. It has a peculiar, not unpleasant odour, and a taste, which, though bitter and disagreeable, is accompanied with an aromatic flavour. Though hard and pulverulent in cold weather it is somewhat tenacious in summer, and softens by the heat of the hand. Under the name of Socotrine aloes are occasionally to be met with in the market, small parcels beautifully semi-transparent, shining, and of a yellow- ish, reddish, or brownish-red colour. These, however, are very rare and do not deserve to be considered as a distinct variety. They are probably portions of the juice carefully inspissated in the sun, and may accompany'the pack- ages brought from any of the commercial sources of aloes. PART I. Aloe. 71 When in mass, as imported from the East, Socotrine aloes is soft and plastic, and of a very light yellowish-brown colour in the interior. It be- comes hard and brittle when broken into pieces; and the London dealers hasten the result by exposing it to a very gentle heat, so as to evaporate the moisture. Pereira tells us that impure and dirty pieces of the drug are melted and strained, and that the skins from which the best portions have been removed are washed with water, which is then evaporated. No incon- siderable portion of the Socotrine aloes received from London has probably undergone such processes. Much of the aloes sold as Socotrine, has never seen the Island of Socotra, nor even the Indian seas. It has been customary to affix this title as a mark of superior value to those parcels of the drug, from whatever source they may have been derived, which have been prepared with unusual care, and are supposed to be of the best quality. Thus, both in Spain and the West Indies, the juice which is obtained without expression, and inspissated in the sun without artificial heat, has been called Socotrine aloes; and is pro- bably little inferior to the genuine drug. Socotrine aloes has been very long known under this name, and in former times held the same superiority in the estimation of the profession, which it still to a certain degree retains. 3. Hepatic Aloes. Much confusion and uncertainty have prevailed in relation to this kind of aloes. The name was originally applied to a product from the East Indies, of a reddish-brown or liver colour, which gave origin to the designation. From a supposed resemblance between this and the aloes from the West Indies, the name was very commonly applied also to the latter variety, and was also extended to portions of the drug collected in Spain and other parts of the south of Europe. But the West India aloes is decidedly different from any now brought from the East, and deserves the rank of a distinct variety, with the name of Barbadoes aloes. In this country, we seldom meet with aloes bearing the name of the hepatic, although much that is sold as Socotrine probably deserves it. In the drug commerce of London, it is still recognised as a distinct variety. It is imported into England chiefly from Bombay; but, according to Ainslie, is not produced in Hindostan, being taken thither from Yemen in Arabia. It is probably obtained from the same plant or plants which yield the Socotrine, but prepared with less care, or by a somewhat different process. In relation to the Socotrine and hepatic aloes, we should probably not be far wrong in considering the former as embracing the finest, and the latter the inferior parcels of the same variety; and it is in fact stated that they sometimes come together, a large mass of the hepatic being crossed by a vein of the Socotrine. They are both embraced by the Edinburgh College under the title of Aloe Indica—an improper designation; as the aloes-which is produced in India is altogether inferior, and is seldom or never exported from that region. The variety which the Edinburgh Col- lege designates as Socotrine aloes, and defines to be " in thin pieces translucent and garnet-red, almost entirely soluble in spirit of the strength of sherry," has little claim to the title, being of unknown origin, very rare, and wholly unlike the drug usually brought from Socotra. Hepatic aloes is of a reddish-brown colour, but is darker and less glossy than the Socotrine. Its odour is somewhat like that of the Socotrine, but less agreeable, and is wholly different from that of Cape aloes. The taste is nauseous, and intensely bitter. The fracture is not so smooth, nor the edges so sharp and transparent as in either of tire first mentioned varieties. It softens in the hand, and becomes adhesive. The powder is of a dull yellow colour. 72 Aloe. PART I. 4. Barbadoes Aloes. This is the name by which the aloes produced in the West Indies is now generally designated. The aloes plants are largely cultivated in the poorer soils of Jamaica and Barbadoes, especially of the latter island. The species from which most of the drug is procured is A. vulgaris; but A. Socotrina, A. purpurascens, and A. arborescens, are also said to be cultivated. The process employed appears to be somewhat different in dif- ferent places, or at least as described by different authors. A fine kind was formerly prepared by the spontaneous inspissation of the juice, placedl in bladders or shallow vessels, and exposed to the sun. The common Barbadoes aloes, however, is now made, either by boiling the juice to a proper consist- ence, or by first forming a decoction of the leaves, chopped and suspended in water in nets or baskets, and then evaporating the decoction. In either case, when the liquor has attained such a consistence that it will harden on cooling, it is poured into calabashes and allowed to concrete. It is imported into England in gourds weighing from 60 to 70 pounds, or even more. In con- sequence of the great demand for it in veterinary practice, it commands a high price in Great Britain; and very little is consumed in the United States. The colour of Barbadoes aloes is not uniform. Sometimes it is dark brown or almost black, sometimes of a reddish-brown or liver colour, and again of some intermediate shade. It has usually a dull fracture, and is almost per- fectly opaque, even at the edges, and in thin layers. It is also distinguishable by its odour, which is very disagreeable and even nauseous. The powder is of a dull olive-yellow colour. Besides these varieties of aloes, others are mentioned by authors. A very inferior kind, supposed to consist of the dregs of the juice which furnished the better sorts, almost black, quite opaque, hard, of a rough fracture and very fetid odour, and full of various impurities, was formerly sold under the name of caballine, fetid, or horse aloes. It was used exclusively for horses; but, in consequence of the cheapness of better kinds, has been banished from veterinary practice, and is not now found in the market. Aloes has been imported from Muscat, and a considerable quantity came over in a vessel sent by the Sultan to the United States. Some of a similar origin has been called Mocha aloes in London; but it is nothing more than an inferior sort of hepatic. Several inferior kinds produced in different parts of Hindostan have been described by Pereira under the name of fndia aloes; but they are not brought, unless accidentally, into the markets of Europe or this country. General Properties. The odour of aloes is different in the different varie- ties. The taste is in all of them intensely bitter and very tenacious. The colour and other sensible properties have already been sufficiently described. Several distinguished chemists have investigated the nature and composition of aloes. The opinion at one time entertained, that it was a gum-resin, has been abandoned since the experiments of Braconnot, who found it to consist of a bitter principle, soluble in water, and in alcohol of 38° B., which he con- sidered peculiar and named resino-amer; and of another substance, in much smaller proportion, inodorous and nearly tasteless, very soluble in alcohol, and scarcely soluble in boiling water, which he designated by the name of flea-coloured principle. These results have been essentially confirmed by the experiments of Trommsdorff, Bouillon-Lagrange, and Vogel, who consider the former substance as extractive matter, and the latter as having the chief characters of resin. Besides these principles, Trommsdorff discovered in a variety of hepatic aloes, a proportion of insoluble matter which he considered as albumen; and Bouillon-Lagrange and Vogel found that Socotrine aloes yields, by distillation, a small quantity of volatile oil, which they could not obtain from the hepatic. The proportions of the ingredients vary greatly in PART I. Aloe. 73 the different varieties of the drug; and the probability is, that scarcely any two specimens would afford precisely the same results. Braconnot found about 73 per cent, of the bitter principle, and 26 of the flea-coloured principle. Trommsdorff obtained from Socotrine aloes about 75 parts of extractive, and 25 of resin; and from the hepatic, 81-25 of extractive, 6-25 of resin, and 12-50 of albumen, in the hundred parts. The former variety, according to Bouillon-Lagrange and Vogel, contains 68 per cent, of extractive and 32 of resin; the latter 52 of extractive, 42 of resin, and 6 of the albuminous matter of Trommsdorff. We are not aware that any analysis has been published of the Cape aloes as a distinct variety. Berzelius considers the resin of Trommsdorff and others, to belong to that form of matter which he calls apotheme (See Extracts), and which is nothing more than extractive, altered by the action of the air. It may be obtained separate, by treating aloes with water, and digesting the undissolved portion with oxide of lead, which unites with the apotheme forming an insoluble compound, and leaves a portion of unaltered extractive, which had adhered to it, dissolved in the water. The oxide of lead may be separated by nitric acid very much diluted; and the apotheme remains in the form of a brown pow- der, insoluble in cold water, very slightly soluble in boiling water, to which it imparts a yellowish-brown colour, soluble in alcohol, ether, and alkaline solutions, and burning like tinder without flame and without being melted. According to the same author, the bitter extractive which constitutes the re- mainder of the aloes, may be obtained by treating the watery infusion of the drug with oxide of lead, to separate a portion of apotheme which adheres to it, and evaporating the liquor. It is a yellowish, translucent, gum-like sub- stance, fusible by a gentle heat, of a bitter taste, soluble in ordinary alcohol, but insoluble in that fluid when anhydrous, and in ether. Chlorine produces with its solution a precipitate analogous to apotheme. Cold sulphuric acid dissolves without changing it. Nitric acid dissolves it, producing a greenish colour. Its solution is rendered brighter by acids, which occasion a slight precipitate, and dark red by the alkalies and the salts of iron. Acetate of lead, tartar emetic, perchloride of tin, and the salts of manganese, zinc, and copper, do not disturb the solution; protochloride of tin, and the nitrates of mercury and silver occasion precipates. It is probably the active portion of the drug. The most recent analysis of aloes was by M. Edmund Robiquet. A por- tion of hyacinthine, transparent aloes, considered as genuine Socotrine, was found by him to consist, in 100 parts, of 85 of aloesin (the bitter extractive of Berzelius), 2 of ulmate of potassa, 2 of sulphate of lime, 0-25 of gallic acid, 8 of albumen, and traces of carbonate of potassa, carbonate of lime, and phos- phate of lime. To get pure aloesin, M. Robiquet exhausted aloes in powder with cold water; evaporated the infusion one-half; added an excess of acetate of lead, which precipitated the gallate, ulmate, and albuminate of that metal; poured into the clear liquor solution of ammonia; separated the yellowish- orange coloured precipitate, consisting of oxide of lead combined with aloesin, washed it with boiling water, and then decomposed it by a current of sul- phuretted hydrogen with the exclusion of atmospheric air. Sulphuret of lead was deposited, and a colourless liquid floated above it, which, being decanted, and evaporated in vacuo, yielded aloesin in slightly yellowish scales, without any sign of crystallization. Thus procured, aloesin is very soluble in water and alcohol, but slightly soluble in ether, and <|uite insoluble in the fixed and volatile oils. It is entirely dissipated at a red heat. If exposed to the air, during desiccation, it becomes intensely red, in consequence of the absorption of a minute proportion of oxygen, which, however, scarcely affects its proper^ 74 Aloe. PART L ties in other respects. It possesses in a high degree the bitter taste and pur- gative property of aloes; and might be used as a substitute, 8 parts of it representing 10 parts of Socotrine and 50 parts of Cape aloes. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., x. 173.) Aloes yields its active matter to cold water, and when good is almost wholly dissolved by boiling water; but the inert portion, or apotheme of Berzelius, is deposited as the solution cools. It is also soluble in alcohol, rectified or di- luted. Long boiling impairs its purgative properties by converting the aloesin into insoluble apotheme. The alkalies, their carbonates, and soap alter in some measure its chemical nature, and render it of easier solution. It is inflammable, swelling up and decrepitating when it burns, and giving out a thick smoke which has the odour of the drug. Those substances only are incompatible with aloes, which alter or precipi- tate the aloesin, as the insoluble portion is without action upon the system. Among these is the infusion of galls, which, contrary to what was stated m former editions of this work, we have found, probably through its tannic acid, to afford a copious precipitate with an aqueous solution of aloes. It is said that such a solution will keep a long time, even for several months, without exhibiting mouldiness or putrescency; though it becomes ropy. Medical Properties and Uses. Aloes was known to the ancients. It is mentioned in the works of Dioscorides and Celsus, the former of whom speaks of two kinds. The varieties are similar in their mode of action. They are all cathartic, operating very slowly but certainly, and having a peculiar affinity for the large intestines. Their action, moreover, appears to be directed rather to the muscular coat than to the exhalent vessels; and the discharges which they produce, are, therefore, seldom very thin or watery. In a full dose they quicken the circulation, and produce general warmth. When fre- quently repeated, they are apt to irritate the rectum, giving rise, in some instances, to hemorrhoids, and aggravating them when already existing. Aloes has also a decided tendency to the uterine system. Its emmenagogue effect, which is often very considerable, is generally attributed to a sympathetic ex- tension of irritation from the rectum to the uterus; but we can see no reason why the medicine should not act specifically upon this organ; and its influ- ence in promoting menstruation is by no means confined to cases in which its action upon the neighbouring intestine is most conspicuous. A peculiarity in the action of this cathartic is, that an increase of the quantity administered, beyond the medium dose, is not attended by a corresponding increase of effect. Its tendency to irritate the rectum may be obviated, in some measure, by combining it with soap or an alkaline carbonate; but it does not follow, as supposed by some, that this modification of its operation is the result of increased solubility; for aloes given in a liquid state produces the same effect as when taken in pill or powder, except that it acts somewhat more speedily. Besides, when externally applied to a blistered surface, it operates exactly in the same manner as when internally administered; thus proving that its pe- culiarities are not dependent upon the particular form in which it may be given, but on specific tendencies to particular parts. (Gerhard, N Am. Med. and Surg. Journ., x. 155.) With its other powers, aloes combines the pro- perty of slightly stimulating the stomach. It is, therefore, in minute doses, an excellent remedy in habitual costiveness, attended with torpor of the di- gestive organs. From its special direction to the rectum, it has been found peculiarly useful in the treatment of ascarides. In amenorrhcea it is perhaps more frequently employed than any other remedy, entering into almost all the numerous empirical preparations which are habitually resorted to by females in that complaint, and enjoying a no less favourable reputation in PART I. Aloe.—Althsea. 75 regular practice. It is, moreover, frequently given in combination with more irritating cathartics, in order to regulate their liability to excessive action. In the treatment of amenorrhcea, it is said to be peculiarly efficacious when given in the form of enema, about the period when the menses should appear. Aloes is contra-indicated by the existence of hemorrhoids, and is obviously unsuitable, unless modified by combination, to the treatment of inflammatory diseases. The medium dose is 10 grains; but as a laxative it will often operate in the quantity of 2 or 3 grains; and, when a decided impression is required, the dose may be augmented to 20 grains. In consequence of its excessively bitter and somewhat nauseous taste, it is most conveniently administered in the shape of pill.* Off. Prep. Decoctum Aloe's Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Enema Aloe's, Lond.; Extraetum Aloes Hepaticae, Dub.; Ext. Aloes Purificat., Lond,; Ext. Colocynth. Comp., U.S., Lond., Dub.; Pilulse Aloes, U.S., Ed.; Pil. Aloe's Comp., Lond., Dub.; Pil. Aloes et Assafcetidae, U. S., Ed.; Pil. Aloe's et Ferri, Ed.; Pil. Aloes et Myrrhae, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pil. Colo- cynth. Comp., Dub., Ed.; Pil. Gambogiae Comp., Dub., Lond., Ed.; Pil. Rhei Comp., U. S., Loud., Ed.; Pil. Sagapeni Comp., Lond.; Pulvis Aloes Compositus, Lond., Dub.; Pulvis Aloe's et Canellae, U. S., Dub.; Tinctura Aloes, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Aloe's et Myrrhae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Benzoini Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Rhei et Aloes, U. S., Ed.; Vinum Aloe's, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. ALTHAEA. U.S. Marshmallow. "The root of Althaea officinalis." U. S. Off. Si/n. ALTH^LE RADIX. ALTH^^ FOLIA. Lond., Ed.; ALTH.EA OFFICINALIS. Folia et Radix. Dub. Guimauve, Fr.; Eibisch, Germ.; Altea, Ital; Altea, Malvavisco, Span. Alth^a. Sex. Syst. Monadelphia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord, Malvaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx double, the exterior six or nine-cleft. Capsules nume- rous, one-seeded. Willd. Althaea officinalis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 770.; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 552. t. 198. The marshmallow is an herbaceous perennial, with a perpen- dicular branching root, and erect woolly stems, from two to four feet or more in height, branched and leafy towards the summit. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, nearly cordate on the lower part of the stem, oblong-ovate and ob- scurely three-lobed above, somewhat angular, irregularly serrate, pointed, and covered on both sides with a soft down. The flowers are terminal and axillary, with short peduncles, each bearing one, two, or three flowers. The corolla * Dr. Paris enumerates the following empirical preparations, containing aloes as a leading ingredient:—Anderson's pills, consisting of aloes, jalap, and oil of aniseed; Hoopers pills, of aloes, myrrh, sulphate of iron, canella, and ivory black; Dixon's antibilious pills, of aloes, scammony, rhubarb, and tartarized antimony; Speediman's pills, of aloes, myrrh, rhubarb, extract of chamomile, and ess. oil of chamom.; Dinner pills, of aloes, mastich, red roses, and syrup of wormwood; Fothergill's pills, of aloes, scammony, colocynth, and oxide of antimony; Peter's pills, of aloes, jalap, scammony, gamboge, and calomel; and Radcliff's Elixir, of aloes, cinnamon, zedoary, rhubarb, cochineal, syrup of buckthorn, and spirit and water as the solvent: to which may be added Lee's Windham pills, consisting of gamboge, aloes, soap, and nitrate of potassa, and Lee's New London pills, of aloes, scammony, gamboge, calomel, jalap, soap, and syrup of buckthorn. 76 Althsea. PART I. has five spreading, obcordate petals, of a pale purplish colour. The fruit consists of numerous capsules united in a compact circular form, each con- taining a single seed. The plant grows throughout Europe, inhabiting salt marshes, the banks of rivers, and other moist places. It is found also m this country on the borders of salt marshes. In some parts of the Continent of Europe, it is largely cultivated for medical use. The whole plant abounds in mucilage. Both the leaves and root are officinal, but the latter only is em- ployed to any extent in this country. The flowers are sometimes to be found in the shops, but are scarcely used. The roots should be collected in autumn from plants at least two years old. They are cylindrical, branched, as thick as the finger or thicker, from a foot to a foot and a half long, externally of a yellowish colour which becomes grayish by drying, within white and fleshy. They are usually prepared for the market by removing the epidermis. Our shops are supplied chiefly if not exclusively from Europe. Properties. Marshmallow root comes to us in pieces three or four inches or more in length, usually not so thick as the finger, generally round, but sometimes split, white externally and downy from the mode in which the epidermis is removed, light and easily broken with a short somewhat fibrous fracture, of a peculiar faint smell, and a mild mucilaginous sweetish taste. Those pieces are to be preferred which are plump and but slightly fibrous. The root contains a large proportion of mucilage, besides starch and saccha- rine matter, which it yields readily to boiling water. The mucilage, without the starch, is extracted by cold water, which thus becomes ropy. A principle was discovered in the root by M. Bacon, which he supposed to be peculiar to the marshmallow, but which has been ascertained to be identical with the asparagin of Robiquet. MM. Boutron-Charlard and Pelouze found it to belong to that class of organic principles, which are convertible by strong acids, and other agencies, into ammonia and peculiar acids, and which are designated by the termination amide. Thus asparagin, which in this view should be called asparamide, is converted into ammonia and asparmic, or, as it was formerly named, aspartic acid; and one atom of the resulting asparmate of ammonia is equivalent to one atom of asparamide and one of water. {Journ. de Pharm,, xix. 208.) It is found in various other plants besides the marsh- mallow, as in the shoots of asparagus, in vetches grown in the dark, in all the varieties of the potato, and in the roots of the comfrey and liquorice plant. According to Professor Piria, asparagin has acid properties. It has no thera- peutical value. Marshmallow is said to become somewhat acid by decoction. Those pieces should be rejected which are woody, discoloured, mouldy, of a sour or musty smell, or a sourish taste. The roots of other Malvaceae are sometimes substituted without disadvan- tage, as they possess similar properties. Such are those of Althsea rosea or hollyhock, and Malva Alcea. The leaves, which are recognised by the British Colleges, are without smell, and of a mucilaginous taste, and are used for the same purposes as the root. Medical Properties and Uses. The virtues of marshmallow are exclusively those of a demulcent. The decoction of the root is much used in Europe in irritation and inflammation of the mucous membranes. The roots themselves, boiled and bruised, are sometimes employed as a poultice. The leaves are applied to similar uses. In France, the powdered root is much used in the preparation of pills and electuaries. Off. Prep. Decoctum Althaeae, Dub., Ed.; Syrupus Althaeac, Lond., Ed., Dub. \y. PART I. Alumen. 77 ALUMEN. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Alum. "Sulphate of alumina and potassa." U. S. Alun, Fr., Dan., Swed.; Alaun, Germ.; Allume, Ital; Alumbre, Span. The officinal alum is a double salt, consisting of the tersulphate of alumina, united with sulphate of potassa. It is included in the Materia Medica list of the United States and British Pharmacopoeias, as an article to be procured from the wholesale manufacturer. Alum is manufactured occasionally from earths which contain it ready formed, but most generally from minerals which, from the fact of their con- taining most or all of its constituents, are called alum ores. The principal alum ores are the alum stone, which is a native mixture of subsulphate of alumina and sulphate of potassa, found in large quantities at Tolfa and Piom- bino in Italy, and certain natural mixtures of sulphuret of iron with clay and carbonaceous matter, called aluminous schist or alum-slate. It is particularly at the Solfaterra, and other places in the kingdom of Naples, that alum is extracted from earths which contain it ready formed. The ground being of volcanic origin, and having a temperature of about 104°, an efflorescence of pure alum is formed upon its surface. This is collected and lixiviated, and the solution made to crystallize by slow evaporation in leaden vessels sunk in the ground. The alum stone is manufactured into alum by calcination, and subsequent exposure to the air for three months; the mineral being frequently sprinkled with water, in order that it may be brought to the state of a soft mass. This is lixiviated, and the solution obtained crystallized by evaporation. The alum stone may be considered as consisting of alum, united with a certain quantity of the hydrate of alumina. This latter, by the calcination, loses its water, and becomes incapable of remaining united with the alum of the mineral, which is consequently set free. Alum of the greatest purity is obtained from this ore. Aluminous schist, when compact, is first exposed to the air for a month. It is then stratified with wood, which is set on fire. The combustion which ensues is slow and protracted. The sulphur is in part converted into sul- phuric acid, which unites with the alumina; and the sulphate of alumina thus formed generates a portion of alum with the potassa derived from the ashes of the wood. The iron, in the mean time, is almost wholly converted into sesquioxide, and thus becomes insoluble. The matter is lixiviated, and the solution crystallized into alum by evaporation. The mother-waters, con- taining sulphate of alumina, are then drawn off, and made to yield a further portion of alum by the addition of sulphate of potassa, or chloride of potas- sium. When the aluminous schist is easily disintegrated, it is not subjected to combustion, but merely placed in heaps, and occasionally sprinkled with water. The sulphuret of iron gradually absorbs oxygen, and passes into sulphate of the protoxide, which effloresces on the surface of the heap. Part of the sulphuric acid formed unites with the alumina; so that, after the chemical changes are completed, the heap contains both the sulphate of iron and the sulphate of alumina. At the end of about a year, the matter is lixiviated, and the solution obtained of the two sulphates is concentrated to the proper degree in leaden boilers. The sulphate of iron crystallizes, while 78 Alumen. PART I. the sulphate of alumina, being a deliquescent salt, remains in the mother- waters. These are drawn off, and treated with sulphate of potassa in powder, heat being at the same time applied. The whole is then allowed to cool, that the alum may crystallize. The crystals are then separated from the solution, and purified by a second solution and crystallization. They are next added to boiling water to full saturation, and the solution is transferred to a cask, where, on cooling, nearly the whole concretes into a crystalline mass. The cask is then taken to pieces, and the salt, having been broken up,is packed in barrels for the purposes of commerce. This process is employed in France, Great Britain, and the United States. Alum is sometimes manufactured by the direct combination of its con- stituents. With this view, clays are selected as free from iron and carbonate of lime as possible, and calcined to sesquioxidize the iron, and render them more easily pulverizable; after which they are dissolved, by the assistance of heat, in weak sulphuric acid. The sulphate of alumina thus generated, is next crystallized into alum by the addition of sulphate of potassa in the usual manner. Besides the officinal alum, which is sometimes called potassa-alum, there are several varieties of this salt, in which the potassa is replaced by some other base, as, for example, ammonia or soda. Ammoniacal alum, or the sulphate of alumina and ammonia, is sometimes manufactured in France, where it is formed by adding putrid urine to a solution of the sulphate of alumina. In Great Britain it is sometimes made by adding sulphate of ammonia from gas liquor to the sulphate of alumina. Scotch alum, made near Paisley, generally contains both potassa and ammonia. Ammoniacal alum resembles so exactly the potassa-alum, that it is impossible by simple inspection to distinguish them; and in composition it is perfectly analogous to the potassa salt. It may, however, be distinguished by subjecting it to a strong calcining heat, after which alumina will be found as the sole residue; or by rubbing it up with potassa or lime and a little water, when the smell of ammonia will be perceived. Properties. Alum is a white, slightly efflorescent salt, crystallized in regu- lar octohedrons, and possessing a sweetish, astringent taste. It dissolves in between fourteen and fifteen times its weight of cold, and three-fourths of its weight of boiling water. Its solution is precipitated by ammonia and potassa, and their carbonates, which throw down a gelatinous subsulphate of alumina, of variable composition, dependent upon the proportion of the precipitant employed. (H. Blcy.) Its sp. gr. is 1-71. It reddens litmus, but changes the blue tinctures of the petals of plants to green. It cannot, therefore, be properly said to contain an excess of acid. When heated a little above 212°, it undergoes the aqueous fusion; and, if the heat be continued, it loses its water, swells up, becomes a white, opaque, porous mass, and is converted into the officinal preparation, called dried alum. (See Alumen Exsiccatum.) Ex- posed to a red heat, it gives off oxygen, together with sulphurous and anhy- drous sulphuric acids; and the residue consists of alumina and sulphate of potassa. When calcined with finely divided charcoal, it forms a spontaneously inflammable substance, called Jlomberg's pyrophorus, which consists of a mixture of sulphuret of potassium, alumina, and charcoal. Several varieties of alum are known in commerce. Roche alum so called from its having come originally from Roccha in Syria, is a sort which occurs in fragments, about the size of an almond, and having a pale rose colour which is given to it, according to Dr. Pereira, by bole or rose-pink. Roman alum also occurs in small fragments, covered with a rose-coloured efflorescence derived from a slight covering of oxide of iron. PART I. Alumen. 79 All the alums of commerce contain more or less sulphate of iron, varying from five to seven parts in the thousand. Roman alum is among the purest varieties, and is, therefore, much esteemed. The iron is readily detected by adding to a solution of the suspected alum a few drops of the ferrocyanuret of potassium, which will cause a greenish-blue tint, if iron be present. It may be detected also by precipitating the alumina as a subsulphate, with a solution of potassa, and afterwards adding the alkali in excess. This will redissolve the precipitate, with the exception of any iron, which will be left in the state of sesquioxide. The proportion of iron usually present, though small, is injurious to the alum when used in dyeing. It may, however, be purified, either by dissolving it in the smallest quantity of boiling water, and stirring the solution as it cools, or by repeated solutions and crystallizations. fncompatiblcs. Alum is incompatible with the alkalies and their carbon- ates, lime and lime-water, magnesia and its carbonate, tartrate of potassa, and acetate of lead. Composition. Alum was regarded as a sulphate of alumina, until it was proved by Descroizilles, Vauquelin, and Chaptal to contain also sulphate of potassa, sulphate of ammonia, or both these salts. When its second base is potassa, it consists of one equivalent of tersulphate of alumina 171-4, one of sulphate of potassa 8715, and twenty-four of water 210 = 474-55. In the ammoniacal alum, the equivalent of sulphate of potassa is replaced by one of sulphate of oxide of ammonium. In other respects its composition is the same. Alumina is classed by the chemist as an earth. It is essential to the constitution of true alum, as it cannot be replaced by any other base. It may be obtained by subjecting ammoniacal alum to a strong calcining heat, and consists of two eqs. of a metallic radical called aluminium 27-4, and three of oxygen 24 = 51-4. It is, therefore, a sesquioxide. Medical Properties, dr. Alum, in ordinary doses, is astringent and anti- spasmodic; in large doses, purgative and emetic. It is used both as an internal and local remedy. Internally it is employed as an astringent in passive hemorrhages, colliquative sweats, diabetes, and chronic dysentery and diarrhoea; also in gleet and leucorrhcea, in which diseases it is sometimes combined with cubebs. It has been recommended by Kreysig and Dzondi in dilatation of the heart, and in aortic aneurism. Its efficacy as an anti- spasmodic in hooping-cough, has been much insisted on by Dr. Davies, editor of Underwood on Children. As a purgative, it has been employed in colica pictonum. The practice was introduced by a Dutch physician in 1752, and imitated by Dr. Percival with great success. Its use in this disease has been latterly revived, and its efficacy fully sustained, by Kapeler and Gendrin, of Paris, and Copland, of London. It allays nausea and vomiting, relieves flatulence, mitigates the pain, and opens the bowels with more certainty than any other medicine. Its remarkable influence in allaying the tormina in this disease, has led some to attribute to it a sedative operation. Sometimes it is advantageously conjoined with opium and camphor. By Dr. C. D. Meigs, alum has been strongly recommended, after an experience of more than twenty years, as an excellent emetic in pseudo-membranous croup. In these cases it has the merit of acting with certainty and promptness, and without producing that extreme prostration which frequently follows the use of antimonials. (Med. Exam, for 1838, i. 414.) His son, Dr. J. F. Meigs, has also borne testimony to its value as an emetic in this dangerous disease. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci. for Apr. 1847.) In various anginose affections, alum is found highly useful, applied topically either in powder or solution. When the affection is attended with mem- branous exudation, its efficacy has been particularly insisted on by Breton- 80 Alumen.—Ammonia. part r. neau, applied in solution prepared with vinegar and honey for adults, and in powder, by insufflation, in the cases of children. When used in the latter way, a drachm of finely powdered alum may be placed in one end of a tube, and then blown by means of the breath into the throat of the child. Velpeau, in 1*35, extended the observations of Bretonneau, and has used alum successfully, not only in simple inflammatory sore-throat, but in those forms of angina dependent on small-pox, scarlatina, &c. In these cases, the powdered alum may be applied several times a-day to the fauces, by means of the index finger. In relaxation of the uvula, and in the beginning of sore-throat, with or without membraniform exudation, a solution of alum forms one of our best gargles. It forms also a useful astringent wash in certain states of mercurial sore-mouth. In gleet and leucorrhcea the solution is an approved remedy, either alone or conjoined with sulphate of zinc. (See Liquor Aluminis Compositus, Lond.) It is frequently applied as a local styptic, in epistaxis, by means of a plug soaked in a saturated solution, and pressed up the nostril, and in menorrhagia, by the aid of a sponge, soaked in a similar solution, and introduced into the vagina. In the latter stages of conjunctival inflammation it is often proper, and in the purulent ophthalmia of infants, it forms the most efficacious remedy we possess. In these cases, it is usually applied in the form of the alum cataplasm. (See Cataplasma Aluminis, Dub.) The ordinary dose of alum is from ten to twenty grains, repeated every two or three hours, taken in solution, or mixed with syrup or molasses. In hooping-cough the dose is from two to ten or twelve grains, according to the age of the child, repeated three times a-day. As a purge in colica pictonum, from half a drachm to two drachms may be given every three or four hours. In croup the dose, as an emetic, is a teaspoonfnl of the powder, mixed with honey, syrup, or molasses, and repeated every ten or fifteen minutes, until free vomiting is induced. It is seldom necessary to give a second dose. An elegant way of exhibiting alum is in the form of alum whey, made by boiling two drachms of alum with a pint of milk, and then straining to separate the curd. The dose is a wineglassful, containing about fifteen gfains of alum. As a collyrium, the solution is made of various strengths, as four, six, or eight grains to the fluidounce of water. A solution containing from half an ounce to an ounce of alum in a pint of water, and sweetened with honey, forms a convenient gargle. Solutions for gleet, leucorrhcea, ulcers, &c, must vary in strength according to the state of the parts to which they are applied. Off Prep. Alumen Exsiccatum, U.S., Loud., Ed., Dub.; Cataplasma Aluminis, Dub.; Liquor Aluminis Compositus, Lond,; Pulvis Aluminis Compositus, Ed. g AMMONIA. Ammonia. All the ammoniacal compounds owe their distinctive properties to the pre- sence of a peculiar gaseous substance, composed of nitrogen and hydrogen called ammonia. This is most easily obtained by the action of "lime on muriate of ammonia or sal ammoniac; when the lime unites with the muri- atic acid, so as to form chloride of calcium and water, and expels the am- monia. It is transparent and colourless, like common air, but possesses a hot and acrid taste, and an exceedingly pungent smell. It has a powerful alkaline reaction, and, from this property and its gaseous nature was called the volatile aUcali by the earlier chemists. Its sp. gr. is 0-59 ' It i " PART I. Ammonia. 81 spirable, the glottis closing spasmodically when the attempt is made to breathe it. It consists of one eq. of nitrogen 14, and three of hydrogen 3 = 17; or, in volumes, of one volume of nitrogen and three volumes of hydrogen, condensed into two volumes. Its symbol is NH3. The salts of ammonia may be divided into hydracid salts and oxacid salts. Thus, when muriatic acid unites with ammonia, we have the hydracid salt called muriate of ammonia, which is usually considered to be a compound of muriatic acid and ammonia, with the symbol NH3,HC1. But Berzelius supposes that, in the act of uniting, the hydrogen of the muriatic acid is transferred to the elements of the ammonia, and that the compound, thus formed, uniting with the chlorine, gives rise to a salt, represented by NH4,C1. To this hypothetical compound (NH4) Berzelius gives the name of ammo- nium, and, consequently, to muriate of ammonia, the appellation of chloride of ammonium. Applying the same view to the oxacid salts of ammonia, Berzelius con- ceives that they are compounds of oxide of ammonium (NH40) with their several acids. It is found that the true oxacid salts of ammonia always con- tain one eq. of water, which cannot be separated from them without destroy- ing their nature; and it is supposed that the elements of this eq. of water, united with the elements of one eq. of ammonia, form oxide of ammonium. To apply the new view to sulphate of ammonia, this salt is usually con- sidered to be a protohydrated sulphate of ammonia (NH3,S03,HO); but, on the new view, it is the sulphate of oxide of ammonium, without water, (NH40,S03). The following table contains a list of the principal officinal preparations of ammonia, with their synonymes. I. In Aqueous Solution. Liquor Ammonias Fortior, U. S.; Ammoniae Liquor Fortior, Lond.; Ammoniae Aqua Fortior, Ed.—Stronger Solution of Ammonia. Linimentum Ammoniae Compositum, Ed. Tinctura Ammoniae Composita, Lond. Liquor Ammoniae, U. S., Lond.; Ammoniae Aqua, Ed.; Ammoniae Causticae Aqua, Dub.—Solution of Ammonia.— Water of Am- monia. Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum, U. S.; Hydrargyri Ammonio-Chlo- ridum, Lond.; Hydrargyri Prascipitatum Album, ift/.; Hy- drargyri Submurias Ammoniatum, Dub.— White, Precipitate. Linimentum Ammoniae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.—Liniment of Ammonia.— Volatile Liniment. Linimentum Camphorae Compositum, Lond., Dub. Linimentum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond. H. In Spirituous Solution. Spiritus Ammoniae, U. S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.—Spirit of Ammonia. Tinctura Castorci Ammoniata, Ed. Tinctura Guaiaci Ammoniata, Ed. Tinctura Opii Ammoniata, Ed. Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata, Ed,, Dub. Spiritus Ammoniae Aromaticus, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.—Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia. Tinctura Colchici Composita, Lond, Tinctura Guaiaci Ammoniata, U. S., Dub.; Tinctura Guaiaci Com- posita, Lond. Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata, U. S.; Tinctura Valerianae Com- posita, Lond. 6 82 Liquor Ammonise Fortior. PART I. Spiritus Ammoniae Foetidus, Lond., Ed,, Dub.—Fetid Spirit of Am- monia. III. In Saline Combination. Ammoniae Murias, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Ammoniae Hydrochloras, Lond.— Muriate of Ammonia.—Sal Ammoniac. Ferrum Ammoniatum, U. S.; Ferri Ammonio-Chloridum, Lond. Ammonia? Carbonas, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Ammoniae Sesquicarbonas, Lond.— Carbonate of Ammonia,—Mild Volatile Alkali. Cuprum Ammoniatum, U. S., Ed,, Dub.; Cupri Ammonio-Sulphas, Lond. Liquor Ammoniae Sesquicarbonatis, Lond.; Ammoniae Carbonatis Aqua, Ed., Dub. Linimentum Ammoniae Sesquicarbonatis, Lond, Ammoniae Bicarbonas, Dub. Liquor Ammoniae Acetatis, U. S., Lond,; Ammoniae Acetatis Aqua, Ed., Dub.—Spirit of Mindererus. Ammoniae Hydrosulphuretum, Dub. The ammonia in the spirit of ammonia of the U. S. and Ed. Pharmaco- poeias is in the caustic state; in the corresponding preparations of the London and Dublin Colleges, it is carbonated. In the aromatic and fetid spirits of ammonia, the alkali is caustic in the Edinburgh preparations, but carbonated in those of the other Pharmacopoeias. It is seen by the table that the am- mohiated tinctures are made in the Edinburgh Pharmacopceia with the simple spirit of ammonia; in the U. S. and London Pharmacopceias, with the aro- matic spirit. Of the two ammoniated tinctures of the Dublin College, one is made with the simple, the other with the aromatic spirit. B. LIQUOR AMMONLE FORTIOR. U.S. Stronger Solution cf Ammonia. "An aqueous solution of Ammonia of the specific gravity 0-882." U. S. Off. Syn. AMMONLE LIQUOR FORTIOR. Lond,; AMMONLE AQUA FORTIOR. Ed, This preparation was first introduced into the London Pharmacopoeia of 1836, and has since been successively admitted into those of Edinburgh and the United States. It is too strong for internal exhibition, but forms a con- venient ammoniacal solution for reduction, with distilled water, to the strength of ordinary officinal solution of ammonia (Liquor ammoniae), or for preparing strong rubefacient and vesicating lotions and liniments. (See Linimentum Ammoniee Compositum, Ed.) The United States and London Pharmacopoeias include this solution in the list of the Materia Medica; but in the Edinburgh Pharmacopceia a formula is given for its preparation, which is as follows: "Take of Muriate of Ammonia, thirteen ounces; Quicklime, thirteen ounces; Water, seven fluidounces and a half; Distilled Water, twelve fluidounces. Slake the Lime with the water, cover it up till it cool, triturate it well and quickly with the Muriate of Ammonia previously in fine powder, and put the mixture into a glass retort, to which is attached a receiver with a safety-tube. Connect with the receiver a bottle also provided with a safety-tube and con- taining four ounces of the Distilled Water, but capable of holding twice as much. Connect this bottle with another loosely corked, and containing the remaining eight ounces of Distilled Water. The communicating tubes must PART I. Liquor Ammonice Fortior. 83 descend to the bottom of the bottles at the further end from the retort- and the receiver and bottles must be kept cool by snow, ice, or a running stream ot very cold water. Apply to the retort a gradually increasing heat till gas ceases to be evolved; remove the retort, cork up the aperture in the receiver where it was connected with the retort, and apply to the receiver a gentle and gradually increasing heat, to drive over as much of the gas in the liquid con tamed in it, but as little of the water as possible. Should the liquid in the last bottle not have the density of 960, reduce it with some of the Stronger Aqua Ammomaa in the first bottle, or raise it with Distilled Water, so as to form Aqua Ammoniae of the prescribed density." In this process the ammonia is disengaged in the usual manner from muriate of ammonia by the action of lime, as explained under the head of Liquor Amnionic But it is perceived, by the details of the process, that the Edinburgh College proposes to obtain both the stronger and ordinary solution of ammonia at one operation. This is done by connecting the retort with two bottles through an intervening empty receiver, and charging the bottles severally with one-third and two-thirds of the prescribed distilled water. The receiver between the retort and the bottles serves to detain im- purities. The water in the first bottle becomes nearly saturated with ammonia a result which is favoured by the application of cold. After the gas has ceased to be disengaged from the retort, it is. removed; and any ammonia which may have been condensed with water in the receiver, is saved by being driven over with a gentle heat. As the water in the first bottle will not take up all the ammonia disengaged, the balance is allowed to pass into the second bottle, where it saturates the water to a greater or less extent, forming a weak aqueous ammonia. The aqueous ammonia in the first bottle is the Edinburgh Ammonias Aqua Fortior, and that in the second is converted into Liquor Ammoniae of the proper officinal strength, by the addition of aqueous ammonia from the first bottle, if too weak, or of distilled water, if too strong. The Edinburgh process has the merit of economizing the ammonia, and of furnish- ing two preparations at one operation. Properties of Aqueous Ammonia of maximum strength. It is a colourless liquid, of a caustic, acrid taste, and peculiar, pungent smell. It is strongly alkaline, and immediately changes turmeric to reddish-brown when held over its fumes. Cooled down to 40° below zero, it concretes into a gelatinous mass, and at the temperature of 130° enters into ebullition, owing to the rapid disengagement of the gas. Its sp. gr. is 0-875 at 50°, when it con- tains 32-5 per cent, of ammonia. Properties of the officinal Stronger Solution of Ammonia. This has similar properties to those above mentioned. Its officinal sp. gr. is 0-882, U. S., Lond.; 0-880, Ed. When of the density 0-882, it contains about 29 per cent, of ammonia. The liquor ammoniae fortior of the shops is usually not so strong, commonly ranging in density from 0-886 to 0-910. Even though of proper officinal strength at first, it generally becomes gradually weaker by the escape of ammonia. If precipitated by lime-water, it contains carbonic acid. After having been saturated with nitric acid, a precipitate produced by carbonate of ammonia indicates earthy impurity; by nitrate of silver, either muriatic acid or a chloride. Liquor Ammoniae Fortior is a convenient preparation for making Liquor Ammonias, by due dilution with distilled water; and the Pharmacopoeias have given directions for this purpose. In the U. S. and London Pharma- copoeias, the stronger solution is directed to be diluted with two measures of distilled water; in the Edinburgh, with two and a half measures. By dilu- 84 Ammonise Murias. PART I. tion in these proportions, the stronger preparation is reduced to the strength of Liquor Ammoniae (sp. gr. 0-960). When purchasing or making the Stronger Solution of Ammonia, the apothecary should not trust to its being of the officinal strength; but ascer- tain the point by taking its density, either with the specific gravity bottle or the hydrometer. In reducing it to make Liquor Ammoniae, the same pre- caution should be used; and if the mixture should not have the sp. gr. of 0-960, it should be brought to that density by the addition either of the stronger solution or of distilled water, as the case may require. Medical Properties and Uses. This solution is too strong for medical employment in its unmixed state. Its rubefacient, vesicating, and caustic pro- perties, when duly reduced by admixture with tincture of camphor and spirit of rosemary, will be noticed under the head of Linimentum Ammonias Com- positum. When a solution of ammonia of 25° (sp. gr. 0-905) is mixed with fatty matter in certain proportions, the mixture forms the vesicating ammo- niacal ointment of Dr. Gondret. The amended formula for this ointment is as follows: Take of lard 32 parts, oil of sweet almonds 2 parts. Melt them together by the gentle heat of a candle or lamp, and pour the melted mixture into a bottle with a wide mouth. Then add 17 parts of solution of ammonia, of 25°, and mix, with continued agitation, until the'whole is cold. The ointment must be preserved in. a bottle with a ground stopper, and kept in a cool place. When well prepared it vesicates in ten minutes. (Journ. de Pharm., Se ser., ix. 39.) The officinal stronger solution of ammonia is used as a chemical agent to prepare two Edinburgh officinals, Ferrugo and Ferri Oxidum Nigrum. Off. Prep. Linimentum Ammoniae Compositum, Ed.; Liquor Ammoniae, U. S., Lond., Ed,; Tinctura Ammoniae Composita, Lond. B. AMMONITE MURIAS. U.S., Ed., Dub. Muriate of Ammonia. a Chlorohydrate of Ammonia." U. S. Off. Syn. AMMONIA HYDROCHLORAS. Lond, Sal ammoniac, Hydrochlorate of ammonia; Sel ammoniac, Fr.; Salmiak, Germ. • Sale ammoniaco, Ital.; Sal ammoniaco, Span. This salt is placed in the Materia Medica list of all the Pharmacopoeias commented on in this work. It originally came from Egypt, where it was obtained by sublimation from the soot, resulting from the burning of camels' dung, which is used in that country for fuel. Preparation. At present muriate of ammonia is derived from two prin- cipal sources, the ammoniacal liquor, called gas liquor, found in the condens- ing vessels of coal gas-works, and the brown, fetid ammoniacal liquor, known under the name of'bone spirit, which is a secondary product, obtained, during the destructive distillation of bones, by the manufacturers of animal charcoal for the use of sugar-refiners. These two liquors are the source of all the ammoniacal compounds; for they are both used to obtain muriate of ammo- nia, and this salt is employed, directly or indirectly, in obtaining all the other salts of ammonia. The gas liquor contains carbonate, hydrocyanate, hydrosulphate and sulphate of ammonia, but principally the carbonate. It is saturated with sulphuric acid, and the solution obtained, after due evaporation, furnishes brown crystals of sulphate of ammonia. These are then subl'imed with ehloride of sodium in iron pots, lined with clay and furnished with a PART I. Ammonise Murias. 85 leaden dome or head. By the mutual action of the sulphate, chloride, and water, there are formed muriate of ammonia which sublimes into the head, and sulphate of soda which remains behind. Thus NH3,S03,HO and NaCl become NH3,HC1 and NaO,S()r Sometimes, instead of the ammonia being first converted into the sulphate, it is made at once into muriate of ammonia by the addition of muriatic acid or chloride of calcium. When chloride of calcium is employed, the chief reaction takes place between carbonate of am- monia and the chloride, with the result of forming muriate of ammonia in solution, and a precipitate of carbonate of lime. The solution is duly evapo- rated, whereby brown crystals of muriate of ammonia are obtained. These, after having been dried, are purified by sublimation in an iron subliming pot, coated with a composition of clay, sand, and charcoal, and covered with a dome of lead. These pots are sometimes sufficiently large to hold 500 pounds. " A gentle fire is kept up under the subliming pot for seven or eight days, when the dome having cooled down, and the sal ammoniac some- what contracted, so as to loosen from the sides, the dome is thrown off from the iron pot, and about two or three hundred weight of white, semi-transpa- rent muriate of ammonia are knocked off in cakes." (Percira.) In the destructive distillation of bones for making animal charcoal, the dis- tilled products are the bone spirit already mentioned, being chiefly an aqueous solution of carbonate of ammonia, and an empyreumatic oil, called animal oil. These products all result from a new arrangement of the ultimate constitu- ents of the animal matter. Thus, hydrogen and oxygen form the water; carbon and oxygen, the carbonic acid; nitrogen and hydrogen, the ammonia; and carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the animal oil. Muriate of ammonia may be obtained from bone spirit in the manner just described for procuring it from gas liquor. Sometimes, however, the sulphate of ammonia is not made by direct combination, but by digesting the bone spi- rit with ground plaster of Paris (sulphate of lime). By double decomposition, sulphate of ammonia and carbonate of lime are formed. The sulphate of am- monia is then converted into the muriate by sublimation with common salt, in the manner just explained. For obtaining muriate of ammonia, other processes, besides those given above, have been proposed or practised; for an account of which the reader is referred to the Chemical Essays of the late Mr. Parkes, who has appropriated a separate essay to the subject. Commercial History. All the muriate of ammonia consumed in the United States is obtained from abroad. Its commercial varieties are known under the names of the crude and refined. The crude is imported from Calcutta in chests, containing from 350 to 400 pounds. This variety is consumed almost exclusively by coppersmiths and other artisans in brass and copper, being employed for the purpose of keeping the metallic surfaces bright, preparatory to brazing. The refined comes to us exclusively from England, packed in casks containing from 5 to 10 cwt. Properties. Muriate of ammonia is a white, translucent, tough, fibrous salt, occurring in commerce in large cakes, about two inches thick, convex on one side and concave on the other. It has a pungent, saline taste, but no smell. Its sp. gr. is 145. It dissolves in three parts of cold, and one of boiling water, and cold is produced during its solution. It is less soluble in rectified spirit than in water, and sparingly so in absolute alcohol. A hot concentrated aqueous solution, as it cools, deposits the salt in feathery crystals. This salt is very difficult to powder in the ordinary way. Its pulverization, however, may be effected readily by making a boiling saturated solution of the salt, and stirring it as it cools. The salt may thus be made to granulate, 86 Ammonise Murias. PART I. and in this state, after having been drained from the remaining solution and dried, may be readily powdered. Muriate of ammonia, at a red heat, sub- limes without decomposition, as its mode of preparation proves. Exposed ^to a damp atmosphere, it becomes slightly moist, It has the property of in- creasing the solubility of corrosive sublimate in water. (See Liquor 1/ydrar- gyri Bichloridi, Lond.) It is decomposed by the strong mineral acids, and by the alkalies and alkaline earths; the former disengaging muriatic acid, the latter, ammonia, both sensible to the smell. Muriate of ammonia is the salt usually employed for obtaining gaseous ammonia, which is conveniently disengaged by means of lime. Though neutral in composition^ it slightly red- dens litmus. It is incompatible with acetate of lead and nitrate of silver, producing a precipitate, with the former, of chloride of lead, with the latter, of chloride of silver. According to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, muriate of ammonia is not liable to adulteration. If it be not entirely volatilized by heat and soluble in water, it contains impurity. If the salt be entirely volatilized by heat, and yet produces a precipitate with chloride of barium, the presence of sulphate of ammonia is indicated. Composition. Muriate of ammonia is composed of one eq. of muriatic acid 36-42, and one of ammonia 17 = 53-42; or, in ultimate constituents, of one eq. of chlorine, one of nitrogen, and four of hydrogen. Viewed as chloride of ammonium, it consists of one eq. of chlorine and one of ammonium (NH4,C1). In equivalent volumes, it consists of two volumes of muriatic acid gas, and two volumes of ammonia, condensed into a solid. Medical Properties. Muriate of ammonia is employed both internally and externally. Internally it acts primarily on the alimentary canal, purging in large doses, but rather constipating in small ones. Its secondary action is alleged to be that of a stimulating alterative on the capillary, glandular, and lymphatic systems, and on the mucous, serous, ami fibrous tissues, the nutri- tion of which it is supposed to improve. It has been recommended in catarrhal and rheumatic fevers; in pleuritis, peritonitis, dysentery, and other inflamma- tions of the serous and mucous membranes, after the first violence of the dis- ease has abated; in chronic inflammation and enlargement of the thoracic and abdominal viscera; and in amenorrhoea, when dependent on deficient action of the uterus. Several cases of pectoral disease, simulating incipient phthisis, are reported to have been cured by this salt in Otto's Bibliothek for 1834. According to Dr. Watson, it is a very efficacious remedy in hemicrania. The dose is from five to thirty grains, repeated every two or three hours, either given in powder mixed with powdered gum or sugar, or dissolved in syrup or mucilage. It is very little used as an internal remedy in the United States; but is a good deal employed on the continent of Europe, especially in Ger- many, where it is deemed a powerful alterative and resolvent. Externally, muriate of ammonia is used in solution as a stimulant and resolvent in contusions, indolent tumours, &c. The strength of the solution must be varied according to the intention in view. An ounce of the salt, dissolved in nine fluidounces of water and one of alcohol, forms a solution of convenient strength. When the solution is to be used as a wash for ulcers, or an injection in leucorrhcea, it should not contain more than from one to four drachms of the salt to a pint of water. Off-Prep. Ammoniae Aqua Fortior, £r/.; Ammoniae Carbonas, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Ferrum Ammoniatum, U. S., Lond.; Liquor Ammoniae U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Hydrargyri Bichloridi, Loud,; Spiritus Ammonias, U. S., Loud., Ed.; Spiritus Ammoniae Aromaticus, U. S., Lond.; Spiritus Ammoniae Foetidus, Lond. j$ PART I. Ammoniacum. 87 AMMONIACUM. U.S., Lond, Ed. Ammoniac. " The concrete juice of Dorema Ammoniacum." U. S. " Dorema Ammo- niacum. Gummi-resina." Lond. "Gummy-resinous exudation of Dorema Ammoniacum." Ed. Off. Syn. AMMONIACUM GUMMI. HERACLEUM GUMMIFE- RUM. Gummi Resina. Dub. Gomme ammoniaque, Fr.; Ammoniak, Germ.; Gomma ammoniaco, Ital; Gomma amoniaco, Span.; TJshek, Arab.; Semugh belshereen, Persian. Much uncertainty long existed as to the ammoniac plant. It was generally believed to be a species of Ferula, till Willdenow raised, from some seeds mixed with the guin-resin found in the shops, a plant which he ascertained to be a Heracleum, and named H. gummiferum, under the impression that it must be the true source of the medicine. On this authority, the plant was adopted by the British Colleges, and recognised in former editions of our national Pharmacopoeia. Willdenow expressly acknowledged that he could not procure from it any gum-resin, but ascribed the result to the influence of climate. The Heracleum, however, did not correspond exactly with the repre- sentations given of the ammoniac plant by travellers; and Sprengel ascer- tained that it was a native of the Pyrenees, and never produced gum. Mr. Jackson, in his account of Morocco, imperfectly describes a plant indigenous in that country, supposed to be a species of Ferida, from which gum-ammo- niac is procured by the natives. This plant has been ascertained by Dr. Fal- coner to be Ferula Ting it ana (Royle's Mat. Med.), and its product is thought to be the ammoniacum of the ancients, which was obtained from Africa; but this is not the drug now used under that name, which is derived exclusively from Persia. M. Fontanier, who resided many years in Persia, saw the am- moniac plant growing in the province of Fars, and transmitted a drawing of it with specimens to Paris. From these it was inferred to be a species of Ferula; and Merat and De Lens proposed for it the name originally applied to it by Lemery, of F. ammonifera. It was subsequently, however, ascer- tained, from specimens obtained in Persia by Colonel Wright, and examined by Dr. David Don, that it belonged to a genus allied to Ferula, but essentially different, and named by Mr. Don, Dorema. A description of it is contained in the 16th volume of the Linnsean Transactions, under the name of Dorema Ammoniacum. This is now acknowledged by all the officinal authorities except the Dublin College. The same plant has been described and figured by Jau- bert and Spach in their u Illustrations of Oriental Plants," (Paris, 1842, t. 40, p. 78,) by the name of Diserneston gummiferum, under the erroneous impression that it belonged to a previously undescribed genus. The ammoniac plant is umbelliferous, and belongs to the class and order Pentandria Digynia of Linnaeus. It grows spontaneously in Farsistan, Irauk, Chorassan, and other Persian provinces. Dr. Grant found it growing abund- antly in Syghan near Bameean, on the northwest slope of the Hindoo Coosh mountains. It attains the height of six or seven feet, and in the spring and early part of summer abounds in a milky juice, which flows out upon the slightest puncture. From the accounts of travellers, it appears that, in the month of May, the plant is pierced in innumerable places by an insect of the beetle kind. The juice, exuding through the punctures, concretes upon the stem, and when quite dry is collected by the natives. M. Fontanier states that the juice exudes spontaneously, and that the harvest is about the middle 88 Ammoniacum. part I. of June. According to Dr. Grant, the drug is collected in Syghan, like assafetida, from the root of the plant. The gum-resin is sent to Bushire, whence it is transmitted to India. It reaches this country usually by the route of Calcutta. The name of the drug is thought to have been derived from the temple of Jupiter Ammon in the Lybian desert, where the ammo- niac of the ancients is said to have been collected; but Mr. Don considers it a corruption of Armeniacum, originating in the circumstance that the gum- resin was formerly imported into Europe through Armenia. Properties. Ammoniac comes either in the state of tears, or in aggregate masses, and in both forms is frequently mixed with impurities. That of the tears, however, is preferable, as the purest may be conveniently picked out and kept for use. These are of an irregular shape, usually more or less globular, opaque, yellowish on the outside, whitish within, compact, homo- geneous, brittle when cold, and breaking with a conchoidal shining fracture. The masses are of a darker colour and less uniform structure, appearing, when broken, as if composed of numerous white or whitish tears, embedded in a dirty gray or brownish substance, and frequently mingled with foreign mat- ters, such as seeds, fragments of vegetables, and sand, or other earth. We have seen masses composed of agglutinated tears alone, with little or none of the intervening paste. The sm^ll of ammoniae is peculiar, and stronger in the mass than in the tears. The taste is slightly sweetish, bitter, and somewhat acrid. The sp. gr. is 1-207. When heated, the gum-resin softens and becomes adhesive, but does not melt. It burns with a white flame, swelling up, and emitting a gmoke of a strong, resinous, slightly alliaceous odour. It is partly soluble in water, alcohol, ether, vinegar, and alkaline solutions. Triturated with water, it forms an opaque milky emulsion, which becomes clear upon standing. The alcoholic solution is transparent, but is rendered milky by the addition of water. Bucholz obtained from 100 parts of ammoniac, 22-4 parts of gum, 72-0 of resin, 1-6 of bassorin, and 4-0 of water including volatile oil and loss. Braconnot obtained 18-4 per cent, of gum, 70-0 of resin, 4-4 of a gluten-like substance (bassorin), and 0-0 of water, with 1-2 per cent, of loss. Hagen succeeded in procuring the volatile oil in a separate state by repeated distilla- tion with water. It has a penetrating disagreeable odour, and a taste at first mild, but afterwards bitter and nauseous. The resin of ammoniac is dissolved by alcohol, and the fixed and volatile oils, but it is divided by ether into two resins, of which one is soluble, the other insoluble in that menstruum. Medical Properties and Uses. This gum-resin is stimulant and expectorant, in large doses cathartic, and, like many other stimulants, may be so given as occasionally to prove diaphoretic, diuretic, or emmenagogue. It has been employed in medicine from the highest antiquity, being mentioned in the writings of Hippocrates. The complaints in which it is most frequently used are chronic catarrh, asthma, and other pectoral affections, attended with defi- cient expectoration without acute inflammation, or with a too copious secretion from the bronchial mucous membrane, dependent upon debility of the vessels. It is thought to have been useful in some cases of amenorrhoea, and in chloro- tic and hysterical conditions of the system arising out of that complaint. It has also been prescribed in obstructions or chronic engorgements of the ab- dominal viscera, under the vague notion of its deobstruent power. Any good which it may do in these affections, is more probably ascribable to its revul- sive action upon the alimentary mucous membrane. Authors speak of its utility in long and obstinate colics dependent on mucous matter lodged in the intestines; but it would be difficult to ascertain in what cases such mucous matter existed, and, even allowing its presence, to decide whether it was a part i. Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis. 89 cause or a result of the diseased action. Ammoniac is usually administered in combination with other expectorants, with tonics, or emmenagogues. It is much less used than formerly. Externally applied in the shape of a plaster, it is thought to be useful as a discutient or resolvent in white swellings of the joints and other indolent tumours. (See Emplastrum Ammoniaci.) It is given in substance in the shape of pill or emulsion. The latter form is pre- ferable. (See Mistura Ammoniaci.) ' The dose is from ten to thirty grains. Off. Prep. Emplastrum Ammoniaci, U. S., Loud., Ed., Dub.; Emplas- trum Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro, Land,, Ed,, Dub.; Fmplastrum Gum- mosum, Ed.; Mistura Ammoniaci, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Piluhe Ipecacuanha} Compositae, Land.; Pilulae Scilke Compositae, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. AMYGDALA AMARA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Bitter Almonds. "The kernels of the fruit of Amygdalus communis—variety amara." U.S. "Amygdalus communis. (De Cand.) var. a. Nuclei." Loud. "Ker- nels of Amygdalus communis, var. a. (DC.)" Ed. Off. Syn. AMYGDALAE AMAILE. Amygdalus communis. Nuclei. Dub. Amande amere, Fr.; Bittere Mandeln, Germ.; Mandorle amare, Ital; Almendra amarga, Span. AMYGDALA DULCIS. U.S., Lond., Ed. Sweet Almonds. "The kernels of the fruit of Amygdalus communis—variety dulcis." U. S. "Amygdalus communis. (De Cand.) var. fS. Nuclei." Lond. "Kernels of Amygdalus communis, var. j3. and y. (DC.)" Ed. Off Syn. AMYGDALAE DULCES. Amygdalus communis. Nuclei. Dub. Amande douce, Fr.; Siisse Mandeln, Germ.; Mandorle dolci, Ital; Almendra dulce, Span. Amygdalus. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia,—Nat, Ord. Amygdaleae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft, inferior. Petals five. Drupe with a nut per- forated with pores. Willd. Amygdalus communis. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 982; Woodv. Med, Bot. p. 507. t. 183. The almond tree rises usually from fifteen to twenty feet in height, and divides into numerous spreading branches. The leaves stand upon short footstalks, are about three inches long, and three quarters of an inch broad, elliptical, pointed at both ends, veined, minutely serrated, with the lower serratures and petioles glandular, and are of a bright green colour. The flowers are large, of a pale red colour varying to white, with very short peduncles, and petals longer than the calyx, and are usually placed in nume- rous pairs upon the branches. The fruit is of the peach kind, with the outer covering thin, tough, dry, and marked with a longitudinal furrow, where it opens when fully ripe. Within this covering is a rough shell, which contains the kernel or almond. There are several varieties of this species of Amygdalus, differing chiefly in the size and shape of the fruit, the thickness of the shell, and the taste of the kernel. The two most important are the Amygdalus (communis) dulcis, and the Amygdalus (communis) amara, the former bearing sweet, the latter bitter 90 Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis. part i. almonds. Another variety is the fragilis of De Candolle, which yields the soft-shelled almonds. The almond tree is a native of Persia, Syria, and Barbary, and is very extensively cultivated in various parts of the South of Europe. It has been introduced into the United States; but in the northern and middle sections the fruit does not usually come to perfection. We are supplied with sweet almonds chiefly from Spain and the south of France. They are distinguished into the soft-shelled and hard-shelled, the former of which come from Mar- seilles and Bordeaux, the latter from Malaga. From the latter port they are sometimes brought to us without the shell. In British commerce, the two chief varieties are the Jordan and Valentia almonds, the former imported from Malaga, the latter from Valentia. The former are longer, narrower, more pointed, and more highly esteemed than the latter. The bitter almonds are obtained chiefly from Morocco, and are exported from Mogador. Properties. The shape and appearance of almonds are too well known to require description. Each kernel consists of two white cotyledons, enclosed in a thin, yellowish-brown,'bitter skin, which is easily separable after immer- sion in boiling water. When deprived of this covering, they are called blanched almonds. On exposure to the air they are apt to become rancid; but, if thoroughly dried and kept in well closed glass vessels, they may be preserved unaltered for many years. The two varieties require each a separate notice. 1. Amygdala Dulcis. Sweet Almonds. These, when blanched, are without smell, and have a sweet, very pleasant taste, which has rendered them a favourite article of diet in almost all countries where they are readily attainable. They are, however, generally considered of difficult digestion. By the analysis of M. Boullay, it appears that they contain in 100 parts, 5 parts of pellicle, 54 of fixed oil, 24 of albumen, 6 of uncrystallizable sugar, 3 of gum, 4 of fibrous matter, 3-5 of water, and 0-5 of acetic acid comprising loss. The principle above denominated albumen differs somewhat from ordi- nary vegetable albumen, and has received the name of emulsin. It may be obtained separate by treating the emulsion of almonds with ether, allowing the mixture, after frequent agitation, to stand until a clear fluid separates at the bottom of the vessel, drawing this off by a syphon, adding alcohol to it so as to precipitate the emulsin, then washing the precipitate with fresh alco- hol, and drying it under the receiver of an air-pump. In this state it is a white powder, inodorous and tasteless, soluble in water, and insoluble in ether and alcohol. Its solution coagulates at 212°. Its distinguishing property is that of producing certain changes hereafter to be noticed in amygdalin, which property it loses when coagulated by heat. ( Thomson and Richardson, Am. Journ, of Pharm., x. 351, from Athenaeum.} It consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and is probably identical with the principle for which Robiquet proposed the name of synaptase. Thomson and Richardson suppose that it may be an amide. (See Althosa.) The fixed oil, which may be ob- tained by expression, is colourless or slightly yellowish, sweet and bland to the taste, and may be substituted for olive oil in most of its economical uses. (See Oleum Amygdala?.) Almonds, when rubbed with water, form a milky emulsion, the insoluble matters being suspended by the agency of the albumi- nous, mucilaginous, and saccharine principles. 2. Amygdala Amara. Bitter Almonds. These are smaller than the preceding variety. They have the bitter taste of the peach-kernel, and, though in their natural state inodorous or nearly so, have, when triturated with water, the fragrance of the peach blossom. They contain the same in- gredients as sweet almonds, and like them form a milky emulsion with water. It was formerly supposed that they also contained hydrocyanic acid and an part I. Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis. 91 essential oil, to which their peculiar taste and smell, and their peculiar opera- tion upon the system were ascribed. It was, however, ascertained by MM. Robiquet and Boutron that these principles do not pre-exist in the almond, but result from the reaction of water; and Wohler and Liebig have proved, what was suspected by Robiquet, that they are formed out of a substance of peculiar properties, denominated amygdalin, which is the characteristic con- stituent of bitter almonds. This substance, which was discovered by Robiquet and Boutron, is white, crystallizable, inodorous, of a sweetish bitter taste, un- alterable in the air, freely soluble in water and hot alcohol, very slightly soluble in cold alcohol, and insoluble in ether. Its elementary constituents are nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; and it is supposed to be an amide; as, when treated with an alkali, it yields ammonia and a peculiar acid which has been named amygdalic acid. Liebig and Wohler recommend the following process for procuring it, in which the object of the fermentation is to destroy the sugar with which it is associated. Bitter almonds, previously deprived of their fixed oil by pressure, are to be boiled in successive portions of alcohol till they are exhausted. From the liquors thus obtained, all the alcohol is to be drawn off by distillation; care being taken, near the end of the process, not to expose the syrupy residue to too great a heat. This residue is then to be diluted with water, mixed with good yeast, and placed in a warm situation. After the fermentation which ensues has ceased, the liquor is to be filtered, evaporated to the consistence of syrup, and mixed with alcohol. The amygdalin is thus precipitated in connexion with a portion of gum, from which it may be separated by solution in boiling alcohol, which will deposit it upon cooling. If pure, it will form a perfectly transparent solution with water. Any oil which it may contain may be separated by washing it with ether. One pound of almonds yielded at least 120 grains of amygdalin. (Annalen der Pharm., xxii. and xxiii. 329.) Amygdalin, when mixed with an emulsion of sweet almonds, gives rise, among other products, to the volatile oil of bitter almonds and hydrocyanic acid—the emulsin of the sweet almonds acting the part of a ferment, by setting on foot a reaction between the amygdalin and water; and the same result is obtained when pure emulsin is added to a solution of amygdalin. It appears then that the volatile oil and hydrocyanic acid, developed in bitter almonds when moistened, result from the mutual reaction of amygdalin, water, and emulsin. It is asserted that emulsin procured from other seeds, as those of the poppy, hemp, and mustard, is capable of producing the same reaction between water and amygdalin, though in a less degree than that of the sweet or bitter almonds. (Annal. der Pharm., xxviii. 290.) Amygdalin appears not to be poisonous when taken pure into the stomach; as there is nothing in the human system capable of acting the part of emulsin. Never- theless, large quantities given to a dog have produced narcotic effects. ( Chem. Gazette, June 15, 1848, p. 230.) Bitter almonds yield their fixed oil by pressure; and the essential oil, impregnated with hydrocyanic acid, may be obtained from the residue by dis- tillation with water. This oil, usually called oil of bitter almonds, has a bit- ter, acrid, burning taste, and the peculiar odour of the kernel in a very high degree. It is of a yellowish colour, heavier than water, soluble in alcohol and ether, slightly soluble in water, and deposits, upon standing, a white crystalline substance, which consists chiefly of benzoic acid. It may be en- tirely freed from hydrocyanic acid, by agitating it strongly with hydrate of lime and a solution of chloride of iron, and submitting the mixture to dis- tillation. The oil comes over with the water, from which it may be separated in the usual manner. Thus purified, it still retains its peculiar odour, with a 92 Amygdala Amara.—Amygdala Dulcis. PART I. burning and aromatic taste; but, as proved by Dr. Goppert of Breslau, is destitute of those poisonous properties which distinguish the oil in its original state, and which depend on hydrocyanic acid. The odour of the oil of bitter almonds has been usually, but erroneously, ascribed to this acid, which, on examination, will be found to smell very differently. The same remark is applicable to the essential oils of the cherry laurel, of the bird cherry, and probably of other vegetables supposed to contain hydrocyanic acid. The benzoic acid which the oil of bitter almonds deposits upon standing, has been proved by Robiquet and Boutron not to pre-exist in the oil, but to result from the absorption of oxygen; and Wohler and Liebig have rendered it probable that there exists a radical in the oil, consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxy- gen, which, though it has not yet been isolated, is a distinct substance, and constitutes the basis of numerous compounds. The oil is composed of this radical, called benzyle, and hydrogen, with the former of which, oxygen when absorbed forms benzoic acid, and with the latter, water. The pure oil is there- fore considered a hydruret of benzyle. Essential oil of bitter almonds operates upon the system in a manner closely analogous to that of hydrocyanic acid. A single drop is sufficient to destroy a bird, and four drops have occasioned the death of a dog of middle size. The distilled water of bitter almonds operates in a similar manner, though less powerfully; and the almonds themselves have proved deleterious when taken in considerable quantities. Confectioners employ bitter almonds for communicating flavour to the syrup of orgeat. (See Syrnpus Amygdalae.) The kernel of the peach possesses similar properties, and is frequently used as a substitute. Oil of bitter almonds is much used by the perfumers. It has been ascertained that substances which afford this oil, such as bitter almond paste, bruised cherry-laurel leaves, peach leaves, &c, have the pro- perty of destroying the odour of musk, camphor, most of the volatile oils, creasote, cod-liver oil, the balsams, &c.; and M. Mahier, a French pharma- ceutist, has employed them successfully to free mortars and bottles from the odour of assafetida, and other substances of disagreeable smell. All that is necessary is first to remove any oily substance by means of an alkali, and then apply the paste or bruised leaves. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 209.) Medical Properties and Uses. Sweet almonds exercise no other influence upon the system than that of a demulcent. The emulsion formed by tritu- rating them with water is a pleasant vehicle for the administration of other medicines, and is itself useful in cases of catarrhal affection. Bitter almonds are more energetic, and, though not much in use, might undoubtedly be em- ployed with advantage in cases to which hydrocyanic acid is applicable. An emulsion made with them has been beneficially prescribed in pectoral affec- tions attended with cough, and is said to have cured intermittents when bark has_ failed. (Bergins, Mat. Med.) It probably operates by diminishing the excitability of the nervous system, and moderating existing irritation. Dr. A. T. Thomson says that he has found it extremely useful as a lotion in acne rosea and impetigo. Bitter almonds are said by Hufeland to have been suc- cessfully employed for the expulsion of the tape worm. In some persons they produce urticaria, when taken in the smallest quantities. CW of bitter almonds might probably be substituted with advantage for medicinal hydrocyanic acid; as the acid contained in the oil is much less liable to decomposition, remaining for several years unaltered if the oil is preserved in well stopped bottles. According to Sehrader, 100 parts of the oil contain sufficient acid for the production of 22-5 parts of Prussian blue. From this fact it may be inferred that the oil is about four times as strong as our officinal hydrocyanic acid, and may, therefore, be given in the dose of from PART I. Amygdalus Persiea. 93 a quarter of a drop to a drop, to be gradually and very cautiously increased till some effect upon the system is observed. It maybe administered in emul- sion with gum Arabic, loaf sugar, and water. It has been employed exter- nally, dissolved in water in the proportion of one drop to a fluidounce, in pru- rigo senilis and other cases of troublesome itching. To facilitate the solution in water, the oil may be previously dissolved in spirit. Wohler and Liebig propose, as a substitute for cherry-laurel water, which owes its effects to the hydrocyanic acid it contains, but is objectionable from its unequal strength, an extemporaneous mixture, consisting of 17 grains of amygdalin, and one fluidounce of an emulsion made with two drachms of sweet almonds, and a sufficient quantity of water. This mixture contains, according to the above named chemists, one grain of absolute hydrocyanic acid, and is equivalent to two fluidounces of fresh cherry-laurel water. If found to answer in practice, it will have the advantage of certainty in relation to the dose; as amygdalin may be kept any length of time unaltered. If the calculation of Wohler and Liebig be correct as to the quantity of acid it con- tains, not more than a fluidrachm should be given as a commencing dose. Off. Prep, of Sweet Almonds. Confectio Amygdalae, Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Mistura Acaciae, Ed., Dub.; Mist. Amygdalae, U. S., Loud., Ed., Dub.; Mist. Camphorae, Ed.; Oleum Amygdalarum, Dub.; Syrupus Amygdalae, U. S. Off. Prep, of Bitter Almonds. Syrupus Amygdalae, U. S. W. AMYGDALUS PERSICA. Folia. Dub. Peach Leaves. Pecher, Fr.; Pfirsichbaum, Germ.; Persico, Ital; Alberchigo, Span. Amygdalus. See AMYGDALA. Amygdidus Persiea. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 982; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 511. t. 184.—Persiea vulgaris. Miller, Lamarck. Everyone is familiar with the appearance of the common peach tree. It is characterized specifically by having "all the serratures of the leaves acute, and by its sessile solitary flowers." Though its native country is not certainly known, it is generally supposed to have been brought originally from Persia. In no country, per- haps, does it attain greater perfection, as regards the character of its fruit, than in the United States. Peaches are among the most grateful and wholesome of our summer fruits. They abound in saccharine matter, which renders their juice susceptible of the vinous fermentation; and a distilled liquor prepared from them has been much used in some parts of the country under the name of peach brandy. The kernels of the fruit bear a close resemblance in appearance and pro- perties, and probably in chemical nature, to bitter almonds, for which they are frequently, and without inconvenience, substituted in our shops. They are employed by distillers in the preparation of liqueurs, and by cake-bakers to give flavour to various productions of their ovens; and are said to yield as much amygdalin as bitter almonds. The flowers, leaves, and bark also have the peculiar odour and taste of bitter almonds, and would probably yield hydrocyanic acid. The leaves afford a volatile oil by distillation. These are the only part directed by the Dublin College. Medical Properties, &c. Peach leaves are said to be laxative; and they probably exert, to a moderate extent, a sedative influence over the nervous system. They have been used as an anthelmintic with great reported suc- cess. More recently their infusion has been recommended in irritability of 94 Amygdalus Persiea.—Amylum. part i. the bladder, in sick stomach, and hooping-cough. Half an ounce of the dried leaves may be infused in a pint of boiling water, and half a fluidounce given for a dose three times a-day, or more frequently. Dr. Dougos gives, in hoop- ing-cough, a pint of the strong infusion, in small doses, in the course of the day. (Journ. de Pharm., xxiii. 356.) The flowers also are laxative; and a syrup prepared from them is con- siderably used, in infantile cases, upon the continent of Europe. Woodville states that a drachm of the dried flowers, or half an ounce in their recent state, given in infusion, is the dose as a vermifuge. Cases of fatal poisoning from their use in children are on record. The kernels have more of the peculiar powers of hydrocyanic acid, and therefore require to be used with some caution. Blanched, and rubbed up with hot water, they form an emulsion well adapted to coughs depending on or associated with nervous irritation. Either the bruised leaves, flowers, or kernels may be used by the apothecary for cleansing his vessels from dis- agreeable odours. (See page 92.) The dried fruit, stewed with sugar, is an excellent laxative article of diet, suitable to cases of convalescence attended with torpid bowels. W. AMYLUM. U. S., Lond, Ed. Starch. "The fecula of the seeds of Triticum vulgare." U. S., Ed. "Triticum hybernum. Seminum Fsecula." Lond. Amidon, Fr.; Starkmehl, Germ.; Amido, Ital.; Almidon, Span. Starch is a proximate vegetable principle contained in most plants, and especially abundant in the various grains; such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, maize, &c.; in other seeds, as peas, beans, chestnuts, acorns, &c.; and in numerous tuberous roots, as those of the potato (Solanum tuberosum), the sweet potato (Convolvulus Batatas), the arrow-root, the cassava plant, and different species of Curcuma. The process for obtaining it consists essentially in reducing the substances in which it exists to a state of minute division, agitating or washing them with cold water, straining or pouring off the liquid, and allowing it to stand till the fine fecula which it holds in suspension has subsided. This, when dried, is starch, more or less pure according to the care taken in conducting the process. The starch of commerce is procured chiefly from wheat, sometimes also from potatoes. Our space will not allow us to enter into details in relation to the particular steps of the operation to which these substances are subjected; and the omission is of less consequence as starch is never prepared by the apothecary. Starch is white, pulverulent, opaque, and, as found in the shops, is usually in columnar masses, having a somewhat crystalline aspect, and producing a peculiar sound when pressed between the fingers. Its specific gravity is 1-53. When exposed to a moist air, it absorbs a considerable quantity of water' which may be driven off by a gentle heat. It is insoluble in alcohol ether! and cold water; but unites with boiling water, which, on coolino- forms with it a soft semi-transparent paste, or a gelatinous opaline solutionfaccording to the proportion of starch employed. The paste, placed on folds of blotting paper, renewed as they become wet, abandons its water, contracts, and assumes the appearance of horn. If the proportion of starch be very small the solu- tion, after slowly depositing a very minute quantity of insoluble matter con- tinues permanent, and upon being evaporated yields a semi-transparent mass which is partially soluble in cold water. The starch has, therefore been part i. Amylum. 95 modified by the combined agency of water and heat; nor can it be restored to its original condition. Exposed, in the dry state, to a temperature somewhat above 212°, it undergoes, according to Caventou, a similar modification; and a degree of heat sufficient to roast it slightly converts it into a substance Boluble in cold water, called British gum, and applicable to the same purposes as gum in the arts. The same change in regard to solubility is, to a certain extent, produced by mechanical means, as by trituration in a mortar; and that the effect is not the result of heat evolved by friction, is evinced by the fact, that it takes place when the starch is triturated with water. The views now generally entertained in relation to starch, by which the above mentioned phenomena may be most conveniently explained, are those originally presented by Raspail, and subsequently confirmed and extended by Guibourt, Guerin, and others. According to these views, starch consists of organized granules, which, examined by the microscope, appear to be of various form and size. These granules consist of a thin exterior pellicle or tegument, and of an interior substance, the former wholly insoluble, the latter soluble in water. The former constitutes, according to M. Payen, only 4 or 5 thou- sandths of the weight of starch. In relation to the interior portion, different opinions have existed. M. Guerin supposed that it consisted of two distinct substances, one soluble in cold water, the other soluble at first in boiling water but becoming insoluble by evaporation. Thus, when one part of starch is boiled for fifteen minutes in one hundred parts of water, and the liquid is allowed to stand, a small portion, consisting of the broken teguments, is gra- dually deposited. If the solution be now filtered and evaporated, another portion is deposited which cannot afterwards be dissolved. When wholly deprived of this portion, and evaporated to dryness, the solution yields the part soluble in cold water. According to MM. Payen and Persoz, the inte- rior portion of the globules consists only of a single substance, which is con- verted into the two just mentioned by the agency of water; and Thenard is inclined to the same opinion. An appropriate name for the interior soluble portion of starch is amid in, which has been adopted by some chemists. Starch, in its perfect state, is not affected by cold water, because the exterior insoluble teguments prevent the access of the liquid to the interior portion; but, when the pellicle is broken by the agency of heat, or by mechanical means, the fluid is admitted, and the starch partially dissolved. Another view of the structure of the starch granule, founded on microscopic observa- tion, has been advanced by Schleiden. According to this view, it consists of concentric layers, all of which have the same chemical composition; but the outer layers, having been first formed, have more cohesion than the inner, and are consequently more difficult of solubility. The rings observed upon the surface of the granules, in some varieties, are merely the edges of these layers; and the point or hylum about which the rings are concentrically placed, is a minute hole, through which probably the substance of the interior layers was introduced. (Pharm, Central Blat., 1844, p. 401.) MM. Payen and Gui- bourt at present admit that the starch granule is organized throughout, and consists of but a single chemical principle; the differences in solubility being ascribable to the more compact organization of the exterior layer, which enables it to resist the action of water. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., ix. 193.) Iodine forms with starch, whether in its original state or in solution, a blue compound; and the tincture of iodine is the most delicate test of its presence in any mixture. The colour varies somewhat according to the proportions employed. -When the two substances are about equal, the compound is of a beautiful indigo-blue; if the iodine is in excess, it is blackish-blue; if the starch, violet-blue. A singular property of the iodide of starch is that its 96 Amylum. PART i. solution becomes colourless if heated to about 200°, and afterwards recovers its blue colour upon cooling. By boiling, the colour is permanently lost, Alkalies unite with starch, forming' soluble compounds, which are decomposed by acids, the starch being precipitated. It is thrown down from its solution by lime-water and baryta-water, forming insoluble compounds with these earths. The solution of subacetate of lead precipitates it in combination with the oxide of the metal. Starch may be made to unite with tannin by boiling their solutions together; and a compound results, which, though retained by the water while hot, is deposited when it cools. By long boiling with diluted sulphuric, muriatic, or oxalic acid, it is converted first into dextrine* and ultimately into a saccharine substance similar to the sugar of grapes. A similar conversion into dextrine and the sugar of grapes is effected by means of a principle called diastase, discovered by MM. Payen and Persoz in the seeds of barley, oats, and wheat, after germination. (See Hordeum.) Strong muriatic and nitric acids dissolve it; and the latter, by the aid of heat, con- verts it into oxalic and malic acids. Concentrated sulphuric acid decomposes it. Mixed with hot water, and exposed to a temperature of 70 or 80°, it undergoes fermentation, which results in the formation of several distinct principles, among which are sugar, a gummy substance (perhaps dextrine), and a modification of starch which De Saussure called amidine. The tegumentary portion of starch, for which the name of amylin has been proposed, when entirely freed from the interior soluble matter, is wholly in- soluble in water even by prolonged boiling, is insoluble in alcohol, and is said to suffer no change by the action of iodine or diastase. The acids, how- ever, act upon it as they do upon starch. It approaches nearer in properties to lignin than to any other principle. Starch, as obtained from different substances, is somewhat different in its characters. Wheat starch, when examined with a microscope, is found to consist of granules of various sizes, usually rounded, but uneven upon the surface, and mixed with loose integuments, resulting from the process of grinding. It has also a certain degree of hardness and adhesiveness, owing, according to Guibourt, to the escape of a portion of the interior substance of the broken granules, which attracts some moisture from the air, and thus becoming glutinous, acts as a bond between those which remain unbroken. Another opinion attributes this peculiar consistence to the retention of a por- tion of the gluten of the wheat flour, which causes the granules to cohere. Potato starch is employed in various forms, being prepared so as to imitate more costly amylaceous substances, such as arrow-root and sago. In its ordi- nary state, it is more pulverulent than wheat starch, has a somewhat glisten- ing appearance, and may be distinguished, with the aid of the microscope, by the size of its granules, which are larger than those of any other known fecula, except canna or tous les mois. They are exceedingly diversified in size and shape, though their regular form is thought to be ovate. They are character- ized by concentric rings or rugae, which are most readily distinguishable in * Dextrine is a substance resembling gum in appearance and properties but differing from it in not affording mucic acid by the action of nitric acid. It is largely dissolved by water hot or cold and forms a mucilaginous solution, from which it is precipitated by alcohol. This fluid has no action on dextrine. Large quantities of dextrine are now manufactured in England, and employed for various purposes in the arts, under the name of artificial gum. It iS found in the market in the form of mucilage, in that of a white bril- hant powder, and m small masses or fragments resembling natural gum. According to M. Emile Thomas, it maybe distinguished from gum Arabic by the taste and smell of potato o.l which it always possesses. It is made by the action either of acids or of dia.f se on starch. For particulars as to the manufacture, the reader is referred to a paper bv M 1 nomas, extracted into the American Journal of Pharmacy (vol. xix. p 284) PART I. Amylum.—Anethum. 97 the fresh starch, and are said by Raspail to disappear upon desiccation. These surround a minute circular hole or hylum upon the surface of the granule. In some instances there are two of these holes, one at each end, or both at the same end. The characters of other kinds of fecula will be given under the heads of the several officinal substances of which they constitute the whole or a part. Starch consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen—its formula, from whatever source it may be derived, being, according to the latest opinions, C12H100lf). Medical Properties, &c. Starch is nutritive and demulcent, but in its ordinary form is seldom administered internally. Powdered and dusted upon the skin, it is^ sometimes used to absorb irritating secretions, and prevent ex- coriation. _ Dissolved in hot water and allowed to cool, it is often employed in enemata, either as a vehicle of other substances, or as a demulcent applica- tion in irritated states of the rectum. It may be used as an antidote to iodine taken in poisonous quantities. Off. Prep. Decoctum Amyli, Lond.; Enema Opii vel Anodynum, Ed.; Mucikgo Amyli, Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Tragacanthae Comp., Lond., Ed.; Tro- chisci Acaciae, Ed. w. ANETHUM. Lond., Ed. Dill Seeds. " Anethum graveolens. Fructus." Lond. "Fruit of Anethum graveolens." Jul. Anetb a odeur forte, Fr.; Dill, Germ.; Aneto, Ital; Eneldo, Span. Anethum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Umbelliferae or Apiaceae. Gen. Ch. Fruit nearly oy&te, compressed, striated. Petals involuted, entire. Willd. Anethum graveolens. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1469; "Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 1'25. t. 48. Dill is an annual plant, three or four feet high, with a long, spindle-shaped root; an erect, striated, jointed, branching stem; and bipin- nate or tripinnate, glaucous leaves, which stand on sheathing footstalks, and have linear and pointed leaflets. The flowers are yellow, and in large, flat, terminal umbels, destitute of involucre. The plant is a native of Spain, Por- tugal, and the south of France; and is found growing wild in various parts of Africa and Asia. It is cultivated in all the countries of Europe, and has been introduced into our gardens. The seeds, as the fruit is commonly called, are the only part used. They are usually rather more than a line in length, and less than a line in breadth, of an oval shape, thin, concave on one side, convex and striated on the other, of a brown colour, and surrounded by a yel- lowish membranous expansion. Their smell is strong and aromatic, but less agreeable than that of fennel-seed; their taste, moderately warm and pungent. These properties depend on a volatile oil, which may be obtained separate by distillation. It is of a pale yellow colour, and of the sp. gr. 0-881. The bruised seeds impart their virtues to alcohol and to boiling water. Med iced Properties. Dill seeds have the properties common to the aro- matics, but are very seldom used in this country. They may be given in powder or infusion. The dose is from fifteen grains to a drachm. Off. Prep. Aqua Anethi, Zond., Ed.; Oleum Axxeth\, Ed. W. 7 98 Angelica.—Angelica Archangelica. PART I. ANGELICA. U.S. Secondary. Angelica. " The root and herb of Angelica atropurpurea." U. S. Angelica. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Umbelliferae or Apiaceae. Gen. Ch. Fruit elliptic, compressed, somewhat solid and corticate, ridges three, dorsal acute, intervals grooved, margin alated. Gen, involucrenone. (Sprengel.) Umbel large, many-rayed, spreading; umbellet dense, subhemispheric; invo- lucell about eight-leaved. Calyx five-toothed. Petals inflected. Nut tall. Angelica atropurpurea. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1430. This indigenous species of Angelica, sometimes called masterwort, has a perennial purplish root, and a smooth herbaceous stem, the dark colour of which has given rise to the specific name of the plant. The leaves are ternate, and supported hy very large inflated petioles. The partitions of the leaf are nearly quinate, with ovate, acute, deeply serrate, somewhat lobed leaflets, of which the three terminal are confluent. The flowers are greenish-white. The purple angelica extends throughout the United States from Canada to Carolina, growing in meadows and marshy woods, and flowering in June and July. It is smaller than A. Archangelica, with a less succulent stem. The whole plant is officinal. It has a strong odour, and a warm aromatic taste. The juice of the recent root is acrid, and is said to be poisonous; but the acrimony is dissipated by drying. Medical Properties, dr. The medical virtues of the plant are similar to those of the garden Angelica of Europe, for which it has been proposed as a substitute. It is, however, little employed. An infusion is occasionally used in flatulent colic; and we are told that the stems are sometimes candied by the country people. W. ANGELICA ARCHANGELICA. Semina. Dub. Seeds of Garden Angelica. ANGELICA. Ed. Root of Garden Angelica. " Koot of Angelica Archangelica." Ed. Angelique, Fr.; Engelwurzel, Germ.; Arcangelica, Ital; Angelica, Span. Angelica. See ANGELICA. US. Angelica Archangelica. Willd. &£>. Plant, i. 1428; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 86. t. 35.—Archangelica officinalis. Hoch, De Cand., &c. Garden angelica has a long, thick, fleshy, biennial root, furnished with many fibres, and send- ing up annually a hollow, jointed, round, channeled, smooth, purplish stem, which rises five feet or more in height, and divides into numerous branches. The leaves, which stand upon round fistulous footstalks, are very large, doubly pinnate, with ovate lanceolate, pointed, acutely serrate leaflets, of which the terminal one is three-lobed. The flowers are small, greenish-white and dis- posed in very large, many-rayed, terminal umbels, composed of numerous, dense, hemispherical umbellets. This plant is a native of the north of Europe, and is found in the high, mountainous regions in the southern section of that continent, as in Switzer- PART i. Angelica Archangelica.—Angustura. 99 land and among the Pyrenees. It is cultivated in various parts of Europe, and may be occasionally met with in the gardens of this country. It flowers during the summer. The whole plant has a fragrant odour, and aromatic properties; but the root and fruit only are officinal. 1. The root should be dug up in the autumn of the first year, as it is then less liable to become mouldy and worm-eaten than when taken from the ground in the spring. It is spindle-shaped, an inch or more in thickness at its upper extremity, and beset with numerous long descending radicles. The fresh root has a yellowish-gray epidermis, a fleshy yellow parenchyma, and when wounded yields a honey-coloured juice, having all the aromatic proper- ties of the plant. The dried root is grayish-brown and much wrinkled exter- nally, whitish and Spongy within, and breaks with a starchy fracture, exhibit- ing shining resinous points. It is very apt to be attacked by worms; and is said to keep best, in the state of powder, in full and well closed vessels. The smell is strong and fragrant, and the taste at first sweetish, afterwards warm, aromatic, bitterish, and somewhat musky. These properties are extracted by alcohol, and less perfectly by water. The constituents of the root, according to the younger Buehner, are volatile oil, a volatile acid which he calls an- gelicic acid, a wax-like substance, a crystallizable sub-resin, a brittle amorphous resin, a bitter principle, tannic acid, malic acid, sugar, starch, albumen, pectic acid, fibrin, and various salts. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser. ii. 124.) Five hundred parts yield by distillation nearly four parts of volatile oil. 2. The seeds, as the fruit is commonly called, are two or three lines long, oval, obtuse or somewhat notched at the ends, flat, and marked with a longi- tudinal furrow on one side, convex with three angular ridges on the other. They are ash-coloured, and have the same smell and taste as the root. They are said to keep well. Medical Properties. Angelica is an elegant aromatic tonic, but is little employed in the United States. The Laplanders, in whose country it flou- rishes, are said to esteem it highly as a condiment and medicine. In Europe, the stems are frequently made into a preserve, and used in desserts in order to excite the stomach. The dose of the root or seeds is from thirty grains to a drachm. Off. Prep. Spiritus Anisi Compositus, Dub. W. ANGUSTURA. U.S. Angustura Bark. " The bark of Galipea officinalis. Hancock." U S. Off. Si/n. CUSPAUIA. Galipea Cusparia. Cortex. Lond.; CUSPARLA Bark of' Galipea officinalis, Ed.; ANGUSTURA. BONPLANDIA TRI- FOLIATA. Cortex. Dub. Ansiusture, Fr.; Angusturaiinde, Germ.; Corteccia dell' Angustura, Ital; Corteza de Angostura, Span. The subject of Angustura bark, in its botanical relations, has been in- volved in some confusion. The drug was at first supposed to be derived from a species of Magnolia, and in Europe was referred by some to the Magnolia glauca of this country. Humboldt and Bonpland were the first to enlighten the medical public as to its true source; though the name which it bore was sufficient to indicate the neighbourhood of its growth. These naturalists, when at Angustura, a South American city upon the banks of the Orinoco, received specimens of the foliage of the plant from which the bark was obtained; and afterwards believed that they had found the same plant 100 Angustura. PART I. in a tree growing in the vicinity of Cumana. This latter they had the opportunity of personally inspecting, and were therefore enabled to describe accurately. Unable to attach it to any known genus, they erected it; into a new one, with the title of Cusparia, a name of Indian origin, to which they added the specific appellation of fbrifuga. On the authority of these botanists, the Cusparia febrifuga was generally believed to be the true source of the medicine, and was recognised as such by the London College. A specimen having in the meantime been sent by them to Willdenow, the name of Bonplandia was imposed on the new genus by that celebrated botanist; and was subsequently adopted by Humboldt and Bonpland them- selves, in their great work on equinoctial plants. Hence the title of Bon- plandia trifoliafa, by which the tree is described in many works on Materia Medica. De Candolle, however, having found in the description all the characters of the genus Galipea of Aublet, rejected both these titles, and sub- stituted that of Galipea Cusparia, which was adopted by the London College in the last edition of their Pharmacopoeia. After all these commutations, how- ever, it appears from the researches of Dr. Hancock, who resided for several months in the country of the Angustura bark tree, that the plant described by Humboldt and Bonpland is not that which yields the medicine, but proba- bly another species of the same genus, which these authors had mistaken for it. Among other striking differences between the two plants, is that of their size; the tree described by Humboldt and Bonpland being of great magnitude, attaining the height of sixty or eighty feet, while that from which the bark is obtained is never higher than twenty feet. Hancock proposes for the latter the title of Galipea officinalis, which has been adopted in the United States and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias. Galipea. Sex. Syst.—Diandria Monogynia.—Nat, Ord. Rutaceae. Gen, Ch. Corolla inferior, irregular, four or five cleft, hypocrateriform. Stamens four; two sterile. Loudon's Encyc. Galipea officinalis. Hancock, Irons. Lond. Medico-Bot. Soc, This is a small tree, irregularly branched, rising to the medium height of twelve or fifteen feet, with an erect stem from three to five inches in diameter, and covered with a smooth gray bark. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, and composed of three leaflets, which are oblong, pointed at each extremity, from six to ten inches in length, from two to four in breadth, and supported upon the common petiole by short leafstalks. They are very smooth and glossy, of a vivid green colour, marked occasionally with small, whitish round spots, and, when fresh, of a strong odour resembling that of tobacco. The flowers are numerous, white, arranged in axillary and terminal peduncled racemes, and of a peculiar unpleasant odour. The fruit consists of five bivalve capsules, of which two or three are commonly abortive. The seeds, two of which are contained in each capsule, one often abortive, are round, black, and of the size of a pea. This tree grows abundantly on the mountains of Carony, between the 7th and 8th degrees of N. Latitude; and is well known in the missions, near the Orinoco, upwards of two hundred miles from the ocean. It flourishes at the height of from six hundred to one thousand feet above the level of the sea. Its elegant white blossoms, which appear in vast profusion in August and September, add greatly to the beauty of the scenery. The bark is generally brought from the West India ports packed in casks; but, according to Mr. Brande, the original package, formed in Angustura or its neighbourhood, consists of the leaves of a species of palm, surrounded by a network made of sticks. Properties. The pieces are of various lengths, for the most part slightly curved, rarely quilled, sometimes nearly flat, from half a line to a line or PART I. Angustura. 101 more in thickness, pared away towards the edges, covered externally with a light yellowish-gray or whitish wrinkled epidermis, easily scraped by the nail, and internally of a yellowish-fawn colour. They are very fragile, breaking with a short, resinous fracture, and yield, on being pulverized, a pale yellow powder; but, when macerated for a short time in water, they become soft and tenacious, and may be cut into strips with scissors. The smell of An- gustura bark is peculiar and disagreeable when fresh, but becomes fainter with age; the taste is bitter and slightly aromatic, leaving a sense of pungency at the end of the tongue. According to Fischer, it contains volatile oil, bitter extractive, a hard and bitter resin, a soft resin, a substance analogous to caoutchouc, gum, lignin, and various salts. The volatile oil, which may be obtained by distillation with water, is of a pale yellowish colour, lighter than water, of an acrid taste, and of the odour of the bark. Cusparin is the name given by Saladin to a principle, deposited in tetrahedral crystals, when an infusion of the bark is treated with absolute alcohol, at common tempera- tures, and allowed to evaporate spontaneously. It is neutral, fusible at a gentle heat, by which it loses 23-09 per cent, of its weight, soluble in 200 parts of cold and 100 parts of boiling water, soluble in the concentrated acids and in the alkalies, and precipitated by the infusion of galls. (J. de. Pharm., xxii. 602.) The virtues of the bark probably reside in the volatile oil, and bitter principles. They are extracted by water and alcohol. Dr. A. T. Thomson states that precipitates are produced with the infusion by the solutions of sulphate of iron, tartrate of antimony and potassa, sulphate of copper, acetate and subacetate of lead, bichloride of mercury, nitrate of silver, and pure potassa; by nitric and sulphuric acids; and by the infusions of galls and yellow cinchona; but how far these substances are medicinally incompatible with the bark, it would be difficult in the present state of our knowledge to determine. False Angustura. Under this title, the European writers on Materia Medica describe a bark which has been introduced on the continent mixed with the true Angustura bark, and which, possessing poisonous properties, has in some instances produced unpleasant effects when prescribed by mistake for that medicine. It is distinguished by its greater thickness, hardness, weight, and compactness; by its resinous fracture; by the appearance of its epidermis, which is sometimes covered with a ferruginous efflorescence, some- times is yellowish-gray, and marked with prominent white spots; by the brownish colour and smoothness of its internal surface, which is not, like that of the genuine bark, separable into laminae; by the white slightly yellow powder which it yields; by its total want of odour, and its intense tenacious bitterness. When steeped in water, it does not become soft like the true Angustura. Analyzed by Pelletier and Caventou, it was found to contain a peculiar alkaline principle which they called brucia, and upon which its poi- sonous operation depends. (See Nux Vomica.) In consequence of its pre- sence, a drop of nitric acid upon the internal surface of the bark produces a deep blood-red spot. The same acid, applied to the external surface, renders it emerald-green. In the true Angustura bark, a dull red colour is produced by the acid on both surfaces. The false Angustura was at first supposed to be derived from Brucea antidysentcrica; and was afterwards referred to some unknown species of Strychnos, in consequence of containing brucia, which is a characteristic ingredient of that genus of plants. At present, it is generally believed to be derived from Strychnos Nux vomica, the bark of which, accord- ing to Dr. O'Shaughncssy, exactly corresponds with the description given by authors of the false Angustura, aud like it contains brucia. Little if any of this bark reaches the United States, unless as an object of curiosity. 102 Angustura.—Anisum. part I. Medical Properties and Uses. Angustura bark had been long used by the natives of the country where it grows, before it became known in Europe. From the continent its employment extended to the West Indies, where it acquired considerable reputation. It was first taken to Europe about sixty years since, and attracted particular attention among the English physicians. It is now ranked among the officinal remedies throughout Europe and Ame- rica; but has not sustained the estimation in which it was at first held; and in the United States is not much prescribed. Its operation is that of a stimu- lant tonic. In large doses it also evacuates the stomach and bowels, and is often employed for this purpose in South America. It was at one time con- siderably used as a febrifuge in the place of Peruvian bark; but has not been found generally successful in the intermittents of northern latitudes. It is said to be particularly efficacious in bilious diarrhoeas and dysenteries; and has been recommended in dyspepsia, and other diseases in which a tonic treat- ment is demanded. The testimony, however, of practitioners in Europe and the United States, is not strongly in its favour; and it is probably better adapted to tropical diseases, than to those of temperate climates. Hancock employed it extensively in the malignant bilious intermittent fevers, dysen- teries, and dropsies of Angustura and Demerara; and speaks in strong terms of its efficacy in these complaints. He used it in the form of fermented infusion, as recommended by the native practitioners. It has the advantage over Peruvian bark, that it is less apt to oppress the stomach. It may be given in powder, infusion, tincture, or extract. The dose in substance is from ten to thirty grains. In larger quantities it is apt to pro- duce nausea. From five to fifteen grains is the dose of the extract, which, however, according to Dr. Hancock, is inferior to the powder or infusion. To obviate nausea, it is frequently combined with aromatics: Off. Prep. Infusum Angustura, U. S., Loud., Ed.; Tinctura Angustura, Dub., Ed. "Vy. ANISUM. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Anise. "The fruit of Pimpinella Anisum." U.S., Ed, "Pimpinella Anisum. Fructus." Lond. " Pimpinella Anisum. Semina." Dub. Graines d'anis, Fr.; Anissame, Germ.; Semi daniso, Ital; Simiente de anis, Span.; Anison, Arab. Pimpinella. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord, Umbellifera or Apiaceae. Gen. Ch. Fruit ov&te-ohlong. Petals inferior. Sfigm a nearly globular. Willd. Pimpinella Anisum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1473; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 135. t. 52. This is an annual plant, about a foot in height, with an erect, smooth, and branching stem. The leaves are petiolate, the lower roundish-cordate, lobed, mcised-serrate, the middle pinnate-lobed with cuneate or lanceolate lobes, the upper trifid, undivided, linear. The flowers are white, and in term- inal compound umbels, destitute of involucres. The anise plant is a native of Egypt and the Levant, but has been intro- duced into the south of Europe, and is cultivated in various parts of that continent It is also cultivated occasionally in the gardens of this country. The fruit is abundantly produced in Malta and Spain. The Spanish is smaller than the German or French, and is usually preferred. Anise seeds (botanic-ally fruit) are about a line in length, oval striated somewhat downy, attached to their footstalks, and of a light greenish-brown PART I. Anisum.—Anthemis. 103 colour, with a shade of yellow. Their odour is fragrant and increased by friction; their taste warm, sweet, and aromatic. These properties, which depend upon a peculiar volatile oil, are imparted sparingly to boiling water, freely to alcohol. The volatile oil exists in the envelope of the seeds, and is obtained separate by distillation. (See Oleum Anisi.) Their internal sub- stance contains a bland fixed oil. By expression, a greenish oil is obtained, which is a mixture of the two. The seeds are sometimes adulterated with small fragments of argillaceous earth, which resembles them in colour; and their aromatic qualities are occasionally impaired by a slight fermentation, which they are apt to undergo in the mass, when collected before maturity. A case of poisoning is on record from the accidental admixture of the fruits of Conium maculatum, which bear some resemblance to those of anise, but may be distinguished by their crenate or notched ridges. They are, more- over, broader in proportion to their length, and are generally separated into half-fruits, while those of anise are whole. The Star aniseed, the badiane of the French writers, though analogous in sensible properties to the common aniseed, is derived from a different plant, being the fruit of fllicium anisatum, an evergreen tree growing in China, Japan, and Tartary. The fruit consists of from five to ten brownish ligneous capsules, four or five lines long, united together in the form of a star, each containing a brown shining seed. It is much used in France to flavour liquors, and the volatile oil upon which its aromatic properties depend is imported into this country from the East Indies, and sold as common oil of anise, to which, however, it is much superior. (Togno and Durand.) Medical Properties and Uses. Anise is a grateful aromatic carminative; and, like several other fruits of a similar character, is supposed to have the property of increasing the secretion of milk. It has been in use from the earliest times. In Europe it is much employed in flatulent colic, and as a corrigent of griping or unpleasant medicines; but in this country fennel-seed is usually preferred. Anise may be given bruised, or in powder, in the dose of twenty or thirty grains or more. The infusion is less efficient. The vola- tile oil may be substituted for the seeds in substance. Much use is made of this aromatic for imparting flavour to liquors. Off. Prep. Oleum Anisi, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Anisi, Lond. W. ANTHEMIS. U.S., Lond, Ed. Chamomile. "The flowers of Anthemis nobilis." U. S. "Anthemis nobilis. Flores simplices." Lond. "Simple flowers of Anthemis nobilis." Ed. Off. Syn, CHAM^EMELUM. ANTHEMIS NOBILIS. Flores. Dub. Camomille Romaine, Fr.; Romische Kumille, Germ.; Camomilla Romana, Ital; Man- zanilia Romana, Span. Anthemis. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua. — Nat. Ord. Composita Senecionidea. De Cand, Asteracea. Lindley. Gen. Ch. Receptacle chaffy. Seed down none or a membranaceous margin. Calyx hemispherical, nearly equal. Florets of the ray more than five. Willd. Several species of Anthemis have been employed in medicine. A. nobilis, which is the subject of the present article, is by far the most important. A. Cotula, or May-weed, is also recognised by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. (See Cotula.) A. Pyrethrum, which affords the pellitory root, is among the offi- cinal plants. (See Pyrethrum.) A. arrensis, a native of this country and of Europe, bears flowers which have an acrid bitter taste, and possess medical 104 Anthemis. PART I. properties analogous though much inferior to those of the common chamo- mile, for which they are said to be sometimes substituted in Germany.^ They may be distinguished by their want of smell. A. tinctoria is occasionally employed as a tonic and vermifuge in Europe. Anthemis nobilis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 2180; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 47. t. 19. This is an herbaceous plant with a perennial root. ^ The stems are from six inches to a foot long, round, slender, downy, trailing, and divided into branches, which turn upwards at their extremities. The leaves are bipin- nate, the leaflets small, thread-like, somewhat pubescent, acute, and generally divided into three segments. The flowers are solitary, with a yellow convex disk, and white rays. The calyx is common to all the florets, of a hemi- spherical form, and composed of several small imbricated hairy scales. The receptacle is convex, prominent, and furnished with rigid bristle-like paleas. The florets of the ray are numerous, narrow, and terminated with three small teeth. The whole herb has a peculiar fragrant odour, and a bitter aromatic taste. The flowers only are officinal. This plant is a native of Europe, and grows wild in all the temperate parts of that continent. It is also largely cultivated for medicinal purposes. In France, Germany, and Italy, it is generally known by the name of Roman chamomile. The flowers become double by cultivation, and in this state are usually preferred; though, as the sensible properties are found in the greatest degree in the disk, which is not fully developed in the double flowers, the single are the most powerful, and are exclusively directed by the London and Edinburgh Colleges. It is rather, however, in aromatic flavour than in bit- terness, that the radial florets are surpassed by those of the disk. If not well and quickly dried, the flowers lose their beautiful white colour, and are less efficient. Those which are whitest should be preferred. The seeds yield by expression a fixed oil, which is said to be applied in Europe to various economical uses. Though not a native of America, chamomile grows wild in some parts of this country, and is occasionally cultivated in our gardens for family use, the whole herb being employed. The medicine, as found in our shops, consists chiefly of the double flowers, and is imported from Germany and England. From the former country are also occasionally imported, under the name of chamomile, the flowers of Matricaria Chamomilla, a plant belonging to the same family with the Anthemis, and closely allied to it in sensible as well as medicinal properties. (See Matricaria.) Pmpcrties. Chamomile flowers, as usually found in the shops, are large, almost spherical, of a dull-white colour, a fragrant odour, and a warmish, bitter, aromatic taste. When fresh, their smell is much stronger, and was fancied by the ancients to resemble that of the apple, r Hence the name cha- msemelum (%o.ua.i on the ground, and firfKov an apple); and it is somewhat singular that the Spanish name manzanilla (a little apple) has a similar sig- nification. The flowers impart their odour and taste to both water and alcohol, the former of which, at the boiling temperature, extracts nearly one-fourth of their weight. They have not been accurately analyzed, but are known to contain a volatile oil, a bitter principle, resin, and a small quantity of tannin. The first two are probably their active ingredients. (See Oleum Anthemidis.) A volatile acid, in minute proportion, has been obtained from them by Schen- dler, said greatly to resemble, if it be not identical with valerianic acid. Medical Properties and Uses. Chamomile is a mild tonic, in small doses acceptable and corroborant to the stomach, in larger quantities capable of acting as an emetic. In cold infusion it is often advantageously used in cases of enfeebled digestion, whether occurring as an original affection or conse- PART I. Anthemis.—Antimonium. 105 quent upon some acute disease. It is especially applicable to that condition of general debility, with languid appetite, which often attends convalescence from idiopathic fevers. As a febrifuge, it has also acquired much reputation, being frequently prescribed in remittents, when the subsidence of action between the paroxysms is so considerable as to demand the use of tonics, but is not sufficiently complete to admit of a resort to Peruvian bark or its pre- parations. Chamomile in substance has, in some instances, proved effectual in the treatment of intermittents; but we have so many other remedies more efficient in these cases, that it is now seldom if ever employed. The tepid infusion is very often given to promote the operation of emetic medicines, or to assist the stomach in relieving itself when oppressed by its contents. The flowers are sometimes applied externally as fomentations in cases of irritation or inflammation of the abdominal viscera, and as gentle incitants in flabby, ill-conditioned ulcers. The dose of the powder as a tonic is from half a drachm to a drachm three or four times a day, or more frequently, according to the end proposed. The infusion is usually preferred. The decoction and extract cannot exert the full influence of the medicine; as the volatile oil, upon which its virtues partly depend, is driven off at the boiling temperature. Off. Prep. Decoctum Chamameli Comp., Dub.; Decoctum Malva Comp., Lond,; Extraetum Anthemidis, Ed., Dub.; Infusum Anthemidis, U. S., Loud., Ed., Dub.; Oleum Anthemidis, Lond., Ed. W. ANTIMONIUM. Antimony. Stibium, Lat.; Antimoine, Fr.; Antimon, Spiessglanz, Germ.; Antimonio, Span., Ital Metallic antimony, sometimes called regulus of antimony, is not officinal in the British or United States Pharmacopoeias; but, as it enters into the composition of a number of important pharmaceutical preparations, we have thought it proper to notice it under a distinct head. Antimony exists in nature, 1. uncombined; 2. as an oxide; 3. as a tersul- phuret; and 4. as a sulphuretted oxide. It is found principally in France and Germany. Extraction. All the antimony of commerce is extracted from the native tersulphuret, which is by far the most abundant ore of this metal. The ore is first separated from its gangue by fusion. It is then reduced to powder, and placed on the floor of a reverberatory furnace; where it is subjected to a gentle heat, being constantly stirred about with an iron rake. The heat should not be sufficient to cause fusion. This process of roasting is known to be completed, when the matter is brought to the state of a dull grayish-white powder, called antimony ash. By this treatment the antimony is partly teroxidized, and partly converted into antimonious acid; while nearly all the sulphur is dissipated in the form of sulphurous acid gas: a portion of tersul- phuret, however, remains undecomposed. The matter is then mixed either with tartar, or with charcoal impregnated with a concentrated solution of carbonate of soda, and the mixture heated in crucibles, placed in a melting furnace. The charcoal reduces the teroxide of antimony, while the alkali unites with the undecomposed tersulphuret, and forms with it melted scoria, which cover the reduced metal and diminish its loss by volatilization. Antimony is imported into the United States principally from France, packed in casks. A portion is also shipped from Trieste, from Holland, and occasionally from Cadiz. The Spanish antimony is generally in the form of pigs; the French, in circular cakes of about ten inches in diameter, flat on 106 Antimonium. PART I. one side and convex on the other; and the English, in cones. The French is most esteemed. Properties, &c. The time of the discovery of antimony is not known; but Basil Valentine was the first to describe the method of obtaining it, in his work entitled Currus Triumphalis Antimonii, published towards the end of the fifteenth century. It is a brittle, brilliant metal, ordinarily of a lamellated texture, of a silver-white colour when pure, but bluish-white as it occurs in commerce. When rubbed between the fingers, it imparts a sensible odour. Its equivalent number is 129, symbol Sb., sp. gr. 6-7, and fusing point 810°, or about a red heat. On cooling after fusion, it assumes a crystalline structure, and an appearance on the surface bearing some resemblance to a fern leaf. When strongly heated, it burns with the emission of white vapours, consisting of teroxide, formerly called argentine flowers of antimony. A small portion being fused, and then thrown from a moderate height upon a flat surface, divides into numerous globules, which burn rapidly as they move along. It forms three combinations with oxygen; one oxide—teroxide of antimony, and two acids—antimonious and antimonic acids. The teroxide contains three, antimonious acid four, and antimonic acid five eqs. of oxygen, combined with one of the metal. In addition to these, a suboxide exists, which, according to Marchand, has a composition, represented by the formula, Sb304. It may be obtained by decomposing a solution of tartar emetic by a Grove's battery. (Chem. Gar.., No. 72, 421.) The teroxide will be noticed under the head of Antimonii Oxidum. Antimonic acid is a lemon-coloured powder, which may be prepared by oxidizing the metal by digestion in nitric acid, and then driving off the excess of nitric acid by a heat not exceeding 600°. When exposed to a red heat, it parts with oxygen, and is converted into antimonious acid. This is a white powder, and, though medicinally inert, frequently forms a large proportion of the preparation called antimonial powder. (See Pulvis Antirnonialis.) The following table embraces all the officinal preparations of antimony:— I. Sulphuretted:— 1. Antimonii Sulphuretum, U S., Ed,, Dub.; Antimonii Sesqui- sulphuretum, Lond. 2. Antimonii Sulphuretum Praparatum, Dub. 3. Antimonii Sulphuretum Pracipitatum, U S.; Antimonii Oxy- sulphuretum, Loud.; Antimonii Sulphuretum Aureum, Ed.; Sulphur Antimoniatum Fuscum, Dub. II. Oxidized:— 1. Teroxide. Antimonii Oxidum, Ed. 2. Teroxide, combined with tcrehloride of antimony. Antimonii Oxydum Nitromuriaticum, Dub. 3.. Teroxide, combined with tartaric acid and potassa. Antimonii et Potassa Tartras, U.S.; Dub.; Antimonii Potassio-Tartras, Lond.; Antimonium Tartarizatum, Ed, Dissolved in wine. Vinum Antimonii, U. S.; Yinum Antimonii Potassio-Tartratis, Lond.; Vinum Autimoniale, Ed. Dissolved in diluted alcohol. Liquor Tartari Emetici, Dub. Mixed with lard. Unguentum Antimonii, U S.; Unguentum Antimonii Potassio-Tartratis, Lond.; Unguentum Antimoniale, Ed.; Unguentum Tartari Emetici, Dub. 4. Teroxide and antimonious acid, mixed with phosphate of lime. Pulvis Antirnonialis, Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Antimonii Compositus, Lond. According to Serullas, all the antimonial preparations, except tartar emetic, and butter or terchloride of antimony, contain a minute proportion of arsenic. PART I. Antimonii Sulphuretum. 107 Tartar emetic is an exception, because, according to this chemist, it separates entirely, in the act of crystallizing, from any minute portion of arsenic in the materials from which it is prepared; the poisonous metal being left behind in the mother-waters of the process. B. ANTIMONII SULPHURETUM. U.S., Ed., Dub. Sulphuret of Antimony. "Native Sesquisulphuret of Antimony, purified by fusion." U. S. Off. Syn, ANTIMONII SESQUISULPHURETUM. Lond. Artificial sulphuret of antimony; Antimoine sulphure, Fr.; Schwefelantimon, Schwe- felspiessglanz, Germ.; SJolfuro d'antimonio, Ital.; Antimonio crudo, Span. Preparation, t&c. The sulphuret of antimony of the Pharmacopoeias is obtained from the native sulphuret, technically called antimony ore, by differ- ent processes of purification; the following being an outline of that generally pursued. The ore is placed in melting pots with perforated bottoms, which are made to rest on others half buried in the earth. The melting pots are surrounded with wood, which is set on fire. The sulphuret is quickly melted, and runs down into the receiving pots, leaving the stony and earthy impuri- ties behind. A better process is to place the melting pots in a circular reverberatory furnace, and to connect them, by means of curved earthen tubes, with the receiving pots, situated outside the furnace. This arrangement affords facilities for removing the residue of the operation, and allows of the collection of the melted sulphuret, without interrupting the fire, and, conse- quently, without loss of time or fuel. Properties, &c. Sulphuret of antimony is mostly prepared in France and Germany, and comes to the United States principally from France. It is called in commerce, antimony, or crude antimony, and occurs in fused round- ish masses, denominated loaves. These are dark-gray externally, and exhibit internally, when broken, a brilliant steel-gray colour, and a striated crystal- line texture. Their goodness depends upon their compactness and weight, and the largeness and distinctness of the fibres. The quality of the sulphuret cannot well be judged of, except in mass; hence it ought never to be bought in powder. It is entirely soluble in muriatic acid, by the aid of heat, with the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen. The muriatic solution, when added to water, lets fall the greater part of the antimony as a white powder (oxy- chloride of antimony). If the muriatic acid should have dissolved some lead or copper, the filtered solution, after the precipitation of the white powder, will give a dark coloured precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen; but if these metals should be absent, it will yield, with the same test, an orange- coloured precipitate, derived from a small quantity of antimony, not thrown down by the water. Arsenic may be detected by the usual tests for that metal. (See Acidum Arseuiosum.) Composition. The officinal sulphuret of antimony is a tersulphuret, con- sisting of one eq. of antimony 129, and three of sulphur 48=177. Sulphuret of antimony requires to be levigated in order to fit it for exhi- bition as a medicine, when it takes the name of prepared sulphuret of anti- mony. In this form it is now officinal only with the Dublin College. (See Antimonii Sulphuretum Prasparatum.) Off. Prep. Antimonii et Potassa Tartras, U.S., Lond,, Ed.; Antimonii Oxidum, Ed,; Antimonii Sulphuretum Pracipitatum, U.S., Loud,, Ed.; Antimonii Sulphuretum Praparatuin, Dub.; Pulvis Antirnonialis, Ed.t Lond. B. 108 Apocynum Cannabinum. PART I. APOCYNUMANDROS^EMIFOLIUM.f/.^.»Seco^ary. Dog's Bane. "The root of Apocynum Androsamifolium." U S. Apocynum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Apocynacea. Gen. Ch. Calyx very small, five-cleft, persistent. Corolla campanulate, half five-cleft, lobes revolute, furnished at the base with five dentoid glands alternating with the stamens. Anthers connivent, sagittate, cohering to the stigma by the middle. Style obsolete. Stigma thick and acute. Follicles long and linear. Seed comose. Nuttall, Apocynum androseemifolium. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1259; Bigelow, Am. Med, Bot. ii. 148. Dog's bane is an indigenous, perennial, herbaceous, plant, from three to six feet in height, and abounding in a milky juice, which exudes when any part of the plant is wounded. The stem is erect, smooth, simple below, branched above, usually red on the side exposed to the sun, and covered with a tough fibrous bark. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate, acute, entire, smooth on both sides, and two or three inches long. The flowers are white, tinged with red, and grow in loose, nodding, terminal or axillary cymes. The peduncles are furnished with very small acute bractes. The tube of the corolla is longer than the calyx, and its border spreading. The fruit consists of a pair of long, linear, acute follicles, containing nume- rous imbricated seeds, attached to a central receptacle, and each furnished with a long seed-down. The plant flourishes in all parts of the United States from Canada to Caro- lina. It is found along fences and the skirts of woods, and flowers in June and July. The root is the part employed. This is large, and, like other parts of the plant, contains a milky juice. Its taste is unpleasant and intensely bitter. Bigelow inferred from his ex- periments that it contained bitter extractive, a red colouring matter soluble in water and not in alcohol, caoutchouc, and volatile oil. Medical Properties. The powder of the recently dried root acts as an emetic in the dose of thirty grains; and is said to be sometimes employed by practitioners in the country for this purpose. By Dr. Zollickoffer it is con- sidered a useful tonic, in doses of from ten to twenty grains. Dr. Bigelow states that its activity is diminished, and eventually destroyed by keeping. It is among the remedies employed by the Indians in lues venerea. W. APOCYNUM CANNABINUM. U.S. Secondary. Indian He?np. "The root of Apocynum cannabinum." U. S. Apocynum. See APOCYNUM ANDROS.EMIFOLIUM. Apocynum cannabinum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1259; Knapp, Am. Med. Rev. iii. 197. In general appearance and character, this species bears a close resemblance to the preceding. The stems are herbaceous erect branching, of a brown colour, and two or three feet in height- the leaves are opposite, oblong-ovate, acute at both ends, and somewhat downy beneath; the cymes are paniculate, many-flowered, and pubescent; the corolla is small and greenish, with a tube not longer than the calyx, and with an erect border* the internal parts of the flowers are pinkish or purple. The plant grows in similar situations with A. audrossemifolium, and flowers about the same part I. Apocynum Cannabinum.—Aqua. 109 period. Like that species, it abounds in a milky juice, and has a tough fibrous bark, which, by maceration, affords a substitute for hemp. From this circumstance the common name of the plant was derived. Its fruit is similar to that of the former species. The root, which is the officinal part, is horizontal, five or six feet in length, about one-third of an inch thick, dividing near the end into branches which terminate abruptly, of a yellowish-brown colour when young, but dark chestnut when old, of a strong odour, and a nauseous, somewhat acrid, permanently bitter taste. The internal or ligneous portion is yellowish-white, and less bitter than the exterior or cortical part. The fresh root, when wounded, emits a milky juice, which concretes into a substance closely resem- bling caoutchouc. In the dried state, it is brittle and readily pulverized, affording a powder like that of ipecacuanha. According to Dr. Knapp, it contains a bitter principle, extractive, tannin, gallic acid, resin, wax, caout- chouc, fecula, lignin, and a peculiar principle upon which its activity depends, and which he proposes to call apocynin. (Am. Med. Review, iii. 197.) Dr. Griscom, by a subsequent analysis, obtained similar results, with the addition of gum to the other ingredients. The root yields its virtues to water and alcohol, but, according to Dr. Griscom, most readily to the former. Medical Properties and Uses. Indian Hemp is powerfully emetic and cathartic, sometimes diuretic, and, like other emetic substances, promotes diaphoresis and expectoration. It produces much nausea, diminishes the fre- quency of the pulse, and appears to induce drowsiness independently of the exhaustion consequent upon vomiting. The disease in which it has been found most beneficial is dropsy. An aggravated case of ascites, under the care of the late Dr. Joseph Parrish, was completely cured by the decoction of the plant, which acted as a powerful hydragogue cathartic. Dr. Knapp also found it useful in a case of dropsy. Other instances of its efficacy in this complaint have been published by Dr. Griscom of New York. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sciences, xii. 55.) From fifteen to thirty grains of the powdered root will generally produce copious vomiting and purging. The decoction is a more convenient form for administration. It may be prepared by boiling half an ounce of the dried root in a pint and a half of water to a pint, of which from one to two fluid- ounces may be given two or three times a day, or more frequently if requisite. The watery extract, in doses of three or four grains three times a-day, will generally act on the bowels. W. AQUA. U.S., Ed. Water. "Natural water in the purest attainable state." U. S. " Spring Water." Ed. "ybwe, Gr.; Eau, Fr.; Wasser, Germ.; Acqua, Ital; Agua, Span. Water has always been included, as an officinal, in the United States Phar- macopaia, on account of its great importance as a medical and pharmaceutical agent. It was not admitted into the officinal lists of the British Pharmaco- poeias until the year 1839, when it was first recognised by the Edinburgh College. It is more or less concerned in almost all the changes which take place in inorganic matter, and is essential to the growth and existence of living beings, whether animal or vegetable. In treating of a substance of such diversified agency, our limits will allow only of a sketch of its properties and modifications. We shall speak of it under the several heads of pure water, common water, and mineral waters. 110 Aqua. part i. Pure Water. Water, in a pure state, is a transparent liquid, without colour, taste, or smell. Its sp. gr. is assumed to be unity, and forms the term of comparison for that of all solids and liquids. A cubic inch of it, at the temp, of 60°, weighs very nearly 252-5 grains. It is compressible to a small extent, as was proved first by Canton, and afterwards, in an incontest- able manner, by Perkins. Pieduced in temp, to 32°, it becomes a solid or ice; and raised to 212°, an elastic fluid called steam. In the state of steam its bulk is increased nearly 1700 fold, and its sp. gr. so far diminished as not to be much more than half that of atmospheric air. At the temp, of 39° its density is at the maximum; and consequently, setting out from that point, it is increased in bulk by being either heated or cooled. It has the power of dissolving more or less of all the gases, including common air, the constituents of which are always present in natural water. It is uniformly present in the atmosphere, in the form of an invisible vapour, even in the driest weather. Water consists of one equivalent of hydrogen 1, and one of oxygen 8=9; or, in volumes, of one volume of hydrogen and half a volume of oxygen, con- densed into one volume of aqueous vapour or steam. On these data, it is easy to calculate the sp. gr. of steam; for its density will be 0-0689 (sp. gr. of hydrogen)+ 0-5512 (half the sp. gr. of oxygen) =0-6201. Common Water. From the extensive solvent powers of water, it is ob- vious that, in its natural state, it must be more or less contaminated with foreign matter. This is found to be the case; and, according to the nature of the strata through which it percolates, it becomes variously impregnated. When the foreign substances present are in so small amount as not very materially to alter its taste and other sensible qualities, it constitutes the dif- ferent varieties of common water. Common water possesses almost innumerable shades of difference, as ob- tained from different localities and sources, but all its varieties may be con- veniently arranged under the two heads of soft and hard. A soft water is one which contains but inconsiderable impurities, and which, when used in washing, forms a lather with soap. By a hard water is understood a variety of water which contains one or more salts of lime, and, therefore curdles soap, and is unfit for domestic purposes. Tincture of soap is a convenient and useful test for ascertaining the quality of water. In distilled water it produces no effect; in soft water, only a slight opalescence; and in hard water, a milky appearance. This latter appearance is due to the formation of an in- soluble compound between the oil of the soap, and the lime of the salt of lime. ^ The most usual foreign substances in common water, besides oxygen and nitrogen, and matters held in a state of mechanical suspension, are carbonic acid, sulphate and carbonate of lime, and chloride of sodium (common salt). Carbonic acid is detected by lime-water, which produces a precipitate before the water is boiled, but not afterwards, as ebullition drives off this acid. The presence of sulphate of lime is shown by precipitates being produced by nitrate of baryta, and, after ebullition, by oxalate of ammonia. The first test shows the presence of sulphuric acid, and the latter indicates lime not held in solution by carbonic acid. Carbonate of lime, when held in solution by an excess of carbonic acid, may be detected by boiling the water, which causes it to precipitate; but even after ebullition and filtration, the water will retain enough carbonate of lime to give a precipitate with acetate of lead according to the experiments of Prof. Connell, of St, Andrews. This result arises from the fact that carbonate of lime is to a minute extent soluble in water. Nitrate of silver will produce a precipitate, if any soluble chloride be present • and in all ordinary cases, the particular one present may be assumed to be common salt It is generally supposed that the oxygen and nitrogen present in natural PART I. Aqua. Ill waters are in the same proportion as in atmospheric air; but for the most part the oxygen is in larger proportion. In atmospheric air, the oxygen amounts to about 20 per cent, in volume; but the usual gaseous mixture, expelled from fresh water by boiling, contains about 32 per cent, of this gas. Common water is also divided into varieties according to its source. Thus we have rain, snow, spring, river, well, lake, and marsh water. We shall notice these varieties in a general manner. Rain and snow waters are the purest kinds of natural water, being, in effect, produced by a natural distillation. Bain water, to be obtained as pure as possible, must be collected in large vessels in the open fields at a distance from houses, and some time after the rain has commenced falling; otherwise it will be contaminated with the dust which floats in the atmosphere, and other impurities derived from roofs. The rain water of large cities contains nitrogenized organic matter, as shown by the odour emitted when the latter is burnt. It may be obtained tolerably pure, even in large cities, by taking advantage of a heavy rain, and, after it has descended for a considerable time, and washed away every impurity, collecting it as it falls from the roofs. Rain water ordinarily contains atmospheric air; and, according to Liebig, a little nitric acid, if it descended during a storm. Snow water has a pecu- liar taste, which was formerly supposed to depend on the presence of air more oxygenous than that of the atmosphere; but in point of fact, when newly melted, it contains no air, and this accounts for its vapid taste. Both rain and snow water are sufficiently pure for employment in most chemical operations. Spring water (aqua fontana) depends entirely for" its quality on the strata through which it flows; being purest when it passes through sand or gravel. It almost always contains a trace of common salt, and generally other impu- rities, which vary according to the locality of the spring. River water (aqua fluvialis), generally speaking, is less impregnated with saline matter than spring water, from its being made up in considerable part of rains, and from its volume bearing so large a proportion to the surface of its bed. On the other hand, it is much more apt to have mechanically sus- pended in it, certain insoluble matters of a vegetable and earthy nature, which impair its transparency. Well water, like that from springs, is liable to contain various impurities. As a general rule, the purity of the water of a well will be in proportion to its depth, and the constancy with which it is used. Well water in large cities always contains nitrates. (Dr. R. A. Smith.) They arise from the rapid oxidation of nitrogenized organic matter, filtering through the soil. The presence of nitrates in a water prevents the formation of any vegetable matter, which cannot be detected by the microscope, even after it has been long kept. Artesian or overflowing wells, on account of their great depth, generally afford a very pure water. Lake water cannot be characterized as having any invariable qualities. In most of the lakes in the United States, it constitutes a pure and whole- some water. Marsh water is generally stagnant, and contains vegetable remains under- going decomposition. It is an unwholesome water, and ought never to be used for medicinal purposes. Common waters are apt to contain organic matter in solution, of the nature of ulmin or gcin. In order to ascertain whether its amount exceeds the minute quantity usually present in good water, Dupasquier has proposed chloride of gold as a test. From one to two fluidounces of the water to be tested, is put into a small flask, and a few drops of solution of chloride of gold, free from excess of muriatic acid, are added, so as to give the water a 112 Aqua. PART I. slight yellow tint. The liquid is> then boiled. If the water contain the ordi- nary proportion of organic matter, the yellow tint remains unchanged; but if its quantity be greater than this, the liquid at first becomes brownish, and afterwards violet or bluish, in consequence of the reduction of the gold. (Journ, de Pharm. Mars, 1848.) The term Aqua, in the U. S. Pharmacopaia, may be considered as desig- nating any natural water of good quality. In the Edinburgh Pharmacopaia it means spring water, "so far at least free of saline matter as not to possess the quality of hardness, or contain above a 6000th of solid matter." A good water may be known by its being limpid and without smell. It answers well for the cooking of vegetables, and does not curdle soap. Upon the addition of nitrate of baryta, nitrate of silver, or oxalate of ammonia, its transparency is but slightly affected; and upon being evaporated to dryness, it leaves but an inconsiderable residue. Water should never be kept in leaden cisterns, on account of the risk of its dissolving a small portion of oxide of lead. This risk is greater in pro- portion to the softness and purity of the water; for it is found that the pre- sence of a minute proportion of saline matter, as for example of a chloride or sulphate, protects the water from the slightest metallic impregnation. Mr. R. Phillips, jun., attributes the preservative power to sulphate of lime, and not to a chloride, which latter would give rise to chloride of lead, which is slightly soluble. The protection is afforded by an insoluble film on the sur- face of the lead, formed by the decomposition of the saline matter. The Schuylkill water, introduced into Philadelphia, possesses all the cha- racteristics of a good water, except that it is occasionally turbid after heavy rains. The Croton water of New York is also a good water. A brackish or hard water ought never to be employed in compounding prescriptions. For some pharmaceutical processes, however, no natural water is sufficiently pure; and hence the necessity of resorting to distilled water. (See Aqua Destillata.) Mineral Waters. When natural waters are so far impregnated with foreign substances as to have a decided taste and a peculiar operation on the animal economy, they are called mineral waters. These are conveniently arranged for description under the four heads of carbonated, sulphuretted, chalybeate, and saline. 1. Carbonated waters are characterized by containing an excess of carbonic acid, which gives them a sparkling appearance, and the power of reddening litmus paper. These waters frequently contain the carbonates of lime, mag- nesia, and iron, which are held in solution by the excess of carbonic acid. The waters of Seltzer, Spa, and Pyrmont in Europe, and of the sweet springs in Virginia, belong to this class. 2. Sulphuretted waters are such as contain sulphuretted hydrogen, and are distinguished by the peculiar fetid smell of that gas, and by yielding a brown precipitate with the salts of lead or silver. Examples of this kind are the waters of Aix La Chapelle and Harrowgate in Europe, and those of the white, red, and salt sulphur springs in Virginia. 3. Chalybeate waters are characterized by a strong inky taste and by striking a black colour with the infusion of galls, and a blue one with ferro- cyanuret of potassium. The iron is generally in the state of carbonate of the protoxide, held in solution by excess of carbonic acid. By standing the car- bonic acid is given off, and the protoxide, by absorbing oxygen, is precipitated as a hydrated sesquioxide of an ochreous colour. The principal chalybeate waters are those of Tunbridge and Brighton, in England, of Wies-baden in Germany, and of Bedford, Pittsburgh, and Brandywine, in the United States. The sediments of many of the chalybeate springs of Germany have been ascer- PART I. Aqua. 113 tained by Walchner to contain both arsenic and copper in minute quantities. These results have been confirmed by Dr. H. Will, who finds in some of these springs, a minute proportion of tin, lead, and antimony, in addition to the arsenic and copper. In three springs Will found the ratio of the sesquioxide of iron to the other metals to be, on an average, as 48 to. 1. 4. Saline waters are those, the predominant properties of which depend upon saline impregnation. The salts most usually present are the sulphates and carbonates of soda, lime, and magnesia, and the chlorides of sodium, cal- cium, and magnesium. Potassa is occasionally present, and lithia has been detected by Berzelius in the spring of Carlsbad, in Germany. Bromine exists in considerable quantity in the saline at Theodorshalle, in Germany, as also in the salt springs of western Pennsylvania. The mineral springs at Saratoga, in the State of New York, contain a small proportion of iodine and bromine. The principal saline waters are those of Seidlitz in Bohemia, Cheltenham and Bath in England, and Harrodsburg and Saratoga in the United States. To these may be added, a most important saline water, that of the ocean. We subjoin a summary view of the composition of most of the mineral waters enumerated under the foregoing heads. 1. Carbonated. Seltzer. In a wine pint. Carbonic acid 17 cubic inches. Solid Contents;—carbonate of soda 4 grs.; carbonate of magnesia 5; carbon- ate of lime 3; chloride of sodium 17. Total 29 grs. (Bcrgmann.) Spa. In a wine pint. Carbonic acid 13 cubic inches. Solid contents;— carbonate of soda 1-5 grs.; carbonate of magnesia 4-5; carbonate of lime 1-5; chloride of sodium 0-2; oxide of iron 0-6. Total 8-3 grains. (Bergmann.) Pyrmont. In a wine pint. Carbonic acid 26 cubic inches. Solid contents;— carbonate of magnesia 10 grs.; carbonate of lime 4-5; sulphate of magnesia 5-5; sulphate of lime 8-5; chloride of sodium 1-5; oxide of iron 0-6. Total 30-6 grs. (Bergmann.) 2. Sulphuretted. Aix la Chapelle. In a wine pint. Sulphuretted hydro- gen 5-5 cubic inches. Solid contents;—carbonate of soda 12 grs.; carbonate of lime 4-75; chloride of sodium 5. Total 21-75 grs. (Bergmann.) Harrowgate old well. In a wine gallon. Gaseous contents;—sulphuretted hydrogen 14 cubic inches; carbonic acid 4-25; nitrogen 8; carburetted hy- drogen 4-15. Total 30-4 cubic inches. Solid contents;—chloride of sodium 752 grs.; chloride of calcium 65-75; chloride of magnesium 29-2; bicar- bonate of soda 12-8. Total 859-75 grs. (English West. Quart. Journ.) White sulphur. Gaseous contents in a wine gallon;—sulphuretted hydrogen 2-5 cubic inches; carbonic acid 2; oxygen 1-448; nitrogen 3-552. Total 9-5. Solid contents in a pint;—sulphate of magnesia 5-588 grs.; sulphate of lime 7-744; carbonate of lime 1-150; chloride of calcium 0204; chloride of sodi- um 0-180; oxide of iron a trace; loss 0-410. Total 15-276 grs. (Prof Wil- liam B. Rogers.) 3. Chalybeate. Tunbridge. In a wine gallon. Solid contents;—chloride of sodium 2-46 grs.; chloride of calcium 0-39; chloride of magnesium 0-29; sulphate of lime 141; carbonate of lime 0-27; oxide of iron 2-22; traces of manganese, vegetable fibre, silica, &c. 0-44; loss 0-13. Total 761 grs. (Scudamore.) Brighton. In a wine pint. Carbonic acid 25 cubic inches. Solid contents;— sulphate of iron 1-80 grs.; sulphate of lime 4-09; chloride of sodium 1-53; chloride of magnesium 0-75; silica 014; loss 0-19. Total 8-5 grs. (Marcct.) Cheltenham, (chalybeate.) In a wine pint. Gaseous contents;—carbonic acid 2 5 cubic inches. Solid contents;—carbonate of soda 0-5 grs.; sulphate of soda 22-7; sulphate of magnesia 6; sulphate of lime 2-5; chloride of sodium 413; oxide of iron 0-8. Total 73-8 grs. (Brande and Parkes.) 8 114 Aqua. part i. Bedford, Anderson's spring. In a wine gallon. Carbonic acid 74 cubic inches. Solid contents;— sulphate of magnesia 80 grs.; sulphate of lime 14-5; chloride of sodium 10; chloride of calcium 3; carbonate of iron ;>; carbonate of lime 8. Total 1'20-5 grs. (Church.) 4. Saline. Seidlitz. In a wine pint. Solid contents;—carbonate of mag- nesia 2-5 grs.; carbonate of lime 0-8; sulphate of magnesia 180; sulphate of lime 5; chloride of magnesium 4-5. Total 192-8 grs. (Bergmann.) Cheltenham, (pure saline.) In a wine pint. Solid contents;^—sulphate of soda 15 grs.; sulphate of magnesia 11; sulphate of lime 4-5; chloride of sodium 50. Total SO-5 grs. (P'.rkcs and Brande.) Bath. Kings well. Sp. gr. 1-0025; temp. 115°. In an imperial gallon. Solid content's;—carbonate of lime 8-820 grs.; carbonate of magnesia 0-329; carbonate of iron 1-004; sulphate of lime 80-052; sulphate of potassa 4-641; sulphate of soda 19-229; chloride of sodium 12-642; chloride of magnesium 14-581; silica 2-982; with traces of iodine and oxide of manganese. Total 144-34 grs. (Merck and Galloway, Chem. Gaz. for 1S46, p. 496.) Balston Spa. Sans Souci spring. In a wine gallon. Solid contents;— chloride of sodium 143-733 grs.; bicarbonate of soda 12-66; bicarbonate of magnesia 39-1; carbonate of lime 43-407; carbonate of iron 5-95; iodide of sodium 1-3; silica 1. Total 247-15 grs. (Steel.) Saratoga. Iodine spring. In a wine gallon. Gaseous contents;—carbonic acid 336 cubic inches; atmospheric air 4. Total 340 cubic inches. Solid contents;—chloride of sodium 187 grs.; carbonate of magnesia 75; carbonate of lime 26; carbonate of soda 2; carbonate of iron 1; iodine 3-5.' Total 294-5 grs. (Prof. Emmons.) Saratoga, Pavilion spring. In a wine gallon. Gaseous contents;—carbonic acid 359-05 cubic inches; atmospheric air 5-03. Total 364-08 cubic inches. Solid contents;—chloride of sodium 187*68 grs.; carbonate of soda 4-92; carbonate of lime 52-84; carbonate of magnesia 56-92; carbonate of iron 3-51; sulphate of soda 1-48; iodide of sodium 2-59; alumina 0-42; silica 1-16; phosphate of lime 0-19; bromide of potassium a trace. Total 311-71 grs. (Dr. J. R. Chilton.) Saratoga, Union spring. In a wine gallon. Gaseous contents;—carbonic acid 314-16 cubic inches; atmospheric air 4-62. Total 31N-78 cubic inches. Solid content*;—chloride of sodium 243-620 grs.; carbonate of magnesia 84-265; carbonate of lime 41-600; carbonate of soda 12-800; carbonate of iron 5-452; iodide of sodium, or iodine 3600; silica and alumina P570; bromide of potassium a trace. Total 392-907 grs. (Dr. Chilton.) Saratoga. Congress spring. Gaseous contents in 100 cubic inches;—car- bonic acid 114 cubic inches. Solid contents in a pound Troy;—chloride of ammonium 0-0326 grs.; chloride of potassium 1-0256; chloride of sodium 19-6653; iodide of sodium 0-0046; bromide of sodium 0-1613; carbonate of soda 0-8261; carbonate of lime 5-8531; carbonate of magnesia 4-1155; car- bonate of strontia 0-0672; carbonate of protoxide of iron 0-0173; carbonate of protoxide of manganese 0-0202; sulphate of potassa 0-1379; nitrate of magnesia 0-1004; alumina 0-0069; silica 0-1112. Total 32-7452 grs. (Schweitzer.) Sea Water. English channel. In a thousand grains. Water 964-744 grs.; chloride of sodium 27-059; chloride of potassium 0-765; chloride of magne- sium 3-607; bromide of magnesium 0-029; sulphate of magnesia 2-296; sulphate of lime 1-407; carbonate of lime 0-033. Total 1000-000 grs. (Schweitzer.) The proportion of chloride of sodium is from 36 to 37 parts in 1000 in the ocean, at a distance from land. Its amount is small in the interior of the Baltic. It is perceived that bromine is present in very minute PART I. Aqua. 115 amount. 100 pounds of sea water yield only 3£ grains of this element. Ac- cording to Balard, iodine exists in the water of the Mediterranean. Sea water, filtered, and charged with five times its volume of carbonic acid, forms, accord- ing to Pasquier, a gentle purgative, which keeps very well, and is not disa- greeable to take. The dose is from half a pint to a pint, Medical and Dietetic Properties of Water.—Water is a substance of the first necessity to animals and vegetables. In animals there exists an instinct- ive desire for it, to repair the waste of the fluids which is constantly taking place in the animal economy. Water as a remedy is highly important. When taken into the stomach, it acts by its temperature, by its bulk, and by being absorbed. When of the temperature of about 60°, it gives no positive sensation either of heat or cold; between 60° and 45°, it creates a cool sensation; and below 45°, a decidedly cold one. Between 60° and 100°, it relaxes the fibres of the stomach, and is apt to produce nausea, particularly if the effect of bulk be added to that of tem- perature. By its bulk and solvent powers, it often allays irritation by diluting the acrid contents of the stomach and bowels, and favouring their final expul- sion; and by its absorption, it promotes the secretion of urine and cutaneous transpiration. Indeed, its influence is so great in the hitter way, that it may be safely affirmed, that sudorifics and diuretics will not produce their proper effect, unless assisted by copious dilution. Water, externally applied as a bath, is also an important remedy. It may act by its own specific effect as a liquid, or as a means of modifying the heat of the body. It acts in the latter way differently, according to the particular temperature at which it may be applied. When this is above 97°, it consti- tutes either the vapour or hot bath; when between 97° and 85°, the warm bath; between 85° and 05°, the tepid bath; and between 65° and 32°, the cold bath. The general action of the vapour bath is to accelerate the circulation, and produce profuse sweating. It acts locally on the skin by softening and relaxing its texture. In stiffness of the joints, and various diseases of the skin, it has often proved beneficial. The hot bath, like the vapour bath, is decidedly stimulant. By its use the pulse becomes full and frequent, the veins turgid, the face flushed, the skin red, and the respiration quickened. If the temperature be high, and the constitution peculiar, its use is not without danger; as it is apt to produce a feeling of suffocation, violent throbbing in the temples and vertigo, with tendency to apoplexy. When it acts favourably, it depletes actively from the skin by producing profuse perspiration. The warm bath, though below the animal heat, nevertheless produces a sensation of warmth; as its temperature is above that of the surface. It diminishes the frequency of the pulse, especially if previously accelerated, renders the respiration slower, lessens the heat of the body, and relaxes the pkin. The warm bath cannot be deemed, strictly speaking, a stimulant. By relieving certain diseased actions and states, accompanied by morbid irri- tability, it often acts as a soothing remedy, producing a disposition to sleep. It is proper in febrile and cxanthematous diseases, in which the pulse is fre- quent, and the skin preternaturally hot and dry, and where the general con- dition is characterized by restlessness. It is contra-indicated in diseases of .< the head and chest. The tepid bath, from its temperature, is not calculated to have much modifying influence on the heat of the body. Its peculiar effects arc to soften and cleanse the skin, and promote insensible perspiration. The cold bath acts differently according to its temperature and manner of 116 Aqua.—Aralia Nudicaulis. part I. application, and the condition of the system to which it is applied. When of low temperature and suddenly applied, it acts primarily as a stimulant, by the sudden and rapid manner in which the caloric is abstracted; next as a tonic, by condensing the living fibres; and, finally, as a sedative. From the above explanations, it may be easily understood that the cold bath will act very differently under different circumstances. It is often useful in diseases of relaxation and debility, when practised by affusion or plunging. But it is essential to its efficacy and safety in these cases, that the stock of vitality should be sufficient to create, immediately after its use, those general sensations of warmth and invigoration included under the term reaction. It was used with advantage by the late Dr. Currie of Liverpool, in the form of affusion, in certain febrile diseases, especially typhus and scarlatina. To make it safe, however, the heat must be steadily above the natural standard, and the patient must be free from all sense of chilliness, and not in a state of profuse perspiration. Cold water is frequently applied as a sedative in local inflammations, and as a means of restraining hemorrhage. Its use, however, is inadmissible in inflammations of the chest. Pharm. Uses. Water is the most extensive pharmaceutical agent that we possess. It is employed in a vast number of preparations, as a means of pro- moting chemical action by its solvent power. Off. Prep. Aqua Destillata, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. B. ARALIA NUDICAULIS. U.S. Secondary. False Sarsaparilla. " The root of Aralia nudicaulis." U. S. Aralia. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. Araliacese. Gen. Ch. Flowers umbelled. Calyx five-toothed, superior. Petals five. Stigma sessile, subglobose. Berry five-celled, five-seeded. Torrcy. Aralia nudicaulis. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1521; Rafinesque, Med. Flor. i. 53. The false sarsaparilla, wild sarsajxtrilla, or small spikenard, as this plant is variously called, is an indigenous perennial, with one leaf and one flower-stem, springing together from the root or from a very short stalk, and seldom rising two feet in height. The leaf, which stands upon a long foot- stalk, is twice ternate, or once and quinate, with oblong-oval, acuminate leaflets, rounded at the base, serrate on the margin, and smooth on both sur- faces. The scape or flower-stem is naked, shorter than the leaf, and termi- nated by three small umbels, each consisting of from twelve to thirty small yellowish or greenish flowers. The fruit consists of small round berries, about as large as those of the common elder. The plant grows throughout the United States, from Canada to Carolina. inhabiting shady and rocky woods, and delighting in a rich soil. It flowers in May and June. The root is the officinal portion. This is horizontal, creeping, sometimes several feet in length, about as thick as the little finger, more or less twisted, externally of a yellowish-brown colour, of a fragrant odour, and a warm, aromatic, sweetish taste. It has not been analyzed. Medical Properties and Uses. False sarsaparilla is a gentle stimulant and diaphoretic, and is thought to exert an alterative influence over the system analogous to that of the root from which it derived its common name. It is used in domestic practice, and by some practitioners in the country, as a remedy in rheumatic, syphilitic, and cutaneous affections, in the same manner and part i. Aralia Spinosa.—Arctium Lappa. 117 dose as the genuine sarsaparilla. A strong decoction is said to have proved useful as a stimulant to old ulcers. The root of Aralia racemosa, or American spikenard, though not officinal, is used for the same purposes as A. nudicaulis, which it is said to resemble in medical properties. Dr. Peck strongly recommends the root of Aralia his- pida, called in Massachusetts dwarf elder, as a diuretic in dropsy. He uses it in the form of decoction, and finds it pleasanter to the taste and more ac- ceptable to the stomach than most other medicines of the same class. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., xix. 117.) W. ARALIA SPINOSA. U.S. Secondary. Angelica-tree Bark. "The bark of Aralia spinosa." U. S. Aralia. See ARALIA NUDICAULIS. Aralia spinosa. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1520. This is an indigenous arbor- escent shrub, variously called angelica-tree, toothache tree, and prickly ash. The last name, however, should be dropped; as it belongs properly to the Xanthoxylum fraxineum, and if retained might lead to confusion. The stem is erect, simple, from eight to twelve feet high, armed with numerous prickles, and furnished near the top with very large bipinnate or tripinnate leaves, which are also prickly, and are composed of oval, pointed, slightly serrate leaflets. It terminates in an ample panicle, very much branched, and bearing numerous small hemispherical umbels, in each of which are about thirty white flowers. This species of Aralia is found chiefly in the Southern and Western States, though cultivated in the gardens of the north as an ornamental plant. It flourishes in low, fertile woods, and flowers in August and September. The bark, root, and berries are medicinal; but the first only is directed by the Pharmacopoeia. The bark is thin, grayish externally, yellowish within, of an odour some- what aromatic, and a bitterish, pungent, acrid taste. It yields its virtues to boiling water. Medical Properties and Uses. The virtues of Aralia spinosa are those of a stimulant diaphoretic. According to Elliot, an infusion of the recent bark of the root is emetic and cathartic. The remedy is used in chronic rheu- matism and cutaneous eruptions; and in some parts of the South has been employed in syphilis. Pursh states that a vinous or spirituous infusion of the berries is remarkable for relieving rheumatic pains; and a similar tincture is said to be employed in Virginia with advantage in violent colic. The pungency of this tincture has also been found useful in relieving toothache. The bark is most conveniently administered in decoction. W. ARCTIUM LAPPA. Semina. Radix. Dub. Seeds and Root of Burdock. Bardane, Fr.; Gemeine Klette, Germ.; Bardana, Ital, Span. Arctium. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia iEqualis.—Nat, Ord. Compositas Cin- arere, De Cand. Cynaraceae, Lindlcy. Gen. Ch. Receptacle chaffy. Calyx globular; the scales at the apex with inverted hooks. Seed-down bristly, chaffy. Yfilld. 118 Arctium Lappa.—Argentum. part I. Arctium Lappa. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1631 ; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 32. t. IS.—Lappa minor. De Cand. Prodrom. vi. 661. Burdock is a biennial plant, with a simple spindle-shaped root, a foot or more in length, brown externally, white and spongy within, furnished with thread-like fibres, and having withered scales near the summit. The stem is succulent, pubescen^ branching, and three or four feet in height, bearing very large cordate, denti- culate leaves, which are green on their upper surface, whitish and downy on the under, and stand on" long footstalks. The flowers are purple, globose, and arranged in terminal panicles. The calyx consists of imbricated scales, with hooked extremities, by which they adhere to clothes, and the coats of animals. The seed-down is rough and prickly, and the seeds are quad- rangular. This plant is a native of Europe, and is abundant in the United States, where it grows on the roadsides, among rubbish, and in cultivated grounds. Pursh thinks that it was introduced. The root, which should be collected in spring, loses four-fifths of its weight by drying. The odour of the root is weak and unpleasant, the taste mucilaginous and sweetish, with a slight degree of bitterness and astringency. Among its con- stituents, inulin has been found by Guibourt, and sugar by Fee. The seeds are aromatic, bitterish, and somewhat acrid. Medical Properties and Uses. The root is considered aperient, diaphoretic, and sudorific, without irritating properties; and has been recommended in gouty, scorbutic, venereal, rheumatic, scrofulous, leprous, and nephritic affec- tions. To prove effectual its use must be persevered in for a long time. It is best administered in the form of decoction, which may be prepared by boiling two ounces of the recent bruised root in three pints of water to two, and given in the quantity of a pint during the day. The seeds are diuretic, and have been used in the same complaints, in the form of emulsion or pow- der. The dose is a drachm. The leaves have also been employed both externally and internally in cutaneous eruptions and ulcerations. W. ARGENTUM. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Silver. Argent, Fr.; Silber, Germ.; Arjrerito, Ital.; Plata, Span. Silver is occasionally found in the metallic state, sometimes crystallized or in the form of vegetations, at other times combined with gold, antimony, arsenic, or mercury; but more usually it occurs in the state of sulphuret, either pure, or mixed with other sulphurets, as those of copper, lead, and antimony. It is sometimes found as a chloride. The most productive mines of silver are found on this continent, being those of Mexico and Peru; the richest in Europe are those of Norway, Hungary, and Transylvania, The principal ore which is worked is the sul- phuret, The mineral containing silver which is most disseminated is argenti- ferous galena, which is a sulphuret of lead, containing a little sulphuret of silver. Argentiferous galena exists in several localities in the United States. A mine of silver was opened about the year 1841, in Davidson county, North Carolina. The ore is an argentiferous carbonate of lead, yielding about one- third of its weight of lead, from which from 100 to 400 ounces of silver are extracted per ton. (E'hfeldt and Du Bo is, Manual of Coins.) Extraction. Silver is extracted from its ores by two principal processes, amalgamation and cujwllation. At Freyburg, in Saxony, the ore which is principally the sulphuret, is mixed with a tenth of chloride of sodium (common salt), and roasted in a reverberatory furnace. The sulphur becomes acidified PART I. Argentum.—Armoracia. 119 and combines with sodium and oxygen, so as to form sulphate of soda, while the chlorine forms a chloride with the silver. The roasted mass is then reduced to very fine powder, mixed with, half its weight of mercury, one-third of its weight of water, and about a seventeenth of iron in flat pieces, and sub- jected, for sixteen or eighteen hours, to constant agitation in banels turned by machinery. The chlorine combines with the iron, and remains in solution as chloride of iron, while the silver forms an amalgam with the mercury. The amalgam is then subjected to pressure in leathern bags, through the pores of which the excess of mercury passes, a solid amalgam being left behind. This is then subjected to heat in a distillatory apparatus, by means of which the mercury is separated from the silver, which remains behind in the form of a porous mass. In Peru and Mexico the process is somewhat similar to the above, common salt and mercury being used; but slaked lime and sulphuret of iron are also employed, -with an effect which is not very obvious. When argentiferous galenas are worked for the silver they contain, they are first reduced, and the argentiferous lead obtained is fused on a large shal- low cupi I called a test, and exposed to the blast of a bellows, whereby the lead is oxidized, half vitrified, and driven off the test in scales, forming the substance called litharge. By continuing the operation, the whole of the lead is separated, and the silver, not being oxidizable, remains behind as a bril- liant fused mass. The time required for the separation is much abridged by the process of Mr. Pattinson, of Newcastle. This consists in allowing the melted alloy to cool slowly, and separating the crystals which first form, and which are much richer in silver than the original mass, by means of a perfo- rated ladle. The crystals are then subjected to cupellation, for the separation of the lead which they still contain. Properties. Silver is a white metal, very brilliant, tenacious, malleable, and ductile. In malleability and ductility, it is inferior only to gold. It is harder than gold, but softer than copper. Its equivalent number is 108, symbol Ag, and sp. gr. about 10-4. It forms but one well characterized oxide, which is a protoxide. Exposed to a full red heat, it enters into fusion, and exhibits a brilliant appearance. It is not oxidized in the air, but con- tracts a superficial tarnish of sulphuret of silver by the action of sulphuretted hydrogen, which always exists in minute quantity in the atmosphere. It is entirely soluble in diluted nitric acid. If any gold be present, it will remain undissolved as a dark-coloured powder. From the nitric solution, the whole of the silver may be thrown down by chloride of sodium, as a white precipi- tate of chloride of silver, characterized by being completely soluble in ammo- nia. If the remaining solution should contain copper or lead, it will be pre- cipitated or discoloured by sulphuretted hydrogen. Pharm. Uses. The only officinal preparations of silver are the nitrate and cyanuret. The oxide and chloride will be noticed in the Appendix. Off. Prep. Argenti Nitras, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Aigenti Nitratis Crystalli, Dub. B. ARMORACIA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Horse-radish. "The fresh root of Cochlearia Armoracia." U.S., Ed. " Cochlearia Ar- moracia. Radix reeens." Loud. Off. Syn. COCHLKARIA ARMORACIA. Radix. Dub. R.'iifort sauvage, Fr.; Meerrettig, Germ.; Rafu.no rusticano, Ital; Rabano ru&ticano, Span. 120 Armoracia. PART i. Cochlearia. Sex. Syst. Tetradynamia Siliculosa.—Nat Ord. Brassi- caceae or Cruciferae. Gen. Ch. Silicula emarginate, turgid, scabrous, with gibbous, obtuse valves. Willd. Cochlearia Armoracia. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 451; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 400, t. 145. The root of this plant is perennial, sending up numerous very large leaves, from the midst of which a round, smooth, erect, branch- ing stem rises two or three feet in height. The radical leaves are lance- shaped, waved, scolloped on the edges, sometimes pinnatifid, and stand upon strong footstalks. Those of the stem are much smaller, without foot- stalks, sometimes divided at the edges, sometimes almost entire. The flowers are numerous, white, ped uncled, and form thick clusters at the ends of the branches. The calyx has four ovate, deciduous leaves, and the corolla an equal number of obovate petals, twice as long as the calyx, and inserted by narrow claws. The pod is small, elliptical, crowned with the per- sistent stigma, and divided into two cells, each containing from four to six seeds. The horse-radish is a native of western Europe, growing wild on the sides of ditches, and in other moist situations. It is cultivated for culinary pur- poses in most civilized countries, and is said to have become naturalized in some parts of the United States. Its flowers appear in June. The root, which is officinal in its fresh state, is long, tapering, whitish externally, very white within, fleshy, of a strong pungent odour when scraped or bruised, and of a hot, biting, somewhat sweetish taste. Its vir- tues are imparted to water and alcohol. They depend upon a volatile oil, which is dissipated by drying; the root becoming at first sweetish, and ultimately insipid and quite inert. Its acrimony is also destroyed by boiling. The oil may be obtained by distillation with water. It is colourless or pale yellow, heavier than water, very volatile, excessively pungent, acrid, and corrosive, exciting inflammation and even vesication when applied to the skin. From a comparison of its sensible properties, chemical reactions, and ultimate composition with those of the volatile oil of mustard, Hubatka has decided that the two oils are perfectly identical. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., v, 42, from Ann. der Chem. und Pharm.) It exists in exceedingly small proportion in the root, constituting, according to Gutret, only 6 parts in 10,000. Besides this principle, the fresh root contains, according to the same che- mist, "a bitter resin in minute quantity, sugar, extractive, gum, starch, albu- men, acetic acid, acetate and sulphate of lime, water, and lignin. It may be kept for some time without material injury, by being buried in sand in a cool place. Medical Properties and Uses. Horse-radish is highly stimulant, exciting the stomach when swallowed, and promoting the secretions, especially that of urine. Externally applied it is rubefacient. Its chief use is as a condi- ment to promote appetite, and invigorate digestion; but it is also occasionally employed as a medicine, particularly in dropsical complaints attended with an enfeebled condition of the digestive organs, and of the system in general. It has, moreover, been recommended in palsy and chronic rheumatism both as an internal and external remedy; and in scorbutic affections is highly esteemed. Cullen found advantage in cases of hoarseness from the use of a syrup pre- pared from an infusion of horse-radish and sugar, and slowly swallowed in the quantity of one or two teaspoonfuls, repeated as occasion demanded. The root may be given in the dose of half a drachm or more, either grated or cut into small pieces. Off, Prep. Cataplasma Sinapis, Dub.; Infusum Armoracise, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Spiritus Ai'moracias Compositus, Lond., Dub, ' yy PART I. Arnica 121 ARNICA. U.S. Secondary. Leopard's-bane. " The root and herb of Arnica montana." U. S. Off. Syn. ARNICA MONTANA. Flores. Folia. Radix. Dub. Arnique, Fr.; Berg Wolverly, Gemeines aclites FalJkraut, Germ.; Arnica montana, Ital, Span. Arnica. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Compositae-Sene- cionideaa. De Cand. Asteracese. Lindley. Gen. Ch. Calyx with equal leaflets, in a double row. Seed-down hairy, sessile. Seeds both of the disk and ray furnished with seed-down. Recep- tacle hairy. Hayne. Arnica montana. Willd. Sp>. Plant, iii. 2106; Woodv. Med, Bot. p. 41. t. 17. This is a perennial, herbaceous plant, having a woody, brownish, horizontal root, ending abruptly, and sending forth numerous slender fibres of the same colour. The stem is about a foot high, cylindrical, striated, hairy, and terminating in one, two, or three peduncles, each bearing a flower. The radical leaves are ovate, entire, ciliated, and obtuse; those of the stem, which usually consist of two opposite pairs, are lance-shaped. Both are of a bright green colour, and somewhat pubescent on their upper surface. The flowers are very large, and of a fine orange-yellow colour. The calyx is greenish, imbricated, with lanceolate scales. The ray consists of about four- teen ligulate florets, twice as long as the calyx, striated, three-toothed, and hairy at the base; the disk, of tubular florets, with a five-lobed margin. This plant is a native of the mountainous districts of Europe and Siberia, and is found, according to Nuttall, in the northern regions of this continent, west of the Mississippi. It has been introduced into England, and might no doubt be cultivated in this country; but it is very little used, and in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia has been placed with the medicines not considered strictly officinal. The flowers, leaves, and root have been employed in medicine; but the flowers are usually preferred. Properties. The whole plant, when fresh, has a strong, disagreeable odour, which is apt to excite sneezing, and is diminished by desiccation. The taste is acrid, bitterish, and durable. Water extracts its virtues. Chevallier and Lassaigne discovered in the flowers, gallic acid, gum, albumen, yellow colour- ing matter, an odorous resin, and a bitter principle which they considered identical with that discovered by them in the seeds of the Cytisus Laburnum, and hence named cytisin. This substance is yellow, of a bitter and nauseous taste, deliquescent, readily soluble in water and diluted alcohol, but with dif- ficulty in strong alcohol, and insoluble in ether. In the dose of five grains it is powerfully emetic and cathartic, and is supposed to be the active principle of the plant. The flowers are said also to contain a small proportion of a blue volatile oil. According to Pfafl', the root contains volatile oil, an acrid resin, extractive, gum, and lignin. Medical Properties and Uses. Leopard's-bane is a stimulant, directed with peculiar energy to the brain and whole nervous system, as manifested by the headache, spasmodic contractions of the limbs, and difficulty of respi- ration, which result from its use. It acts also as an irritant to the stomach and bowels, often producing an emetic and cathartic effect, and is said by Bergius to be diuretic, diaphoretic, and emmenagogue. It is much used by the Germans, who prescribe the flowers and root with advantage in amaurosis, paralysis, and other nervous affections. It is said to prove serviceable in that 122 Arnica.—Artemisia Santonica. part i. disordered condition which succeeds concussion of the brain from falls, blows, &c.; and from this circumstance has received the title of pa nan a lapsorvm, It has also been recommended in intermittent fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, nephritis, gout, rheumatism, dropsy, chlorosis, and various other complaints, in most of which it seems to have been empirically prescribed. It seems to be peculiarly useful in diseases attended with a debilitated or typhoid state of the system, to which it is adapted by its stimulant properties. The powdered leaves are sometimes employed as a sternutatory; and the inhabitants of Savoy and the Vosges are said to substitute them for tobacco. The French practitioners occasionally use the flowers of Arnica, though much less exten- sively than the German. In England and the United States the medicine is little known. It is best given in substance or infusion. The dose of the powder is from five to ten grains frequently repeated. The infusion may be prepared by digesting an ounce in a pint of water, of which from half a fluid- ounce to- a fluidounce may be given every two or three hours. It should always be strained through linen, in order to separate the fine fibres, which might otherwise irritate the throat. The poisonous properties of the plant are said to be best counteracted by the free use of vinegar or other dilute vegetable acid. W. ARTEMISIA SANTONICA. Semina. Dub. Seeds of Tartarian Southernwood. Barbotine, Semencino, Fr.; Wurmsame, Germ.; Seme Santo, Ital. Artemisia. See ABSINTHIUM. The wormsoed of Lurope is ascribed by the Dublin College, without suffi- cient authority, to Artemisia, Santonica, or Tartarian southernwood. It is of two kinds; one called the Aleppo, Alexandria, or Levant wormseed, the other Barbary wormseed. The former is supposed to be the product of Artemisia Contra, which grows in Persia, Asia Minor, and other parts of the East. It consists in fact not of the seeds, but of the small globular unexpanded flowers of the plant, mixed with their broken peduncles, and with minute, obtuse, smooth leaves. It has a greenish colour, a very strong aromatic odour increased by friction, and a very bitter disagreeable taste. The Barbary wormseed is thought by some to be derived from Artemisia Jndaica, by others from the A. glome rata of Siebcr, both of which grow in Palestine and Arabia. It consists of broken peduncles, having the calyx sometimes attached to their extremity. The calyx is also sometimes separate, consisting of very small linear obtuse leaflets. The flowers are wanting, or in the shape of minute globular buds. All these parts are covered with a whitish down, which serves to distinguish this variety from the wormseed of the Levant, It is, moreover, lighter and more coloured than the latter. Its smell and taste are the same. These products contain a volatile oil and a resinous extractive matter, to which their virtues have been ascribed. A peculiar principle has also been discovered in them, which has received the name of santonin, It is crystal- lizable, colourless, tasteless, inodorous, soluble in ether and alcohol, and nearly insoluble in water. Its alcoholic solution has a decided bitterness. Though neuter in its action upon test-paper, it combines with the alkalies to form soluble and crystallizable salts. It may be obtained by treating wormseed with _ hydrate of lime and alcohol, evaporating the tincture to one-quarter, filtering the residue to separate the resin, and treating it while hot with con- centrated acetic acid. The santonin is deposited in crystals as the liquor PART I. Artemisia Santonica.—Arum. 123 cools. In the dose of three or four grains twice a-day, it is said to be very efficacious as a vermifuge. For details as to the mode of extracting santonin, the reader is referred to the American Journal of Pharmacy, vol. xv. p. 27*. Medical Properties and Uses. The products above described have long been celebrated as a vermifuge, and the title of semen, contra, by which they are designated in many works on pharmacy, originated in their anthelmintic property. They may be given in powder or infusion. The dose in substance is from ten to thirty grains, which should be repeated morning and evening for several days, and then followed by a brisk cathartic. They are not used in this country, having been superseded by the seeds of Cheuopodium anthel- minticum, which are universally known among us by the name of wormseed. W. ARUM. U.S. Secondary. Dragon-root. "The cormus of arum triphyllum." U. S. Arum. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Polyandria,—Nit. Ord. Araccae. Gen. Ch. Spathe one-leafed, cowled. Spadix naked above, female below, stamineous in the middle. Willd. The root, or, as it is botanically called, the cormus of the Arum macula- turn, is occasionally used as a medicine in Europe, and held a place in the Dublin Pharmacopceia previously to the last edition. Its medicinal proper- ties are so precisely those of the A. triphyllum of this country, that the sub- stitution of the latter in our Pharmacopoeia was a matter of obvious propriety, independently of the consideration that the root is efficient only in the recent state. Arum triphyllum. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 480; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i. 52. The dragon-root, Indian turnip, or wake-robin, as this plant is variously called in common language, has a perennial root or cormus, which, early in the spring, sends up a large, ovate, acuminate, variously coloured spathe, con- voluted at bottom, flattened and bent over at top like a hood, and supported by an erect, round, green or purplish scape. Within the spathe is a club- shaped spadix, green, purple, black, or variegated, rounded at the end, and contracted near the base, where it is surrounded by the stamens or germs in the dioecious plants, and by both in the monoecious, the female organs being below the male. The spathe and upper portion of the spadix gradually decay, while the germs are converted into a compact bunch of shining, scarlet berries. The leaves, which are usually one or two in number, and stand on long sheath- ing footstalks, are composed of three ovate acuminate leaflets, paler on their under than their upper surface, and becoming glaucous as the plant advances. There are three varieties of this species of Arum, distinguished by the colour of the spathe, which in one is green, in another dark purple, and in a third white. The plant is a native of North and South America, and is common in all parts of the United States, growing in damp woods, in swamps, along ditches, and in other moist shady places. All parts of it are highly acrid, but the root only is officinal. This is roundish, flattened, an inch or two in diameter, covered with a brown, loose, wrinkled epidermis, and internally white, fleshy, and solid. In the recent state, it has a peculiar odour, and is violently acrid, producing, when chewed, an insupportable burning and biting sensation in the mouth and throat, which continues for a long time, and leaves an unpleasant soreness behind. According to Dr. Bigelow, its action does not readily extend through 124 Arum.—Asarum. PART i. the cuticle, as the bruised root may lie upon the skin till it becomes dry, with- out producing pain or redness. The acrid principle is extremely volatile, and is entirely driven off by heat. It is not imparted to water, alcohol, ether, or olive oil. The root loses nearly all its acrimony by drying, and in a short time becomes quite inert. It was found by Mr. D. S. Jones to contain, besides the acrid principle, from 10 to 17 per cent, of starch, albumen, gum, sugar, extractive, lignin, and salts of potassa and lime. (Am, Journ. of Pharm., xv. 83.) The starch may be obtained from it as white and delicate as from the potato. In Europe, the dried root of A. maculatum is said sometimes to be employed by the country people, in times of great scarcity, as a substitute for bread; and an amylaceous substance is prepared from it in England, called I^ortland arrowroot or Portland sago. For medicinal use, the Indian turnip may be preserved fresh for a year, if buried in sand. (Thatcher.) Medical Properties and Uses. Arum in its recent state is a powerful local irritant, possessing the property of stimulating the secretions, particularly those of the skin and lungs. It has been advantageously given in asthma, pertussis, chronic catarrh, chronic rheumatism, and various affections connected with a cachectic state of the system. As immediately taken from the ground, it is too acrid for use. The recently dried root, which retains a portion of the acri- mony, but not sufficient to prevent its convenient administration, is usually preferred. It may be given in the dose of ten grains, mixed with gum arabic, sugar, and water, in the form of emulsion, repeated two or three times a-day, and gradually increased to half a drachm or more. The powder, made into a paste with honey or syrup, and placed in small quantities upon the tongue, so as to be gradually diffused over the mouth and throat, is said to have proved useful in the aphthous sore-mouth of children. W. ASARUM. Lond. Asardbacca. "Asarum Europaeum. Folia," L/ond. Off. Syn. ASARUM EUROPIUM. FOLIA. Dub. Asaret, Cabaret, Fr.; Haselwurzel, Germ.; Assaro, Ital, Span. Asarum. Sex. Syst. Dodecandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Aristolochiaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx three or four-cleft, sitting on the germen. Corolla none. Capsule coriaceous, crowned. Willd. Asarum Europeeum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 838; Woodv. Med. Bot, p. 170. t, 66. The asarabaeca has a perennial root or rhizoma, with a very short, round, simple, herbaceous, pubescent stem, which in general supports only two leaves and one flower. The leaves, which are opposite and stand on long foot- stalks, are kidney-shaped, entire, somewhat hairy, and of a shining deep green colour. The flower is large, of a dusky purple colour, and placed upon a short terminal peduncle. The calyx, which supplies the place of a corolla, is bell- shaped, greenish at the base, and divided at the mouth into three pointed pur- plish segments, which are erect, and turned inwards at their extremity. The filaments are twelve, and prolonged beyond the anthers into a small hook. The style is surmounted by a six-parted reddish stigma. The fruit is a six-celled coriaceous capsule, crowned with the persistent calyx. This species of Asarum is a native of Europe, growing between 37° and 60° north latitude, in woods and shady places, and flowering in May. All parts of the plant are acrid. The leaves only are directed by the London Col- lege, but the whole plant, including root, stem, leaves, and flowers, is usually kept in the shops. The root is about as thick as a goose-quill, of a grayish colour, quadrangular, knotted and twisted, and sometimes furnished with radi- PART I. Asarum. 125 cles at each joint. It has a smell analogous to that of pepper, an acrid taste, and affords a grayish powder. The leaves are nearly inodorous, with a taste slightly aromatic, bitter, acrid, and nauseous. Their powder is yellowish-green. Both parts rapidly lose their activity by keeping, and ultimately become inert. Geiger, however, asserts that they keep well if perfectly dry. Their virtues are imparted to alcohol and water, but are dissipated by decoction. According to MM. Feneulle and Lassaigne, the root contains a concrete volatile oil, a very acrid fixed oil, a yellow substance analogous to cytisin, starch, albumen, mucilage, citric acid, and saline matters. The latest analysis is by Grager, who found in the root a liquid volatile oil, two concrete volatile substances called respectively asarum camphor or asarone, and asarite, a peculiar bitter principle called asarin, tannin, extractive, resin, starch, gluten, albumen, lignin, citric acid, and various salts; in the leaves, asarin, tannin, extractive, chlorophylle, albumen, citric acid, and lignin. The active principles appear to be the volatile oil, which is lighter than water, glutinous, yellow, of an acrid and burning taste, and a smell like that of valerian, and the asarin, which is soluble in alcohol and very bitter, and is probably the same as the cytisin of Feneulle and Lassaigne. Medical Properties and Uses. The root and leaves of asarabacca, either fresh or carefully dried, are powerfully emetic and cathartic, and were for- merly much used in Europe with a view to these effects. The dose is from thirty grains to a drachm. But as an emetic they have been entirely superseded by ipecacuanha, and are now used chiefly, if not exclusively, as an errhine. The powdered root, snuffed up the nostrils in the quantity of one or two grains, produces much irritation, and a copious flow of mucus, which is said to con- tinue sometimes for several days. The leaves are milder and generally pre- ferred. They should be used in the quantity of three or four grains, repeated every night until the desired effect is experienced. They have been strongly recommended in headache, chronic ophthalmia, and rheumatic and paralytic affections of the face, mouth, and throat, Off. Prep. Pulvis Asari Compositus, Dub. W. ASARUM. U S. Secondary. Canada Snakeroot. Wild Ginger. " The root of Asarum Canadense." U. S. Asarum. See ASARUM. Asa nan Canadense, Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 838; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot, i. 149; Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 85. This species of Asarum very closely resem- bles A. Europseum or asarabacca, in appearance and botanical character. It has a long, creeping, jointed, fleshy, yellowish root or rhizoma, furnished with radicles of a similar colour. The stem is very short, dividing, before it emerges from the ground, into two long round hairy leafstalks, each of which bears a broad kidney-shaped leaf, pubescent on both surfaces, of a rich shining light green above, veined and pale or bluish beneath. A single flower stands in the fork of the stem, upon a hairy pendulous peduncle. The flower is often concealed by the loose soil or decayed vegetable matter; so that the leaves with their petioles are the only parts that appear above the surface of the ground. There is no corolla. The calyx is very woolly, and divided into three broad concave acuminate segments, with the ends reflexed, of a deep brownish-purple colour on the inside, and of a dull purple, inclining to green- ish externally. The filaments, which are twelve in number, and of unequal length, stand upon the germ, and rise with a slender point above the anthers 126 Asarum.—Asclepias Incarnata. part i. attached to them. Near the divisions of the calyx are three filamentous bodies, which may be considered as nectaries. The pistil consists of a some- what hexagonal germ, and a conical grooved style, surmounted by six revolute stigmas. The capsule is six-celled, coriaceous, and crowned with the adhering calyx. Canada snakeroot, or wild ginger, is an indigenous plant, inhabiting woods and shady places from Canada to Carolina. Its flowering period is from April to July. AH parts of the plant have a grateful aromatic odour, which is most powerful in the root. This is the officinal portion. As we have seen it in the shops, it is in long, more or less contorted pieces, of a thickness from that of a straw to that of a goose-quill, brownish and wrinkled externally, whitish within, hard and brittle, and frequently furnished with short fibres. Its taste is agreeably aromatic and slightly bitter, said to be intermediate between that of ginger and serpentaria, but in our opinion bearing a closer resemblance to that of cardamom. The taste of the petioles, which usually accompany the root, is more bitter and less aromatic. Among its constituents, according to Dr. Bigelow, are a light-coloured, pungent, and fragrant essential oil, a reddish bitter resinous matter, starch, and gum; in addition to which Mr. Rushton found fatty matter, chlorophylle, and salts of potassa, lime, and iron. Mr. Procter found the resin to be acrid as well as bitter, and without aromatic properties. The root imparts its virtues to alcohol, and less perfectly to water. Medico! Properties and Uses. Wild ginger is an aromatic stimulant tonic, with diaphoretic properties, applicable to similar cases with serpentaria, which it resembles in its effects. It is said to be sometimes used by the country people as a substitute for ginger. From the close botanical analogy of the plant with the European As.-irum, it might be supposed, like that, to possess emetic and cathartic properties; but such does not appear to be the case, at least with the dried root. It would form an elegant adjuvant to tonic infu- sions and decoctions. It may be given in powder or tincture. The dose in substance is twenty or thirty grains. \y, ASCLEPIAS INCARNATA. U.S. Secondary. Flesh-coloured Asclepias. " The root of Asclepias incarnata." U. S. Asclepias. See ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA. Asclepias incarnata, Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1267. This species has an erect downy stem, branched above, two or three feet high, and furnished with oppo- site, nearly sessile, lanceolate, somewhat downy leaves. The flowers are red sweet-scented, and disposed in numerous crowded erect umbels, which are generally in pairs. The nectary is entire, with its horn cxserted. In one variety the flowers are white. The plant grows in all parts of the United States, preferring a wet soil, and flowering from June to August. Upon being wounded it emits a milky juice. The root is the officinal portion. Its properties are probably similar to those of A. Syriar.a; but they have not, so far as we know, been fully tested. Dr. Griffith states that it has been employed by several physicians who speak of it as a useful emetic and cathartic. (Journ. of the Phil Co1 of Pharm., iv. 283.) Dr. Tully, of New Haven, has found it useful in catarrh, asthma, rheumatism, syphilis, and worms. w part i. Asclepias Syriaca.—Asclepias Tuberosa. 127 ASCLEPIAS SYRIACA. U. S. Secondary. Common Silk-weed. " The root of Asclepias Syriaca." U. S. Asclepias. See ASCLEPIAS TU DEROSA. A. Syriaca. Willd. Sp. Plant. \. 1265. The silk-weed has simple stems, from three to five feet high, with opposite, lanceolate-oblong, petiolate leaves, downy on their under surface. The flowers are large, of a pale purple colour, sweet-scented—and arranged in nodding umbels, which are two or three in number. The nectary is bidentate. The pod or follicle is covered with sharp prickles, and contains a large quantity of silky seed-down, which has been sometimes used as a substitute for fur in the manufacture of hats, and for feathers in beds and pillows. This species of Asclepias is very common in the United States, growing in sandy fields, on the road sides, and on the banks of streams, from New ling- land to Virginia. It flowers m July and August. Like the preceding spe- cies, it gives out a white juice when wounded, and has hence received the name of milk-weed, by which it is frequently called. According to Schultz, SO parts of the juice contain 69 of water, 3-5 of a wax-like fatty matter, 5 of caoutchouc, 0-5 of gum, 1 of suaar with salts of acetic acid, and 1 of other salts. (Pharm. Central Blalf, 1844, p. 302.) Dr. Richardson, of Massachusetts, found the root possessed of anodyne properties, lie gave it with advantage to an asthmatic patient, and in a case of typhus fever attended with catarrh. In both instances it appeared to pro- mote expectoration, and to relieve pain, cough, and dyspnoea. He gave a drachm of the powdered bark of the root, in divided doses, during the day, and employed it also in strong infusion. \V\ ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA. U.S. Secondary. Butterfly-weed. " The root of Asclepias tuberosa." U. S. As( LEi'iAS. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. -Asclopiadaceno. Gen. Ch. Calyx small, five-parted. Corolla, rotate, five-parted, mostly re- flexed. Stamina I crown (or nectary) simple, five-leaved; leaflets opposite the anthers, with a subulate averted process at the base. Stigmas with the five angles (corpuscles) opening by longitudinal chinks. Poilvnia five distinct pairs. Torrcy. Asclepias tuberosa. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1273; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 59; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 239. The root of the butterfly-weed ox pleurisy-root is perennial, and gives origin to numerous stems, which are erect, ascending, or procumbent, round, hairy, of a green or reddish colour, branching at the top, and about three feet in height. The leaves are scattered, oblong-lanceo- late, very hairy, of a deep rich green colour on their upper surface, paler beneath, and supported usually on short footstalks. They differ, however, somewhat in shape according to the variety of the plant. In the variety with decumbent stems, they are almost linear, and in another variety cordate. The flowers are of a beautiful reddish-orange colour, and disposed in terminal or lateral corymbose umbels. The fruit is an erect lanceolate follic-le, with flat ovate seeds connected to a longitudinal receptacle by long silky hairs. This plant differs from other species of Asclepias in not emitting a milky 128 Asclepias Tuberosa.—Assafoetida. part i. juice when wounded. It is indigenous, growing throughout the United States from Massachusetts to Georgia, and, when in full bloom, in the months of June and July, exhibiting a splendid appearance. It is most abundant in the Southern States. The root is the only part used in medicine. This is large, irregularly tuberous, branching, often somewhat fusiform, fleshy, externally brown, internally white and striated, and, in the recent state, of a sub-acrid nauseous taste. When dried it is easily pulverized, and its taste is bitter but not otherwise unpleasant. It yields its virtues readily to boiling water. Medical Properties and Uses. The root of Asclepias tuberosa is diapho- retic and expectorant, without being stimulant. In large doses it is often also cathartic. In the Southern States it has long been employed by regular prac- titioners in catarrh, pneumonia, pleurisy, consumption, and other pectoral affections; and appears to be decidedly useful, if applied in the early stages, or, after sufficient depletion, when the complaint is already formed. Its popu- lar name of pleurisy-root expresses the estimation in which it is held as a remedy in that disease. It has also been used advantageously in diarrhoea, dysentery, and acute and chronic rheumatism, and might probably prove bene- ficial in our autumnal remittents. Dr. Lockwood speaks highly of its efficacy in promoting the eruption in exanthematous fevers. (Buffalo Med. Journ., March, 1848.) Much testimony might be advanced in proof of its possessing very considerable diaphoretic powers. It is said also to be gently tonic, and has been popularly employed in pains of the stomach arising from flatulence and indigestion. From twenty grains to a drachm of the root in powder may be given seve- ral times a-day; but as a diaphoretic it is best administered in decoction or infusion, made in the proportion of an ounce to the quart of water, and given in the dose of a teacupful every two or three hours till it operates. W. ASSAFOETIDA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Assafetida. " The concrete juice of the root of Ferula Assafoetida," U. S. " Ferula Assafoetida. Gummi-resina," Lond, Dub. " Gummy-resinous exudation of Ferula Assafoetida, and probably Ferula persiea." Ed. Assafretkla. Fr.; Stinkasant, Teufelsdreck, Germ.; Assafetida, Ital; Asafetida, Span.; Unjroozeh, Persian; Hilteet, Arab. _ Ferula. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Apiacea; or Umhel- liferae. Gen. Ch. Fruit oval, compressed plane, with three streaks on each side. Willd. Ferula Assafoetida. Willd. Sp Plant, i. 1413; Koempfer, Amain if at. Ex- otic. 535, t. 536.—Narthex Assafoetida. Falconer, Royle's Mat Med Am ed., p. 407. The following description of the plant which yields assafetida is derived from that by Koempfer, who wrote from actual observation The root is perennial, fleshy, tapering, when of full size as large as a man's lea; beset with many small fibres near the top, externally blackish, internally'white and abounding m an excessively fetid, opaque, milky juice. The leaves all of which spring immediately from the root, are six or seven in number nearly two feet long, bipinnate, with the leaflets alternate, smooth, variously sinu- ated and lobed, sometimes lanceolate, of a deep green colour and a fetid smell. From the midst of the leaves rises a luxuriant, herbaceous stem from six to nine feet in height, two inches m diameter at the base, simple 'erect PART I. Assafoetida. 129 round, smooth, striated, and terminating in large plano-convex umbels with numerous radii. The flowers are pale yellow; the seeds oval, flat, foliaceous, and of a reddish-brown colour. The plant is said to differ greatly both in the shape of its leaves, and the character of its fetid product, according to the situation and soil in which it grows. From an examination of this plant in its native sites, as well as of speci- mens cultivated by himself, Dr. Falconer conceives that it belongs to a genus, which, though analogous to Ferula, is yet distinct, and for which he proposes the name of Narthex. For a full botanical description of the plant by Dr. Falconer, the reader is referred to Royle's Materia Medica. There can be no doubt that Falconer's plant is the same as that seen and described by Koemp- fer. It is a native of Persia, Affghanistan, and other neighbouring regions; and flourishes abundantly in the mountainous provinces of Laar and Choras- san, where its juice is collected. Burns, in his travels into Bokhara, states that the young plant is eaten with relish by the people, and that sheep crop it greedily. Some suppose, but without proof, that other species of Ferula contribute to the production of the assafetida of commerce; and F. Persiea is admitted among its probable sources by the Edinburgh College. This plant grows also in Persia, and has a strong odour of the drug. The oldest plants are most productive, and those under four years old are not considered worth cutting. At the season when the leaves begin to fade, the earth is removed from about the top of the root, and the leaves and stem, being twisted off near their base, are thrown with other vegetable matters over the root, in order to protect it from the sun. After some time the summit of the root is cut off transversely, and the juice which exudes having been scraped off, another thin slice is removed, in order to present a fresh surface for ex- udation. This process is repeated at intervals till the root ceases to afford juice, and perishes. During the whole period of collection, which occupies nearly six weeks, the solar heat is as much as possible excluded. The juice collected from numerous plants is put together, and allowed to harden in the sun. Assafetida is brought to this country either from India, whither it is con- veyed from Bushire and down the Indus, or by the route of Great Britain. It sometimes comes in mats, but more frequently in cases, the former contain- ing eighty or ninety, the latter from two hundred to four hundred pounds. It is sometimes also imported in casks. As found in the shops it is in irregular masses, softish when not long ex- posed, of a yellowish or reddish-brown colour externally, exhibiting when broken an irregular whitish, somewhat shining surface, which soon becomes red on exposure, and ultimately passes into a dull yellowish brown. This change of colour is characteristic of assafetida, and is ascribed to the influence of air and light upon its resinous ingredient. The masses appear as if com- posed of distinct portions agglutinated together, sometimes of white, almost pearly tears, embedded in a darker, softer, and more fetid paste. Occasionally the tears are found separate, though very rarely in the commerce of this coun- try. They are roundish, oval, or irregular, and generally flattened, from the size of a pea to that of a large almond, yellowish or brownish externally and white within, and not unlike ammoniac tears, for which they might be mis- taken except for their odour, which, however, is weaker than that of the masses. (Pcrcira.) The odour of assafetida is alliaceous, extremely fetid, and tenacious; the taste, bitter, acrid, and durable. The effect of time and exposure is to render it more hard and brittle, and to diminish the intensity of its smell and taste, particularly the former. Kcempfer assures us, that one drachm of the fresh juice diffuses a more powerful odour through a close 9 130 Assafoetida. PART I. room than one hundred pounds of the drug as usually kept in the stores. Assafetida softens by heat without melting, and is of difficult pulverization. Its sp. gr. is 1-327. (Berzelius.) It is inflammable, burning with a clear, lively flame. It yields all its virtues to alcohol, and forms a clear tincture, which becomes milky on the addition of water. Macerated in water it pro- duces a turbid red solution, and triturated with that fluid gives a white or pink-coloured milky emulsion of considerable permanence. In 100 parts, Pelletier found i^ parts of resin, 1944 of gum, 11-66 of bassorin, 3-60 of volatile oil, with traces of supermalate of lime. Brandes obtained 4-6 parts of volatile oil, 47-25 of a bitter resin soluble in ether, 1-6 of a tasteless resin insoluble in ether, 1-0 of extractive, 19-4 of gum containing traces^ of potassa and lime united with sulphuric, phosphoric, acetic, and malic acids, 6-4 of bassorin, 6-2 of sulphate of lime, 3-5 of carbonate of lime, 0-4 of oxide of iron and alumina, 0-4 of malate of lime with resin, 6-0 of water, and 4-6 of im- purities consisting chiefly of sand and woody fibre. The odour of the gum- resin depends on the volatile oil, which may be procured by distillation with water or alcohol. It is lighter than water, colourless when first distilled, but becoming yellow with age, of an exceedingly offensive odour, and of a taste at first flat, but afterwards bitter and acrid. It contains, according to Stenhouse, from 15-75 to 23 per cent, of sulphur. The volatile oil and the bitter resin are the active principles. Impurities and Adulterations. Assafetida is probably not often purposely adulterated, but it frequently comes of inferior quality, and mixed with vari- ous impurities, such as sand and stones. Portions which are very soft, dark brown or blackish, with few or no tears, and indisposed to assume a red colour when freshly broken, should be rejected. We have been informed that a case seldom comes without more or less of this inferior assafetida, and of many it forms the larger proportion. It is sold chiefly for horses. Medical Properties and Uses. The effects of assafetida on the system are those of a moderate stimulant, powerful antispasmodic, efficient expectorant, and feeble laxative. Some consider it also emmenagogue and anthelmintic. Its volatile oil is undoubtedly absorbed; as its peculiar odour may be detected in the breath and the secretions. As an antispasmodic simply, it is employed in the treatment of hysteria, hypochondriasis, convulsions of various kinds, spasm of the stomach and bowels unconnected with inflammation, and in those numerous irregular nervous disorders which accompany derangement of the different organs, or result from mere debility of the nervous system. From the union of expectorant with antispasmodic powers, it is highly useful in spasmodic pectoral affections, such as hooping-cough, asthma, and certain infantile coughs and catarrhs, complicated with nervous disorder, or with a disposition of the system to sink. In catarrhus senilis; the secondary stages of peripneumonia notha, croup, measles, and catarrh; in pulmonary consump- tion; in fact, in all cases of disease of the chest in which the lungs fail to perform their office from want of due nervous energy, and in which inflamma- tion is absent or has been sufficiently subdued, assafetida may be occasionally prescribed with advantage. In the form of enema, it may be beneficially em- ployed in typhoid diseases attended with inordinate accumulation of air in the bowels, and in other cases of tympanitic abdomen. The same form will be found most convenient in the hysteric paroxysm, and other kinds of convul- sion. In most cases its laxative tendency adds to its advantages • but in some instances must be counteracted by opium. It may often be usefully combined with purgative medicines in constipation with flatulence. It. appears to have been known in the East from very early ages and not- withstanding its repulsive odour, is at present much used in India and Persia part I. Assafoetida.—Aurantii Cortex. 131 as a condiment. Persons soon habituate themselves to its smell, which they even learn to associate pleasantly with the agreeable effects experienced from its internal use. Children with hooping-cough sometimes become fond of it. The medium dose is ten grains, which may be given in pill or emulsion. (See Mistura Assafoetidse.) The tincture is officinal, and is much used. When given by injection the gum-resin should be triturated with warm water. From half a drachm to two drachms may be administered at once in this way. As assafetida is not apt to affect the brain injuriously, it may be given very freely when not contra-indicated by the existence of inflammatory action. Off. Prep. Emplastrum Assafcetidae, U. S., Ed.; Enema Foetidum, Ed., Dub.; Mistura Assafoetidse, U. S., Lond., Dub.) Pilulae Aloe's et Assafoetidas, U.S., Ed.; Piluke Assafoetidae, U.S.; Pilulas Galbani Composita?, U.S., Lond., Ed.; Spiritus Ammonias Fcetidus, Lond., Ed,, Dub.; Tinctura Assa- foetida), U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Castorei Ammoniata, Ed. W. AURANTII CORTEX. U.S.' Orange Peel. "The outer rind of the fruit of Citrus vulgaris or Citrus Atcrantium." U. S. Off. Syn. AURANTIUM. Citrus Aurantium. Fructus. AURANTII CORTEX. Citrus vulgaris. Fructus Cortex exterior. AURANTII FLO- RES. Citrus Aurantium. Flores. AURANTII OLEUM. Oleum e floribus destillatum. Lond. ; AURANTII CORTEX. Rind of the fruit of Citrus vul- garis. AURANTII OLEUM. Volatile oil of the flowers of Citrus vulgaris, and sometimes of Citrus Aurantium. Ed.; CITRUS AURANTIUM. Fruc- tus succus et tunica exterior. Flores. Folia. Dub. Ecorce d'orange, Fr.; Pomeranzenschale, Germ ; Scorze del frutto dell'arancio, Ital.; Corteza de naranja, Span. Citrus. Sex. Syst. Polydelphia Icosandria.—Nat. Ord. Aurantiaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft. Petals five, oblong. Anthers twenty, the filaments united into different parcels. Berry nine-celled. Willd. This very interesting genus is composed of small evergreen trees, with ovate, or oval-lanceolate, and shilling leaves, odoriferous flowers, and fruits which usually combine beauty of colour with a fragrant odour and grateful taste. They are all natives of warm climates, and, where the winters are severe, require the aid of artificial heat. Though the species are not nume- rous, great diversity exists in the character of the fruit; and many varieties, founded upon this circumstance, are noticed by writers. In the splendid work on the natural history of the Citrus by Risso and Poiteau, 169 varieties are described under the eight following heads :—1. sweet oranges, 2. bitter and sour oranges, 3. bergamots, 4. limes, 5. shaddocks, 6. lumes, 7. lemons, and 8. citrons. Of these it is difficult to decide which have just claims to the rank of distinct species, and which must be considered merely as varieties. Those employed in medicine may be arranged in two sets, of which the orange, C. Aurantium, and the lemon, C. Medica, are respectively the types, the former characterized by a winged, the latter by a naked or nearly naked petiole. The form and character of the fruit, which are not entirely constant, serve as the basis of the subdivisions. C. Decumana, which yields the shaddock, agrees with C. Aurantium in the form of its petiole; but its fruit is not officinal. Citrus Aurantium. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1127; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 532. t. 188. The orange tree grows to the height of about fifteen feet. Its stem is round, very much branched, sometimes even from the base, and 132 Aurantii Cortex. PART r. covered with a smooth, shining, greenish-brown bark. In the wild state, and before inoculation, it is often furnished with axillary spines. The leaves are ovate, pointed, entire, smooth, and of a shining pale green colour. When held between the eye and the light, they exhibit numerous small transparent vesi- cles, filled with essential oil; and, when rubbed between the fingers, are highly fragrant. Their footstalks are about an inch long, and are furnished with wings or lateral appendages. The flowers, which have a delightful odour, are large, white, and attached by short peduncles, singly or in clusters, to the smallest branches. The calyx is saucer-shaped, with pointed teeth. The petals are oblong, concave, white, and beset with numerous small glands. The filaments are united at their base in three or more distinct portions, and sup- port yellow anthers. The germen is roundish, and bears a cylindrical style, which is terminated by a globular stigma. The fruit is a spherical berry, often somewhat flattened at its base and apex, rough, of a yellow or orange colour, and divided internally into nine vertical cells, in each of which are from two to four seeds, surrounded by a pulpy matter. The rind of the fruit is double, consisting of a thin exterior layer, which abounds in vesicles filled with a fragrant essential oil, and of an interior one which is thick, white, fungous, insipid, and inodorous. There are two varieties of C. Auran- tium, considered by some as distinct species. They differ chiefly in the cha- racter of the fruit, which in one is sweet, in the other sour and bitterish. The first retains the original botanical title, the second is called Citrus vul- garis by Risso and others. The Seville orange is the product of the latter. This beautiful evergreen, in which the fruit is mingled, in every stage of its growth, with the blossoms and foliage, is one of those productions of the tropics which have been applied to the most numerous purposes both of utility and ornament. A native of China and India," it was introduced into Europe at a very early period, was transplanted to America soon after the first settlement of this continent, and is now found in every civilized country where the climate is favourable to its cultivation. In colder countries, it is one of the most cherished ornaments of the hot-house, though in this situation its beauties are not fully developed, and its fruit does not attain perfection. It flourishes in the most southern portion of our own country, particularly in the neighbourhood of St. Augustine in Florida, where very fine oranges are pro- duced. The tree also grows in the gardens about New Orleans, but is some- times destroyed by frosty winters. The fruit is brought to us chiefly from the south of Europe and the West Indies. The Havana oranges have the sweetest and most agreeable flavour. Various parts of the orange-tree are used in medicine. The leaves, which are bitter and aromatic, are employed in some places in the state of infusion as a gently stimulant diaphoretic. The fresh flowers impart to water distilled from them their peculiar fragrance; and the preparation thus obtained m much esteemed in the South of Europe for its antispasmodic virtues. The distilled water of orange-flowers is recognised as officinal by all the British Colleges. An oil is also obtained from the flowers by distillation, which is called neroli in France, and is much used in perfumery, and in the composi- tion of liqueurs. It is an ingredient of the famous Cologne water. That obtained from the flowers of the Seville or bitter orange'? C. vulgaris) is deemed the sweetest. It was introduced into the London and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, with the title of Aurantii Oleum, to serve for the prepara- tion of orange-flower water. The fruit is applied to several purposes. Small unripe oranges, about the size of a cherry or less, previously dried and ren- dered smooth by a turning lathe, are sometimes employed to maintain the discharge from issues. They are preferred to peas on account of their agree- able odour, and by some are thought to swell less with the moisture • but this PART I. Aurantii Cofbex. 133 is denied by others, and it is asserted that they require to be renewed at the end of twenty-four hours. These fruits are sometimes kept in the shops under the name of orange berries. They are of a grayish or greenish-brown colour, a fragrant odour, and a bitter taste, and are said to be used for flavour- ing cordials. An essential oil is obtained from them by distillation, known to the French by the name of essence de petit grain, and employed for similar purposes with that of the flowers. The oil, however, which now goes by this name, is said to be distilled chiefly from the leaves, and those of the bitter orange yield the best. The London College recognises the ripe fruit, the Dublin the juice of the fruit. The juice of the Seville orange is sour and bitterish, and forms with water a refreshing and grateful drink in febrile diseases. It is em- ployed in the same manner as lemon-juice, which it resembles in containing citric acid, though in much smaller proportion. The sweet orange is more plea- sant to the taste, and is extensively used as a light refrigerant article of diet in inflammatory diseases, care being taken to reject the membranous portion, and to swallow only the pulp. The rind of the mature fruit is the only part directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The outer portion is that considered officinal; as the inner is destitute of useful properties, and by its affinity for moisture produces a disposition in the peel to become mouldy. The best mode of separating the outer rind, when its desiccation and preservation are desired, is to pare it from the orange in narrow strips with a sharp knife, exactly as we pare an apple. When the object is to apply the fresh rind to certain pharmaceutic purposes, as, for instance, to the preparation of the con- fection of orange peel, it is best separated by a grater. The dried peel, sold in the shops, is usually that of the Seville orange, and is brought chiefly from the Mediterranean. Properties. Orange peel has a grateful aromatic odour, and a warm bitter taste, which depend upon the essential oil contained in its vesicles. The rind of the Seville orange is much more bitter than that of the other variety. Both yield their sensible properties to water and alcohol. The essential oil may be obtained by simple expression from the fresh grated rind, or by dis- tillation with water. It has properties closely resembling those of the oil of lemons, and may be used for similar purposes. Medical Properties and Uses. Orange peel is a mild tonic, carminative, and stomachic, but is seldom used alone. It is ehiefly employed to commu- nicate a pleasant flavour to other medicines, to correct their nauseating pro- perties, and to assist their stimulant impression upon the stomach. It is a frequent and very useful addition to bitter infusions and decoctions, as those of gentian, quassia, columbo, and especially Peruvian bark. It is obviously improper to subject orange peel to long boiling; as the essential oil on which its virtues chiefly depend is thus driven off. The dose in substance is from half a drachm to a drachm three times a day. Large quantities are some- times productive of mischief, especially in children, in whom violent colic and even convulsions are sometimes induced by it. We have known the case of a child, in which death resulted from eating the rind of an orange. When the object in the use of orange peel is simply to obtain its agreeable flavour, the rind of the sweet orange is preferable; as a tonic, that of the Seville orange. Off. Prep. Aqua Florum Aurantii, Lond., Ed.; Confectio Aurantii Cor- ticis, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Infusum Aurantii Compositum, Lond.; Infu- sum Gentianae Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed.; Spiritus Armoraciae Comp., Lond.; Syrupus Aurantii Corticis, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Aurantii, Lond., Ed.; Tinct. Cinchonae Comp., U. S., Lond,, Ed.; Tinct. Gentianae Comp., U. S., Lond,, Ed.; Vinum Gentianae, Ed. W. 134 Avense Farina. PART I. AVENGE FARINA. U.S. Oatmeal. " Meal prepared from the seeds of Avena sativa." U. S. Off. Syn. AVENA. Avena sativa. Semina iniegumentis nudata. Lond; AVENA. Seeds of Avena sativa, Ed.; AVENA SATIVA. Farina ex semi- nibus. Dub. Farine d'avoine, Fr.; Hafermehl, Germ.; Farina dell'avena, Ital; Harina de avena, Span. Avena. Sex. Syst. Triandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Graminaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx two-valved, many flowered, with a twisted awn on the back. Willd. Avena sativa. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 446. The common oat is so well known that a minute description would be superfluous. It is specifically distinguished by its " loose panicle, its two-seeded glumes, and its smooth seeds, one of which is awned." It was known to the ancients, and is now cultivated in all civilized countries; but its original locality has not been satisfactorily ascertained. It grows wild in Sicily, and is said to have been seen by Anson in the Island of Juan Fernandez, on the coast of Chili. This grain, though cultivated chiefly for horses, is very nourishing, and is largely consumed as food by the inhabitants of Scotland, the North of Ire- land, Brittany, and some other countries. The seeds deprived of their husk are called groats, and are directed by the British Colleges; but are not offi- cinal on this side of the Atlantic. It is only the meal, prepared by grinding the seeds, that is kept in our shops. Oatmeal contains, according to Vogel, in 100 parts, 59 of starch, 4-30 of a grayish substance resembling rather coagulated albumen than gluten, 8-25 of sugar and a bitter principle, 2-50 of gum, 2 of fixed oil, and 23-95 of fibrous matter including loss. An elaborate analysis of oats, deprived of the husk, made by Professor J. P. Norton, of Yale College, gave as the average of four varieties of the grain, 65-11 per cent, of starch, 2-24 of sugar, 2-23 of gum, 6-55 of oil, 16-51 of a nitrogenous body analogous to casein, though differing from it in some respects, 1-42 of albumen, 1-68 of gluten, 2-17 of epidermis, and 2-09 of alkaline salts, with allowance for loss and error. Pro- fessor Norton thinks there may have been some error in the proportion of the nitrogenous compounds, in consequence of the difficulty of separating them from starch; and concludes, from the quantity of nitrogen obtained by ulti- mate analysis, that these compounds must amount to at least 8 per cent. (Am. Journ. of Sci. and Arts, 2d ser., iii. 330.) Oatmeal has no smell, is very slightly but not unpleasantly bitter, and yields most of its nutritive matter with facility to boiling water. Gruel made with oatmeal affords a nutritious, bland, and easily digested aliment, admirably adapted to inflammatory diseases; and, from its somewhat laxative tendency, preferable in certain cases to the purely mucilaginous or amylaceous preparations. It is very often administered after brisk cathartics, in order to render them easier and at the same time more efficient in their action. It is sometimes also used in the form of enema, and the meal, boiled with water into a thick paste, forms an excellent emollient cataplasm. Oat- meal gruel may be prepared by boiling an ounce of the meal with three pints of water to a quart, straining the decoction, allowing it to stand till it cools, and then pouring off the clear liquor from the sediment. Sugar and lemon- juice may be added to improve its flavour; and raisins are not unfrequently boiled with the meal and water for the same purpose. Off. Prep. Pulvis pro Cataplasmate, Dub. "W. PART I. Azedarach.—Barium. 135 AZEDARACH. U S. Secondary. Azedarach. " The bark of the root of Melia Azedarach." U. S. Melia. Sex, Syst, Dccandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Meliaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-toothed. Petals five. Nectary cylindrical, toothed, bearing the anthers in the throat. Drupe with a five-celled nut. Willd, Melia Azedarach. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 558; Michaux, N Am. Sylv. iii. 4. This is a beautiful tree, rising thirty or forty feet in height, with a trunk fifteen or twenty inches in diameter. When standing alone, it attains less elevation, and spreads itself out into a capacious summit. Its leaves are large, and doubly pinnate, consisting of smooth, acuminate, denticulate, dark green leaflets, which are disposed in pairs with an odd one at the end. The flowers, which are of a lilac colour and delightfully fragrant, are arranged in beautiful axillary clusters near the extremities of the branches. The fruit is a round drupe, which, when ripe, is about as large as a cherry, and of a yellowish colour. This species of Melia is variously called pride of fndia, pride of China, and common bead tree. It is a native of Syria, Persia, and the North of India, and is cultivated for ornamental purposes in various parts of the eastern and western continents. It is abundant in our Southern States, where it lines the streets of cities, and adorns the environs of dwellings, and in some places has become naturalized. North of Virginia it does not flourish, though small trees may sometimes be seen in sheltered situations. Its flowers appear early in the spring. The fruit is sweetish to the taste, and, though said by some to be poisonous, is eaten by children at the South without inconvenience, and is reputed to be powerfully vermifuge. But the bark of the root is the part chiefly employed. It is preferred in the recent state, and is therefore scarcely to be found in the shops at the North. It has a bitter, nauseous taste, and yields its virtues to boiling water. Medical Properties and Uses. This bark is cathartic and emetic, and in large doses is said to produce narcotic effects similar to those of spigelia, especially if gathered at the season when the sap is mounting. It is consi- dered in the Southern States an efficient anthelmintic, and appears to enjoy, in some places, an equal degree of confidence with the pinkroot. It is thought also to be useful in those infantile remittents which resemble verminose fevers, without being dependent on the presence of worms. The form of decoction is usually preferred. A quart of water is boiled with four ounces of the fresh bark to a pint, of which the dose for a child is a tablespoonful every two or three hours, till it affects the stomach or bowels. Another plan is to give a dose morning and evening for several successive days, and then to administer an active cathartic. W. BARIUM. Barium. This is the metallic radical of the earth baryta, and is the basis of several officinal compounds. It was first obtained in 1808, by Sir II. Davy, who describes it as a difficultly fusible metal, of a dark-gray colour, effervescing violently with water, and considerably heavier than sulphuric acid. Its eq. irf 08-7, and symbol Ba. When exposed to the air, it instantly becomes 136 Barium.—Barytae Carbonas. part i. covered with a crust of baryta, and, when gently heated, burns with a deep red light. The only officinal compounds of barium are the chloride of barium, and the carbonate and sulphate of the protoxide (baryta). The carbonate and sulphate are found as mineral substances, and are not used as medicines, but as the materials from which the chloride may be prepared. Baryta may be obtained from the native carbonate by intense ignition with carbonaceous matter; or from the native sulphate, by ignition with charcoal, which converts it into sulphuret of barium, subsequent solution of the sul- phuret in nitric acid, and strong ignition of the nitrate formed to dissipate the acid. As thus obtained it is an anhydrous solid, caustic, alkaline, diffi- cultly fusible, and of a grayish-white colour. Its sp. gr. is about 4. It acts on the animal economy as a poison. When sprinkled with water it slakes like lime, becomes hot, and is reduced to the state of a white pulverulent hydrate, containing one eq. of water. The same hydrate is formed in mass, when the anirydrous earth is made into a paste with water, and exposed to a red heat in a platinum crucible. The excess of water is expelled, and the hydrate, undergoing fusion, may be poured out and allowed to congeal. Ba- ryta dissolves in water, and forms the test called baryta-water. A boiling saturated solution, as it cools, yields crystals of baryta, containing much water of crystallization. Baryta consists of one eq. of barium 68-7, and one of oxygen 8 = 76-7. Its symbol is, therefore, BaO. B. BARYTiE CARBONAS. U.S., Lond., Ed. Carbonate of Baryta. Carbonate de baryte, Fr; Kohlensaurer Baryt, Germ.; Barite carbonate, Ital; Car- bonate- de barito, Span. The officinal carbonate of baryta is the native carbonate, a mineral disco- vered in 1783, by Dr. Withering, in honour of whom it is called Witherite. It is rather a rare mineral. It is found in Sweden and Scotland, but most abundantly in the lead-mines of the North of England. It occurs usually in grayish, or pale yellowish-gray, fibrous masses, but sometimes crystallized. Its sp. gr. varies from 4-2 to 4-4. Generally it is strongly translucent, but sometimes opaque. It effervesces with acids, and, before the blowpipe, melts into a white enamel without losing its carbonic acid. It is distinguished from the carbonate of strontia, with which it is most liable to be confounded, by its greater specific gravity, and by the absence of a reddish flame upon'the burning of alcohol impregnated with its nitric solution. On the animal eco- nomy it acts as a poison. When pure, carbonate of baryta is entirely soluble in muriatic acid. If any sulphate of baryta be present, it will be left undissolved. If neither ammonia nor sulphuretted hydrogen produce discoloration or a precipitate in the muri- atic solution, the absence of alumina, iron, copper, and lead is shown. Lime may be detected by adding to the muriatic solution an excess of sulphuric acid, which will throw down the baryta as a sulphate, and afterwards testing the clear liquid with carbonate of soda, which, if lime be present, will produce a precipitate of carbonate of lime. Carbonate of baryta consists of one eq. of carbonic acid 22, and one of baryta 76-7=98-7. Its only officinal use is to make the chloride of barium. (See Barii Chloridum.) Off. Prep. Barii Chloridum, U. S., Lond., Ed, B part I. Barytse Sulphas.—Belladonna. 1$1 BARYTA SULPHAS. Ed, Dub. Sulphate of Baryta. Heavy spar, Baroselenite; Sulfate de baryte, Fr.; Schwefelsaurer Baryt, Germ; Barite solfata, Ital. The native sulphate of baryta is used in pharmacy with the same view as the native carbonate; namely, to obtain the chloride of barium. The U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias direct for this purpose the carbonate of baryta, and the Dublin College the sulphate; while the Edinburgh College retains both, giving a separate formula for the use of each, according to the option of the operator. (See Barii Chloridum.)* Sulphate of baryta is a heavy, lamellar, brittle mineral, varying in sp. gr. from 4-4 to 4-6. It is generally translucent, but sometimes transparent or opaque, and its usual colour is white or flesh-red. When crystallized, it is usually in the form of a very flat rhombic prism. Before the blowpipe it strongly decrepitates, and melts into a white enamel, which, in the course of ten or twelve hours, falls to powder. By this treatment it is partially converted into sulphuret of barium, and, if applied to the tongue, will give a taste like that of putrid eggs, which arises from the formation of sulphuretted hydrogen. This salt, on account of its great insolubility, is not poisonous. When ground to fine powder, it is sometimes mixed with white lead; but it impairs the quality of that pigment. It consists of one eq. of acid 40, and one of baryta 76-7 = 116-7. Off. Prep. Barytse Murias, Ed., Dub. B. BELLADONNA. U S., Lond,, Ed. Belladonna. " The leaves of Atropa Belladonna." U. S., Ed. " Atropa Belladonna. Folia." Lond. Off. Syn. ATROPA BELLADONNA. Folia et radix. Dub. Belladone, Fr.; Gemeine Tollkirsche, Woliskirsche, Germ.; Belladonna, Ital.; Bella- dona, Belladama, Span. Atropa. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Solanaceae. Gen. Ch, Corolla bell-shaped. Stamens distant. Berry globular, two- celled. Willd. Atropa Belladonna. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1017; Woody. Med. Bot, p. 230. t. 82. Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot., ii. 19, pi. lxv. The belladonna, or deadly nightshade, is an herbaceous perennial plant, with a fleshy creeping root, from which rise several erect, round, purplish, branching stems, to the height of about three feet. The leaves, which are attached by short footstalks to the stem, are in pairs of unequal size, oval, pointed, entire, of a dusky green colour on their upper surface, and paler beneath. 'The flowers are large, bell-shaped, pendent, of a dull reddish colour, and supported upon solitary peduncles, which rise from the axils of the leaves. The fruit is a roundish berry with a longitudinal furrow on each side, at first green, afterwards red, ultimately of a dee}) purple colour, bearing considerable resemblance to a cherry, and containing, in two distinct cells, numerous seeds, and a sweetish violet-coloured juice. The calyx adheres to the base of the fruit. The plant is a native of Europe, where it grows in shady places, along walls, and amidst rubbish, flowering in dune and July, and ripening its fruit in September. All parts of it are active. The leaves are the only part 188 Belladonna. part I. directed by the United States, London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias; the root also is ordered by the Dublin College. The former should be collected in June or July, the latter in the autumn or early in the spring, and from plants three years old or more. Properties. The dried leaves are of a dull greenish colour, with a very faint, narcotic odour, and a sweetish, subacrid, slightly nauseous taste. The root is long, round, from one to several inches in thickness, branched and fibrous, externally when dried of a reddish-brown colour, internally whitish, of little odour, and a feeble sweetish taste. Both the leaves and root, as well as all other parts of the* plant, impart their active properties to water and alcohol. By the researches of the German chemist Brandos, it was rendered probable that these properties resided in a peculiar alkaline principle, which he supposed to exist in the plant combined with an excess of malic acid, and appropriately named atropia. Besides the malate of atropia, Brandos found in the dried herb two azotized principles, a green^ resin (chlorophylle), wax, gum, starch, albumen, lignin, and various saline ingredients. The alkaline principle was afterwards detected by M. Runge; and the fact of its existence was established beyond question by the experiments of Geiger and Hesse, who obtained it from an extract prepared from the stems and leaves of the plant. It was first, however, procured in a state of purity by Mein, a Ger- man apothecary, who extracted it from the root.* Atropia crystallizes in white, silky prisms; is inodorous and of a bitter taste; dissolves easily in absolute alcohol and ether, but very slightly in water, and more freely in all these liquids hot than cold; melts at a temperature above 212°, and is volatilized unchanged in close vessels; restores the colour of litmus paper reddened by acids; forms soluble salts with sulphuric, nitric, muriatic, and acetic acids; and, in a very dilute solution, produces, when applied to the eye, a speedy and durable dilatation of the pupil. One-tenth of a grain of it, taken internally, gives rise to the characteristic effects of belladonna on the system. Like the other vegetable alkalies, it consists of nitrogen, carbon, * The following is the process employed by Mein. The roots of plants two or three years old were selected. Of these, reduced to an extremely fine powder, 21 parts were digested, for several days, with 60 parts of alcohol of 86 or 90 per cent. The liquid having been separated by strong expression, the residue was treated anew with an equal quantity of alcohol: and the tinctures, poured together and filtered, were mixed with one part of hydrate of lime, and frequently shaken for twenty-four hours. The copious precipitate which now formed was separated by filtering; and diluted sulphuric acid was added drop by drop to the filtered liquor, till slightly in excess. The sulphate of Mine having been separated by a new filtration, the alcoholic liquid was distilled to one-half. then mixed with 6 or 8 parts of pure water, and evaporated with a gentle heat till the whole of the alcohol was driven off. The residual liquid was filtered, cautiously cva porated to one-third, and allowed to cool. A concentrated aqueous solution of carbonate of potassa was then gradually added, so long as the liquid continued to be rendered turbid ; and the mixture was afterwards suffered to rest some hours. A yellowish resinous substance, which opposes the crystallization of the atropia, was thus precipitated. From this the liquid was carefully decanted, and a small additional quantity of the solution of the carbonate was dropped into it, till it no longer became turbid. A gelatinous mass now gradually formed, which at the end of twelve or twenty-four hours, was agitated in order to separate the mother waters, then thrown upon a filter, and dried by folds of unsized paper. The substance thus obtained, which was atropia in an impure state, was dissolved in five times its weight of alcohol; and the solution, having been filtered, ■was mixed with six or eight times its bulk of water. The liquor soon became milky, or was rendered so by evaporating the excess of alcohol, and, in the course of twelve or twenty-four hours, deposited the atropia in the form of light yellow crystals, which were rendered entirely pure and colourless by washing with a few drops of water, drying on blotting paper, and again treating with alcohol as before. From twelve, ounces of the root, Mein obtained by this process twenty grains of the pure alkali. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 87.) part r. Belladonna. 139 hydrogen, and oxygen—its formula being NCMHa,,06. Liibekind has de- scribed, under the name of belladonni n, a volatile alkaline principle, wholly distinct from atropia, which he obtained from belladonna; but it yet remains to be seen whether this was not the product of the process. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 127.) Medical Properties and Uses. The action of belladonna is that of a power- ful narcotic, possessing also diaphoretic and diuretic properties, and some- what disposed to operate upon the bowels. According to Orfila, it has little intensity of local action, but is absorbed, and, entering the circulation, exer- cises its influence upon the nervous system, especially upon the brain. Among its first obvious effects, when taken in the usual dose, and continued for some time, are dryness and stricture of the fauces and neighbouring parts, with slight uneasiness or giddiness of the head, and more or less dimness of vision. In medicinal doses, it may also occasion dilatation of the pupil, de- cided frontal headache, slight delirium, colicky pains and purging, and a scarlet efflorescence on the skin; but this last effect is very rare. The practitioner should watch for these symptoms as signs of the activity of the medicine, and should gradually increase the dose till some one of them is experienced in a slight degree, unless the object at which he aims should be previously at- tained ; but so soon as they occur, the dose should be diminished, or the use of the narcotic suspended for a time. In large quantities, belladonna is capable of producing the most deleterious effects. It is in fact a powerful poison, and many instances are recorded, in which it has been accidentally swallowed or purposely administered with fatal consequences. All parts of the plant are poisonous. It is not uncommon, in countries where the belladonna grows wild, for children to pick and eat the berries, allured by their fine colour and sweet taste. Soon after the poison has been swallowed, its peculiar influence is experienced in dryness of the mouth and fauces, great thirst, difficult de- glutition, nausea and ineffectual retching, vertigo, intoxication, or delirium, attended with violent gestures, and sometimes with fits of laughter, and fol- lowed by a comatose state. The pupil is dilated and insensible to light, the face red and tumid, the mouth and jaws spasmodically affected, the stomach and bowels insusceptible of impressions, in fact the whole nervous system prostrate and paralyzed. A feeble pulse, cold extremities, subsultus tendi- num, deep coma or delirium, and sometimes convulsions, precede the fatal termination. Dissection discloses appearances of inflammation in the stomach and intestines; and it is said that the body soon begins to putrefy, swells, and becomes covered with livid spots, while dark blood flows from the mouth, nose, and ears. To obviate the poisonous effects of belladonna, the most effectual method is to evacuate the stomach as speedily as possible, either by means of emetics, or the stomach-pump, and afterwards to cleanse the bowels by purgatives and enemata. The infusion of galls may possibly be useful as an antidote, and, if the experiments of M. Runge can be relied on, lime-water or the alkaline solutions would render the poisonous matter which might remain in the stomach inert. Notwithstanding the tremendous energy of this narcotic, it has been used as a medicine, even from very early times. The leaves were first employed externally to discuss scirrhous tumours, and heal cancerous and other ill-con- ditioned ulcers; and were afterwards administered internally for the same purpose. Much evidence of their beneficial influence in these affections is on record, and even Dr. Cullen has spoken in their favour; but this application of the remedy has fallen into disuse. It is at present more esteemed in nervous diseases. It has been highly recommended in hooping-cough, in the advanced stages of which it is undoubtedly sometimes beneficial. In neuralgia it is one of the most effectual remedies in our possession; and we ourselves 140 Belladonna. part I. can bear testimony to its usefulness in that complaint, Hufeland recommends it in the convulsions dependent on scrofulous irritation. It has been pre- scribed also in chorea, epilepsy, hydrophobia, mania, paralysis, amaurosis, rheumatism, gout, dysmenorrhoea, obstinate intermittents, dropsy, and jaun- dice; and in such of these affections as have their seat chiefly in the nervous system, it may sometimes do good. It is said to have been effectually em- ployed in several cases of strangulated hernia. It has within a few years acquired great credit as a preventive of scarlatina; an application of the remedy first suggested by the famous author of the homoeopathic doctrine, and founded upon the idea, that, as the symptoms produced by scarlatina in the nervous system closely resemble those which result from large doses of bella- donna, the former might be prevented, or at least moderated, by establishing the latter, as small-pox is prevented by vaccination, or rendered milder if the system has already come partially under its influence. Applied to the eye, belladonna has the property of dilating the pupil ex- ceedingly, and for this purpose is sometimes employed by European oculists previously to the operation for cataract. Dilatation usually comes on in about an hour, is at its greatest height in three or four hours, and continues often for one or two days, or even longer. In cases of partial opacity of the crys- talline lens, confined to the centre of that body, vision is temporarily improved by a similar use of the remedy; and it may also perhaps be beneficially em- ployed, when, from inflammation of the iris, there is danger of a permanent closure of the pupil. For these purposes, a strong infusion of the plant, or a solution of the extract, may be dropped into the eye, or a little of the extract itself rubbed upon the eyelids. The same application of the remedy has been recommended in cases of morbid sensibility of the eye. The decoction or extract of belladonna, applied to the neck of the uterus, is asserted to have hastened tedious labour dependent on rigidity of the os tincae; and spasmodic stricture of the urethra, neck of the bladder, and sphincter ani, and painful uterine affections, have been relieved by the local use of the extract, either smeared upqn bougies, or administered by injection. In the latter mode it has sometimes relieved strangulated hernia. It is asserted also, to be very useful in the relief of paraphimosis. The inhalation of the vapour from a decoction of the leaves or extract has been highly recommended In spasmodic asthma. For this purpose, two drachms of the leaves, or fifteen grains of the aqueous extract are employed to the pint of water. Relief is said to have been obtained in phthisis by smoking the leaves, infused when fresh in a strong solution of opium, and then dried. Belladonna may be given in substance, infusion, or extract. The dose of the powdered leaves is for children from the eighth to the fourth of a grain, for adults one or two grains, repeated daily, or twice a day, and gradually increased till the peculiar effects of the medicine are experienced. An infu- sion may be prepared by adding a scruple of the dried leaves to ten fluid- ounces of boiling water, of which from one to two fluidounces is the dose for an adult. The extract is more used in the United States than any other preparation. (See Extraetum Belladonna;.) From its quicker action, more uniform strength, and greater cleanliness, atropia has been recently substituted for extract of belladonna for external use. Of a solution made by dissolving one grain in four fluidrachms of distilled water, by means of a few drops of acetic acid, a single drop applied to the inner surface of the lower lid, causes dilatation of the pupil in fifteen or twenty minutes. As an application in neuralgia, one grain may be mixed with a drachm of lard. Off. Prep. Extraetum Belladonna?, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. • Extract. Belladonnas Alcoholicum, U. S.; Tinctura Belladonna?, U. S. W. part I. Benzoinum. 141 BENZOINUM. U.S., Lond., Ed. f Benzoin, "The concrete juice of Styrax Benzoin." U.S. "Styrax Benzoin. Bal- sarnmm." Lond. "Concrete balsamic exudation of Styrax Benzoin/' Ed. Off. Syn, STYRAX BENZOIN. Resina. Dub. Benjoin, Fr.; Benzoe, Germ.; Belzoino, Ital; Benjui, Span. The botanical source of benzoin was long uncertain. At one time it was generally supposed in Europe to be derived from the Laurus Benzoin of this country. This error was corrected by Linnseus, who, however, committed another, in ascribing the drug to the Croton Benzoe, a shrub which he after- wards described under the name of Terminalia Benzoin, Mr. Dryander was the first*who ascertained the true benzoin tree to be a Styrax; and his description, published in the 77th vol. of the English Philosophical Trans- actions, has been copied by most subsequent writers. The specimen by which Mr. Dryander decided the generic character, was obtained by Sir Joseph Banks from Mr. Marsden at Sumatra. Styrax. Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Styracese. Gen. Ch. Calyx inferior. Corolla funnel-shaped. Drupe two-seeded. Willd. Styrax Benzoin. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 62o; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 294. t. 102. This is a tall tree of quick growth, sending off many strong round branches, covered with a whitish downy bark. Its leaves are alternate, entire, oblong, pointed, smooth above, and downy beneath. The flowers are in com- pound, axillary clusters, nearly as long as the leaves, and usually hang all on the same side upon short slender pedicels. The benzoin, or benjamin tree, is a native of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Laos, and Siam. (Ainslie.) By wounding the bark near the origin of the lower branches, a juice exudes, which hardens upon exposure, and constitutes the benzoin of commerce. A tree is thought of a proper age to be wounded at six years, when its trunk is about seven or eight inches in diameter. The operation is performed annually, and the product on each occasion from one tree never exceeds three pounds. The juice which first flows is the purest, and affords the whitest and most fragrant benzoin. It is exported chiefly from Acheen in Sumatra, and comes into the western markets in large masses packed in chests and casks, and presenting externally the impression of the reed mats in which they were originally contained. Two kinds of benzoin are distinguishable in the market, one consisting chiefly of whitish tears united by a reddish-brown connecting medium, the other of brown or blackish masses, without tears. The first is the most valu- able, and has been called benzoe amygdaloides, from the resemblance of the white grains to fragments of blanched almonds; the second is sometimes called benzoe in sortis—benzoin in sorts—and usually contains numerous impurities. Between these two kinds there is every gradation. We have seen specimens of this balsam consisting exclusively of yellowish-white homogeneous frag- ments, which, when broken, presented a perfectly smooth, clear, white, shining surface. These were no doubt identical in constitution with the tears of the larger masses. Properties. Benzoin has a fragrant odour, with very little taste; but when chewed for some time, leaves a sense of irritation in the mouth and fauces. It breaks with a resinous fracture, and presents a mottled surface of white and brown or reddish-brown; the white spots being smooth and shining, while the remainder, though sometimes shining and even translucent, is usually more or less rough and porous, and often exhibits impurities. In the inferior 142 Benzoinum.—Bismuthum. PART I. kinds, the white spots are very few or entirely wanting. Benzoin is easily pulverized, and, in the process of being powdered, is apt to excite sneezing. Its sp. gr. is from 1-063 to 1-092. AVhen heated, it melts and emits thick, white, pungent fumes, which excite cough when inhaled, and consist ^chiefly of benzoic acid. It is wholly soluble, with the exception of impurities, in alcohol, and is precipitated by water from the solution, rendering the liquor milky. It imparts to boiling water a notable proportion of benzoic acid. Lime'-water and the alkaline solutions partially dissolve it, forming benzoates, from which the acid may be precipitated by the addition of another, having stronger affinity for the base. Its chief constituents are resin and benzoic acid; and it therefore belongs to the balsams. The white tears, and the brown- ish connecting medium, are said by Stolze to contain very nearly the same pro- portion of acid, which, according to Bucholz, is 12-5 per cent., to Stolze 19-8 per cent. In a more recent examination by Kopp, the white tears were found to contain from 8 to 10 per cent, of acid, and the brown 15 percent* (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., iv. 46.) The resin is of three different kinds, one extracted from the balsam with the benzoic acid by a boiling solution of carbonate of potassa in excess, another dissolved by ether from the residue, and the third affected by neither of these solvents. Besides benzoic acid and resin, the balsam contains a minute proportion of extractive, and traces of volatile oil. Medical Properties and Uses. Benzoin, like the other balsams, is stimu- lant and expectorant, and was formerly employed in pectoral affections; but, except as an ingredient of the compound tincture of benzoin, it has fallen into almost entire disuse. Trousseau and Pidoux recommended it strongly, in the way of fumigation, in chronic laryngitis. Either the air of the chamber may be impregnated with its vapour by placing a small portion upon some live coals, or the patient may inhale the vapour of boiling water to which the balsam has been added. It is employed in pharmacy for the preparation of benzoic acid (see Acidum Benzoicum); and the milky liquor resulting from the addition of water to its alcoholic solution, is sometimes used as a cosmetic, under the impression that it renders the skin soft. In the East Indies it is burnt by the Hindoos as a perfume in their temples. Off. Prep. Acidum Benzoicum, U.S., Lond,, Ed. Dub.; Tinctura Ben- zoini Composita, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. BISMUTHUM. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Bismuth. Etain de glace, Bismuth, Fr.; Wissmuth, Germ.; Bismutte, Ital; Bismut, Span. Bismuth occurs usually in the metallic state, occasionally as a sulphuret, and rarely as an oxide. It is found principally in Saxony. It occurs also in Cornwall, and has been found at Monroe in Connecticut. It is obtained almost entirely from the native bismuth, which is heated by means of wood or charcoal, whereby the metal is fused and separated from its gano-ue. Al- most all the bismuth of commerce comes from Saxony. Bismuth was first distinguished as a metal by Agricola in 1520. Before that period it was confounded with lead. It is a brittle, pulverizable bril- liant metal, of a crystalline texture, and of a white colour with a slight red- dish tint. Its crystals are in the form of cubes. It undergoes but a slight tarnish in the air. Its sp. gr. is 9-8, melting point 476°, and symbol Bi. At a high temperature, in close vessels, it volatilizes, and may be distilled over. When heated in the open air to a full red heat, it takes fire and burns with a faint blue flame, forming an oxide of a yellow colour. This is the PART I. BismutJium.—Brominum. 143 protoxide, and consists of one eq. of bismuth 71, and one of oxygen 8 = 79. Besides this oxide, bismuth forms a sesquioxide of a brown colour, very like the deutoxide of lead, and consisting of two eqs. of metal 142, and three of oxygen 24 = 166. Arppe and Heintz allege the existence of other oxides of bismuth, and make its equivalent one-half larger than is here given. Bismuth is acted on feebly by muriatic acid, but violently by nitric acid, which dis- solves it with a copious extrication of red fumes. Sulphuric acid when cold has no action on it, but at a boiling heat effects its solution with the extrica- tion of sulphurous acid. As it occurs in commerce, it is generally contami- nated with a little arsenic. It may be purified from all contaminating metals, by dissolving the bismuth of commerce in diluted nitric acid, precipitating the clear solution by adding it to water, and reducing the white powder thus ob- tained (subnitrate of bismuth) with black flux. The same precipitate is obtained by adding ammonia to the nitric solution; and, if the supernatant liquor be blue, the presence of copper is indicated. If the precipitate be yel- lowish, iron is present. Pharmaceutical Uses, &c.—Bismuth, in an uncombined state, is not used in medicine, but is employed pharmaceutical^ to obtain the subnitrate of bis- muth, the only medicinal preparation formed from this metal. In the arts it is used to form a white paint for the complexion, called pearl white; and as an ingredient of the best pewter. Off. Prep. Bismuthi Subnitras, U. S., Lond., Ed,, Dub. B. BROMINUM. U.S. Secondary. Bromine. Off. Syn. BROMINIUM. Lond, Brome, Fr.; Brom, Germ.; Bromo, Ital Bromine is an elementary body, possessing many analogies to chlorine and iodine. It was discovered in 1826 by Balard, a chemist of Montpellier, in the bittern of sea-salt works, in which it exists as a bromide of magnesium. Since then it has been found in the waters of the ocean, in certain marine animals and vegetables, in numerous salt springs, and, in two instances, in the mineral kingdom—in an ore of zinc, and in the cadmium of Silesia. In the United States it was first obtained by Professor Silliman, who found it in the bittern of the salt works at Salina, in the state of New York. It was discovered in the salt springs, near Freeport, Pennsylvania, by Dr. David Alter, who has been engaged for several years in manufacturing it, on a large scale, by a new and productive process. The bittern of the salt springs of this locality is said to afford nine drachms of bromine to the gallon. Bromine has been detected also in the waters of the Saratoga Springs. Preparation. Bromine may be prepared by passing a current of chlorine through bittern, and then agitating it strongly with a portion of ether. The chlorine decomposes the bromide of magnesium present in the bittern, form- ing a chloride of magnesium; and the disengaged bromine dissolves in the ether, to which it communicates a hyacinth-red colour. The ethereal solution of bromine is next decanted, and treated with a concentrated solution of caus- tic potassa., whereby the bromine is converted into bromide of potassium, and bromate of potassa. In the mean time the ether loses its colour and becomes pure, and may be again employed for dissolving fresh portions of bromine. Having in this way obtained a sufficient quantity of the salts above men- tioned, their solution is evaporated to dryness, and the dry mass calcined at a red heat, in order to convert the bromate of potassa into bromide of potas- sium. The bromide is next decomposed by distilling it with sulphuric acid 144 Brominum. PART I. and deutoxide of manganese, from a retort furnished with a bent tube plunging into water contained m a bottle. The acid combines with potassium and oxy- gen, so as to form sulphate of potassa, and the liberated bromine distils over, and condenses under the water. Properties. Bromine is a volatile liquid, of a dark-red colour when viewed in mass, but hyacinth-red in thin layers. Its taste is very caustic, and its smell strong and disagreeable, having some resemblance to that of chlorine. Its density is very nearly 3. At 4° below zero it becomes a hard, brittle, crystalline solid, having a dark leaden colour, and lustre nearly metallic. It boils at about 117°, forming a reddish vapour resembling that of nitrous acid, and of the sp. gr. 5-39. It evaporates readily, a single drop being sufficient to fill a large flask with its peculiar vapour. Bromine is sparingly soluble in water, to which it communicates an orange colour, more soluble in alcohol, and still more so in ether. The alcoholic and ethereal solutions lose their colour in a few days, and become acid from the generation of hydrobromic acid. It bleaches vegetable substances like chlo- rine, and decomposes organic matters. Its combination with starch has a yel- low colour. It corrodes the skin and gives it a deep yellow stain. Bromine is intermediate in its affinities between chlorine and iodine; since its combi- nations are decomposed by chlorine, while, in its turn, it decomposes those of iodine. Its eq. number is 78-4 and its symbol Br. It forms acids with both oxygen and hydrogen, called bromic and hydrobromic acids, which are analo- gous in properties and composition to the corresponding compounds of chlo- rine and iodine. Commercial bromine sometimes contains as much as 6 or 8 per cent, of bromide of carbon, as ascertained by M. Poselger. He discovered the impu- rity by submitting some bromine to distillation, during the progress of which the boiling point rose to 248°. The residuary liquid at this temperature was colourless, and, when freed from a little bromine, proved to be the bromide of carbon in the form of an oily, aromatic liquid. In testing for bromine in mineral or saline waters, the water is evaporated in order to crystallize most of the salts. The solution, after having been filtered, is placed in a narrow tube, and a few drops of strong chlorine water are added. If this addition produces an orange colour, bromine is present. The water examined, in order that the test may succeed, must be free from organic matter, and the chlorine not added in excess. Bromine may be de- tected in marine vegetables by carbonizing them in a covered crucible, ex- hausting the charcoal, previously pulverized, with boiling distilled water, precipitating any alkaline sulphuret present in the solution with sulphate of zinc, and then adding successively a few drops of nitric acid and a portion of ether, shaking the whole together. If bromine be present, it will be set free and dissolved in the ether, to which it will communicate an orange colour. (Dupasquier.) Medical Properties. Bromine, from its analogy to iodine, was early tried as a remedy, and the result has demonstrated its value as a therapeutic agent. It acts like iodine, by stimulating the lymphatic system and pro- moting absorption. It has been employed in bronchocele, scrofulous tumours and ulcers, amenorrhoea, chronic diseases of the skin, and hypertrophy of the ventricles. For a list of the diseases in which bromine and its prepara- tions have been used, the reader is referred to the Essay of Dr. Clover in the Ed. Med. & Surg. Journ. for Oct. 1842, an abstract of which is given in the Med. Exam. v. 712. Magcndie recommends it in cases in which iodine does not operate with sufficient activity, or has lost its effect by habit. The form in which it is employed is aqueous solution, the dose of which contain- ing one part of bromine to forty of distilled water, is about six drops taken part I. Brominum.—Calamus. 145 several times a day. When used as a wash for ulcers, from ten to forty minims of bromine may be added to a pint of water. Of its compounds the bromides of potassium, iron, and mercury, have been chiefly tried as medicines. Bromine, in an overdose, acts as an irritant poison. The best antidote, according to Mr. Alfred Smee, is ammonia. Off. Prep. Potassii Bromidum, Lond. B. CALAMUS. U.S. Secondary. Sweet Flag. "The rhizoma of Acorus Calamus." U S. Off- Syn. ACORUS. Acorus Calamus. Rhizoma, Lond.; CALAMUS AROMATICUS. Rhizoma of Acorus Calamus, var. a, vulgaris, Ed. Acorus vrai, Acorus odorant, Fr.; Kalmusvvurzel, Germ.; Calamo aromatico, Ital, Span. Acorus. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.—Ar(^. Ord. Aeoraceas. Gen. Ch. Spadix cylindrical, covered with florets. Corolla six-petalled, naked. Style none. Capsule three-celled. Willd. Acorus Calamus. Willd. Sp. Plant., ii. 199; Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 63. The sweet flag, or calamus, has a perennial, horizontal, jointed, somewhat compressed root (rhizome), from half an inch to an inch thick, sometimes several feet in length, sending off numerous round and yellowish or whitish radicles from its base, and bunches of brown fibres resembling coarse hair from its joints, internally white and spongy, externally whitish with a tinge of green, variegated with triangular shades of light brown and rose colour. The leaves are all radical, sheathing at the base, long, sword-shaped, smooth, green above, but, near their origin from the root, of a red colour, variegated with green and white. The scape or flower-stem resembles the leaves, but is longer, and from one side, near the middle of its length, sends out a cylindrical spadix, taper- ing at each end, about two inches in length, and crowded with greenish-yellow flowers. These are without calyx, and have six small, concave, membranous, truncated petals. The fruit is an oblong capsule, divided into three cells, and containing numerous oval seeds. This is an indigenous plant, growing abundantly throughout the United States, in low, wet, swampy places, and along the sides of ditches and streams, and flowering in May and June. It is also a native of Europe and Western Asia; and a variety of the same species is found in India. The European plant differs from the American in some unimportant particulars. The leaves as well as root have an aromatic odour; but the latter only is used in medicine. It should be collected late in the autumn, or in the spring. After removal from the ground, the roots are washed, freed from their numerous fibres, and dried with a moderate heat. By the process of drying they lose nearly one- half their diameter, but are improved in odour and taste. Properties. The roots, as found in the shops, are in pieces of various lengths, somewhat flattened, externally wrinkled and of a yellowish-brown colour, and presenting on their under surface numerous minute circular spots, indicating the points at which the radicles were inserted. Their texture is light and spongy, their colour internally whitish or yeliowish-whi te, and their fracture short and rough. Sometimes pieces are brought into the market consisting exclusively of the interior portion of the root. They are usually long, slender, irregularly quadrangular, and of a grayish-white colour; and are prepared by paring off the outer coat with a knife. The odour of calamus is strong and fragrant; its taste warm, bitterish, pungent, and aromatic. Its active prin- ciples are taken up by boiling water. From one hundred parts of the fresh 10 146 Calamus.—Calcii Chloridum. part I. root .of the European plant, Trommsdorff obtained 0-1 part of volatile oil, 2-3 of a soft resin, 3-3 of extractive with a little chloride of potassium, 5-5 of gum with some phosphate of potassa, 1-6 of starch, analogous to inulin, 21-5 of lignin, and 65-7 of water. Sixteen ounces of the dried root afforded to Neu- mann about two scruples of volatile oil. The oil is at first yellow, but ulti- mately becomes red, and has the smell and taste of calamus. The extractive matter has an acrid and sweetish taste. The root is sometimes attacked by worms, and deteriorates by keeping. The root of the Indian variety is said to be less thick than the European, and to have a stronger and more pleasant taste and smell. It is supposed by some to be the true calamus of the ancients, though the claims of either variety to this honour have not been certainly established. Medical Properties and Uses. Calamus is a stimulant tonic, possessing the ordinary virtues of the aromatics. It may be taken with advantage in pain or uneasiness of the stomach or bowels arising from flatulence, and is a use- ful adjuvant to tonic or purgative medicines, in cases of torpor or debility of the alimentary canal. It was probably known to the ancients; but the calamus aromaticus of Dioscorides was a different product, having been derived, accord- ing to Dr. Royle, from a species of Andropogon. The medicine is at present much neglected, though well calculated to answer as a substitute for more costly aromatics. The dose in substance is from a scruple to a drachm. An infusion, made in the proportion of an ounce of the root to a pint of boiling water, is sometimes given in the dose of a wineglassful or more. W. CALCII CHLORIDUM. U. S., Lond. Chloride of Calcium. Off. Syn. CALCIS MURIAS. Ed., Dub. Muriate of lime, Hydrochlorate of lime; Chlorure de calcium, Hydrochlorate de chaux, Fr.; Chlorcalcium, Salzsaurer Kalk, Germ. Chloride of calcium consists of chlorine, united with calcium, the metallic radical of lime. It is placed in the list of the Materia Medica in the United States Pharmacopoeia; but processes for preparing it are given by the London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Colleges. It may be readily formed by saturating muriatic acid with chalk or marble, evaporating to dryness, and heating to redness. The muriatic acid, by reacting with the lime, forms chloride of cal- cium and water, the latter of which is dissipated at a red heat. The London College forms the chloride from chalk in the following manner. "Take five ounces of chalk, and ten fluidounces, each, of hydrochloric acid and distilled water. Having mixed the acid and water together, add the chalk gradually to the mixture to perfect saturation. After the effervescence shall have ceased, filter the liquor, and evaporate it to dryness. Put the dry salt in a crucible, and, having fused it, pour it out upon a clean stone slab. When it has cooled, break it into pieces, which must be kept in bottles well stopped." The Edin- burgh process is substantially the same with the London. The only differ- ences are that the Edinburgh College uses white marble in fragments, and obtains the chloride in crystals, by evaporating the solution resulting from the saturation to one-half, and setting it aside in a cold place. In making chloride of calcium, the Dublin College uses the residuum of its process for obtaining water of ammonia. The latter preparation being procured by the action of lime on muriate of ammonia, the residuum is a solution of chloride of calcium; but it generally contains adhering ammonia and an excess of lime. Any quantity of this residuum is taken, and, after being filtered, is evaporated to dryness. The excess of lime may be saturated with muriatic PART I. Calcis Hydras.—Calx. 147 acid, or converted into an insoluble carbonate by exposing the solution for some time to the air. Properties. Chloride of calcium, in the fused or anhydrous state, as it is directed or understood to be in the U. S., London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, is a colourless, slightly translucent solid, of an acrid, bitter, saline taste, ex- tremely deliquescent, very soluble in water, and readily soluble in rectified spirit. On account of its avidity for water, the fused salt is used for drying gases, and for bringing alcohol to its highest degree of concentration. It is employed for the latter purpose by the London and Dublin Colleges. The crystallized salt, as directed by the Edinburgh College, is also very deliques- cent, and has the form of colourless, transparent, striated, six-sided prisms. The crystals, on exposure to heat, first dissolve in their water of crystalliza- tion, and, after this has evaporated, undergo the igneous fusion. With ice or snow they form a powerful frigorific mixture. Solution of chloride of calcium, when pure, yields no precipitate with ammonia, chloride of barium, or ferro- cyanuret of potassium dissolved in a large quantity of water. The non-action of these tests severally shows the absence of magnesia, sulphuric acid, and iron. Chloride of calcium exists in solution in the water of the ocean and of many springs. It is usually associated with common salt and chloride of magnesium, from which it is separated with difficulty. Composition. Chloride of calcium consists of one eq. of chlorine 35-42, and one of calcium 20-5 = 55-92. When crystallized, it contains six eqs. of water =54. Chloride of calcium is used medicinally in solution only. In this state it has the officinal name of Liquor Calcii, Chloridi, under which title its medi- cinal properties are given. It is employed in saturated solution by the Edin- burgh College for purifying sulphuric ether. Off. Prep. Liquor Calcii Chloridi, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Morphise Murias, Ed. B. CALCIS HYDRAS. Lond. Hydrate of Lime. " Calx recens usta aqua resoluta." Lond. Slaked lime; Hydrate de chaux, Chaux eteinte, Fr.; Geloschter Kalk, Germ. The London College introduced hydrate of lime as a new officinal in its revised Pharmacopoeia of 1836. It is readily prepared by adding water to quicklime, by small quantities at a time, until the earth falls into powder. During the operation, which is called the slaking of lime, a great deal of heat is evolved, and the water forms with the earth a solid compound, called hydrate of lime. It is white, pulverulent, and much less caustic than lime. Exposed to the air it attracts carbonic acid, and, when subjected to a high temperature, loses the combined water, and returns to the state of lime. When perfectly formed, the hydrate contains nearly one-fourth of its weight of water, cor- responding to one eq. of the earth and one of water. Its only officinal use is to form chlorinated lime, or bleaching powder. (See Calx Chlorinata.) Off. Prep. Calx Chlorinata, Lond. B. CALX. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Lime. " Lime recently prepared by calcination." U.S. " Calx recens usta." Lond. Quicklime ; Chaux, Chaux vive, Fr.; KaIk, Germ.; Ca\ce, Ital.; Calviva, Span. Lime, which ranks among the alkaline earths, is a very important pharma 148 Calx. PART I. ceutical agent, and forms the principal ingredient in several standard prepa- rations. The London and Edinburgh Colleges give processes for its preparation; but in the United States and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, it is placed exclusively in the list of the Materia Medica. Lime is a very abundant natural production. It is never found pure, but mostly combined with acids, as with carbonic acid in chalk, marble, calcareous spar, limestone, and shells; with sulphuric acid in the different kinds of gyp- sum; with phosphoric acid in the bones of animals; and with silica in a great variety of minerals. Preparation. Lime is prepared by calcining, with a strong heat, some form of the native carbonate. The carbonic acid is thus expelled, and the lime remains behind. When the lime is intended for nice chemical operations, it should be obtained from pure white marble, or from oyster shells. For the purposes of the arts it is procured from common limestone, by calcining it in kilns of peculiar construction. When obtained in this way, it is generally impure, being of a grayish colour, and containing alumina, silica, sesquioxide of iron, and occasionally a little magnesia and oxide of manganese. The officinal lime of the United States and Dublin Pharmacopoeias is the lime of commerce, and, therefore, impure. That obtained by the processes of the London and Edinburgh Colleges is purer. The London College takes a pound of chalk, and exposes it, broken into small pieces, to a very strong fire for an hour. The Edinburgh directions are to expose white marble, broken into small fragments, in a covered crucible, to a full red heat for three hours; or till the residuum, when slaked and suspended in water, no longer effervesces on the addition of muriatic acid. Properties. Lime is a grayish-white solid, having a strong, caustic, alkaline taste, and the sp. gr. 2-3. It is very refractory in the fire, having been fused only by the compound blowpipe of Dr. Hare. Exposed to the air, it absorbs moisture and carbonic acid, and falls into a white powder. In this state, it is a mixture of carbonate and hydrate. On account of its liability to change by being kept, lime, intended for pharmaceutical purposes, should be recently burnt. It acts upon vegetable colours as a strong alkaline base. Upon the addition of water, it cracks and falls into powder, with the evolution of heat. (See Cale is Hydras, Lond.) If it dissolve in muriatic acid without efferves- cence, the fact shows the absence of carbonic acid, and that the lime has been well burnt. If any silica be present, it will be left undissolved by the muriatic acid. If the solution give no precipitate with ammonia, the absence of iron and alumina is shown. Lime is but sparingly soluble in water, requiring, at the temperature of 60°, about seven hundred times its weight of that liquid for complete solution. Contrary to the general law, it is less soluble in hot than in cold water. The solution is called lime-water. (See Liquor Calcis.) When lime is mixed in excess with water, so as to form a thick liquid, the mixture is called milk of lime. Lime is the oxide of a peculiar metal, called calcium, and consists of one eq. of calcium 20-5, and one of oxygen 8 =28-5. It is distinguished from the other alkaline earths by forming a very deliquescent salt (chloride of calcium) by reaction with muriatic acid, and a sparingly soluble one with sulphuric acid. All acids, acidulous, ammoniacal, and metallic stilts, borates alkaline carbonates, and astringent vegetable infusions are incompatible with it. Medical Properties. Lime acts externally as an escharotic, and was formerly applied to ill-conditioned ulcers. Mixed with caustic potassa, it forms the Potassa cum Calre. As an internal remedy it is always administered in solu- tion. (See Liquor Calcis.) PART I. Calx Chlorinata. 149 Lime is used to prepare iEther Sulphuricus, Ed.; Alcohol, Ed.; Liquor Ammoniae, U. S.,Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Potassae, U. S.,Lond.,Ed.,Dub.; Quiniae Sulphas, U. S.; Spiritus Ammoniae, U S.,Ed.; Strychnia, U. S, Ed.; Sulphur Prascipitatum, U. S. Off. Prep. Liquor Calcis, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassa cum Calce, Lond., Ed., Dub. B. CALX CHLORINATA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Chlorinated Lime. " A compound resulting from the action of chlorine on hydrate of lime." U.S. Chloride of lime, Hypochlorite of lime, Oxymuriate of lime, Bleaching powder; Chlo- rure de chaux, Fr.; Chlorkalk, Germ ; Cloruro de calce, Ital. This compound was originally prepared, and brought into notice as a bleaching agent, in 1798, by Mr. Tennant of Glasgow. Subsequently it was found to have valuable properties as a medicine and disinfectant, and, accord- ingly, it has been successively introduced into the London, Edinburgh, and United States Pharmacopoeias. The London College only has given a pro- cess for its preparation, which is as follows: " Take of Hydrate of Lime a pound; Chlorine as much as may be sufficient,. I'ass the chlorine over the lime, spread in a proper vessel, until it is saturated. Chlorine is very readily evolved from Hydrochloric [muriatic] Acid added to Binoxide [deutoxide] of Manganese, with a gentle heat." This process of the London College is unnecessary; as chlorinated lime is made in large quantities, and of excellent quality, by the manufacturing che- mist, for the use of the bleacher, dyer, and paper-maker. The following is the process pursued on the large scale. An oblong square chamber is con- structed, generally of siliceous sandstone, the joints being secured by a cement of pitch, rosin, and dry gypsum. At one end it is furnished with an air-tight door, and on each side with a glass window, to enable the operator to inspect the process during its progress. The slaked or hydrated lime is sifted and placed on wooden trays, eight or ten feet long, two broad, and one inch deep. These are piled within the chamber to a height of five or six feet on cross- bars, by which they are kept about an inch asunder, in order to favour the circulation of the gas over the lime. The chlorine is generated in a leaden vessel nearly spherical, the lower portion of which is surrounded with an iron case, leaving an interstice two inches wide, intended to receive steam for the purpose of producing the re- quisite heat. In the leaden vessel are five apertures. The first is in the centre of the top, and receives a tube which descends nearly to the bottom, and through which a vertical stirrer passes, intended to mix the materials, and furnished at the lower end, with horizontal cross-bars of iron, or of wood sheathed with lead. The second is for the introduction of the common salt and manganese. The third admits a syphon-shaped funnel, through which the sulphuric acid is introduced. The fourth is connected with a pipe to lead off the gas. The fifth, which is near the bottom, receives a discharge pipe, passing through the iron case, and intended for drawing off the residuum of the operation. The pipe passing from the leaden vessel terminates under water contained in a leaden chest or cylinder, where the gas is washed from muriatic acid. From this intermediate vessel, the chlorine finally passes, by means of a pretty large leaden pipe, through the ceiling of the chamber containing the lime. 150 Calx Chlorinata. PART i. The process of impregnation generally lasts four days, in order to form a good bleaching powder. If the process be hastened, heat will be generated, which will favour the production of chloride of calcium, attended with a propor- tional diminution of chloride of lime. The proportions of the materials employed for generating the chlorine vary in different manufactories. Those generally adopted are 10 cwt. of common salt, mixed with from 10 to 14 cwt of deutoxide of manganese; to which are added, in successive portions, from 12 to 14 cwt. of strong sulphuric acid, diluted before being used until its sp. gr. is reduced to about 1-65, which will be accomplished by adding about one-third of its weight of water. In manu- factories in which sulphuric acid is also made, the acid intended for this pro- cess is brought to the sp. gr. of 1-65 only, whereby the expense of further concentration is saved. Properties. Chlorinated lime is a dry or slightly moist, grayish-white, pulverulent substance, possessing an acrid, hot, bitter, astringent taste, and a feeble odour resembling that of chlorine. It possesses powerful bleaching properties. When perfectly saturated with chlorine, it dissolves almost en- tirely in water; but, as ordinarily prepared, a large proportion is insoluble, consisting of hydrate of lime. When exposed to heat, it gives off oxygen and some chlorine, and is converted into chloride of calcium. It is incom- patible with the mineral acids, with carbonic acid, and the alkaline carbonates. The acids evolve chlorine copiously, and the alkaline carbonates cause a pre- cipitate of carbonate of lime. (See L/iquor Sodse Chlorinatse.) Chlorinated lime acts as a powerful oxidizing agent. It has a powerful action also on organic matter, converting sugar, starch, cotton, linen, and similar substances into formic acid, which unites with the lime. ( IK Bastick.) Composition. According to Dr. Ure, the bleaching powder consists of hy- drate of lime and chlorine, united in variable proportions, not correspondent to equivalent quantities. According to Brande, Grouvelle, and Phillips, the compound obtained when chlorine ceases to be absorbed, consists of one eq. of chlorine and two of hydrate of lime, resolvable, by water, into one eq. of hydrated chloride of lime which dissolves, and one of hydrate of lime which is left. Dr. Thomson, however, asserts that the compound has been so much improved in quality, that good samples consist of single equivalents of chlo- rine and lime, and are almost entirely soluble in water. Its ultimate consti- tuents, exclusive of the elements of water, may, therefore, be considered to be one eq. of chlorine, one of calcium, and one of oxygen. Three views are taken of the manner in which these elements are united to form the bleach- ing powder. The first makes it a chloride of lime, the second, hypochlorite of lime with chloride of calcium, and the third, oxychloride of calcium. By doubling the elements present, it is easily shown by symbols, that the several views taken do not change the ultimate composition of the compound; for 2(CaO,Cl)=CaO,C10 + CaCl or 2CaOCl. The simplest view of the nature of the bleaching powder is that which supposes it a compound of chlorine and lime. The view which makes it a hypochlorite is that of Balard, and is supported by the fact that the com- pound smells of hypochlorous acid. On the other hand, if it contain chloride of calcium, it ought to deliquesce; unless it can be shown that the metallic chloride is in such a state of combination as to prevent this result. The third view, that it is an oxychloride, which assimilates its nature to that of the deut- oxide of calcium, is held by Millon. According to this chemist, the quantity of chlorine, taken up by a metallic protoxide, is regulated by the nature of its peroxide. The peroxide of calcium is a deutoxide (CaO.,); and Millon contends that, in forming the bleaching powder, the lime takes up but one PART I. Calx Chlorinata. 151 eq. of chlorine, corresponding to the second eq. of oxygen in the deutoxide, thus generating the compound CaOCl. Again, the peroxide of potassium is represented by K03, and Millon states that the bleaching compound which potassa (KO) forms with chlorine, is K0C12. If further observation should show that the number of equivalents of chlorine, necessary to convert a pro- toxide into a bleaching compound, is always equal to the number of equiva- lents of oxygen required to convert it into a peroxide, it will go far to prove the correctness of Mi lion's views. On the supposition that the bleaching powder is a hypochlorite of lime, with chloride of calcium, the mode of its formation is thus explained. Two eqs. of chlorine, by uniting separately with the elements of one eq. of lime, form one eq. of chloride of calcium, and one of hypochlorous acid, the latter of which combines with an additional eq. of lime, to form hypochlorite of lime. Impurities and Tests. Chlorinated lime may contain a great excess of lime, from imperfect impregnation with the gas. This defect will be shown by the large proportion insoluble in water. If it contain much chloride of calcium, it will be quite moist, which is always a sign of inferior quality. If long and insecurely kept, it deteriorates from the gradual formation of chlo- ride of calcium and carbonate of lime. Several methods have been proposed for determining its bleaching power, which depends solely on the proportion of loosely combined chlorine. Walter proposed to add a solution of the bleaching powder to a standard solution of sulphate of indigo, in order to ascertain its decolorizing power; but the objection to this test is that the indigo of commerce is very variable in its amount of colouring matter. Dr. Ure has proposed muriatic acid to disengage the chlorine over mercury; but this test is liable to the fallacy that it will disengage carbonic acid as well as chlorine; and it has been shown by some unpublished experiments of Mr. Procter of this city, that the amount of disengaged gaseous matter is not in proportion to the decolorizing power. Dalton proposed, as a test, to add a solution of the bleaching powder to one of the sulphate of protoxide of iron, slightly acidulated with muriatic or sulphuric acid, until the odour of chlorine is perceived. Chlorine is not disengaged until the iron is sesquioxidized, and the stronger the bleaching powder, the sooner this will be accomplished. A more delicate way of ascertaining when all the iron is sesquioxidized, is to test a drop of the liquid with one of a solution of ferridcyanuret of potassium (red prussiate of potassa). So long as any protoxide of iron remains in the liquid, this salt will afford a blue precipitate (Turnbull's Prussian blue), but not afterwards. The Pharmacopoeias have given no satisfactory test of the value of chlo- rinated lime. The character given in the London and United States Phar- macopoeias of entire solubility in dilute muriatic acid, with the evolution of chlorine, applies equally to good and bad samples. Assuming the chlorinated lime to be dry, and, therefore, free from chloride of calcium, it would follow that the quantity of oxalate of lime, thrown down by oxalic acid from the part of the powder soluble in water, would be proportional to the lime pre- sent, and, therefore, to the chlorine combined with it. This test is given by the Edinburgh College; but the plan is not practically convenient. Medical Properties and Uses. Chlorinated lime, externally^ applied, is a desiccant and disinfectant, and has been used with advantage, in solution, as an application to ill-conditioned ulcers, burns, chilblains, and cutaneous erup- tions, especially itch; as a gargle in putrid sorethroat; and as a wash for the mouth to disinfect the breath, and for ulcerated gums. Internally, it is a stimulant and astringent. It has been employed by Dr. Reid in the epidemic typhoid fever of Ireland; by the same practitioner in dysentery, both by the 152 Calx Chlorinata. PART I. mouth and injection, with the effect of correcting the fetor, and improving the appearance of the stools; by Cima, both internally and externally in scrofula; and by Dr. Varlez of Brussels in ophthalmia. Dr. Pereira has used a weak solution very successfully in the purulent ophthalmia of infants. In the febrile cases Dr. Reid found it to render the tongue cleaner and moister, to check diarrhoea, and induce sleep. The dose internally is from three to six grains, dissolved in one or two fluidounces of water, filtered, and sweet- ened with syrup. It should never be given in pills. As it occurs of variable quality, and must be used in solution more or less dilute, according to the particular purpose to which it is to be applied, it is impossible to give any very precise directions for its strength as an external remedy. From one to four drachms of the powder added to a pint of water, and the solution filtered, will form a liquid within the limits of strength ordinarily required. For the cure of itch, M. Derheims has recommended a much stronger solution—three ounces of the chloride to a pint of water, the solution being filtered, and ap- plied several times a day as a lotion, or constantly by wet cloths. When applied to ulcers, their surface may be covered with lint dipped in the solu- tion. When used as an ointment, to be rubbed upon scrofulous enlargements of the lymphatic glands, it may be made of a drachm of the chloride to an ounce of lard. Chlorinated lime acts by the loosely combined chlorine it contains; but is not so eligible for some purposes as the solution of chlorinated soda. (See Liquor Sodse Chloriuatse.) In consequence of its powers as a disinfectant, chlorinated lime is a very important compound in its application to medical police. It possesses the property of preventing or arresting animal and vegetable putrefaction, and, perhaps, of destroying pestilential and infectious miasms. It may be used with advantage for preserving bodies from exhaling an unpleasant odour be- fore interment in the summer season. In juridical exhumations its use is indispensable; as it effectually removes the disgusting and insupportable fetor of the corpse. The mode in which it is applied in these cases, is to envelop the body with a sheet completely wet with a solution, made by adding about a pound of the chloride to a bucketful of water. It is employed also for dis- infecting dissecting rooms, privies, common sewers, docks, and other places which exhale offensive effluvia. In destroying contagion and infection, it also appears to be highly useful. Hence hospitals, alms-houses, jails, ships, &c, may be purified by its means. In short, all places deemed infectious from having been the receptacle of cases of virulent disease, may be more or less disinfected by its use, after they have undergone the ordinary processes of cleansing. The way in which chlorinated lime acts, is exclusively by its chlorine, which, being loosely combined, is disengaged by the slightest affinities. All acids, even the carbonic, disengage it; and as this acid is a product of animal and vegetable decomposition, noxious effluvia furnish the means, to a certain extent, of their own disinfection by this chloride. But the stronger acids disengage the chlorine far more readily, and, among these, sulphuric acid is the cheapest and most convenient. Accordingly, the powder may be dissolved in a very dilute solution of sulphuric acid, or a small quantity of this acid may be added to an aqueous solution ready formed, in case a more copious evolution of chlorine is desired than that which takes place from the mere action of the carbonic acid of the atmosphere. Chlorinated lime may be advantageously applied to the purpose of purifying offensive water, a property which makes it invaluable on long voyages. When used for this purpose, from one to two ounces of the chloride may be mixed with about sixty-five gallons of the water. After the purification has been PART I. Camphora. 153 effected, the water must be exposed for some time to the air and allowed to settle, before it is fit to drink. Chlorinated lime is used as an oxidizing agent in the U. S. formula for preparing acetate of zinc. Off. Prep. Liquor Sodas Chlorinatae, U. S. B. CAMPHORA. U. S., Lond,, Ed, Dub. Camphor. "A peculiar concrete substance derived from Laurus Camphora, and puri- fied by sublimation." U.S. "Laurus Camphora. Concretum sui generis, sublimationeptirificatum." Lond. " Camphor of Camphora officinarum." Ed. "Laurus Camphora. Dryobalanops Camphora. Camphora." Dub. Camphre, Fr.; Kampher, Germ.; Canfora, Ital.; Alcanfor, Span. The name of camphor has been applied to various concrete, white, odorous, volatile products, found in different aromatic plants, and resulting probably from some chemical change in their volatile oil. But commercial camphor is derived exclusively from two plants, the Camphora officinarum of Nees or Laurus Camphora of Linnaeus, and the Dryobalanops Camphora; the former of which yields our officinal camphor, the latter, a product much valued in the East, but unknown in the commerce of this country and of Europe. A con- siderable quantity of camphor, said to be identical with the officinal, has recently been obtained upon the Tenasserim coast, in further India, by sub- liming the tops of an annual plant, growing abundantly in that region, and thought to be a species of Blumia. This product, however, has not yet been introduced into general commerce. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 56, from the Calcutta Journ. of Nat. Hist.) The following observations apply to the offi- cinal camphor. Camphora. Sex. Syst. Enneandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord, Lauracese. Gen. Ch. Flowers hermaphrodite, panicled, naked. Calyx six-cleft, papery, with a deciduous limb. Fertile stamens nine, in three rows; the inner with two stalked, compressed glands at the base; anthers four-celled; the outer turned inwards, the inner outwards. Three sterile stamens shaped like the first, placed in a whorl alternating with the stamens of the second row; three others stalked, with an ovate glandular head. Fruit placed on the obconical base of the calyx. Leaves triple-nerved, glandular in the axils of the prin- cipal veins. Leaf buds scaly. (Lindley, Flora Medica, 332.) Among the species composing the genus Laurus of Linn., such striking dif- ferences have been observed in the structure of the flower and fruit, that botanists have been induced to arrange them in new genera. The camphor, cinnamon, and sassafras trees have been separated from the proper laurels by the German botanist Nees, and made the types of distinct genera, which have been adopted by Lindley and most other recent writers, and may be considered as well established. The United States Pharmacopceia virtually recognises the new arrangement by adopting the genus Cinnamomum, though it still attaches the two other plants to Laurus. Camphora officinarum. Nees, Law in. 88; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot, ii. 29, pi. lxxiv.—Laurus Camphora. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 478; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 681, t, 236.—Persea CamjJwra. Sprengel. The camphor tree is an evergreen of considerable size, having the aspect of the linden, with a trunk straight below, but divided above into many branches, which are covered with a smooth, greenish bark. Its leaves, which stand alternately upon long footstalks, are ovate lanceolate, entire, smooth and shining, ribbed, of a bright 154 Camphora. PART I. yellowish-green colour on their upper surface, paler on the under, and two or three inches in length. The flowers are small, white, pedicelled, and collected in clusters, which are supported by long axillary peduncles. The fruit is a red berry resembling that of the cinnamon. The tree is a native of China, Japan, and other parts of eastern Asia. It has been introduced into the botanical gar- dens of Europe, and is occasionally met with in the conservatories of our own country. The leaves have when bruised the odour of camphor, which is diffused through all parts of the plant, and is, obtained from the root, trunk, and branches by sublimation. The process is not precisely the same in all places. The following is said to be the one pursued in Japan. The parts mentioned, particularly the roots and smaller branches, are cut into chips, which are placed, with a little water, in large iron vessels, surmounted by earthen capi- tals, furnished with a lining of rice-straw. A moderate heat is then applied, and the camphor, volatilized by the steam of the boiling water, rises into the capital, where it is condensed upon the straw. In China, the comminuted plant is said to be first boiled with water until the camphor adheres to the stick used in stirring, when the strained liquor is allowed to cool; and the camphor which concretes, being alternated with layers of earth, is submitted to sublimation. Commercicd History. Camphor, in the crude state, is brought to this country chiefly from Canton. It comes also from Batavia, Singapore, Calcutta, and frequently from London. All of it is probably derived originally from China and Japan. Two commercial varieties are found in the market. The cheapest and most abundant is the Chinese camphor, most of which is produced in the island of Formosa, and thence taken to Canton. It comes in chests lined with lead, each containing about 130 pounds. It is in small grains or granular masses, of a dirty white colour, and frequently mixed with impurities. It has occurred in commerce adulterated with muriate of ammonia. The other variety is variously called Japan, Dutch., ox tub camphor, the first name being derived from the place of its origin, the second from the people through whom it is introduced into commerce, and the third from the recipient in which it is often contained. It comes usually from Batavia, to which port it is brought from Japan. Like the former variety, it is in grains or granular masses; but the grains are larger and of a pinkish colour, and there are fewer impurities, so that it yields a larger product when refined. Crude camphor, as brought from the East, is never found in the shop of the apothecary. It must be refined before it can be used for medicinal pur- poses. The process for refining camphor was first practised in Europe by the Venetians, who probably derived it from the Chinese. It was afterwards trans- ferred to the Dutch, who long enjoyed a monopoly of this business; and it is only within a few years that the process has been generally known. It is now practised largely in this country, and the camphor refined in our domestic establisments is equal to any that was formerly imported. Crude camphor is mixed with about one-fiftieth of quicklime, and exposed, in a glass or earthen- ware vessel placed in a sandbath, to a gradually increasing heat, by which it is melted, and ultimately converted into vapour, which condenses in a suitable recipient. Refined in this manner, it is usually in the form of large circular cakes, one or two inches thick, convex on one side, concave on the other and perforated in the centre. linepcrties. Camphor has a peculiar, strong, penetrating, fragrant odour- and a bitter, pungent taste, attended with a slight sense of coolness. It is beautifully white and pellucid, somewhat unctuous to the touch friable and yet possessed of a degree of tenacity which renders its reduction to a fine powder very difficult, unless the cohesion of its particles be overcome by the PART i. Camphora. 155 addition of a minute proportion of alcohol, or other volatile liquid for which it has an affinity. It may be obtained in powder also by precipitating its alcoholic solution with water, or by grating and afterwards sifting it. The fracture of camphor is shining, and its texture crystalline. Its sp. gr. varies from 0-9857 to 0-996. It therefore floats upon water, on the surface of which, if thrown in small fragments, it assumes very singular circulatory movements, which cease upon the addition of a drop of oil. Its volatility is so great, that even at ordinary temperatures it is wholly dissipated if left exposed to the air. When it is confined in bottles, the vapour condenses upon the inner surface, and, when allowed to stand for a long time in large bottles partially filled, sometimes forms large and beautiful crystals. It melts at 288° F. and boils at 400°. (Turner.) In close vessels it may be sublimed unchanged. When allowed to concrete slowly from the state of vapour, it assumes the form of hexagonal plates. It is not altered by air and light. It readily takes fire, and burns with a brilliant flame, giving out much smoke, and leaving no residue. Water triturated with camphor dissolves a very minute proportion, not more, according to Berzelius, than a thousandth part; which, however, is sufficient to impart a decided odour and taste to the solvent. By the inter- vention of sugar or magnesia, particularly of the latter, a much larger propor- tion is dissolved. (See Aqua Camphoree.) Carbonic acid also increases the solvent power of water. Ordinary alcohol will take up seventy-five per cent. of its weight of camphor, which is precipitated upon the addition of water. Berzelius states that 100 parts of alcohol, of the sp. gr. 0-806, dissolve 120 parts at 50° F. It is soluble also without change in ether, the volatile and fixed oils, strong acetic acid, and the diluted mineral acids. By means of the spirit of nitric ether, it is rendered somewhat more soluble in water. By the action of strong sulphuric and nitric acids, it is decomposed, the former car- bonizing and converting it into artificial tannin; the latter, by the aid of re- peated distillation, into a peculiar acid called the camphoric. The alkalies produce very little effect upon it. The resins unite with it, forming a soft tenacious mass, in which the odour of the camphor is sometimes almost extin- guished and frequently diminished; and a similar softening effect results when it is triturated with the concrete oils.* Exposed to a strong heat in close vessels, camphor is resolved into a volatile oil and charcoal. It is closely analogous in character to the essential oils. Berzelius considers it a stearop- tene free from any mixture of eleoptene. (See Olca Volatilia.) According to M. Dumas, it consists of a radical called camphene united with oxygen. Camphene, which is represented by pure oil of turpentine, is composed of ten equivalents of carbon 60, and eight of hydrogen 8=68. With one equiv. of * As this property of camphor may have a strong bearing injuriously or otherwise on pharmaceutical processes, it is desirable that the operator, as well as prescriber, should be aware of the degree of effect produced by different resinous substances which maybe mixed with camphor. M. Planche has found that mixtures, formed by triturating pow- dered camphor with powdered dragon's blood, guaiac, assafetida, or galbanum, assume and preserve indefinitely the pilular consistence; with benzoin, tolu, ammoniac, and mastic, though at first of a pilular consistence, afterwards become soft by exposure to the air; with sagapenum and anime, assume a permanently semi-liquid form; with olibanum. opopanax, gamboge, euphorbium, bdellium, myrrh, and amber, remain pulverulent though somewhat grumous; and with tacamahac, resin of jalap, sandarac, and resinoid matter of cinchona, preserve the form of powder indefinitely. The same experimenter observed that camphor loses its odour entirely, when mixed with assafetida, galbanum, sagapenum, aninw, and tolu; retains a feeble odour with dragon's blood, olibanum, mastic, benzoin, opo- panax, tacamahac, guaiac, and ammoniac; while, with the other resinous substances above mentioned, it either has its odour increased, or retains it without material change. (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 22G.) 156 Camphora. PART I. oxygen it forms camphor, with four equiv. of the same body, hydrated cam- phoric acid, and with half an equiv. of hydrochloric acid, artificial camphor.* Medical Properties and Uses. Camphor does not seem to have been known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Europe probably derived it from the Arabians, by whom it was employed as a refrigerant. Much ^ difference of opinion has prevailed as to its mode of action, some maintaining its immediate sedative influence, others considering it as a direct and decided stimulant. Its operation appears to be primarily and chiefly directed to the cerebral and nervous systems; and the circulation, though usually affected to a greater or less extent, is probably involved, for the most part, through the agency of the brain. It acts, also, to a certain extent, as a direct irritant of the mucous membranes with which it is brought into contact, and may thus in some mea- sure secondarily excite the pulse. The effects of the medicine vary with the quantity administered. In moderate doses it produces, in a healthy indivi- dual, mental exhilaration, increased heat of skin, and occasional diaphoresis. The pulse is usually increased in fulness, but little, if at all, in force or fre- * Sumatra Camphor. Borneo Camphor. Dryobalanops Camphor. It has long been known that an excellent variety of camphor is produced in the Islands of Sumatra and Borneo, by a forest tree, which, not having been seen by botanists, remained until a recent period undetermined. It was at length, however, described by Colebrooke, and is now recognised in systematic works as Dryobalanops Camphora, or D. aromatica. It is a very large tree, sometimes attaining the height of one hundred feet, with a trunk six or seven feet in diameter, and ranking among the tallest and largest trees of the luxuriant regions where it grows. It is found both in Sumatra and Borneo, and is abundant on the N. W. coast of the former island. The camphor exists in concrete masses, which occupy lon- gitudinal cavities or fissures in the heart of the tree, from a foot to a foot and a half long, at certain distances apart. The younger trees are generally less productive than the old, The only method of ascertaining whether a tree contains camphor is by incision. A party proceeds through the forest, wounding the trees till they find one which will answer their purpose, and hundreds may be examined before this object is attained. When discovered, the tree is felled and cut into logs, which are then split, and the cam- phor removed by means of sharp-pointed instruments. The masses are sometimes as thick as a man's arm; and the product of a middling sized tree is nearly eleven pounds; of a large one, double the quantity. The trees which have been wounded, and left stand- ing, often produce camphor seven or eight years afterwards. The Dryobalanops yields also a fragrant liquid, called in the East Indies oil of camphor, and highly valued as an external application in rheumatism and other painful affections. It is said to be found in trees too young to produce camphor, and is supposed to constitute the first stage in the developement of this substance ; as it occupies the cavities in the trunk, which are after- wards filled with the camphor. It has been stated to hold a large portion of this prin- ciple in solution, and to yield an inferior variety by artificial concretion; but this was not true of a specimen in the possession of Dr. Christison. The whole tree is pervaded more or less by the camphor or the oil; as the wood retains a fragrant smell, and, being on this account less liable to the attacks of insects, is highly esteemed for carpenters' work. The camphor-wood trunks, occasionally brought to this country from the East Indies, are probably made out of the wood of the Dryobalanops. It has been supposed that this variety of camphor is occasionally brought into the mar- kets of Europe and America. But this is a mistake; as the whole produce of the islands is engrossed by the Chinese, by whom it is so highly valued that it commands at Canton, according to Mr. Crawford, seventy-eight times, according to Mr. Reeves, one hundred times the price of ordinary camphor. A specimen in our possession, which was sent to this country from Canton as a curiosity, and kindly presented to us by Dr. Joseph Carson, is in tabular plates of the size of a finger nail or smaller, of a foliaceous crystalline tex- ture, white, somewhat translucent, of an odour analogous to that of common camphor and yet decidedly distinct, and less agreeable. It has also a camphorous taste. It is more compact and brittle than ordinary camphor • and, though the pieces will often float for a time when thrown on water, yet they sink when thoroughly moistened, and deprived of adhering air. According to Dr. Christison, its sp. gr. is 1009. It is easily pulverized without the addition of alcohol. It is, moreover, much less disposed to rise in vapour and to condense on the inside of the bottle containing it. Like ordinary camphor it is fusible, volatihzable, very slightly soluble in water, and freely soluble in alcohol and in ether. We have never met with it in the drug stores. part I. Camphora. 157 quency. According to the experiments of certain Italian physicians, it has a tendency to the urinary and genital organs, producing a burning sensa- tion along the urethra, and exciting voluptuous dreams (N Am. Med. and Surg. Journ., ix. 442); and these experiments have been confirmed by the observations of Dr. Reynolds in a case of poisoning by camphor (Brit. Am. Journ. of Med., June, 1846). Cullen, however, states that he has employed it fifty times, even in large doses, without having ever observed any effect upon the urinary passages. By many it is believed to allay irritations of the urinary and genital apparatus, and to possess antaphrodisiac properties. In its primary operation, it allays nervous irritation, quiets restlessness, and produces a general placidity of feeling, which renders it highly useful in certain forms of disease attended with derangement of the nervous functions. In larger doses, it displays a more decided action on the brain, producing more or less giddiness and mental confusion, with a disposition to sleep; and, in morbid states of the system, relieving pain and allaying spasmodic action. In im- moderate doses, it occasions nausea, vomiting, anxiety, faintness, vertigo, delirium, insensibility, coma, and convulsions, which may end in death. The pulse, under these circumstances, is at first reduced in frequency and force (Alexander, Experimental Essays, p. 227); but, as the action advances, it sometimes happens that symptoms of strong sanguineous determination to the head become evident, in the flushed countenance, inflamed and fiery eyes, and highly excited pulse (Quarin). There can be no doubt that it is ab- sorbed; as its odour is observed in the breath and perspiration, and, accord- ing to the statement of Dr. Reynolds, in the urine also, though the contrary has been asserted. By its moderately stimulating powers, its diaphoretic tendenc}', and its influence over the nervous system, it is admirably adapted to the treatment of all diseases of a typhoid character, which combine with the enfeebled con- dition of the system, a frequent irritated pulse, a dry skin, and much nervous derangement, indicated by restlessness, watchfulness, tremors, subsultus, and low muttering delirium. Nor are its beneficial effects confined to typhoid diseases. AVith a view to its anodyne and narcotic influence, it is often used in those of an inflammatory character, as in our ordinary remittents, and the phlegmasia}, particularly rheumatism, when the increased vascular action is complicated with derangement of the nervous system. In such cases, how- ever, it should never, be used until after proper depletion, and even then should be combined with such medicines as may obviate the slight stimulation it produces, and give it a more decided tendency to the skin; as, for instance, tartarized antimony, ipecacuanha, or nitre. In a great number of spasmodic ami nervous disorders, and complaints of irritation, camphor has been very extensively employed. The cases of this nature to which experience has proved it to be best adapted, are dj^smenorrhoea, puerperal convulsions and other nervous affections of the puerperal state, and certain forms of mania, particularly nymphomania, and that arising from the abuse of spirituous liquors. In some of these cases, advantage may be derived from combining it with opium. Camphor has also been employed internally to allay the irritation of the urinary organs which is apt to be produced by cantharides. It is much used locally as an anodyne, usually dissolved in alcohol, oil, or acetic acid, and frequently combined with laudanum. In rheumatic and gouty affections, and various internal spasmodic and inflammatory complaints, it often yields relief when applied in this way. The ardor uiinae of gonor- rlnea/may be alleviated by injecting an oleaginous solution of camphor into the urethra; and the tenesmus from ascarides and dysentery, by administer- in o- the same solution in the form of enema. Twenty or thirty grains of 158 Camphora.—Canella. part r. camphor, added to a poultice, and applied to the perineum, allays the chordee, which is a painful attendant upon gonorrhoea. The vapour of camphor has been inhaled into the lungs with benefit in cases of asthma and spasmodic cough; and a lump of it held to the nose is said to relieve the unpleasant fulness of the nostrils and coryza which attend a commencing catarrh. It has been employed for the same purpose, and for nervous headache, in the form of powder snuffed up the nostrils. Camphor may be given in substance in the form of bolus or pill, or diffused in water by trituration with various substances. The form of pill is objec- tionable; as in this state the camphor is with difficulty dissolved in the gastric liquors, and floating on the top is apt to excite nausea, or pain and uneasiness at the upper orifice of the stomach. Orfila states that, when given in the solid form, it is capable of producing ulceration in the gastric mucous mem- brane. The emulsion is almost always preferred. This is made by rubbing up the camphor with loaf sugar, gum Arabic, and water; and the suspension will be rendered more complete and permanent by the addition of a little myrrh. Milk is sometimes used as a vehicle, but is objectionable, as it is apt to become sour very speedily. The aqueous solution is often employed where only a slight impression is desired. For this purpose, the Aqua Camphorse of the United States Pharmacopoeia is preferable to the solution effected by simply pouring boiling water upon a lump of camphor, which is sometimes prescribed under the name of camphor tea. The medium dose of camphor is from five to ten grains; but, to meet various indications, it may be diminished to a single grain, or increased to a scruple. The injurious effects of an overdose are said to he best counteracted, after clearing out the stomach, by the use of opium. Off. Prep. Acidum Aceticum Camphoratum, Ed., Dub.; Aqua Camphora?, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Ceratum Hydrargyri Comp., Lond.; Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis, U. S., Lond,; Linimentum Camphorae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Linimentum Camphorae Comp., Loud., Dub.; Liniment. Hydrargyri Comp., Lond.; Liniment. Opii, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liniment. Saponis Camphor- atum, U.S.; Liniment. Terebinthinae, Lond,, Ed.; Mistura Camphorse, Ed.; Mist. Camphorse cum Magnesia, Ed,, Dub.; Tinctura Camphora?, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Opii Camphorata, U.S., Lond., Ed.; Tinct. Sa- ponis Camphorata, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. CANELLA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Canella. "The bark of Canella alba." U. S., Ed. "Canella alba. Cortex." Lond. Off. Syn. CANELLA ALBA. Cortex. Dub. Canelle blanche, Fr.; Weisser Zimmt, Canell, Germ.; Canella bianca, Ital; Canela blanca, Span. Canella. Sex. Syst. Dodecandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Meliacese. De Cand. Canellese. Lindley. Gen. Ch. Calyx three-lobed. Petals five. Anthers sixteen, adhering to an urceolate nectary. Berry one-celled with two or four seeds. Willd. Canella alba. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 851; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 694. t. 237; (Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot., i. 24, pi. 16.) This is the only species of the genus. It is an erect tree, rising sometimes to the height of fifty feet, branching only at the top, and covered with a whitish bark, by which it is easily distinguished from other trees in the woods where it grows. The PART I. Canella.—Canna. 159 leaves are alternate, petiolate, oblong, obtuse, entire, of a dark green colour, thick and shining like those of the laurel, and of a similar odour. The flowers are small, of a violet colour, and grow in clusters upon divided footstalks, at the extremities of the branches. The fruit is an oblong berry, containing one, two, or three black, shining seeds. The Canella alba is a native of Jamaica and other West India Islands. The bark of the branches, which is the part employed in medicine, having been removed by an iron instrument, is deprived of its epidermis, and dried in the shade. It comes to us in pieces partially or completely quilled, occa- sionally somewhat twisted, of various sizes, from a few inches to two feet in length, from half a line to two or even three lines in thickness, and, in the quill, from half an inch to an inch and a half in diameter. Properties. Canella is of a pale orange-yellow colour externally, yellowish- white on the inner surface, with an aromatic odour somewhat resembling that of cloves, and a warm, bitterish, very pungent taste. It is brittle, breaking with a short fracture, and yielding, when pulverized, a yellowish-white pow- der. Boiling water extracts nearly one-fourth of its weight; but the infu- sion, though bitter, has comparatively little of the warmth and pungency of the bark. It yields all its virtues to alcohol, forming a bright yellow tinc- ture, which is rendered milky by the addition of water. By distillation with water it affords a large proportion of a yellow or reddish, fragrant, and very acrid essential oil. It contains, moreover, according to the analysis of MM. Petroz and Robinet, mannite, a peculiar very bitter extractive, resin, gum, starch, albumen, and various saline substances. Meyers and Reiche obtained twelve drachms of the volatile oil from ten pounds of the bark. They found it to consist of two distinct oils, one lighter and the other heavier than water. According to the same chemists, the bark contains 8 per cent, of mannite, and yields 6 per cent, of ashes. (Ann. der Chem. und Pharm., and Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 75.) Canella has been sometimes confounded with Winter's bark, from which, however, it differs both in sensible properties and composition. It contains, for instance, no tannin, nor oxide of iron, both of which are ingredients in the latter. (See Wintera.) Medical Properties and Uses. Canella is possessed of the ordinary proper- ties of the aromatics, acting as a local stimulant and gentle tonic, and pro- ducing upon the stomach a warming cordial effect, which renders it useful as an addition to tonic or purgative medicines in debilitated states of the digest- ive organs. It is scarcely ever prescribed except in combination. In the West Indies it is employed by the negroes as a condiment, and has some re- putation as an antiscorbutic. Off.Prep. Pulvis Aloes et Canellae, U S., Dub.; Tinctura Gentianae Com- posita, Ed.; Vinum Aloes, Lond., Dub.; Vinum Gentianae, Ed.; Vinum Rhei, U S., Ed. W- CANNA. Ed. Canna Starch. « Fecula of the root of an imperfectly determined species of Canna." Ed. Under the French name of tons les mois, a variety of fecula has recently been introduced into the markets of Europe and this country. It is said to be prepared in the West India island of St. Kitts, by a tedious and trouble- some process, from the root or rhizome of the Canna coccinea, although this botanical origin is altogether uncertain. 160 Canna.—Cantharis. part i. Canna starch is in the form of a light, beautifully white powder, of a shining appearance, very unlike the ordinary forms of fecula. Its granules are said to be larger than those of any other variety of starch in use, being from the 300th to the 200th of an inch in length. Under the microscope they appear ovate or oblong, with numerous regular unequally distant rings; and the circular hylum, which is sometimes double, is usually situated at the smaller extremity. (Pereira.) This fecula has the ordinary chemical proper- ties of starch, and forms, when prepared with boiling water, a nutritious and wholesome food for infants and invalids. It may be prepared in the same manner as arrow-roof, and is said to form even a stiffer jelly with boiling water. (See Maranta.) W. CANTHARIS. U.S., Lond., Ed. Spanish Flies. "Cantharis vesicatoria." U. S., Loud., Ed. Off. Syn, CANTHARIS VESICATORIA. Dub. Cantharide, Fr./rSpanische Fliege, Kantharide, Germ.; Cantarelle, Ital; Cantharidas, Span. The term Cantharis was employed by the ancient Greek writers to desig- nate many coleopterous insects. Linnaeus conferred the title upon a genus in which the officinal blistering fly was not included, and placed this insect in the genus Meloe. This latter, however, has been divided by subsequent naturalists into several genera. Geoffroy made the Spanish fly the prototype of a new one which he called Cantharis, substituting Cicindcla as the title of the Linnaean genus. Fabricius made some alteration in the arrangement of Geoffroy, and substituted Lytfa for Cantharis as the generic title. The former was adopted by the London College, and at one time was in exten- sive use; but the latter, having been restored by Latreille, is now recognised in the European and American Pharmacopoeias, and is universally employed. By this naturalist the vesicating insects were grouped in a small tribe corre- sponding very nearly with the Linnaean genus Meloe, and distinguished by the title Cantharidese. This tribe he divided into eleven genera, among which is the Cantharis. Two others of these genera, the Meloe properly so called, and the Myhdris, have been employed as vesicatories. The Mylcibris cichorii is thought to be one of the insects described by Pliny and Dioseorides under the name of cantharides, and is to this day employed in Italy, Greece, the Levant, and Egypt;_ and another species, the M. pustulata, is applied to the same purpose in China. The Meloe proscarabseus and M. ma falls have been occasionally substituted for cantharides in Europe, and the M. trianthemse is used to a considerable extent in the upper provinces of Hindostan. Several species of Cantharis, closely analogous to each other in medical properties, are found in various parts of the world; but the C. vesicatoria is the only one recognised by the Pharmacopoeias of France and Great Britain. The C. vittata has been introduced into that of the United States and will he noticed under a distinct head. At present we shall confine our observations to the C. vedcatoria, or common Spanish fly. Cantharis. Class Insect a. Order Coleoptera. Linn.—i*Tf;/u7y Trachelides. Tribe Cantharideae. Latreille. Gen. Ch. Tarsi entire; nails bifid; head not produced into a rostrum; elytra flexible, covering the whole abdomen, linear semieylindric • winqs perfect; maxill.se with two membranaceous lacinix, the external one acute within, subuncinatc; antennse longer than the head and thorax rectilinear- PART I. Cantharis. 161 first joint largest, the second transverse, very short; maxillary palpi larger at tip. Say. Cantharis vesicatoria. Latreille, Gen. Crust, et Insect., torn. ii. p. 220. This insect is from six to ten lines in length, by two or three in breadth, and of a beautiful shining golden-green colour. The head is large and heart- shaped, bearing two thread-like, black, jointed feelers; the thorax short and quadrilateral; the wing-sheaths long and flexible, covering brownish membranous wings. When alive, the Spanish flies have a strong, penetrating, fetid odour, compared to that of mice, by which swarms of them may be de- tected at a considerable distance. They attach themselves preferably to cer- tain trees and shrubs, such as the white poplar, privet, ash, elder, and lilac, upon the leaves of which they feed. The countries in which they most abound are Spain, Italy, and the South of France; but they are found to a greater or less extent in all the temperate parts of Europe, and in the West of Asia. In the state of larva, they live in the ground and gnaw the roots of plants. They usually make their appearance in swarms upon the trees in the months of May and June, at which period they are collected. The time preferred for the purpose is in the morning at sun-rise, when they are torpid from the cold of the night, and easily let go their hold. Persons with their faces protected by masks, and their hands with gloves, shake the trees, or beat them with poles; and the insects are received as they fall upon linen cloths spread underneath. They are then plunged into vinegar diluted with water, or exposed in sieves to the vapour of boiling vinegar, and, having been thus deprived of life, are dried either in the sun, or in apartments heated by stoves. This mode of killing the flies by the steam of vinegar is as ancient as the times of Dioscorides and Pliny. In some places they are gathered by smoking the trees with burning brimstone. When perfectly dry, they are introduced into casks or boxes, lined with paper and carefully closed, so as to exclude as much as possible the atmospheric moisture. Cantharides come chiefly from Spain, Italy, Sicily, and other parts of the Mediterranean. Considerable quantities are also brought from St. Petersburg, derived originally, in all probability, from the southern provinces of Russia, where the insect is very abundant. The Russian flies are more esteemed than those from other sources. They may be distinguished by their greater size, and their colour approaching to that of copper. Properties. Dried Spanish flies preserve the form and colour, and, to a certain extent, the disagreeable odour of the living insect. They have an acrid, burning, and urinous taste. Their powder is of a grayish-brown colour, interspersed with shining green particles, which are the fragments of the feet, head, and wing-cases. If kept perfectly dry, in well-stopped glass bottles, they will retain their activity for a great length of time. A portion which had been preserved by Van Swieten for thirty years, in a glass vessel, was found still to possess vesicating properties. But, exposed to a damp air, they quickly undergo putrefaction; and this change takes place more speedily in the powder. Hence, the insects should either be kept whole, and powdered as they, are wanted for use, or, if kept in powder, should be well dried im- mediately after pulverization, and preserved in air-tight vessels. ^ They should never be purchased in powder, as, independently of the consideration just mentioned, they may in this state be more easily adulterated. ^ But, however carefully managed, cantharides are apt to be attacked by mites, which feed on the interior soft parts of the body, reducing them to powder, while the harder exterior parts are not affected. An idea was at one time prevalent, that the vesicating property of the insect was not injured by the worm, which was supposed to devour only the inactive portion. But this has been proved to 11 162 Cantharis. PART I. be a mistake. M. Farines, an apothecary of Perpignan, has satisfactorily shown that, though the hard parts left by these mites possess some vesicating power, and the powder produced by them still more, yet the sound flies are much stronger than either. Camphor, which has been, recommended as a preservative, does not prevent the destructive agency of the worm.* It is also stated by M. Fariues that, when the flies are destroyed by the vapour of pyroligneous acid, instead of common vinegar, they acquire an odour which contributes to their preservation. Cantharides will bear a very considerable heat without losing the brilliant colour of their elytra; nor is this colour ex- tracted by water, alcohol, ether, or the oils; so that the powder might be deprived of all its active principles, and yet retain the exterior characters unaltered. The wing cases resist putrefaction for a long time, and the shining particles have been detected in the human stomach months after interment. So early as 1778, Thouvenel attempted to analyze cantharides, and the attempt was repeated by Dr. Beaupoil in 1803; but no very interesting or valuable result was obtained till the year 1810, when Robiquet discovered in them a crystalline substance, which appears to be the vesicating principle of the insect, and to which Dr. Thomson gave the name of cantharidin. The constituents, according to Robiquet, are, 1. a green oil, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol, and inert as a vesicatory; 2. a black matter, soluble in water, insoluble in alcohol, and inert; 3. a yellow viscid matter, soluble in water and alcohol, and without vesicating powers; 4. cantharidin; 5. a fatty matter insoluble in alcohol; 6. phosphates of lime and magnesia, acetic acid, and in the fresh insect a small quantity of uric acid. Orfila has since dis- covered a volatile principle, upon which the fetid odour of the fly depends. It is separable by distillation with water. Cantharidin is a white substance in the form of crystalline scales, of a shining micaceous appearance, insoluble in water and cold alcohol, but soluble in ether, the oils, and in boiling alcohol, which deposits it upon cooling. It is fusible and volatilizable by heat with- out decomposition, and its vapours condense in acicular crystals. It is obtained by macerating powdered flies in ether for several days; introducing the mix- ture into a percolation apparatus; adding, after the liquid has ceased to flow out, fresh portions of ether, till it comes away nearly colourless; displacing the whole of the menstruum still remaining in the mass by pouring water upon it; distilling the filtered liquor so as to recover the ether; then allowing the residue to cool; and, finally, purifying the cantharidin which is deposited, by treating it with boiling alcohol and animal charcoal. Alcohol of 34°, or a mixture of alcohol and ether, may be substituted for the ether itself; but the last-mentioned fluid is preferable, as it dissolves less of the green oil, the separation of which from the cantharidin is the most difficult part of the pro- cess. By this plan, M. Thierry obtained from 1000 parts of powdered flies, 4 parts of pure cantharidin. Notwithstanding the insolubility of this prin- ciple in water and cold alcohol, the decoction and tincture of cantharides have * It appears, from the experiments of M. Nivet, that, though camphor does not pre- serve the entire fly from the attacks of the larvae of the Anthrenus, it actually destroys the mites of the Cantharis so often found in the powder, and may, therefore be intro- duced with advantage in small lumps, into bottles containing powdered cantharides. (Journ. de Pharm. xix. 604.) Carbonate of ammonia has also been recommended as a preservative. Pereira has found that a few drops of strong acetic acid added to the flies are very effectual. Perhaps, however, the best means of preserving them, whether whole or in powder, would be the application of the process of Apert, which consists in ex- posing them, for half an hour, confined in glass bottles, to the heat of boiling water, which destroys the eggs of the insect, without impairing the virtues of the flies (Ibid. xxii. 246.) Of course, the access of water to the flies should be carefully avoided PART I. Cantharis. 163 the peculiar medicinal properties of the insect; and Lewis ascertained that both the aqueous and alcoholic extracts acted as effectually in exciting vesi- cation as the flies themselves, while the residue was in each case inert. The cantharidin consequently exists in the insect, so combined with the yellow matter as to be rendered soluble in water and cold alcohol. It has been found also in the Cantharis vittata, and Mylabris cicborii, and in different species of Meloe. Adulterations. These are not common. Occasionally other insects are added, purposely, or through carelessness. These may be readily distin- guished by their different shape or colour. An account has been published of considerable quantities of variously coloured glass beads having been found in a parcel of flies; but this would be too coarse a fraud to be extensively practised. Pereira states that powdered flies are sometimes adulterated with euphorbium. Medical Properties and Uses. Internally administered, cantharides are a powerful stimulant, exercising a peculiar influence over the urinary and geni- tal organs. In moderate doses, this medicine sometimes acts as a diuretic. and generally excites some irritation in the urinary passages, which, if its use be persevered in, or the dose increased, often amounts to violent stran- gury, attended with excruciating pain, and the discharge of bloody urine. In- still larger quantities, it produces, in addition to these effects, obstinate and painful priapism, vomiting, bloody stools, severe pains in the whole abdominal region, excessive salivation with a fetid cadaverous breath, hurried respira- tion, a hard and frequent pulse, burning thirst, exceeding difficulty of deglu- tition, sometimes a dread of liquids, frightful convulsions, tetanus, delirium, and death. Orfila has known twenty-four grains of the powder prove fatal. Dissection reveals inflammation and ulceration of the mucous coat of the whole intestinal canal. According to M. Poumet, if the intestines be inflated, dried. cut into pieces, and examined in the sun between two pieces of glass, they will exhibit small shining yellow or green points, strongly contrasting with the matter around them, (dourn. de Pharm,, Se ser., iii. 167.) The poison- ous effects are to be counteracted by emetics, cathartics, bleeding, and opiates by the stomach and rectum. Dr. Mulock, of Dublin, recommends the offi- cinal solution of potassa as an antidote, having found thirty drops given every hour an effectual remedy in strangury from blisters. (Dub. Quart. Journ. of Med. Sci., N. S., vi. 222.) Notwithstanding their exceeding violence, can- tharides have been long and beneficially used in medicine. Either these or other vesicating insects appear to have been given by Hippocrates in cases of dropsy and amenorrhcea, in the latter of which complaints, when properly prescribed, they are a highly valuable reined}-. In dropsy they sometimes prove beneficial, when the system is in an atonic condition, and the vessels of the kidneys feeble. Dr. Ferriar considers them peculiarly useful in the anasarcous swellings which occasionally succeed scarlet fever. They are also useful in obstinate gleet, leucorrhcea, and seminal weakness; and afford one of the most certain means of relief in incontinence of mine, arising from de- bility or partial paralysis of the sphincter of the bladder. A case of diabetes is recorded in the N. Am. Archives (vol. ii. p. 17f>), in which a cure was effected under the use of tincture of cantharides. They are used also in cer- tain cutaneous eruptions, especially those of a scaly character, and in chronic- eczema. Dr. Irven has employed them in scurvy. (Ann. de Therap., 1845 J Their unpleasant effects upon the urinary passages are best obviated by the free use of diluent drinks; and, when not consequent upon great abuse of the medicine, may almost always be relieved by an anodyne injection, composed of laudanum with a small quantity of mucilaginous fluid. The dose of Spanish 164 Cantharis. PART I. flies is one or two grains of the powder, which may be given twice a day in the form of pill. The tincture, however, is more frequently employed. Externally applied, cantharides excite inflammation in the skin, which terminates in a copious secretion of serum under the cuticle.. Even thus ap- plied, they not unfrequently give rise to strangury or tenesmus^ and this, in fact, is one of the most troublesome attendants upon their operation. It pro- bably results from the absorption of the active principle of the fly; and is not prevented by any of the various modes of combination in which the epispastic substance has been applied. Camphor given internally, or mixed with the flies previously to their application, was at one time in much repute as a pre- ventive of strangury, but has lost its credit. The most certain method of ob- viating this unpleasant effect, is to allow the epispastic application to continue no longer than is necessary to its full rubefacient operation, and afterwards to favour vesication by the use of an emollient poultice. (See Ceratum Can- tliaridis.) The blistering fly may be employed either as a rubefacient, or with a view to the production of a blister. In the former capacity it is seldom used, except in low states of disease, where external stimulation is required to sup- port the system; but as an epispastic it is preferred to all other substances, and, in the extent of its employment, is surpassed by few articles of the Ma- teria Medica. Blisters are calculated to answer numerous indications. Their local effect is attended with a general excitement of the system, which renders them valuable auxiliaries to internal stimulants in low or typhoid conditions of disease; and they may sometimes be safely resorted to with this view, when the latter remedies are inadmissible. The powerful impression they make on the system is sufficient, in many instances, to subvert morbid associations, and thus to allow the re-establishment of healthy action. Hence their application to the cure of remittent and intermittent fevers, in which they often prove effectual, when so employed as to be in full operation at the period for the recurrence of the paroxysm. On the principle of revulsion, they prove useful in a vast variety of complaints. Drawing both the nervous energy and the circu- lating fluid to the seat of their own immediate action, they reiieve irritations and inflammations of internal parts; and are employed for this purpose in every disease attended with these derangements. In such cases, however, arterial excitement should always be reduced by direct depletion before the remedy is resorted to. Blisters are also capable of substituting their action for one of a morbid nature existing in the part to which they are directly applied. Hence their use in tinea capitis, obstinate herpes, and various cuta- neous eruptions. Their local stimulation renders them useful in some cases of threatened gangrene, and in partial paralysis. From the serous discharge they occasion, much good results in erysipelas and various other local inflam- mations, in the immediate vicinity of which their action can be established; and the effects of an issue may be obtained by the continued application of irritants to the blistered surface. Perhaps the pain produced by blisters may be useful in some cases of nervous excitement or derangement, in which it is desirable to withdraw the attention of the patient from subjects of agitating reflection. On some constitutions they produce a poisonous impression, attended with frequent pulse, dryness of the mouth and fauces heat of skin, subsultus tendinum, and even convulsions; and some physicians have been so much alarmed by the occasional occurrence of these symptoms as to induce them to employ the remedy with great hesitation. AVhat is the precise con- dition of system in which these effects result, it is impossible to determine. They probably arise from the absorption of the active principle of cantharides; PART I. Cantharis.—Cantharis Vittata. 165 and depend on idiosyncrasies of constitution, by which the system of certain individuals is susceptible of impressions different from those usually produced by the same cause. In this respect the Spanish flies are analogous to mer- cury; and any argument drawn from this source against the use of the one would equally apply to the other. The general good which results from their use far overbalances any partial and uncertain evil. For some rules relative to the application of blisters, the reader is referred to the ai'ticle Ceratum, Cantli.arid.is. Off. Prep. Acetuni Cantharidis, Lond., Ed.; Ceratum Cantharidis, U.S.; Cerat. Cantharidis, Lond.; Emplastrum Cantharidis, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emplast. Cantharidis Comp., Ed.; Linimentum Cantharidis, U.S.; Tinc- tura Cantharidis, U.S., Loud,., Ed., Dub.; Unguent. Cantharidis, U.S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Unguent. Infusi Cantharidis, Ed. W. CANTHARIS VITTATA. U.S. Potato Flies. « Cantharis vittata." U. S. Within the limits of the United States are several species of Cantharis, which have been employed as substitutes for the C. vesicatoria, and found to be equally efficient. Of these, only the C. vittata has been adopteu as offici- nal; but as others may be more abundant in particular districts, or in certain seasons, and are not inferior in vesicating powers, we shall briefly notice all which have been submitted to experiment. 1. Cantharis vittata. Latreille, Gen. Crust, et Insect.; Durand, Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., ii. 274, fig. 4. The potato fly is rather smaller than the C. vesicatoria, which it resembles in shape. Its length is about six lines. The head is of a light red colour, with dark spots upon the top; the feelers are black; the elytra or wing cases are black, with a yellow longitudinal stripe in the centre, and with a yellow margin; the thorax is also black, with three yellow lines; and the abdomen and legs, which have the same colour, are covered with a cinereous down. It inhabits chiefly the potato plant, and makes its appearance about the end of July or beginning of August, in some seasons in great abundance. It is found on the plant in the morning and evening, but during the heat of the day descends into the soil. The insects are collected by shaking them from the plant into hot water; and are after- wards carefully dried in the sun. They are natives of the Middle and South- ern States. This species of Cantharis was first described by Fabricius in the year 1781; and was introduced to the notice of the profession by Dr. Isaac Chapman, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, who found it equal if not superior to the Spanish fly as a vesicatory. The testimony of Dr. Chapman has been corroborated by that of many other practitioners, some of whom have even gone so far as to assert, that the potato fly is not attended in its action with the inconvenience of producing strangury. But this statement has been ascertained to be in- correct; and, as the vesicating property of all these insects probably depends upon the same • proximate principle, their operation maybe considered as identical in other respects. If the potato fly has been found more speedy in its effects than the Cantharis of Spain, the result is perhaps attributable to the greater freshness of the former. It may be applied to the same purposes, treated in the same manner, and given in the same dose as the foreign insect, 2. Cantharis cinerca. Latreille, Gen. Crust, et Insect.; Burundi, Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., ii. 274, fig. 5. The ash-coloured cantharis closely 166 Cantharis Vittata. PART I. resembles the preceding species in figure and size; but differs from it in colour. The elytra and body are black, without the yellow stripes that cha- racterize the C. vittata, and are entirely covered with a short and dense ash- coloured down, which conceals the proper colour of the insect. The feelers are black, and the first and second joints are very large in the male. This species also inhabits the potato plant, 'and is occasionally found on other plants, as the English bean and wild indigo. It is a native of the Northern and Middle States. All the remarks before made upon the potato fly, as to the mode of collection, properties, and medical use, apply equally well to that at present under consideration. Illiger in 1801 first discovered its vesicating properties; but to Dr. Gorham is due the credit of calling public attention particularly to the subject, in a communication addressed, in the year 1808, to the Medical Society of Massachusetts. This species is often confounded with the C. vittata. 3. Cantharis marginata. Latreille, Gen. Crust, et Insect.; Durand, Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., ii. 274, fig. 6. This is somewhat larger than the C. vittata, and of a different shape. The elytra are black, with the suture and margin ash-coloured. The head, thorax, and abdomen are black, but nearly covered with an ash-coloured down; and on the upper part of the abdomen, under the wings, are two longitudinal lines of a bright clay colour. This species is usually found, in the latter part of summer, upon the different plants belonging to the genus Clematis, and frequents especially the lower branches which trail along the ground. Professor Woodhouse, of Philadel- phia, first ascertained the vesicating properties of this insect; but it had pre- viously been described by Fabricius as a native of the Cape of Good Hope. Dr. Harris, of Massachusetts, found it equally efficient as a vesicatory with any other species of this genus. 4. Cantharis atrata. Latreille, Gen. Crust, et fnsect.; Durand, Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., ii. 274, fig. 7. The Uacl- cantharis is smaller than the indigenous species already described; but resembles the C. marginata in figure. Its length is only four or five lines. It is distinguished by its size, and by its uniform black colour. It frequents more especially the different species of Aster and Solidago, though it is found also on the Prunella vul- garis, Ambrosia trifida, and some other plants. Mr. Durand met with con- siderable numbers of this insect, in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, in the month of September, and they continued to appear till the middle of October. They are common in the Northern and Middle States, but are not confined exclusively to this country, being found also in Barbary. Drs. Oswood and Harris, of New England, have experimented with them, and satisfactorily ascertained their vesicating powers. They are probably identical with the insect noticed as vesicatory by Professor Woodhouse, under the name of Meloe niger. Several other species have been discovered in the United States, but not yet practically employed. Among these are the C. seneas, a native of Penn- sylvania, discovered by Mr. Say; the C. politus and C. aszelianus, which in- habit the Southern States; the C. Nut'tali7, a large and beautiful insect of Missouri, first noticed by Mr. Nuttall, and said to surpass the Spanish fly in magnitude and splendour; and the C. albida, another large species, found by Mr. Say near the Rocky Mountains. Of these the C. Nuttalli (Lytta Nut- talli, Say, Am. Entomol., i. 9) bids fair, at some future period, to be an object of importance in the western section of this country. The head is of a deep greenish colour, with a red spot in front; the thorax is of a golden green; the elytra, red or golden purple and somewhat rugose on their outer surface, green and polished beneath; the feet black; the thighs, blue or pur- PART I. Cantharis Vittata.—Capsicum. 167 plish. The exploring party under Major Long ascertained the vesicating powers of this insect. It was found in the plains of the Missouri, feeding on a scanty grass, which it sometimes covered to a considerable extent, In one place it was so numerous and troublesome, as to be swept away by bushels, in order that a place might be cleared for encamping. W. CAPSICUM. U.S., Lond. Cayenne Pepper. "The fruit of Capsicum annuum." U.S. "Capsicum annuum. Baccee." Lond. "Fruit of Capsicum annuum and other species." Ed. Off Syn. CAPSICUM ANNUUM. Capsulae cum seminibus. Dub. Poivre de Guinee, Poivre d'Inde, Fr.; Spanischer Pfeffer, Germ.; Pepperone, Ital; Pimiento, Span. Capsicum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Solanaceae. Gen, Ch. Corolla wheel-shaped. Berry without juice. Willd. Numerous species of Capsicum, inhabiting the East Indies and tropical America, are enumerated by botanists, the fruit of which, differing simply in the degree of pungency, may be indiscriminately employed. The C. baccatum or bird pepper, and the C. frutescens, are said to yield most of the Cayenne pepper brought from the West Indies and South America; and Ainslie in- forms us that the latter is chiefly employed in the East Indies. The species most extensively cultivated in Europe and this country, is that recognised as officinal by the Pharmacopoeias, namely, the C. annuum. The first two are shrubby plants, the last is annual and herbaceous. Capsicum annuum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1052; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 226, t. 80. The stem of the annual capsicum is thick, roundish, smooth, and branching; rises two or three feet in height; and supports ovate, pointed, smooth, entire leaves, which are placed without regular order on long foot- stalks. The flowers are solitary, white, and stand on long peduncles at the axils of the leaves. The calyx is persistent, tubular, and five-cleft; the corolla, monopetalous and wheel-shaped, with the limb divided into five spreading, pointed, and plaited segments; the filaments, short, tapering, and furnished with oblong anthers; the germen, ovate, supporting a slender style which is longer than the filaments, and terminates in a blunt stigma. The fruit is a pendulous, pod-like berry, light, Smooth and shining, of a bright, scarlet, orange, or sometimes yellow colour, with two or three cells, containing a dry, loose pulp, and numerous flat, kidney-shaped, whitish seeds. The plant is a native of the warmer regions of Asia and America, and is cultivated in almost all parts of the world. It is abundantly produced in this country, both for culinary and medicinal purposes. The flowers appear in July and August, and the fruit ripens in October. Several varieties are cul- tivated in our gardens, differing in the shape of the fruit. The most abundant is probably that with a large irregularly ovate berry, depressed at the extremity, which is much used in the green state for pickling. The medicinal variety is that with long, conical, generally pointed, recurved fruit, usually not thicker than the finger. Sometimes we meet with small, splierical, slightly compressed berries, not greatly exceeding a large cherry in size. When perfectly ripe and dry, the fruit is ground into powder, and brought into market under the name of red or Cayenne pepper. Our markets are also partly supplied by importa- tion from the AVest Indies. A variety of capsicum, consisting of very small, conical, exceedingly pungent berries, has recently been imported from Liberia. In England the fruit of the C. annuum is frequently called chillies. 168 Capsicum. PART r. Powdered capsicum is usually of a more or less bright red colour, which fades upon exposure to light, and ultimately disappears. The odour is peculiar and somewhat aromatic, stronger in the recent than in the dried fruit. The taste is bitterish, acrid, and burning, producing a fiery sensation in the mouth, which continues for a long time. The pungency appears to depend on a pecu- liar principle, which was obtained, though probably not in a perfectly isolated state, by Braconnot, and named capsicin. The fruit, freed from the seeds, was submitted to the action of alcohol, and the resulting tincture evaporated. During the evaporation a red-coloured wax separated, and the residuary liquor by further evaporation afforded an extract, from which ether dissolved the capsicin. This was obtained by evaporating the ether. It resembles an oil or soft resin, is of a yellowish-brown or reddish-brown colour, and when tasted, though at first balsamic, soon produces an insupportably hot and pungent im- pression over the whole interior of the mouth. Exposed to heat it melts, and at a higher temperature emits fumes, which, even in very small quantity, excite coughing and sneezing. It is slightly soluble in water and vinegar, and very soluble in alcohol, ether, oil of turpentine, and the caustic alkalies, which it renders reddish-brown. It constitutes, according to Braconnot, 1-9 per cent. of the fruit. The other ingredients, as ascertained by the same chemist, are colouring matter, an azotized substance, gum, pectic acid (probably pectin), and saline matters. Red oxide of lead is sometimes added to the powdered capsicum sold in Europe. It may be detected by digesting the suspected pow- der in diluted nitric acid, filtering, and adding a solution of sulphate of soda, which will throw clown a white precipitate if there be any oxide of lead pre- sent. Capsicum is said to be sometimes adulterated with coloured saw-dust- Medictd Properties and Uses. Cayenne pepper is a powerful stimulant, producing when swallowed a sense of heat in the stomach, and a general glow over the body, without any narcotic effect. Its influence over the circulation, though considerable, is not in proportion to its local action. It is much em- ployed as a condiment, and proves highly useful in correcting the flatulent tendency of certain vegetables, and bringing them within the digestive powers of the stomach. Hence the advantage derived from it by the natives of tro- pical climates, who live chiefly on vegetable food. In the East Indies it has been used from time immemorial. From a passage in the works of Pliny, it appears to have been known to the Romans. As a medicine it is useful in cases of enfeebled and languid stomach, and is occasionally prescribed in dys- pepsia^ and atonic gout, particularly when attended with much flatulence, or occurring in persons of intemperate habits. It has also been given as a stimu- lant in palsy and certain lethargic affections. To the sulphate of quinia it forms an excellent addition in some cases of intermittents, in which there is a great want of gastric susceptibility. It acts by exciting the stomach, and ren- dering it sensible to the influence of the tonic. Upon the same principle, it may prove useful in low forms of fever as an adjuvant to tonic or stimulant medicines. Its most important application, however, is to the treatment of malignant sore-throat and scarlet fever, in which it is used both internally and as a gargle. No other remedy has obtained equal credit in these complaints. The following formula was employed in malignant scarlatina, with great ad- vantage, in the West Indies, where this application of the remedy originated. Two tablespoonfuls of the powdered pepper, with a teaspoonful of common salt, are infused for an hour in a pint of a boiling liquid composed of equal parts of water and vinegar. This is strained when cool through a fine linen cloth, and given in the dose of a tablespoonful every half hour. The same preparation is also used as a gargle. It is, however, only to the worst cases that the remedy is applied so energetically. In milder cases of scarlatina part I. Capsicum.—Carlo. 169 with inflamed or ulcerated throat, much relief and positive advantage often follow the employment of the pepper in a more diluted state. Capsicum has also been advantageously used in sea-sickness, in the dose of a teaspoonful, given in some convenient vehicle on the first occurrence of nausea. Applied externally, Cayenne pepper is a powerful rubefacient, very useful in local rheumatism, and in low forms of disease, where a stimulant impres- sion upon the surface is demanded. It has the advantage, under these cir- cumstances, of acting speedily without endangering vesication. It may be applied in the form of cataplasm, or more conveniently and efficiently as a lotion, mixed with heated spirit. The powder or tincture, brought into con- tact with a relaxed uvula, often acts very beneficially. The dose of the powder is from five to ten grains, which may be most conveniently given in the form of pill. Of an infusion prepared by adding two drachms to half a pint of boiling water, the dose is about half a fluid- ounce. A gargle may be prepared by infusing half a drachm of the powder in a pint of boiling water, or by adding half a fluidounce of the tincture to eight fluidounces of rose-water. Off. Prep. Tinctura Capsici, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. CARBO. Carbon. Pure charcoal; Carbone, Fr., Ital; Kohlenstoff, Germ.; Carbon, Span. Carbon is an elementary substance of great importance, and very exten- sively diffused in nature. It exists in large quantity in the mineral kingdom, and forms the most abundant constituent of animal and vegetable matter. In a state of perfect purity and crystallized, it constitutes the diamond, and, more or less pure, it forms the substances known under the names of plumbago or black lead, anthracite, bituminous coal, coke, animal charcoal, and vegetable charcoal. Combined with oxygen, it constitutes carbonic acid, which is a constituent of the atmosphere, and present in many natural waters, especially those which have an effervescing quality. United with oxygen and a base, it forms the carbonates, among others carbonate of lime, which is one of the most abundant combinations of the mineral kingdom. The diamond, or crystallized carbon, is found principally in India and Brazil. Within a few years, several diamonds have been found in the gold region of Georgia. This gem is perfectly transparent, and the hardest and most brilliant substance in nature. Its sp. gr. is about 3-5. It is perfectly fixed and unalterable in the fire, provided air be excluded; but it is combusti- ble in air or oxygen, the product being the same as when charcoal is burned, namely carbonic acid. Next to diamond, plumbago and anthracite are the purest natural forms of carbon. Plumbago is the substance of which black lead crucibles and pencils are made. It is found in greatest purity, perhaps, in the mine of Borrow- dale, in England; but it also occurs very pure in this country, especially near Bustieton, in Pennsylvania. It was formerly supposed to^ be a carburet of iron; but, in very pure specimens, it is nearly free from iron, which must, therefore, be deemed an accidental impurity. Anthracite occurs in different parts of the world, but particularly in the United States. Immense beds of it exist in Pennsylvania. Bituminous coal is a form of the carbonaceous principle, in which the carbon is associated with volatile matter of a bitumin- ous nature. When this is driven off by the process of charring, as in the manufacture of coal gas, a kind of mineral charcoal, called coke, is obtained, very useful in the arts as a fuel. 170 Carlo.—Carlo Animalis. PART i. Carbon may be obtained artificially, in a state approaching to purity, by several processes. One method is to expose lampblack to a full red heat in a close vessel. It may also be obtained in a very pure state by passing the vapour of volatile oils through an ignited porcelain tube; whereby the hy- drogen and oxygen of the oil will be dissipated, and the charcoal left in the tube. A very pure charcoal is procured by exposing sugar, or other vegetable substances which leave no ashes when burnt, to ignition in close vessels. Properties. Carbon in its crystallized form has already been described as diamond. In its uncrystallized state it is an insoluble, infusible solid, gene- rally of a black colour, and without taste or smell. It burns when sufficiently heated, uniting with the oxygen of the air, and generating a gaseous acid, called carbonic acid. Its sp. gr. in the solid state, apart from the pores which it contains when in mass, is 3-5; but, with the pores included, it is only 0-44. It is a very unalterable and indestructible substance, and has great power in resisting and correcting putrefaction in other bodies. When in a state of extreme division, it possesses the remarkable power of destroying the colour- ing and odorous principles of most liquids. (See Carbo Animalis.) Its other physical properties differ according to its source and peculiar state of aggre- gation. Its equivalent number is 6, and its symbol C. As a chemical ele- ment, it enjoys a very extensive range of combination. It combines in five proportions with oxygen, forming carbonic oxide, and carbonic, oxalic, mellitic, and croconic acids. (See Aqua Acidi Carbonici and Oxalic Acid.) With hydrogen it forms a number of compounds, called carbo-hydrogens, of which the most interesting, excluding hypothetical radicals, are light carburetted hydrogen, or fire damp, olefiant gas, the light and concrete oils of wine, and certain non-oxygenous volatile oils. With nitrogen it constitutes cyanogen, the compound radical of hydrocyanic or prussic acid; and united with iron in minute proportion it forms steel. To notice all the forms of the carbonaceous principle would be out of place in this work. We shall, therefore, restrict ourselves to the consideration of those which are officinal, namely, animal charcoal and icood charcoal. These are described in the two following articles. B. CARBO ANIMALIS. U. S., Lond., Ed. Animal Charcoal " Charcoal prepared from bones." U S. " Carbo. Ex came et ossibus cac- tus." Lond.; " Impure animal charcoal obtained commonly from bones." Ed. Charbon animal, Fr.; Thierische Kohle, Germ.; Carbone animale, Ital; Carbon ani- mal, Span. The animal charcoal employed in pharmacy and the arts, is obtained from bones by subjecting them to a red heat in close vessels, and is chiefly em- ployed as a decolorizing agent. The residue of the ignition is a black mat- ter, which, when reduced to powder, forms the substance properly called bone- black, but familiarly known under the incorrect name of ivory-black. Ivory by carbonization will furnish a black, which, on account of its fineness and intensely black colour, is more esteemed than the ordinary bone-black • but it is much more expensive. Animal charcoal, in the form of bone-black, is extensively manufactured for the use of sugar refiners and others; and an ammoniacal liquor called bone spirit, is obtained as a secondary product, and sold to the makers of sal ammoniac. The bones are subjected to destructive distillation in iron PART I. Carlo Animalis. 171 retorts or cylinders, and, when the bone spirit ceases to come over, the resi- duum is chftrred bone, or bone-black. Bone consists of animal matter with phosphate and carbonate of lime. In consequence of a new arrangement of the elements of the animal matter, the nitrogen and hydrogen united as am- monia, and a part of the charcoal in the form of carbonic acid, distil over; while the remainder of the charcoal is left in the retort, intermingled with the calcareous salts. In this form, therefore, of animal charcoal, the carbon is mixed with phosphate and carbonate of lime; and the same is the case with the true ivory-black. Properties. Animal charcoal, in the form of bone-black, called ivory-black in the shops, is a black powder, possessing a slightly alkaline and bitterish taste, and having a general resemblance to powdered vegetable charcoal. It is, however, more dense and less combustible than this charcoal, from which, moreover, it may be distinguished by burning a small portion of it on a red- hot iron, when it will leave a residuum imperfectly acted on by sulphuric acid; whereas the ashes from vegetable charcoal will readily dissolve in this acid, forming a bitterish solution. Animal charcoal by no means necessarily possesses the decolorizing pro- perty; as this depends upon its peculiar state of aggregation. If a piece of pure animal matter be carbonized, it usually enters into fusion, and, from the gaseous matter which is extricated, becomes porous and cellular. The char- coal formed has generally a metallic lustre, and a colour resembling that of black lead. It has, however, little or no decolorizing power, even though it may be finely pulverized. Uationcde of the Effects of Charcoal as a Decolorizing Agent. The de- colorizing power of charcoal was first noticed by Lowitz of St. Petersburg; and the subject was subsequently ably investigated by Bussy, Payen, and Desfosses. It is generally communicated to charcoal by igniting it in close vessels, but not always. The kind of charcoal, for example, obtained from substances which undergo fusion during carbonization, does not possess the property, even though it may be afterwards finely pulverized. The property in question is possessed to a certain extent by wood charcoal; but is deve- loped in it in a much greater degree by burning it with some chemical sub- stance, which may have the effect of reducing it to an extreme degree of fine- ness. The most powerful of all the charcoals for discharging colours are those obtained from certain animal matters, such as dried blood, hair, horns, hoofs, &c, by first carbonizing them in connexion with carbonate of potassa, and then washing the product with water. Charcoal, thus prepared, seems to be reduced to its finest possible particles. The next most powerful decolor- izing charcoal is irory or bone-black, in which the separation of the carbona- ceous particles is effected by the phosphate of lime present in the bone. Vegetable substances also may be made to yield a good charcoal for destroy- ing colour, provided, before carbonization, they be well comminuted, and mixed with pumice stone, chalk, flint, calcined bones, or other similar sub- stance in a pulverized state. It results from the foregoing facts, that the decolorizing power of charcoal depends upon a peculiar mode of aggregation of its particles, the leading cha- racter of which is that they are isolated from one another, and thus enabled to present a greater extent of surface. It is on this principle that certain chemical substances act in developing the property in question, when they are ignited, in a state of intimate mixture, with the substance to be charred. Thus, it is perceived that there is no necessary connexion between animal charcoal and the decolorizing power; as this charcoal may or may not possess the peculiar aggregation of its particles on which the power depends. Bone- 172 Carlo Animalis. PART I. black, for instance, has this property, not because it is an animal charcoal; but because, in consequence of the phosphate of lime present in the bone, the favourable state of aggregation is induced. . The following table, abridged from one drawn up by Bussy, denotes the relative decolorizing power of different charcoals. KINDS OF CHARCOAL. Bone-black, ----------- Bone charcoal treated by an acid, ..-.-- Lampblack, not ignited, -------- Charcoal from acetate of potassa, ------ Blood ignited with phosphate of lime, - Lampblack ignited with carbonate of potassa, - Blood ignited with chalk,........ White of egg ignited with carbonate of potassa, - - - - Glue ignited with carbonate of potassa, - Bone charcoal, formed by depriving the bone of phosphate of lime by an acid, and ignition with carbonate of potassa, - - - Blood ignited with carbonate of potassa, ----- Decolor-izing Pow on Syrup. Decolor-izing Pou on Indigc 1 1 1-6 1-8 3-3 4 4-4 5-6 10 12 10-6 12-2 11 18 15-5 34 15-5 36 20 45 20 50 Animal charcoal is capable of taking the bitter principles from bitter infu- sions and tinctures, according to the experiments of Weppen; as also iodine from liquids which contain it in solution, as observed by Lassaigne. Its power, however, of acting on solutions and chemical compounds, is much more decided in its purified«state, as shown by both Warrington and Weppen. In this state, it takes a number of salts from their aqueous solutions, and even converts chromate of potassa into the carbonate. (See Carbo Animalis Puri- ficatus.) Bone-black consists, in the hundred parts, of eighty-eight parts of phos- phate and carbonate of lime, ten of charcoal, and two of carburet or silicuret of iron. (Dumas.) The proportion of charcoal here given is small. Ac- cording to Dr. Christison, Scotch bone-black generally yields about twenty per cent, of charcoal, which is a large amount to be obtained by analysis, considering that thirty-three per cent, only of the bone is animal matter, and that part of the charcoal is lost in the process. Pharmaceutical Uses, dr. Animal charcoal is used in pharmacy for de- colorizing vegetable principles, such as quinia, morphia, &c, and in the arts, principally for clarifying syrups in sugar refining, and for depriving spirits distilled from grain of the peculiar volatile oil, called grain oil, which imparts to them an unpleasant taste as first distilled. The manner in which it is used is to mix it with the substance to be decolorized, and to allow the mixture to stand for some time. The charcoal unites chemically with the colouring mat- ter, and the solution by filtration is obtained white and transparent. Its use, however, in decolorizing the organic alkalies and other vegetable principles, no doubt, causes a loss by absorption. For most pharmaceutical operations, and when used as an antidote, animal charcoal must be purified by muriatic acid from phosphate and carbonate of lime. (See Carbo Animalis Pun'fi- calus.) In the U. S. formula for sulphate of quinia, however, it is used with- out purification. (See Quiniae Sulphas.) Off. Prep. Carbo Animalis Purificatus, U. S., Lond., Ed. B. PART I. Carlo Liyni. 173 CARBO LIGNI. U.S., Lond, Ed., Dub. Charcoal. Vegetable charcoal; Charbon de bois, Fr.; Holzkohle, Germ.; Cafbone di legno, Ital.; Carbon de lena, Span. Preparation on the Large Scale. Billets of wood are piled in a conical form, and covered with earth and sod to prevent the free access of air; several holes being left at the bottom, and one at the top of the pile, in order to pro- duce a draught to commence the combustion. The wood is then kindled from the bottom. In a little while, the hole at the top is closed, and, after the ignition is found to pervade the whole pile, those at the bottom are stopped also. The combustion taking place with a smothered flame and limited access of air, the volatile portions of the wood, consisting of hydrogen and oxygen, are dissipated; while the carbon, in the form of charcoal, is left behind. In this process for the carbonization of wood, all the volatile products are lost; and a portion of the charcoal itself is dissipated by combustion. Wood, thus carbonized, yields not more than 17 or 18 per. cent of charcoal. A better method is to char the wood in iron cylinders, when it yields from 22 to 23 parts in the 100 of excellent charcoal; and, at the same time, the means are afforded for collecting the volatile products, consisting of pyroligneous acid, empyreumatic oil, and tar. This process for obtaining charcoal has been described under another head. (See Acidum Pyroligncum.) Preparation for Medical Use. Common charcoal is not, perhaps, suffi- ciently pure for medical exhibition; as all the volatile portions of the wood are not completely expelled. Lowitz directs its purification to be conducted in the following manner. Fill a crucible with ordinary charcoal reduced to fine powder, and lute on a perforated cover. Then expose the whole to a strong red heat, and continue the ignition as long as a blue flame issues from the aperture in the cover. When this ceases, allow the charcoal to cool, and transfer it quickly to bottles, which must be well stopped. Properties. Charcoal is a black, shining, brittle, porous substance, taste- less and inodorous, and insoluble in water. It is a good conductor of electri- city, but a bad one of heat. It possesses the remarkable property of absorbing many times its own bulk of certain gases, provided it be perfectly dry. When exposed to the air after ignition, it increases rapidly in weight, absorb- ing from twelve to fourteen per cent, of moisture. As ordinarily prepared, it contains the incombustible part of the wood, amounting to one or two per cent., which is left in the form of ashes when the charcoal is burnt. These may be removed by digesting the charcoal in diluted muriatic acid, and after- wards washing it thoroughly with boiling water. Medical Properties, dr. Powdered charcoal is antiseptic and absorbent. It is employed with advantage in certain forms of dyspepsia, attended with fetid breath and putrid eructations; and it has been exhibited in dysentery with the effect of correcting the fetor of the stools. As a remedy in obsti- nate constipation, Dr. Daniel, of Savannah, speaks of it in high terms, and reports fourteen or fifteen cases in which it proved successful. He also found it useful in the nausea and confined state of the bowels which usually attend pregnancy. Its use as an ingredient of poultices is noticed, under the title of Cafajlasma Carbon is Ligni. Several of its varieties constitute the best tooth powder that can be used. Those which are generally preferred are the char- coals of the cocoa-nut shell and of bread. The dose of charcoal varies from twenty grains to a drachm or more. Dr. Daniel gave it, in his cases, in doses of a tablespoonful repeated every half hour. 174 Carlo Ligni.—Cardamine.—Cardamomum. part i. In consequence of the absorbent and antiseptic properties of charcoal, it is invaluable in domestic economy. Meat embedded in it in close vessels is kept perfectly sweet for many months; and water intended for long voyages is equally preserved by the addition of its powder. The power of some of its varieties in destroying colours and odours is very considerable; and it acts upon the principle which has been explained under the head of animal char- coal. (See Carbo Animalis.) Schonbein has observed the power of char- coal to absorb chlorine, iodine, and bromine, both when in the gaseous and vaporous state, and when in aqueous solution. (Chem. Gaz., April 15, 1848.) Charcoal is used in preparing the Edinburgh Barytas Murias, when this salt is obtained from sulphate of baryta. Off. Prep. Cataplasma Carbonis Ligni, Dub. B. CARDAMINE. Lond. Cuckoo-flower. " Cardamine pratensis. Flores." Lond. Off. Syn, CARDAMINE PRATENSIS. Flores. Dub. Cresson des pres, Fr.; Wiesenkresse, Germ.; Kardamine, Ital. Cardamine. Sex. Syst. Tetradynamia Siliquosa. — Nat. Ord. Brassica- cese or Cruciferae. Gen. Ch. Pods opening elastically, with revolute valves. Stigma entire. Calyx somewhat gaping. Willd. Cardamine pratensis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 487; Woody. Med. Bot. p. 398, t. 144. The Cuckoo-flower is a perennial herbaceous plant, with a sim- ple, smooth, erect stem, about a foot in height. The leaves are pinnate; the radical, composed of roundish irregularly toothed leaflets, those of the stem alternate, with leaflets which become narrower, more entire, and pointed as they ascend. The flowers are purplish-white or rose-coloured, and terminate the stem in a raceme approaching the character of a corymb. This species of Cardamine is a native of Europe, and is found in the north- ern parts of our continent, about Hudson's Bay. It is a very handsome plant, abounding in moist meadows, which it adorns with its flowers in the months of April and May. The leaves are bitterish and slightly pungent, resembling in some measure those of water-cresses, and like them supposed to be pos- sessed of antiscorbutic properties. In Europe they are sometimes added to salads. The flowers only are officinal. They have the same taste with the leaves, and, when fresh, a somewhat pungent odour. When dried, they be- come inodorous and nearly insipid. They formerly possessed the reputation of being diuretic, and, since the publication of a paper by Sir George Baker, more than half a century ago, have been occasionally used as an antispasmodic in various nervous diseases, such as chorea and spasmodic asthma, in which they were success- fully employed by that physician. They produce, however, little obvious effect upon the system, and are not employed in this country. W. CARDAMOMUM. U.S., Lond., Ed. Cardamom. " The fruit of Alpinia Cardamomum." U. S. " Alpinia Cardamomum. Semina." Lond. " Fruit of Renealmia Cardamomum." Ed. PART I. Cardamomum. 175 Off. Syn. AMOMUM CARDAMOMUM. Semina. Dub. Petit cardamome, Fr.; Kleine Kardamomem, Germ.; Cardamomo minore, Ital.; Car- damomo menor, Span.; Ebil, Arab.; Kakelah seghar, Persian; Capalaga, Malay; Guja- ratii elachi, Hindoost. The subject of cardamom has been involved in some confusion and uncer- tainty, both in its commercial and botanical relations. The name has been applied to the aromatic capsules of various Indian plants belonging to the family of the Scitamineae. Three varieties have long been designated by the several titles of the lesser, middle, and larger, the cardamomum minus, me- dium, and mafus of older authors; but these terms have been used differently by different writers, so that their precise signification remained doubtful. Pereira, whose position, in the midst of the greatest drug market in the world, has given him excellent opportunities, which he has not neglected, of investi- gating the commercial history of drugs, has enabled us in great measure to clear up this confusion. It is well known that the lesser cardamom of most writers is the variety recognised by the Pharmacopoeias, and generally kept in the shops. The other varieties, though circulating to a greater or less extent in European and Indian commerce, are little known in this country. A sketch of the non-officinal cardamoms, condensed from the account of Pereira, is given below in a note.* The following remarks have reference exclusively to the genuine Malabar or officinal cardamom. * 1. Ceylon Cardamom. This has been denominated variously by different authors, cardamomum medium, cardamomum majus, and cardamomum longum, and is sometimes termed in English commerce wild cardamom. It is the large cardamom of Guibourt. In the East it is sometimes called grains of paradise; but it is distinct from the product known with us by that name. It is derived from a plant cultivated in Candy, in the island of Ceylon, which belongs to the same genus as that producing the officinal carda- mom, and is specifically designated by Sir James Edward Smith, Elettaria major. This plant has been described by Pereira in the Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions (vol. ii. p. 388). The fruit is a lanceolate-oblong, acutely triangular capsule, somewhat curved, about an inch and a half long and four lines broad, with flat and ribbed sides, tough and coriaceous, brownish or yellowish-ash coloured, having frequently at one end the long, cylindrical, three lobed calyx, and at the other the fruit stalk. It is three-celled, and contains angular, rugged, yellowish-red seeds, of a peculiar fragrant odour, and spicy taste. Its effects are analogous to those of the officinal cardamom, which, however, com- mands three times its price. 2. Round Cardamom. This is probably the'AjUay^oy of Dioscorides, and the Jlmomi uva of Pliny, and is believed to be the fruit of the Jlmomum Cardamomum (Willd.'), growing in Sumatra, Java, and other East India islands. The capsules are usually smaller than a cherry, roundish or somewhat ovate, with three convex sides, more or less striated longitudinally, yellowish or brownish-white, and sometimes reddish, with brown, angular, cuneiform, shrivelled seeds, which have an aromatic camphorous flavour. They are sometimes, though very rarely, met with connected together in their native clusters, con- stituting the Amomum racemosum, or Amome en grappes of the French Codex. They are similar in medicinal properties to the officinal cardamom, but are seldom used except in the southern parts of Europe. 3. Java Cardamom. The plant producing this variety is supposed to be the Amomum maximum of Roxburgh, growing in Java and other Malay islands, and said to be culti- vated in the mountains of Nepaul. The product of the latter site is called Nepaul or Bengal cardamoms in the East. The capsules are oval, or oval-oblong, often somewhat ovate, from eight to fifteen lines long and from four to eight broad, usually flattened on one side and convex on the other, sometimes curved, three-valved, and occasionally imperfectly three-lobed, of a dirty grayish-brown colour, and coarse fibrous appearance. They are strongly ribbed, and, when soaked in water, exhibit from nine to thirteen rag- ged membranous wings, which distinguish them from all other varieties. The seeds have a feebly aromatic taste and smell. This variety of cardamom affords but a very small proportion of volatile oil, is altogether of inferior quality, and, when imported into London, is usually sent to the continent. 4. Madagascar Cardamom. This is the Cardamomum majus of Geiger and some other authors, and is thought to be the fruit of the Amomum angustifolium of Sonnerat, which 176 Cardamomum. part i. Linnaeus confounded, under the name of Amomum Cardamomum, two different vegetables—the genuine plant of Malabar, and another growing in Java. These were separated by Willdenow, who conferred on the former Sonnerat's title of Amomum repens, while he retained the original name for the latter, though not the true cardamom plant. In the tenth vol. of the Linn. Transactions, A. D. 1811, Mr. White, a British Army Surgeon in India, published a very minute description of the Malabar plant, which he had enjoyed frequent opportunities of examining in its native state. From this description, Dr. Maton inferred that the plant, according to Roscoe's arrangement of the Scitamineae, could not be considered an Amomum; and, as he was unable to attach it to any other known genus, he proposed to con- struct a new one with the name of Elettaria, derived from clettari, or elatari, the Malabar name of this vegetable. Sir James Smith afterwards suggested the propriety of naming the new genus Matonia, in honour of Dr. Maton; and the latter title having been adopted by Roscoe, obtained a place in former editions of the London and United States Pharmacopoeias. After all, how- ever, it is doubtful whether the new genus is well founded; and the celebrated Dr. Roxburgh describes the Malabar cardamom plant as an Alpinia, with the specific appellation of Cardamomum. He has been followed by Sprengel, and several other German authorities, and recently by the London College, and the framers of the Pharmacopoeia of the United States. Lindley and Pereira, however, adhere to the genus Elettaria of Dr. Maton. Finally, Roscoe has arranged the plant with the abandoned genus Renealmia of Lin- naeus, which he has restored; and the Edinburgh College has recognised this arrangement. Alpinia. Sex. Syst. Monandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Scitamineas. Broicn. Zingiberaceae. Lindley. Gen. Ch. Corolla with interior border unilabiate. Anther double, naked, (uncrowned.) Capsule berried, three-celled. Seeds a few, or numerous, arilled. Roxburgh, Asiat. Research, vol. xi. p. 350. Alpinia Cardamomum. Roxburgh.—Elettaria Cardamomum. Maton.— Matonia Cardamomum. Roscoe.—Amomum Repens. Sonnerat; Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 9.—Renealmia Cardamomum. Roscoe, Monandrous Plants. Fi- gured in Linn. Trans., x. 248, and in Carson's Illust. of Med. Bot., ii. 55. The cardamom plant has a tuberous horizontal root or rhizoma, furnished grows in marshy grounds in Madagascar. The capsule is ovate, pointed, flattened on one side, striated, with a broad circular scar at the bottom, surrounded by an elevated, notched, and corrugated margin. The seeds have an aromatic flavour analogous to that of the officinal cardamom. 5. Grains of Paradise. Grana Paradisi. Under this name, and that of Guinea grains, and Melegueta pepper, are kept in the shops small seeds of a round or ovate form, often angular and somewhat cuneiform, minutely rough, brown externally, white within, of a feebly aromatic odour when rubbed between the fingers, and of a strongly hot and pep- pery taste. They are brought from Guinea, and are said to be produced by the Amomum Grana Paradisi of Sir J. E. Smith. The same grains are imported into England from Demerara, where they are obtained from a plant cultivated by the negroes, and supposed to have been brought from Africa. This plant is Roscoe's Amomum Melegueta, which is thought by Dr. Pereira to be specifically the same as the Amomum Grana Paradisi. above alluded to. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., vi. 412.) Their effects on the system are ana- logous to those of pepper; but they are seldom used except in veterinary practice, and to give artificial strength to spirits, wine, beer, and vinegar. In the Pharm. Journ. and Trans, (ii. 443), Dr. Pereira points out seven distinct scitamineous fruits, to which the name of grains of paradise has been applied by different authors. That above described is the only one now known by the name in commerce. Other products of different Scitaminese, which have received the name of cardamom are described by Pereira; but the above are all that are known in commerce or likely to be brought into our drug markets. PART I. Cardamomum. 177 with numerous fibres, and sending up from eight to twenty erect, simple, smooth, green and shining, perennial stems, which rise from six to twelve feet in height, and bear alternate sheathing leaves. These are from nine inches to two feet long, from one to five inches broad, elliptical-lanceolate, pointed, entire, smooth and dark-green on the upper surface, glossy and pale sea-green beneath, with strong midribs, and short footstalks. The scape or flower-stalk proceeds from the base of the stem, and lies upon the ground, with the flowers arranged in the form of a panicle. The calyx is monophyllous, tubular, and toothed at the margin; the corolla monophyllous and funnel- shaped, with the inferior border unilabiate, three-lobed, and spurred at the base. The fruit is a three-celled capsule, containing numerous seeds. This valuable plant is a native of the mountains of Malabar, where it springs up spontaneously in the forests after the removal of the undergrowth. From time immemorial, great numbers of the natives have derived a livelihood from its cultivation. It begins to yield fruit at the end of the fourth year, and continues to bear for several years afterwards. The capsules when ripe are picked from the fruit stems, dried over a gentle fire, and separated by rubbing with the hands from the footstalks and adhering calyx. Thus prepared, they are ovate-oblong, from three to ten lines long, from three to four thick, three-sided with rounded angles, obtusely pointed at both ends, longitudinally wrinkled, and of a yellowish-white colour. The seeds which they contain are small, angular, irregular, rough as if embossed upon their surface, of a brown colour, easily reduced to powder, and thus separable from the capsules, which, though slightly aromatic, are much less so than the seeds, and should be rejected when the medicine is given in substance. The seeds constitute about 74 parts by weight in the hundred. According ta Pereira, three varieties are distinguished in British commerce:—1. the shortsr from three to six lines long, from two to three broad, browner and more- coarsely ribbed, and more highly esteemed than the other varieties; 2. the long-longs, from seven lines to an inch in length by two or three lines in breadth, elongated, and somewhat acuminate; and 3. the short-longs, which differ from the second variety in being somewhat shorter and less pointed. The odour of cardamom is fragrant, the taste warm, slightly pungent, and highly aromatic. These properties are extracted by water and alcohol, but more readily by the latter. They depend on a volatile oil which rises with water in distillation. The seeds contain, according to Trommsdorff, 4-6 per cent.. of volatile oil, 10-4 of fixed oil, 2-5 of a salt of potassa mixed with a colouring principle, 3-0 of starch, 1-8 of azotized mucilage, 0-4 of yellow colouring matter and 77-3 of ligneous fibre. The volatile oil is colourless, of an agree- able and very penetrating odour, and of a strong, aromatic, burning, camphor- ous, and slightly bitter taste. Its sp. gr. is 0-945. It cannot be kept long without undergoing change, and finally, even though excluded from the air, loses its pecufiar odour and taste. (Trommsdorff, Annal. der Pharm. July* 1834.) The seeds should be powdered only when wanted for immediate use; as, they retain their aromatic properties best while enclosed within the capsules.. Medical Properties and Uses. Cardamom is a warm and grateful aromatic,, less heating and stimulating than some others belonging to the class, and very useful as an adjuvant or corrective of cordial, tonic, and purgative medicines. Throughout the East Indies it is largely consumed as a condiment. It was known to the ancients, and derived its name from the Greek language. In this country it is employed chiefly as an ingredient in compound preparations.. Off. Prep. Confectio Aromatica, Lond., Dub.; Extract. Colocynthidis Comp., U.S., Loud., Dub.; Pulvis Aromaticus, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cardamomi, U S, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Cardam. Comp., Lond., 12 178 Cardamomum.—Carota. part i. Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Cinnam. Comp., U.S., Lond., Ed.; Tinct. Conn, Lond., Dub.; Tinct. Gentian. Comp., U. S., Lond., Dub; Tinct. Quassiae Comp., Ed.; Tinct. Rhei, U.S., Ed.; Tinct. Rhei Comp., Dub; Tinct. Rhei et Aloes, U.S., Ed,; Tinct. Sennae Comp., Lond,, Dub.; Tinct. Sennas et Jalapae, U. S., Ed.; Vinum Aloes, U. S., Ed. W. CAROTA. U.S. Secondary. Carrot Seed. " The fruit of Daucus Carota." U. S. Off. Syn. DAUCI FRUCTUS. Daucus Carota. Fructus. Lond.; DAU- CUS CAROTA. Var. SYLVESTRIS. Semina. Dub. DAUCI RADIX. Lond., Ed. Garden Carrot Root. " Daucus Carota. Radix recens." Lond. " Root of Daucus Carota. var. Sativa." Ed. , Off. Syn. DAUCUS CAROTA. Radix. Dub. Carotte, Fr.; Gemeine Mohre, Gelbe Rube, Germ.; Carota, Ital.; Lanahoria, Span. Daucus. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Umbelliferae, or Apiaceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla somewhat rayed. Florets of the disk abortive. Fruit hispid with hairs. Willd. Daucus Carota, Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1389; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 130, t. 50. The wild carrot has a biennial spindle-shaped root, and an annual, round, furrowed, hairy stem, which divides into long, erect, flower-bearing branches, and rises two or three feet in height. The leaves are hairy, and stand on footstalks nerved on their under side. The lower are large and tripinnate, the upper, smaller and less compound; in both, the leaflets are divided into narrow pointed segments. The flowers are small, white, and disposed in many-rayed compound umbels, which are at first flat on the top and spreading, but, when the seeds are formed, contract so as to present a concave cup-like surface. A sterile flower of a deep purple colour is often observable in the centre of the umbel. The general involucrum is composed of several leaves, divided into long narrow segments; the partial is more simple. The petals are five, unequal, and cordate. The fruit consists of two plano-convex hispid portions, connected by their flat surface. Daucus Carota is exceedingly common in this country, growing along fences, and in neglected fields, which, in the months of June and July, are sometimes white over their whole surface with its flowers. It grows wild also in Europe, from which it is supposed by some botanists to have been intro- duced into the United States. The well-known garden carrot is the same plant somewhat altered by cultivation. The officinal portions are the fruit of the wild, and the root of the cultivated variety. 1. Carrot Seeds. Strictly speaking, these should be called the fruit. They are very light, of a brownish colour, of an oval shape, flat on one side, convex on the other, and on their convex surface presenting four longitudinal ridges, to which stiff whitish hairs or bristles are attached. They have an aromatic odour, and a warm, pungent, and bitterish taste. By distillation they yield a pale yellow volatile oil, upon which their virtues chiefly depend. Boiling water extracts their active properties. PART I. Carota. 179 Med iced Properties and Uses. Carrot seeds are moderately excitant and diuretic, and are considerably employed, both in domestic practice and by physicians, in chronic nephritic affections, and in dropsy. As they possess to a certain extent the cordial properties of the aromatics, they are especially adapted to cases in which the stomach is enfeebled. They are said to afford relief in the strangury from blisters. From thirty grains to a drachm of the bruised seeds may be given at a dose, or a pint of the infusion, containing the virtues of half an ounce or an ounce of the seeds, may be taken during the day. The whole umbel is often used instead of the seeds alone. 2. Carrot Root. The root of the wild carrot is whitish, hard, coriaceous, branched, of a strong smell, and an acrid disagreeable taste; that of the cul- tivated variety is reddish, fleshy, thick, conical, rarely branched, of a pleasant odour, and a peculiar, sweet, mucilaginous taste. The constituents of the root are crystallizable and uncrystallizable sugar, a little starch, extractive, gluten, albumen, volatile oil, vegetable jelly or pectin, malic acid, saline mat- ters, lignin, and a peculiar crystallizable, ruby-red, neuter principle, without odour or taste, called carotin. In relation to the nature of vegetable felly much uncertainty has existed. By some it has been considered a modification of gum or mucilage, combined with a vegetable acid. Braconnot found it to be a peculiar principle, and gave it the name of pectin from the Greek (rtrx-tis), expressive of the peculiar property of gelatinizing, by which it is distinguished. It exists more or less in all vegetables, and is abundant in certain fruits and roots from which jellies are prepared. It maybe separated from the juice of fruits by alcohol, which precipitates it in the form of a jelly. This being washed with weak alcohol and dried, yields a semi-transparent substance bearing some resemblance to fish-glue or isinglass. Immersed in 100 parts of cold water, it swells like bassorin, and ultimately forms a homo- geneous jelly. With a larger proportion it exhibits a mucilaginous consist- ence. It is less acted on by boiling than by cold water. When perfectly pure it is tasteless, and has no effect on vegetable blues. A striking pecu- liarity is that, by the agency of a fixed alkali or alkaline earthy base, it is instantly converted into pectic acid, which unites with the base to form a pectate. This may be decomposed by the addition of an acid, which unites with the alkali and separates the pectic acid. (Braconnot, Annales de Chimie, Juillet, 1831.) Pectic acid thus obtained is in the form of a colourless jelly, slightly acidulous, with the property of reddening litmus paper, scarcely solu- ble in cold water, more soluble in boiling water, and forming with the latter a solution, which, though it does not become solid on cooling, is coagulated by the addition of alcohol, lime-water, acids, or salts, and even of sugar if allowed to stand for some time. With the alkalies the acid forms salts, which are also capable of assuming the consistence of a jelly. With the earths and metallic oxides it forms insoluble salts. Braconnot thinks that pectic acid exists in many plants already formed, being produced by the reaction of alka- lies present in the plant upon the pectin. M. Fremy found that pectin re- sults, in fruits, from the reaction of acids upon a peculiar insoluble substance they contain when immature, called by him, pectose; and that pectin is changed into pectic acid not only by alkalies, but also by vegetable albumen. Medical Properties and Uses. The wild root possesses the same properties with the seeds, and may be used for the same purposes.^ That of the garden plant has acquired much reputation as an external application to phagedenic, slooidling, and cancerous ulcers, the fetor of which it is supposed to correct, while it sometimes changes the character of the diseased action. It is brought to the proper consistence by scraping. In this state it retains a portion of the active principles of the plant, which render it somewhat stimulant.— 180 Carthamus.—Carum. part i. Boiled and mashed, as usually recommended, the root is perfectly mild, and fit only to form emollient cataplasms. Off. Prep. Cataplasma Dauci, Dub. W. CARTHAMUS. U.S. Secondary. Dyers1 Saffron. " The flowers of Carthamus tinctorius." U. S. Fleurs cle carthame, Safran batard, Fr.; Farber Saffor, Germ.; Cartamo, Ital, Span. Carthamus. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia iEqualis.—Nat. Ord. Composita? Cynareae. De Cand. Cynaraceae. Lindley. Gen. Ch. Receptacle paleaceous, setose. Calyx ovate, imbricated, with scales ovate, leafy at the end. Seed-down paleaceous, hairy, or none. Willd. Carthamus tinctorius. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1706. The dyers' saffron or safflower is an annual plant, with a smooth erect stem, somewhat branched at top, and a foot or two in height. The leaves are alternate, sessile, ovate, acute, entire, and furnished with spiny teeth. The flowers are compound, in large, terminal, solitary heads. The florets are of an orange-red colour, with a funnel-shaped corolla, of which the tube is long, slender, and cylindrical, and the border divided into five equal, lanceolate, narrow segments. The plant is a native of the Levant and Egypt, but is cultivated in various parts of Europe and America. The florets are the part employed. They are brought to us chiefly from the ports of the Mediterranean. Considerable quantities are produced in this country, and sold as American saffron. Safflower in mass is of a red colour, diversified by the yellowness of the filaments contained within the floret. It has a peculiar slightly aromatic odour, and a scarcely perceptible bitterness. Among its ingredients are two colouring substances—one red, insoluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol, very soluble in alkaline liquids, and called carthamine or carthamic acid hy Dbbereiner, who found it to possess acid properties; the other yellow, and soluble in water. It is the former which renders safflower useful as a dye- stuff. Carthamine, mixed with finely powdered talc, forms the cosmetic pow- der called rouge. For more detailed information in relation to these princi- ples, the reader is referred to the Journal de Pharmacie (3e ser., iii. 203). These flowers are sometimes fraudulently mixed with saffron, which they resemble in colour, but from which they may be distinguished by their tubu- lar form, and by the yellowish style and filaments which they enclose. Medical Properties. In large doses carthamus is said to be laxative; and administered in the state of warm infusion it proves somewhat diaphoretic. It is used in domestic practice, as a substitute for saffron, in measles scarla- tina, and other exanthematous diseases, in order to promote the eruption. An infusion made in the proportion of two drachms to a pint of boiling water is usually employed, and given without restriction as to quantity. W. CARUM. U.S. Caraway. "The fruit of Carum Carui." U S. Off. Syn. CARUI. Lond., Ed.; CARUM CARUI. Semina. Dub. Carvi,Fr., Ital; Gemeiner Kummel, Germ.; Alcarayea, Span. Carum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. — Alat. Ord. Umbelliferse or Apiaceae. PART I. Carum.—Caryophyllus. 181 Gen. Ch. Fruit ovate-oblong, striated. Involucre one-leafed. Petals keeled, inflexed-emarginate. Willd. Carum Carui. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1470; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 102, t. 41. This plant is biennial and umbelliferous, with a spindle-shaped, fleshy, whitish root, and an erect stem, about two feet in height, branching above, and furnished with doubly pinnate, deeply incised leaves, the segments of which are linear and pointed. The flowers are small and white, and termi- nate the branches of the stem in erect umbels, which are accompanied with an involucre, consisting sometimes of three or four leaflets, sometimes of one only, and are destitute of partial involucre. The caraway plant is a native of Europe, growing wild in meadows and pastures, and cultivated in many places. It has been introduced into this country. The flowers appear in May and June, and the seeds, which are not perfected till the second year, ripen in August. The root, when im- proved by culture, resembles the parsnip, and is used as food by the inhabit- ants of the North of Europe. The seeds are the part used in medicine. They are collected by cutting down the plant and threshing it on a cloth. Our markets are supplied partly from Europe, partly from our own gardens. The American seeds are usually rather smaller than the German. Caraway seeds (half-fruits) are about two lines in length, slightly curved, with five longitudinal ridges, which are of a light yellowish colour, while the intervening spaces are dark brown. They have a pleasant aromatic smell, and a sweetish, warm, spicy taste. These properties depend on an essential oil, which they afford largely by distillation. The residue is insipid. They yield their virtues readily to alcohol, and more slowly to water. Medical Properties and Uses. Caraway is a pleasant stomachic and carmi- native, occasionally used in flatulent colic, and as an adjuvant or corrective of other medicines. The dose in substance is from a scruple to a drachm. An infusion may be prepared by adding two drachms of the seeds to a pint ef boiling water. The volatile oil, however, is most employed. (See Oleum Cari.) The seeds are baked in cakes, to which they communicate an agree- able flavour, while they stimulate the digestive organs. Off. Prep. Aqua Carui, Lond., Dub.; Confectio Opii, Lond,, Dub.; Con- fectio Rutae, Lond., Dub.; Oleum Cari, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Carui, fjond., Ed,, Dub.; Spiritus Juniperi Compositus, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Tinct. Cardamomi Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Sennae Comp., Lond., Dub.; Tinct. Sennae et Jalapae, U. S., Ed. W. CARYOPHYLLUS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Cloves. "The unexpanded flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus." U.S. ^'Cary- ophyllus aromaticus. Flores nondum explicati exsiccati." Lond. "Dried un- developed flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus." Ed, " Eugenia caryophyllata. Flores nondum expliciti." Dub. Girofle, Clous de Girofles, Fr.; Gewurznelken, Germ.; Garofani, Ital; Clavos de espicia, Span.; Cravo da India, Portuguese; Kruidnagel, Dutch; Kerunfel, Arab. Caryophyllus. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Myrtaeeae. Gen. Ch. Tube of the calyx cylindrical; limb four-parted. Petals four, ad- hering by their ends in a sort of calyptra. Stamens distinct, arranged in four parcels in a quadrangular fleshy hollow, near the teeth of the calyx. Ovary two-celled, with about twenty ovules in each cell. Berry one or two-celled, one 182 Caryophyllus. PART I. or two-seeded. Seeds cylindrical, or half-ovate. Cotyledons thick, fleshy, con- vex externally, sinuous in various ways internally. Lindley. De Cand. Caryophyllus aromaticus. Linn. Sp. 735; De Cand. Prodrom. iii. 262; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. i. 43, pi. 37.—Eugenia caryophyllata. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 965; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 538,1.193. This small tree is one of the most elegant of those which inhabit the sunny clime of India. It has a pyramidal form, is always green, and is adorned throughout the year with a succession of beautiful rosy flowers. The stem is of hard woodland covered with a smooth, grayish bark. The leaves are about four inches in length by two in breadth, obovate-oblong, acuminate at both ends, entire, sinuated, with many parallel veins on each side of the midrib, supported upon long footstalks, and opposite to each other upon the branches. They have a firm consistence, a shining green colour, and when bruised are highly fragrant. The flowers are disposed in terminal corymbose panicles, and exhale a strong, penetrating, and grateful odour. The natural geographical range of the clove-tree is extremely limited. It was formerly confined to the Molucca islands, in most of which it grew abund- antly before their conquest by the Dutch. By the monopolizing policy of that commercial people, the trees were extirpated in nearly all the islands except Amboyna and Ternate, which were under their immediate inspection. Not- withstanding, however, the jealous vigilance of the Dutch, a French governor of the Isle of France and of Bourbon, named Poivre, succeeded, in the year 1770, in obtaining plants from the Moluccas, and introducing them into the colonies under his control. Five years afterwards, the clove-tree was intro- duced into Cayenne and the West Indies, in 1803 into the Island of Sumatra, and in 1818 into Zanzibar. It is now cultivated largely in these and other places; and commerce has ceased to depend on the Moluccas for supplies of this valuable spice. The unexpanded flower buds are the part of the plant employed under the ordinary name of cloves.* They are first gathered when the tree is about six years old. The fruit has similar aromatic properties, but much weaker. The buds are picked by the hand, or separated from the tree by long reeds, and are then quickly dried. In the Moluccas they are said to be sometimes im- mersed in boiling water, and afterwards exposed to smoke and artificial heat, before being spread out in the sun. In Cayenne and the West Indies they are dried simply by solar heat. Cloves appear to have been unknown to the ancients. They were intro- duced into Em-ope by the Arabians, and were distributed by the Arenetians. After the discovery of the southern passage to India, the trade in this spice passed into the hands of the Portuguese; but was subsequently wrested from them by the Dutch, by whom it was long monopolized. Within a few years, however, the extended culture of the plant has opened new sources of supply; and the commerce in cloves is no longer restricted to one nation. The United States derive their chief supplies from the West Indies and Guiana. Of the average annual import, according to the custom-house returns, from 1820 to 1828 inclusive, 43,240 pounds were brought from the West Indies or South America, and 12,828 from France; while from England, Holland, and the East Indies together, the amount imported was only 11,090 pounds; and as the cloves obtained from France were probably of American growth, it appears that we can receive but a very small proportion of those produced in the * The peduncles of the flowers have been sometimes employed. They possess the odour and taste of the cloves, though in a less degree, and furnish a considerable quantity of essential oil. The French call them griffes de girofles. PART I. Caryophyllus. 183 Moluccas. The latter are said to be thicker, darker, heavier, more oily, and more highly aromatic than those of the colonies to which the clove-tree has been transplanted. They are known by the name of Amboyna cloves. Those of Bencoolen, from Sumatra, are deemed equal if not superior by the English druggists. Properties.—Cloves resemble a nail in shape, are usually rather more than half an inch long, and have a round head with four spreading points beneath it. Their colour is externally deep brown, internally reddish; their odour strong and fragrant; their taste hot, pungent, aromatic, and very permanent. The best cloves are large, heavy, brittle, and exude a small quantity of oil on being pressed or scraped with the nail. When light, soft, wrinkled, pale, and of feeble taste and smell, they are inferior. We are told that those from which the essential oil has been distilled are sometimes fraudulently mixed with the genuine. Trommsdorff obtained from 1000 parts of cloves 180 of volatile oil, 170 of a peculiar tannin, 130 of gum, 60 of resin, 280 of vegetable fibre, and 180 of water. M. Lodibert afterwards discovered a fixed oil, aromatic and of a green colour, and a white resinous substance which crystallizes in fasciculi composed of very fine diverging silky needles, without taste or smell, soluble in ether and boiling alcohol, and exhibiting no alkaline reaction. This sub- stance, called by M. Bonastre caryophyllin, was found in the cloves of the Moluccas, of Bourbon, and of Barbadoes, but not in those of Cayenne. Ber- zelius considers it a stearoptene, and probably identical with that deposited by the oil of cloves when long kept. M. Dumas has discovered another crystalline principle, which forms in the water distilled from cloves, and is gradually deposited. Like caryophyllin, it is soluble in alcohol and ether, but differs from that substance in becoming red when touched with nitric acid. M. Bonastre proposes for it the name of eugenin. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 565.) Water extracts the odour of cloves with comparatively little of their taste. All their sensible properties are imparted to alcohol, and the tincture when evaporated leaves an excessively fiery extract, which becomes insipid when deprived of the oil by distillation with water, while the oil which comes over is mild. Hence it has been inferred that the pungency of this aromatic depends on a union of the essential oil with the resin. For an ac- count of the oil, see Oleum Caryophylli. The infusion and oil of cloves are reddened by nitric acid, and rendered blue by tincture of chloride of iron; facts of some interest, as morphia affords the same results with these reagents. Medical Properties and Uses. Cloves are among the most stimulant of the aromatics; but, like others of this class, act less upon the system at large than on the part to which they are immediately applied. They are some- times administered in substance or infusion to relieve nausea and vomiting, correct flatulence, and excite languid digestion; but their chief use is to assist or modify the action of other medicines. They enter into several offi- cinal preparations. Their dose in substance is from five to ten grains. The French Codex directs a tincture of cloves, to be prepared by digesting for six days, and afterwards filtering, a mixture of four ounces of powdered cloves and sixteen of alcohol of 31° Cartier. Three ounces to the pint of alcohol is a sufficiently near approximation. Off. Prep. Confectio Aromatica, Lond., Dub.; Confectio Scammonii, Lond., Dub.; Infusum Aurantii Compositum, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Infusum Caryophylli, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Ferri Aromatica, Dub.; Oleum Caryophylli, Ed.; Spiritus Ammoniae Aromaticus, U S., Lond.; Spiritus Lavandulae Compositus, U.S., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Rhei Aromati- cus, U. S.; Vinum Opii, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. 184 Cascarilla. PART I. CASCARILLA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Cascarilla. "The bark of Croton Eleutheria." U.S. "Croton Cascarilla. (Don.) Cortex." Lond. " Bark probably of Croton Eleuteria, and possibly other species of the same genus." Ed. " Croton Cascarilla. Cortex." Dub. Cascarille, Fr.; Cascarillrinde, Germ.: Cascariglia, Ital.; Chacarila, Span. Croton. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae. Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx cylindrical, five-toothed. Corolla five-petalled. Stamens ten to fifteen. Female. Calyx many-leaved. Corolla none. Styles three, bifid. Capsule three-celled. Seed one. Willd. Cascarilla has been ascribed by different authors to different species of Croton. The United States and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias indicate the C. Eleutheria, that of the Dublin College, the C. Cascarilla of Linnaeus. Both species grow in the West Indies, and it is not impossible that the bark of both has been sold as cascarilla; but there is reason to believe that the C. Eleutheria is at least the most abundant source of it. The London College is undoubtedly wrong in ascribing it to the C. Cascarilla of Don. This botanist mistook the Copalehi bark of Mexico, which is produced by the Croton Pseudo-China of Schiede, and bears some resemblance to cascarilla, for the genuine bark, and hence proposed to transfer the specific name of Cascarilla to the Mexican plant;—an unfortunate error, to which the London College has given authority by its sanction. No fact is better ascertained than that the proper cascarilla bark is a West India product, and is never brought from Mexico. The Copalehi bark has been mistaken also for a variety of cinchona, to which, however, it bears no great resemblance. Croton Eleutheria. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 545; Carson, fllust. of Med. Bot. ii. 34, pi. 78. This species of Croton is a small tree or shrub, said by Browne to be four or five feet in height, but as seen by Dr. Wright in Jamaica, rising to twenty feet, and branching thickly towards the summit. The leaves are entire, ovate or cordate lanceolate, and elongated towards the apex, which is blunt. They are of a bright green colour upon their upper surface, and stand alternately upon short footstalks. The flowers, which are of a whitish colour, are disposed in axillary and terminal racemes. This shrub grows wild in the West Indies, especially the Bahama islands, in one of which— the small island of Eleutheria—it is found so abundantly as to have received its name from that circumstance. It is called by Browne sea-side balsam. Croton Cascarilla. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 531; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 629, t. 222. This is still smaller than the preceding species, and is called by Browne the small sea-side balsam. The stem is branched and covered with brown bark, of which the external coat is rough and whitish. The leaves are long, very narrow, somewhat pointed, entire, of a bright green colour on the upper surface, downy and of a silvery whiteness on the under. They are placed alternately on short footstalks. The flowers are small, greenish and disposed in long terminal spikes. This plant is a native of the Bahamas, has been found abundantly in Hayti, and is said also to grow in Peru and Para- guay. Browne describes it as hot and pungent to the taste. The Croton lineare of Jacquin, considered by Willdenow as a variety of the C. Cascarilla is made a distinct species by Sprengel. It is the wild rosemary of Jamaica and is said by Dr. Wright to have none of the sensible qualities of cascarilla. Cascarilla is brought to this market from the West Indies, and chiefly as we have been informed, from the Bahamas. It comes in bags or casks. We PART I. Cascarilla. 185 have observed it in the shops in two forms so distinct as almost to deserve the title of varieties. In one, the bark is in rolled pieces of every size, from three or four inches in length and half an inch in diameter to the smallest fragments, covered externally with a dull whitish or grayish-white epidermis, which in many portions is partially, sometimes wholly removed, leaving a dark-brown surface, while the inner surface has a chocolate colour, and the fracture is reddish-brown. The small pieces are sometimes curled, but have a distinct abrupt edge as if broken from the branches. The second variety consists entirely of very small pieces not more than an inch or two in length, very thin, without the white epidermis, not regularly quilled, but curved more or less in the direction of their length, often having a small portion of woody fibre attached to their inner surface, and presenting an appearance precisely as if shaved by a knife from the stem or branches of the shrub. Whether these two varieties are derived from distinct species, or differ only from the mode of collection, it is difficult to determine. Properties. Cascarilla has an aromatic odour, rendered much more distinct by friction, and a warm, spicy, bitter taste. It is brittle, breaking with a short fracture. When burnt it emits a pleasant odour, very closely resembling that of musk, but weaker and more agreeable. This property serves to dis- tinguish it from all other barks. It was analyzed by Trommsdorff, and more recently by M. Duval, of Liseux, in France. The constituents found by the latter were albumen, a peculiar kind of tannin, a bitter crystallizable principle called cascarillin, a red colouring matter, fatty matter of a nauseous odour, wax, gum, volatile oil, resin, starch, pectic acid, chloride of potassium, a salt of lime, and lignin. The oil, according to Trommsdorff, constitutes 1-6 per cent., is of a greenish-yellow colour, a penetrating odour analogous to that of the plant, and of the sp. gr. 0-938. To obtain cascarillin, M. Duval treated the powdered bark with water, added acetate of lead to the solution, separated the lead by sulphuretted hydrogen, filtered, evaporated with the addition of animal charcoal, filtered again, evaporated again at a low temperature to the consistence of a syrup, allowed this to harden by cooling, and purified the matter thus obtained by twice successively treating it, first, with a little cold alcohol, to separate the colouring and fatty matters, and afterwards with boil- ing alcohol and animal charcoal. The last alcoholic solution was allowed to evaporate spontaneously. Thus obtained, cascarillin is white, crystallized, inodorous, of a bitter taste, very slightly soluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether, neuter in chemical relations, and without nitrogen. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., viii. 96.) Either alcohol or water will partially extract the active matters of cascarilla; but diluted alcohol is the proper menstruum. Medical Properties and Uses. This bark is aromatic and tonic. It was known in Germany so early as the year 1690, and was much used as a sub- stitute for Peruvian bark by those who were prejudiced against that febrifuge in the treatment of remittent and intermittent fevers. It has, however, lost much of its reputation, and is now employed only where a pleasant and gently stimulant tonic is desirable; as in dyspepsia, chronic diarrhoea and dysentery, flatulent colic, and other cases of debility of the stomach or bowels. It is sometimes advantageously combined with the more powerful bitters. It may be given in powder or infusion. The dose of the former is from a scruple to half a drachm, which may be repeated several times a-day. In consequence of its pleasant odour when burnt, some smokers mix it in small quantity with their tobacco; but it is said when thus employed to occasion vertigo and intoxication. Off. Prep. Extraetum Cascarillae, Dub.; Infusum Cascarillae, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cascarillae, Lond., Ed., Dub. W. 186 Cassia Fistula. PART I. CASSIA FISTULA. U.S. Purging Cassia. "The fruit of Cassia Fistula." U S. Off. S>jn. CASSIA. Cassia Fistula. Leguminum Pulpa. Lond.; CAS- SIA PULPA. Pulp of the pods of Cassia Fistula. Ed.; CASSIA FISTULA. Pulpa leguminis. Dub. Casse, Fr.; Rohrenkassie, Germ.; Polpi di Cassia, Ital; Cana Fistula, Span. Cassia. Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved. Petals five. Anthers, three upper sterile, three lower beaked. Lomentum. Willd. The tree which yields the purging cassia is ranked by many botanists in a distinct genus, separated from the Cassia and denominated Cathartocarpus, of which the following is given as the essential generic character. " Calyx five-parted, deciduous. Corolla regular, of five petals. The lower filaments bowed. Pods long, woody, many-celled. Cells filled -with pulp." Lindley, in Loud. Encyc. of Plants. Cassia Fistula. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 518; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 445, t. 160; Carson; Illust. of Med. Bot. i. 24, pi. 26.— Cathartocarpus Fistula. Persoon, Synops. i. 459. This is a large tree, rising to the height of forty or fifty feet, with a trunk of hard heavy wood, dividing towards the top into numerous spreading branches, and covered with a smooth ash-coloured bark. The leaves are commonly composed of five or six pairs of opposite leaflets, which are ovate, pointed, undulated, smooth, of a pale green colour, from three to five inches long, and supported upon short petioles. The flowers are large, of a golden yellow colour, and arranged in long pendent axillary racemes. The fruit consists of long, cylindrical, woody, dark-brown, pendulous pods, which, when agitated by the wind, strike against each other, and produce a sound that may be heard at a considerable distance. This species of Cassia is a native of Upper Egypt and India, whence it is generally supposed to have been transplanted to other parts of the world. It is at present very extensively diffused through the tropical regions of the old and new continents, being found in Insular and Continental India, Cochin China, Egypt, Nubia, the West Indies, and the warmer parts of America. The fruit is the officinal portion of the plant. It is imported from the East and West Indies, chiefly the latter, and from South America. Properties. Cassia pods are a foot or more in length, straight or but slightly curved, cylindrical, less than an inch in diameter, with a woody shell, externally of a dark brown colour, and marked with three longitudinal shining bands, extending from one end to the other, two of which are in close proximity, appearing to constitute a single band, and the third is on the op- posite side of the pod. These bands mark the place of junction of the valves of the legume, and are represented as sometimes excavated in the form of fur- rows. There are also circular depressions at unequal distances. Internally the pod is divided into numerous cells by thin transverse plates, which are covered with a soft, black pulp. Each cell contains a single, oval, shining seed. The pods brought from the East Indies are smaller, smoother, have a blacker pulp, and are more highly esteemed than those which come from the West Indies. We have seen a quantity of pods in this market sold as cassia pods, which were an inch and a half in diameter, flattened on the sides, ex- ceedingly rough on the outer surface, and marked by three longitudinal very part I. Cassia Fistula.—Cassia Marilandiea. 187 elevated ridges, corresponding to the bands or furrows of the common cassia. The pulp was rather nauseous, but answered all the purposes required of the medicine. They corresponded exactly with a specimen of the fruit of the Cassia Brasiliana brought from the West Indies, and were probably derived from that plant. The heaviest pods, and those which do not make a rattling noise when shaken, are to be preferred; as they contain a larger portion of the pulp, which is the part employed. This should be black and shining, and have a sweet taste. It is apt to become sour if long exposed to the air, or mouldy if kept in a damp place. The pulp is extracted from the pods by first bruising them, then boiling them in water, and afterwards evaporating the decoction; or, when the pods are fresh, by opening them at the sutures, and removing the pulp by a spatula. (See Cassise Fistulse Pulpa.) The pulp is the portion considered officinal by the British Colleges; but, as it is the pod that is usually kept in the shops, the United States Pharma- copoeia designates the latter. Cassia pulp has a slight rather sickly odour, and a sweet mucilaginous taste. From the analysis of M. Henry it appears to contain sugar, gum, a substance analogous to tannin, a colouring matter soluble in ether, traces of a principle resembling gluten, and a small quantity of water. Medical Properties and Uses. Cassia pulp is generally laxative, and may be advantageously given in small doses in cases of habitual costiveness. In quantities sufficient to purge, it occasions nausea, flatulence, and griping. In this country it is very rarely prescribed, except as an ingredient in the con- fection of senna, which is a highly pleasant and useful laxative preparation. The dose of the pulp as a laxative is one or two drachms, as a purge one or two ounces. Off. Prep. Cassise Fistulae Pulpa, U. S. W. CASSIA MARILANDICA. U.S. American Senna. "The leaves of Cassia Marilandiea." U. S. Cassia. See CASSIA FISTULA. Cassia Marilandiea. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 524; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 116; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 137. This is an indigenous perennial plant, of vigorous growth, sending up annually numerous round, erect, nearly smooth stems, which are usually simple, and rise from three to six feet in height. The leaves are alternate, and composed of from eight to ten pairs of oblong lanceolate, smooth, mucronate leaflets, green on their upper surface, pale beneath, and connected by short petioles with the common footstalk, which is compressed, channeled above, and furnished near its base with an ovate, stipitate gland. The flowers, which are of a beautiful golden yellow colour, grow in short axillary racemes at the upper part of the stem. The calyx is composed of five oval, obtuse, unequal, yellow leaves; the corolla of the same number of spatulate concave petals, of which three are ascending, and two descending and larger than the others. The stamens are ten, with yellow filaments and brown anthers, which open by a terminal pore. The three upper stamens bear short abortive anthers; the three lowermost are long, curved, and tapering into a beak. The germ, which descends with the latter, bears an erect style terminating in a hairy stigma. The fruit is a pendulous legume, from two to four inches long, linear, curved, swelling at the seedsj somewhat hairy, and of a blackish colour. 188 Cassia Marilandiea.—Castanea. part i. The American senna, or wild senna as it is sometimes called, is very com- mon in all parts of the United States south of New York, and grows naturally as far northward as the southern boundary of Massachusetts. It prefers a low, moist, rich soil, in the vicinity of water, and, though frequently found in dryer and more elevated places, grows most abundantly and luxuriantly in the flat ground on the borders of rivers and ponds. It is sometimes cultivated to the northward in gardens for medical use. In the months of July and August, when it is in full bloom, it exhibits a rich and beautiful appearance. The leaves should be collected in August or the beginning of September, and carefully dried. They are sometimes brought into the market, compressed into oblong cakes, such as those prepared by the Shakers from most herbaceous medicinal plants. The leaflets are from an inch and a half to two inches long, from one quarter to half an inch in breadth, thin, pliable, and of a pale green colour. They have a feeble odour, and a nauseous taste somewhat analogous to that of senna. Water and alcohol extract their virtues. They were analyzed by Mr. Martin, of Philadelphia, and found to contain a principle analogous to cathartin in chemical properties and effects on the system, albumen, mucilage, starch, chlorophylle, yellow colouring matter, volatile oil, fatty matter, resin, and lignin, besides salts of potassa and lime. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., i. 22.) Medical Properties and Uses. American senna is an efficient and safe cathartic, closely resembling the imported senna in its action, and capable of being substituted for it in all cases in which the latter is employed. It is, however, less active; and, to produce an equal effect, must be administered in a dose about one-third larger. It is habitually used by many practitioners in the country. Like senna it is most conveniently given in the form of in- fusion, and should be similarly combined in order to obviate its tendency to produce griping. "W. CASTANEA. U.S. Secondary. Chinquapin. " The bark of Castanea pumila." U. S. Castanea. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord. Cupulifera. Gen. Ch. Male. Anient naked. Calyx none. Corolla five-petalled. Sta- mens ten to twenty. Female. Calyx five or six leaved, muricate. Corolla none. Germs three. Stigmas pencil-formed. Nuts three, included in the echinated calyx. Willd. Castanea pumila. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 461; Michaux, N. Am. Sylv. iii. 15. The chinquapin is an indigenous shrub or small tree, which, in the Middle States, rarely much exceeds seven or eight feet in height; but, in Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana, sometimes attains an elevation of'thirty or forty feet, with a diameter of trunk equal to twelve or fifteen inches. The leaves are oblong, acute, mucronately serrate, and distinguished from those of the chestnut, which belongs to the same genus, by their whitish and downy under surface. The barren flowers are grouped upon axillary peduncles three or four inches long; the fertile aments are similarly disposed, but less con- spicuous. The fruit is spherical, covered with short prickles, and encloses a brown nut which is sweet and edible, but differs from the chestnut in being much smaller, and convex on both sides. The tree extends from the banks of the Delaware, southward to the Gulf of Mexico, and south-westward to the Mississippi. It is most abundant in PART I. Castor eum. 189 the southern portions of this tract of country. The bark is the part used. It is astringent and tonic, and has been employed in the cure of intermittents; but has no peculiar virtues to recommend it, and might well be spared even from the secondary catalogue of the Pharmacopoeia. W. CASTOREUM. 17. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Castor. " A peculiar concrete substance obtained from Castor fiber." U S. " Cas- tor fiber. Concretum in folliculisprseputii repertum." Lond. "A peculiar secretion in the praeputial follicles of Castor fiber." Ed. Castoreum, Fr.; Bibergeil, Germ.; Castoro, Ital.; Castoreo, Span. In the beaver, Castor fiber of naturalists, between the anus and external genitals of both sexes, are two pairs of membranous follicles, of which the lower and larger are pear-shaped, and contain an oily, viscid, highly odorous substance, secreted by glands which lie externally to the sac. This substance is called castor. After the death of the animal, the follicles containing it are removed, and dried either by smoke or in the sun; and in this state are brought into the market. This drug is derived either from the northern and north-western parts of the American continent, or from the Russian dominions; and is distinguished, according to its source, into the Canadian or American, and Russian castor. Of the latter but a very small portion reaches this country. That which is brought to Philadelphia is derived chiefly from Missouri. Castor comes to us in the form of- solid unctuous masses, contained in sacs about two inches in length, larger at one end than at the other, much flat- tened and wrinkled, of a brown or blackish colour externally, and united in pairs by the excretory ducts which connect them in the living animal. In each pair, one sac is generally larger than the other. They are divided in- ternally into numerous cells containing the castor, which, when the sacs are cut or torn open, is exhibited of a brown or reddish-brown colour, intermingled more or less with the whitish membrane forming the cells. Those brought from Russia are larger, fuller, heavier, and less tenacious than the American; and their contents, which are of a rusty or liver-colour, have a stronger taste and smell, and are considered more valuable as a medicine. A variety of Russian castor, described by Pereira under the name of chalky Russian castor, is in smaller and rounder sacs than the American, has a peculiar empyreu- matic odour very different from that of the other varieties, breaks like starch under the teeth, and is characterized by effervescing with dilute muriatic acid. In a specimen examined by Midler, 40-646 per cent, of carbonate of lime was found. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 276.) In the castor from Missouri, the contents of the sac are sometimes almost white, and evidently inferior. Ac- cording to Jannarch, castor varies with the time of year at which it is collected, being lighter coloured, more fluid, and less copious in the follicles from Feb- ruary to July, than in the remainder of the year. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, Mai, 1847, p. 318.) It is said by M. Kohli that the Canadian castor, treated with distilled water and ammonia, affords an orange precipitate, while the matter thrown down from the Russian under similar treatment is white. l^roperties. Good castor has a strong, fetid, peculiar odour; a bitter, acrid, and nauseous taste; and a colour more or less tinged with red. It is of a softer or harder consistence, according as it is more or less thoroughly dried. When perfectly desiccated, though still somewhat unctuous to the touch, it is hard, brittle, and of a resinous fracture. Its chemical constituents, according 190 Castoreum. PART i. to Brandes, whose analysis is the most recent, are volatile oil; a resinous matter; albumen; a substance resembling osmazome; mucus; urate, carbo- nate, benzoate, phosphate, and sulphate of lime; acetate and muriate of soda; muriate, sulphate, and benzoate of potassa; carbonate of ammonia; membra- nous matter; and a peculiar proximate principle previously discovered by M. Bizio, an Italian chemist, and called by him castorin. This principle crys- tallizes in long, diaphanous, fasciculated prisms, has the smell of castor, of which it is alleged to be the active constituent, and a copperish taste. It is insoluble in cold water and in cold alcohol; but is dissolved by one hundred parts of the latter liquid at the boiling temperature, and by the essential oils. It possesses neither alkaline nor acid properties. It may be obtained by treating castor minutely divided with six times its weight of boiling alcohol, filtering the liquor while hot, and allowing it to eool. The castorin is slowly deposited, and may be purified by the action of cold alcohol. Its claim to be considered the active principle of castor is very doubtful. Alcohol and sulphuric ether extract the virtues of castor. An infusion made with boiling water has its sensible properties in a slight degree; but the odorous principle of the drug is dissipated by decoction. The virtues of castor are impaired by age; and the change is more rapid in proportion to the elevation of temperature. Moisture promotes its speedy decomposition. In a dry cool place it may be kept for a long time without material deterioration. When quite black, with little taste or smell, it is unfit for use. A factitious preparation is sometimes sold, consisting of a mixture of various drugs, scented with genuine castor, intermingled with membrane, and stuffed into the scrotum of a goat. The fraud may be de- tected by the comparatively feeble odour, the absence of other characteristic sensible properties, and the want of the smaller follicles containing fatty matter, which are always attached to the real bags of castor. Mcdiccd Properties and Uses. Castor is moderately stimulant and anti- spasmodic. The experiments of Thouvenel prove that, in large doses, it quickens the pulse, increases the heat of the skin, and produces other symp- toms of general excitement; but its force is directed chiefly to the nervous system, and in small doses it scarcely disturbs the circulation. It has also enjoyed a high reputation as an emmenagogue. It was employed by the ancients. Pliny and Dioscorides speak of it as useful in hysteria and ame- norrhoea. In Europe, especially on the continent, it is still frequently pre- scribed in low forms of fever attended with nervous symptoms, in spasmodic diseases, such as hysteria and epilepsy, in many anomalous nervous affections, and in diseases dependent on or connected with suppression or retention of the menses. The practitioners of this country rarely resort to it. The dose in substance is from ten to twenty grains, which may be given in bolus or emulsion. The tincture is sometimes employed. Off. Prep. Tinctura Castorei, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Castorei Ammoniata, Ed. vy". CATARIA. U.S. Secondary. Catnep. " The leaves of Nepeta Cataria." U S. Cataire, Fr.; Kafzenmunze, Germ.; Cattara, Ital; Gatera, Span. Nepeta. Sex. Syst. Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceae or Labiatae. Gen. Ch. Calyx dry, striate, five-toothed. Corolla with the upper lip PART I. Cataria.—Catechu. 191 undivided, the under lip three-parted, the middle division crenate. Stamens approximate. Nepeta Cataria. The catnep or catmint is a perennial, herbaceous plant, with a quadrangular, branching, somewhat hoary stem, from one to three feet high, and furnished with opposite, petiolate, cordate, dentate, pubescent leaves, which are green above and whitish on their under surface. The flowers are whitish or slightly purple, are arranged in whorled spikes, and appear in July and August. The plant is abundant in the United States, but is sup- posed to have been introduced from Europe. The whole herbaceous part of the plant is used; but the leaves only are recognised in the United States Pharmacopoeia. They have a strong pecu- liar, rather disagreeable odour, and a pungent, aromatic, bitterish, camphor- ous taste. They yield their virtues to water. The active constituents are volatile oil, and tannin of the variety which produces a greenish colour with the salts of iron. In its operation upon the system, catnep is tonic and excitant, bearing con- siderable resemblance to the mints and labiate plants. It has had the repu- tation also of being antispasmodic and emmenagogue. Cats are said to be very fond of it, and it has been asserted to act as an aphrodisiac in these animals. It is employed as a domestic remedy, in the form of infusion, in amenorrhcea, chlorosis, hysteria, the flatulent colic of infants, &c.; but is scarcely known in regular practice. Some of the older writers speak favour- ably of its powers. The leaves are said to relieve toothache if chewed, or held for a few minutes in contact with the diseased tooth. Two drachms of the dried leaves or herb may be given as a dose in infusion. W. CATECHU. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Catechu. " The extract of the wood of Acacia Catechu." U S. " Acacia Catechu. Ligni Extraetum." Lond, " Extract of the wood of Acacia Catechu, of the kernels of Areca Catechu, and of the leaves of Uncaria Gambir, probably too from other plants." Ed. " Acacia Catechu. Extraetum ex ligno." Dub. Cachou, Fr.; Catechu, Germ.; Catecu, Catciu, Catto, Ital; Catecu, Span.; Cutt, Hin- doostanee. Acacia. See ACACIA. Acacia Catechu. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1079; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 433, t. 157; Carson, Jllust. of Med. Bot. i. 32, pi. 24. According to Mr. Kerr, whose description has been followed by most subsequent writers, the Acacia Catechu is a small tree, seldom more than twelve feet in height, with a trunk one foot in diameter, dividing towards the top into many close branches, and covered with a thick, rough, brown bark. The leaves, which stand alternately upon the younger branches, are composed of from fifteen to thirty pairs of pinnae nearly two inches long, each of which is furnished with about forty pairs of linear leaflets, beset with short hairs. At the base of each pair of pinnas is a small gland upon the common footstalk. Two short recurved spines are attached to the stem at the base of each leaf. The flowers are in close spikes, which arise from the axils of the leaves, and are about four or five inches long. The fruit is a lanceolate, compressed, smooth, brown pod, with an undulated thin margin, and contains six or eight roundish flattened seeds, which when chewed emit a nauseous odour. This species of Acacia is a native of the East Indies, growing abundantly in various provinces of Hindostan, and in the Burman empire. Pereira says 192 Catechu. PART I. that it is now common in Jamaica. Like most others of the same genus, it abounds in astringent matter, which may be extracted by decoction. Catechu is an extract from the wood of the tree. This drug had been long known in medicine before its true source was discovered.0 It was at first called terra Japonica, under the erroneous im- pression that it was an earthy substance derived from Japan. When ascer- tained by analysis to be of vegetable origin, it was generally considered by writers on the Materia Medica to be an extract obtained from the betel-nut, which is the fruit of a species of palm, denominated by Linnaeus Areca Cate- chu. The true origin of the drug was made known by Mr. Kerr, assistant- surgeon of the civil hospital in Bengal, who had an opportunity not only of examining the tree from which it was obtained, but also of witnessing the process of its extraction. . According to Mr. Kerr, the manufacturer, having carefully cut off the exterior white part of the wood, reduces the interior brown or reddish-coloured portion into chips, which he then boils in water in unglazed earthen vessels, till all the soluble matter is dissolved. The decoc- tion thus obtained is evaporated first by artificial heat, and afterwards in the sun, till it has assumed a thick consistence, when it is spread out to dry upon a mat or cloth, being, while yet soft, divided by means of a string into square or quadrangular pieces. The account more recently given by Dr. Royle, of the preparation of the extract in Northern India, is essentially the same. The process, as he observed it, was completed by the pouring of the extract into quadrangular earthen moulds. Our own countryman, the Rev. Howard Malcolm, states, in his " Travels in South Eastern Asia," that catechu is largely prepared from the wood of the Acacia Catechu in the vicinity of Prome, in Burmah. Two kinds, he observes, are prepared from the same tree, one black, which is preferred in China, and the other red, which is most esteemed in Bengal. According to some authors, the unripe fruit and leaves are also i submitted to decoction, and Mr. Kerr states that the areca nut may some- times be added to the other ingredients in places where it is abundant. The name catechu in the native language signifies the juice of a tree, and appears to have been applied to astringent extracts obtained from various plants. According to the United States, London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, however, the term is properly restricted to the extract of the Acacia Catechu; as it was not intended to recognise all the astringent products which are float- ing in Asiatic commerce; and those from other sources than the Acacia, though they may occasionally find their way into our shops, do so as an ex- ception to the general rule. A minute account of the diversified forms and exterior characters, which the officinal catechu presents as produced in differ- ent localities, would rather tend to perplex the reader than to serve any good practical purpose. These characters are, moreover, frequently changing, as the drug is procured from new sources, or as slight variations may occur in the mode of its preparation. Commerce is chiefly supplied with catechu from Bahar, Northern India, and Nepaul through Calcutta, from Canara through Bombay, and from the Burman dominions. We derive it directly from Cal- cutta, or by orders from London, and it is sold in our markets without refer- ence to its origin. It is frequently called cutch by the English traders, a name derived, no doubt, from the Hindoostanee word cutt* * In order not to embarrass the text unnecessarily, we have thrown together into the form of a note the following observations upon the varieties of catechu, those being first considered which are probably derived from the Acacia Catechu,and therefore entitled to an officinal rank. 1. Officinal Catechus. The following, so far as we have been able to distinguish them, are the varieties of officinal catechu to be found in the markets of Philadelphia. PART I. Catechu. ■ 193 Properties. Catechu, as it comes to us, is in masses of different shapes, some in balls more or less flattened, some in circular cakes, some saucer- shaped, others cubical or oblong, or quite irregular, and of every grade in size, from small angular pieces, which are evidently fragments of the original 1. Piano convex Catechu. Calce Catechu. This is in the form of circular cakes, flat on one side, convex on the other, and usually somewhat rounded at the edge, as if the soft extract had been placed in saucers, or vessels of a similar shape, to.harden. As found in the retail shops, it is generally in fragments, most of which, however, exhibit some evidences of the original form. The cakes are of various size, from two or three to six inches or more in diameter, and weighing from a few ounces to nearly two pounds. Their exterior is usually smooth and dark brown, but we have seen a specimen in which the flat surface exhibited impressions as if produced by coarse matting. The colour in- ternally is always brown, sometimes of a light yellowish-brown or chocolate colour, but more frequently dark reddish-brown, and sometimes almost black. The cakes are al- most always more or less cellular in their interior; but in this respect great diversity exists. Sometimes they are very porous, so as almost to present a spongy appearance, sometimes compact and nearly uniform ; and this difference may be observed even in the same piece. The fracture is sometimes rough and dull, but in the more compact parts is usually smooth and somewhat shining; and occasionally a piece split in one direction will exhibit a spongy fracture, while in another it will be shining and resinous, indicat- ing the consolidation of tlje extract in layers. This variety of catechu is often of good quality. It is common at present in our market; but we have been unable Xq trace its origin accurately.- There can be little doubt, from its internal character, that it comes from the East Indies, and is the product of A. Catechu; but no accounts that we have seen of the preparation of the drug, in particular geographical sites, indicate this parti- cular shape; and it is not impossible that portions of it may be formed out of other varieties of catechu by a new solution and evaporation. 2. Pegu Catechu. This is the product derived from the Burman dominions, and named from that section of the country whence it is exported. It enters commerce, probably in general through Calcutta, in large masses, sometimes of a hundred weight, consisting of layers of flat cakes, each wrapped in leaves said to be those of the Nauclea Brunonis. In this form, however, we do not see it in the shops; but almost always in angular irregular fragments, in which portions of two layers sometimes cohere with leaves between them, indicating their origin. It is characterized by its compactness, its shining fracture, and its blackish-brown or dark Port-wine colour, so that when finely broken it bears no in- considerable resemblance to kino. This is an excellent variety of catechu, and is not unfrequent in the shops. 3. Catechu in Quadrangular Cakes. This is scarcely ever found in the shops in its complete form, and the fragments are often such that it would be impossible to infer from them the original shape of the cake. This is usually between two and three inches in length arid breadth, and somewhat less in thickness, of a rusty-brown colour externally, and dark-brown or brownish-gray within, with a somewhat rough and dull fracture, but, when broken across the layers in which it is sometimes disposed, exhibiting a smoother and more shining surface. Guibourt speaks of the layers as being blackish externally and grayish within, and bearing some resemblance to the bark of a tree, a resemblance, however, which has not struck us in the specimens which have fallen under our notice. There is little doubt that this variety comes from the provinces of Bahar and Northern India, where the preparation of the drug was witnessed by Mr. Kerr and Dr. Royle, who both speak of it as being cut, when drying, into the quadrangular form. It has been called Bengal Catechu, because exported from that province. 4. Catechu in Balls. We have seen this in two forms—the one consisting of globular balls about as large as an orange, very hard and heavy, of a ferruginous aspect externally, very rough when broken, and so full of sand as to be gritty under the teeth; the other in cakes, originally, in all probability, globular, and of about the same dimensions, but flat- tened and otherwise pressed out of shape before being perfectly dried, sometimes ad- hering two together, as happens with the lumps of Smyrna opium, and closely resem- bling in external and internal colour, and in the character of their fracture, the quadran- gular vnriety last described. The former kind is rare, and the specimens we have seen had been twenty years in the shop, and had very much the appearance of a factitious product. The latter is in all probability the kind known formerly as the Bombay catechu; as Dr. Hamilton, and more recently Major Mackintosh, in describing the mode of pre- paring catechu on the Malabar coast, of which Bombay is the entrepot, says that, while the extract is soft, it is shaped into balls about the size of an orange. 13 194 Catechu. PART I. cakes, to lumps which weigh one or two pounds. The colour is externally of a rusty brown, more or less dark, internally varying from a pale reddish or yellowish-brown to a dark liver colour. In some specimens it is almost black, in others somewhat like the colour of Port wine, and in others again, though 2. Non-officinal Catechus. 1. Gambir. Terra Japonica. An astringent extract is abundantly prepared in certain parts of the East Indies, under the name of gambir or gambeer, and imported into Europe and America under that of terra Japonica. The plant from which it is obtained, called by Mr. Hunter, who first minutely described it, Nauclea Gambir, but by Roxburgh, De Candolle and others, Uncaria Gambir, is a climbing shrub, belonging to the class and order Pentandria Monogynia, and to the natural order Rubiacea of Jussieu, Cinchonacece of Lindley. It is a native of Malacca, Sumatra, Cochin china, and other parts of Eastern Asia, and is largely cultivated in the islands of Bintang, Singapore, and Prince of Wales. The gambir is prepared by boiling the leaves and young shoots in water, and evaporat- ing the decoction either by artificial or solar heat. When of a proper consistence, it is spread out into flat cakes in moulds or otherwise, and then cut into small cubes, which are dried in the sun. Sometimes these cohere into a mass, in consequence of being packed together before they are perfectly dry. Gambjr is in the form of cubes, with sides about an inch square, is light and porous so that it floats when thrown in water, is of a deep yellowish or reddish brown colour ex- ternally, but much paler within, presents a dull earthy surface when broken, is inodorous, and has a strongly astringent, bitter, and subsequently sweetish taste. It softens and swells up when heated, and leaves but a minute proportion of ashes when burnt. It is partially soluble in cold water, and almost wholly soluble in boiling water, which depo- sits a portion upon cooling. Duhamel, Ecky, and Procter dissolved 87.5 per cent, of it in cold water by means of percolation. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 166.) Nees von Esenbeck found it to consist of from 36 to 40 percent, of tannic acid, a peculiar principle, gum or gummy extractive, a deposit like the cinchonic red, and two and a half per cent. of lignin. (Pereira.') The peculiar principle is called catechuin or catechuic acid. This, when perfectly pure, is snow-white, of a silky appearance, crystallizable in fine needles, unalterable if dry in the air, fusible by heat, very slightly soluble in cold water with which it softens and swells up. soluble in boiling water which deposits it on cooling, and soluble also in alcohol and ether. It very slightly reddens litmus paper, and, though it colours the solution of chloride of iron beautifully green, and produces with it a grayish- green precipitate, it differs from tannic acid in not affecting a solution of gelatin. It bears considerable analogy to gallic acid in its relations to the metallic salts. To prepare it, the precipitate which falls upon the cooling of the decoction of gambir, should be well washed upon a filter with cold water, and again dissolved in boiling water with a little purified animal charcoal. The solution being filtered, and allowed to stand, gradually deposits the acid, of a snow-white colour. To obtain it perfectly white in the dry state, it must be dried under an exhausted receiver with sulphuric acid. ( Wackenroder, An- nul, der Pharm., xxxi. 72.) The sweet taste of gambir is thought to depend on this con- stituent. Several varieties of gambir are described. Sometimes it is in oblong instead of cubical pieces, without differing in other respects from the ordinary kind; sometimes in small circular cakes or short cylindrical pieces, heavier than water, of a pale reddish-yellow colour, moderately astringent, gritty under the teeth, and quite impure; sometimes in very small cubes, distinguishable by the black colour they afford with tincture of iodine, indicating the admixture of sago or other amylaceous matter; and, finally, in circular cakes of the size of a small lozenge, flat on one side, and somewhat convex on the other, of a pale pinkish yellowish-white colour, and a chalky feel. This is most highly esteemed by the natives in India. (Pereira.) None of these varieties occur to any ex- tent in our commerce, and we have met with none of them in the shops. Gambir was probably the substance first brought from the East under the name of terra Japonica. It is largely consumed in the East by the betel-chewers. Great quanti- ties are imported into Europe, where it is used for tanning, calico printing, dyeing, &c. In this country it is also largely consumed by the calico printer. Though a strong astringent, and applicable to the same purposes as the officinal catechu it is seldom or never medicinally employed in the United States. 2. Areca Catechu. This is obtained from the areca nut or betel nut which is the seed of the Areca Catechu, a palm cultivated in all parts of India. (See Appendix.) It is pre- pared by boiling the nuts in water, and evaporating the decoction. There are two va- part i. Catechu. 195 rarely, dull red like annotta. The extract has been distinguished into the pale and dark varieties; but there does not appear to be sufficient ground for retaining this distinction. Catechu is inodorous, with an astringent and bitter taste, which is followed by a sense of sweetness. It is brittle, and breaks with a fracture, which is rough in some specimens, in others uniform, resin- ous, and shining. That which is preferred in our market is of a dark colour, easily broken into small angular fragments, with a smooth glossy surface, bearing some resemblance to kino. Catechu is often mixed with sand, sticks, and other impurities. Its chief chemical constituents are tannin, extractive, and mucilage. Out of 200 parts of Bombay catechu, Sir H. Davy obtained 109 parts of tannin, 68 of extractive, 13 of mucilage, and 10 of insoluble residue. The same quantity of Bengal catechu yielded 97 of tannin, 73 of extractive, 16 of mucilage, and 14 of insoluble residue. Other experimenters have obtained results somewhat different. The proportion of tannic acid, which may be considered the efficient principle, varies from about 30 to 55 per cent, in the different varieties of the drug. The portion designated by Davy as extractive is said to contain, if it do not chiefly consist of, a principle discovered by Buchner, and now called catechuic acid. (See note, page 194.) The tannic acid is of the variety which precipitates iron of a greenish-black colour. It precipitates gelatin, but not tartar emetic. (Ka7ief Catechu is almost entirely soluble in a large quantity of water, to which it imparts a brown colour. The late Dr. Duncan found that 18 ounces at 52° were re- quired to 100 grains of the extract, of which about -yj-th of earthy matter was left undissolved. The extractive is much less soluble than the astringent principle, which may be almost entirely separated from it by the frequent ap- plication of small quantities of cold water. Boiling water dissolves the ex- tractive matter much more readily than cold, and deposits it of a reddish-brown colour upon cooling. Both principles are readily dissolved by alcohol or proof spirit. Ether dissolves the tannic acid, and with it whatever catechuic acid may be contained in the drug. For the important reactions of catechu, see Acidum Tannicum. Medical Properties and Uses. Catechu is gently tonic, and powerfully rieties; one of a black colour, very astringent, mixed with paddy husks and other impu- rities, and obtained by evaporating the first decoction; the other, yellowish-brown, of an earthy fracture, and pure, resulting from the evaporation of a decoction of the nuts which had been submitted to the previous boiling. The first is called kassu, the other roury. (Heyne, Tracts, fyc. on India.) They are prepared in Mysore, and Ainslie states that both varie- ties are sold in the bazars of Lower India, and used for the same purposes as the officinal catechu by the native and European practitioners. They are also much used for chewing by the natives. But they are seldom exported, and it is uncertain whether they find their way into European or American commerce. Pereira thinks he has identified the kassu with a variety of catechu derived from Ceylon, where he has been informed that an ex- tract Of the areca nut is prepared. It is in circular flat cakes, from two to three inches in diameter, scarcely an inch thick, covered on one side with paddy husks, and internally blackish-brown and shining, like Pegu catechu. Guibourt and Pereira describe other varieties, which we have not met with, and which are probably rare. One of these is the Siam Catechu, in conical masses shaped like a betel nut, and weighing about a pound and a half. Its fracture is shining and liver-co- loured, like that of hepatic aloes; in other respects it resembles Pegu catechu. Another is the black mucilaginous catechu of Guibourt, in paralleiopipeds an inch and a half in length, by an inch in breadth. Internally it is black and shining, arid its taste is mucila- ginous and feebly astringent. A third is the didl reddish catechu of Guibourt, in somewhat flattened balls, weighing three or four ounces, of a dull-reddish, wavy, and often marbled fracture. We saw something like this many years since, which had been brought upon speculation by a merchant from Calcutta, but is not now in the market. Lastly, there is a pale or vhitish catechu, in small roundish or oval lumps, with an irregular surface, dark or blackish-brown externally, very pale and dull internally, and of a bitter, astringent, and sweetish taste, with a smoky flavour. It is unknown in commerce. 196 Catechu.—Centaurea Benedicta. part i. astringent. The dark coloured has the latter property in a somewhat greater degree than the light, and is therefore usually preferred. The latter, being rather sweeter, is preferred by the Malays, Hindoos, and other Indians, who consume vast quantities of this extract by chewing it, mixed with a small proportion of lime and with aromatics, and wrapped in the leaf of the Piper Betel. Catechu may be advantageously used in most cases where astringents arc indicated, and, though less employed in this country than kino, is not in- ferior to it in virtues. The complaints to which it is best adapted are diarrhoea dependent on debility or relaxation of the intestinal exhalents, and passive hemorrhages, particularly that from the uterus. A small piece, held in the mouth and allowed slowly to dissolve, is an excellent remedy in relaxation of the uvula, and the irritation of the fauces and troublesome cough which depend upon it. Applied to spongy gums, in the state of powder, it sometimes proves useful; and it has been recommended as a dentifrice in combination with pow- dered charcoal, Peruvian bark, myrrh, &c. Sprinkled upon the surface of indolent ulcers, it is occasionally beneficial, and is much used in India for the same purpose mixed with other ingredients in the state of an ointment. An infusion of catechu maybe used as an injection in obstinate gonorrhoea, gleet, and leucorrhoea; and we have found it highly beneficial, when thrown up the nostrils, in arresting epistaxis. The dose is from ten grains to half a drachm, which should be frequently repeated, and is best given with sugar, gum Arabic, and water. Off. Prep. Electuarium Catechu, Ed., Dub.; Infusum Catechu Compositum, U S., Lond., Ed.; Tinctura Catechu, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. CENTAUREA. BENEDICTA. Dub. Blessed Thistle. " Centaurea benedicta. Cnicus benedictus. Folia/' Dub. Chardon benit, Fr.; Cardobenedikten, Germ.; Cardo santa, Ital; Cardo bendito, Span. Centaurea. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Frustranea.—Nat. Orel, Composite Cynarere. De Cand. Cynaraceae. Lindley. Gen. Ch. Receptacle bristly. Seed-down simple. Corollas of the ray fun- nel-shaped, longer, irregular. Willd. Centaurea benedicta. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 2315; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 34, t, 14.— Cnicus benedictus. De Cand. Prodrom. vi. 606. The blessed thistle (carduus benedictus) is an annual herbaceous plant, the stem of which is about two feet high, branching towards the top, and furnished with Ion elliptical, rough leaves, irregularly toothed, barbed with sharp points at tb/'n edges, of a bright green colour on their upper surface, and whitish on the under. The lower leaves are deeply sinuated, and stand on footstalks, the upper are sessile, and in some measure decurrent. The flowers are yellow, and surrounded by an involucre of ten leaves, of which the five exterior are largest. The calyx is oval, woolly, and composed of several imbricated scales, terminated by rigid, pinnate, spinous points. This plant is a native of the South of Europe, and is cultivated in gardens in other parts of the world. It has become naturalized in the United States. The period of flowering is June, when its medicinal virtues are in greatest perfection. The leaves are the officinal portion. They should be fathered when the plant is in flower, quickly dried, and kept in a dry place. ^ The herb has a feeble unpleasant odour, and an intensely bitter taste more disagreeable in the fresh than the dried plant. Water and alcohol extract its virtues. The infusion with cold water is a grateful bitter; the decoction is part i. Centaurea Benedicta.—Centaurium. 197 nauseous, and offensive to the stomach. The bitterness remains in the extract. The active constituents are volatile oil, and a peculiar principle for which the name of cnicin has been proposed. This is crystallizable, inodorous, very bitter, neither acid nor alkaline, scarcely soluble in cold water, more so in boiling water, and soluble in all proportions in alcohol. It consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and is analogous to salicin in composition. In the dose of 4 or 5 grains it is said often to vomit, and in that of 8 grains to be useful in intermittent fevers. (Ann. de Thirap., 1843, p. 206.) Medical Properties and Uses. The blessed thistle may be so administered as to prove tonic, diaphoretic, or emetic. The cold infusion, made with half an ounce of the leaves to a pint of water, has been employed as a mild tonic in debilitated conditions of the stomach. A stronger infusion, taken warm while the patient is confined to bed, produces copious perspiration. A still stronger infusion, or the decoction taken in large draughts, provokes vomiting, and has been used to assist the operation of emetics. The herb, however, is at present little employed, as all its beneficial effects may be obtained from chamomile. The dose of the powder as a tonic is from a scruple to a drachm, that of the infusion two fluidounces. W. CENTAURIUM. Lond., Ed., Dub. Common European Centaury. "Erythrsea Centaurium." Lond. "The flowering heads of Erythraea Cen- taurium." Ed. "Erythrasa Centaurium. Folia." Dub. Petite centaure, Fr.; Tausengiildenkraut, Germ ; Centaurea minore, Ital; Centaura minor, Span. ErythrvEA. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat, Ord. Grentianaceae. Gen. Ch. Capsule linear. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla funnel-shaped, with a short limb withering. Anthers often bursting, spiral. Stigmas two. Loudon's. Encyc. Erythrsea Centaurium. Loudon's Encyc. of Plants, *$. 130.— Chiron ia Cen- taurium. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1068; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 275, t. 96. This is a small, annual, herbaceous plant, rising about a foot in height, with a branching stem, which divides above into a dichotomous panicle, and bears opposite, sessile, ovate lanceolate, smooth, and obtusely pointed leaves. The flowers are of a beautiful rose colour, standing without peduncles in the axils of the stems, with their calyx about half as long as the tube of the corolla. The plant grows wild in most parts of Europe, adorning the woods and pas- tures, towards the close of summer, with its delicate flowers. The herb, though without odour, has a strong bitter taste, which it imparls to water and alcohol. The flowering summits are generally preferred, though the Dublin College directs the leaves. The name of centaurin has been pro- posed for its bitter principle. Medical Properties and Uses. The common centaury of Europe has tonic properties very closely resembling those of gentian, with which it is associated in the same natural family. It is employed on the other sideof the Atlantic in dyspeptic complaints, and formerly had considerable reputation in the treat- ment of fever. It was one of the ingredients of the Portland powder. In the United States it has been superseded by the Sabbat ia angidaris, or American centaury. The dose of the powder is from thirty grains to a drachm. Another species of ErythraDa (E. Chilensis) possesses similar properties, and is employed to a considerable extent in Chili as a mild tonic. W. 198 Cera Alba.—Cera Flava. PART I. CERA ALBA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. While Wax. " Bleached yellow wax." U. S. " Concretum ab ape paratum, dealbatum." Lond. "Bleached Bees' wax." Ed. Cire blanche, Fr.; Weisses Wachs, Germ.; Cera bianca, Ital; Cere blanca, Span. CERA FLAVA. U.S., Ed., Dub. Yellow Wax. " A peculiar concrete substance prepared by Apis mellifica." U. S. "Waxy concretion of Apis mellifica." Ed. Off. Syn. CERA. Apis mellifica. Concretum ab ape paratum. Lond. Cire jaune, Fr.; Gelbes Wachs, Germ.; Cera gialla, Ital; Cera amarilla, Span. "Wax is a product of the common bee, Apis mellifica of naturalists, which constructs with it the cells of the comb in which the honey and larvae are de- posited. It was at one time doubted whether the insect elaborated the wax by its own organs, or merely gathered it already formed from vegetables. The question was set at rest by Huber, who fed a swarm of bees exclusively on honey and water, and found nevertheless that they formed a comb consist- ing of wax. This, therefore, is a proper secretion of the insect. It is pro- duced in the form of scales under the rings of the belly. But wax also exists in plants, bearing in this, as in other respects, a close analogy to the fixed oils, which are found in both kingdoms. It is, however, the product of the bee only that is recognised by the Pharmacopoeias. This is directed in two forms: 1. that of yellow wax procured immediately from the comb; and 2. that of white wax prepared by bleaching the former. We shall consider these separately, and afterwards give an account of vegetable wax. 1. Cera Flava or Yellow Wax. This is obtained by slicing the comb taken from the hive, draining and afterwards expressing the honey, and melt- ing the residue in boiling water, which is kept hot for some time in order to allow the impurities to separate, and either subside or be dissolved by the water. When the liquid cools the wax concretes, and, having been removed and again melted in boiling water, is strained and poured into pans or other suitable vessels. It is usually brought to market in round flat cakes of con- siderable thickness. The druggists of Philadelphia are supplied chiefly from the Western States and North Carolina, especially the latter, and from Cuba. Some of inferior quality is imported from Africa. In this state, wax has a yellowish colour, an agreeable somewhat aromatic odour, and a slight peculiar taste. To the touch it is rather soft and unctuous, though of a firm solid consistence and brittle. It has a granular fracture; but when cut with a knife presents a smooth glossy surface, the lustre of which is so peculiar as, when met with in other bodies, to be called waxy. It does not adhere to the fingers, nor to the teeth when chewed, but is soft- ened and rendered tenacious by a moderate heat. Its point of fusion is 142° F.; its specific gravity from 0-960 to 0965. The colour, odour, and taste of yellow wax depend on some principle associated with it, but not constitut- ing one of its essential ingredients. Various adulterations have been practised, mbst of which may be readily detected. Meal, earth, and other insoluble substances are at the same time discovered and separated by melting and straining the wax. When the frac- PART I. Cera Alba.—Cera Flava. 199 ture is smooth and shining instead of being granular, the presence of resin may be suspected. This is dissolved by cold alcohol, while the wax is left untouched. Tallow and suet are detected by the softness they communicate to the wax, and its unpleasant odour when melted. Yellow wax is used in medicine chiefly as an ingredient of plasters and cerates. 2. Cera Alba or White Wax. The colour of yellow wax is discharged by exposing it with an extended surface to the combined influence of air, light, and moisture. The process of bleaching is carried on to a considerable extent in the vicinity of Philadelphia. The wax, previously melted, is made to fall in streams upon a revolving cylinder, kept constantly wet, upon which it concretes, forming thin riband-like layers. These, having been removed, are spread upon linen cloths stretched on frames, and exposed to the air and light; care being taken to water and occasionally turn them. In a few days they are partially bleached; but, to deprive the wax completely of colour, it is necessary to repeat the whole process once, if not oftener. When sufficiently white it is melted and cast into small circular cakes. The colour may also be discharged by chlorine; but the wax is said to be somewhat altered. White wax sometimes contains one or more fatty acids, consequent probably upon the employment of alkalies in bleaching it, which render it an unfit ingre- dient in the unctuous preparations of certain salts. Of these acids it may be deprived by means of alcohol, (dourn. de Pharm., 3e sir., iv. 205.) Perfectly pure wax is white, shining, diaphanous in thin layers, inodorous, insipid, harder, and less unctuous to the touch than the yellow, soft and duc- tile at 95° F., and fusible at about 155°, retaining its fluidity at a lower tem- perature. According to Saussure, its specific gravity in the solid state is 0-966, at 178° F. 0-834, and at 201° 0-8247. By a great heat it is partly volatilized, partly decomposed; and, when flame is applied to its vapour, it takes fire and burns with a clear bright light. It is insoluble in water, and in cold alcohol or ether, but is slightly soluble in boiling alcohol and ether, which deposit it in a great measure upon cooling. The essential and fixed oils dissolve it with facility; resin readily unites.with it by fusion; and soaps are formed by the action of soda and potassa in solution. It is not affected by the acids at ordinary temperatures, but is converted into a black mass when boiled with concentrated sulphuric acid. Its ultimate constituents are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Dr. John ascertained that it consists of two distinct proximate principles, one of which he called .cerin, the other myricin. According to MM. Boudet and Boissenot, the former constitutes at least 70 per cent, of wax, melts at about 143°, dissolves in 16 parts of boiling alco- hol, and is saponifiable with potassa, yielding margaric acid, a little oleic acid, and a fatty matter insusceptible of saponification called cerain; the latter melts at 149°, is dissolved by 200 parts of boiling alcohol, and is not saponi- fiable by potassa. From the experiments of M. Lewy, it would appear that cerin and myricin are isomeric with each other and with wax; that by a boil- ing solution of potassa wax is wholly saponified, without the formation of glycerin; that both wax and cerin are converted into stearic acid by saponifi- cation ; and that this, by a further oxidation, is changed into margaric acid. (Journ. de Pharm., ?>e sdr., iii. 315.) Messrs. Warrington and Francis, how- ever, have found that the substance supposed to be stearic acid, though simi- lar to that body in appearance, is wholly different from it in properties and composition, and is isomeric, if not identical with the cerain above referred to. 'Philomph. Mug., Jam, 1844, p. 20.) White wax has been adulterated with white lead, tallow, suet, spermaceti, stearic acid, and starch. The modes of detecting most of these have been 200 Cera Alba.—Cera Flava. PART I. stated under yellow wax. White lead sinks to the bottom of the vessel when the wax is melted. Fatty substances render lime-water turbid, when agitated with it and allowed to stand. For a mode of detecting stearin and stcarc acid, the reader is referred to an article in the American Journal of Pharmacy, xix. 214. Starch remains behind when the wax is dissolved in oil of turpen- tine, and produces a blue colour with iodine added to water in which the wax has been, boiled. Pereira says that pure wax is yellowish-white; and that the white wax in circular cakes always contains spermaceti, which is added to improve its colour. Medical Properties and Uses. Wax has little effect upon the system. Under the impression that it sheathes the inflamed mucous membrane of the bowels, it has been occasionally prescribed in diarrhoea and dysentery; and it is mentioned by Dioscorides as a remedy in the latter complaint. By Poerner it is highly recommended in excoriations of the bowels, attended with pain and obstinate diarrhoea. His mode of using it is to melt the wax with oil of almonds or olive oil, and, while the mixture is still hot, to incorporate it by means of the yolk of an egg with some mucilaginous fluid. The dose is half a drachm three or four times a day. Another method is to form an emulsion by means of soap; but it is evident that this would be the most energetic ingredient. Wax is also used to fill cavities in carious teeth. Its chief employment, however, is in the formation of ointments, cerates, and plasters. It is an ingredient in almost all the officinal cerates, which owe their general title to the wax they contain. 3. Vegetable Wax. Many vegetable products contain wax. It exists in the pollen of numeraus plants; and forms the bloom or glaucous powder which covers certain fruits, and the coating of varnish with which leaves are sometimes supplied. In some plants it exists so abundantly as to be profit- ably extracted for use. Such is the Ceroxylon Andicala, a lofty palm grow- ing in the South American Andes. Upon the trunk of this tree, in the rings left by the fall of the leaves, is a coating of wax-like matter, about one-sixth of an inch thick, which is removed by the natives, and employed in the manu- facture of tapers. It contains, according to Vauquelin, two-thirds of a resin- ous substance, and one-third of pure wax. (Fee.) Two kinds of wax are collected in Brazil, one called carnauba, from the leaves of a palm growing in the province of Ceara, the other ocuba, from the fruit of a shrub of the province of Para. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., 3e sir., v. 154.) But the form of vegetable wax best known in this country is that derived from Myrka cerifera, and commonly called myrtle wax. (See Bigeloids Am. Med. Bot., iii. 32.) The wax myrtle is an aromatic shrub, from one to twelve feet high, found in almost all parts of the United States from New England to Louisi- ana. The fruit, which grows in clusters closely attached to the stems and branches, is small, globular, and covered with a whitish coat of wax, which may be separated for use. Other parts of the plant are said to possess medi- cal virtues. The bark of the root is acrid and astringent, and in large doses emetic, and has been popularly employed as a remedy in jaundice. The pro- cess for collecting the wax is simple. The berries are boiled in water, and the wax, melting and floating on the surface, is either skimmed off and strain- ed, or allowed to concrete as the liquor cools, and removed in the solid state. To render it pure, it is again melted and strained, and then cast into large cakes. It is collected in New Jersey, but more abundantly in New Eno-land, particularly Rhode Island. Myrtle wax is of a pale grayish-green colour, somewhat diaphanous, more brittle and more unctuous to the touch than beeswax, of a feeble odour and a slightly bitterish taste. It is about as heavy as water, and melts at 109° F. It is insoluble in water, scarcely soluble in cold alcohol, soluble, with the ex- PART i. Cerevisise Fermentum. 201 ception of about thirteen per cent., in twenty parts of boiling alcohol, which deposits the greater portion upon cooling, soluble also in boiling ether, and slightly so in oil of turpentine. In chemical relations it resembles beeswax, and consists, like that product, of cerin and myricin, containing 87 parts of the former and 13 of the latter in the 100. The green colour, and probably the bitter taste, depend upon a distinct principle, which may be separated by boiling the wax with ether and allowing the liquid to cool. The wax is de- posited colourless, while the ether remains green. j^Medieal Properties and Uses.—This variety of wax has been popularly employed in the United States as a remedy for dysentery; and we are told by Dr. Fahnestock that he found great advantage from its use in numerous cases, during an epidemic prevalence of that complaint. He gave the powdered wax in doses of a teaspoonful frequently repeated, mixed with mucilage or syrup. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sden., ii. 313.) It is occasionally substituted by apothe- caries for beeswax in the formation of plasters, and is used in the preparation of tapers and candles. It is somewhat fragrant when burning,-but emits a less brilliant light than common lamp-oil. W. CEREVISLE FERMENTUM. Lond., Dub. Yeast. Levure, Fr.: Bierhefen,Germ.; Fermento di cervogia, Ital; Espuma de cerveza, Span. This is the substance which rises, in the form of froth, to the surface of beer, and subsides to the bottom, during the process of fermentation. A simi- lar substance is produced during the vinous fermentation of other saccharine liquids; but the principles of its formation are unknown. It is flocculent, frothy, somewhat viseid, semi-fluid, of a dirty yellowish colour, a sour vinous odour, and a bitter taste. At a temperature of 60° or 70°, in a close vessel or damp atmosphere, it soon undergoes putrefaction. Exposed to a moderate heat, it loses its liquid portion, becomes dry, hard, and brittle; and may in this state be preserved for a long time, though with the loss of much of its peculiar power. * In France it is brought to the solid state by introducing it into sacs, washing it with water, then submitting it to pressure, and ultimately drying it. Yeast is insoluble in alcohol or water. It was analyzed by Westrumb, and found to contain in 15142 parts, 13 of potassa,'15 of carbonic acid, 10 of acetic acid, 45 of malic acid, (Y.) of lime, 240 of alcohol, 120 of extractive, 240 of mucilage, 315 of saccharine matter, 480 of gluten, 13595 of water, basides traces of silica and phosphoric acid. Its bitterness is attributable to a principle darived from the hops'. The property for which it is chiefly valued is that of exciting the vinous fermmtation in saccharine liquids, and in various firiniceous substaiiees. This property it owes to its azotized ingredient; for, if separated from this, it loses its powers as a ferment, and re-acquires them upon its subsequent addition. It is also rendered ineffective by the agency of strong alcohol, of several of the acids, as sulphuric and concentrated acetic acid, by various other substances, and by a heat of 212°. At an elevated tem- perature it is decomposed, affording products similar to those which result from the decomposition of animal matters. Examined by a microscope, yeast is seen to abound in minute transparent vesicles, which appear to contain one or more granules. These are now gen- erally believe 1 to be living infusory plants, which have the power of propa- gating themselves at the expanse of organic proximate principles with which they may be brought into contact; and attempts have been made to solve the 202 Cerevisise Fermentum.—Cetaceum. part I. mysteries of fermentation by the conjecture, that the sugar or other ferment- ing substance, while contributing to the nourishment of these microscopic beings, undergoes a decomposition resulting in the formation of new products. Another theory, originally put forth by Liebig, is that fermentation is merely a chemical movement, excited by a movement of decomposition going on in the ferment. Mulder considers the cells of yeast as a plant, the vesicular coating of the cell as composed of a substance analogous to cellulose, and its contents as a protein body, differing in some respects from gluten and albumen, and probably a superoxide of protein. During fermentation, this protein body makes its way through the vesicular coat, undergoes decomposition by the agency of heat, and, in the act of decomposition, sets on foot the changes in sugar which result in the formation of alcohol and carbonic acid. (Chem. Gazette, Feb. 15, 1845.) Medical Properties and Uses. Yeast has been highly extolled as a remedy in typhoid fevers, and is said to have been given with advantage in hectic. It is, however, little employed; as its, somewhat tonic and stimulating effects, aseribable-to the bitter principle of hops, the alcohol, and the carbonic acid \ which are among its constituents, may be obtained with equal certainty from more convenient medicines. The late Dr. Hewson, of Philadelphia, informed the authors that, in a case of typhoid fever attended with great irritability of the stomach, the patient was benefitted and sustained by taking a pint of yeast daily for five days, during which period no other remedy was employed. When largely taken, it generally proves laxative; and it may sometimes be necessary to obviate this effect by opium. Externally applied, it is very useful in foul and sloughing ulcers, the fetor of which it corrects, while it affords a gentle stimu- lus to the debilitated vessels. It is usually employed mixed with farinaceous substances in the form of a cataplasm. The dose is from half a fluidounce to two fluidounces every two or three hours. Off. Prep. Cataplasma Fermenti, Lond., Dub. W. CETACEUM. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Spermaceti. "A peculiar concrete substance obtained from Physeter macrocephalus." U.S. "Physeter Macrocephalus. Concretum in prapriis capitis cell is re- perfum." Lond. u Cetine of Physeter macrocephalus, nearly pure." Ed. Blanc de baleine,Spermaceti, Cetine,/<>.; Walirath, Germ.; Spermaceti, Ital; Esperma de bellena, Span. The spermaceti whale is from sixty to eighty feet in length, with an enormous head, not less in its largest part than thirty feet in circumference, and constitut- ing one-third of the whole length of the body. The upper part of the head is occupied by large cavities, separated from each other by cartilaginous partitions, and containing an oily liquid, which, after the death of the animal, concretes into a white unctuous spongy mass, consisting of spermaceti mixed with oil. This mass is removed from the cavities, and the oil allowed to separate by draining. The quantity of crude spermaceti obtained from a whale of the ordinary size is more than sufficient to fill twelve large barrels. It still, how- ever, contains much oily matter and other impurities, from which it is freed by expression, washing with hot water, melting, straining, and lastly by re- peated washing with a weak boiling ley of potash. The common whale oil, and the oil of other cetaceous animals, contain small quantities of spermaceti, which they slowly deposit on long standing. Spermaceti is in white, pearly, semitransparent masses, of a crystalline foliaceous texture; friable, soft, and somewhat unctuous to the touch; slightly PART I. Cetaceum.—Cetraria. 203 odorous; insipid; of the sp. gr. 0943; fusible at 112° F. (BostocU); vola- tilizable at a higher temperature without change in vacuo, but partially de- composed if the air is admitted; inflammable; insoluble in water; soluble in small proportion in boiling alcohol, ether, and oil of turpentine, but deposited as the liquids cool; readily soluble in the fixed oils; not affected by the mineral acids, except the sulphuric, which decomposes and dissolves it; ren- dered yellowish and rancid by long exposure to hot air, but capable of being again purified by washing with a warm ley of potash. By the agency of the alkalies, it is with difficulty saponified, being converted into an acid, called by MM. Dumas and Stass ethalic acid, and a peculiar principle named ethal by Chevreul. Spermaceti, when quite pure, may be considered either as a com- pound of ethalic acid and ethal, or as a distinct substance, which is resolved into these two by reaction with alkaline solutions. (Annal. der Chem. und Pharm., xlii. 241.) The name of cetin was proposed for it in this state by Chevreul. As found in the shops it is not entirely pure, containing a fixed oil, and often a peculiar colouring principle. From these it is separated by boiling in alcohol, which on cooling deposits the cetin in crystalline scales. Thus purified, it does not melt under 120° F., is soluble in 40 parts of boil- ing alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-821 (Thenard), and is harder, more shining, and less unctuous than ordinary spermaceti. The ultimate constituents of sper- maceti are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; and its formula, according to Dumas, a2H3;0. Medical Properties and Uses. Like the fixed oils, spermaceti has been given as a demulcent in irritations of the pulmonary and intestinal mucous membranes; but it possesses no peculiar virtues, and its internal use has been generally abandoned. It may be reduced to powder by the addition of a little alcohol or almond oil, or suspended in water, by means of mucilage, or the yolk of eggs and sugar. Externally it is much employed as an in- gredient of ointments and cerates. Off. Prep. Ceratum Cetacei, U. S., Land., Ed.; Unguentum Aquae Rosae, U S.; Unguentum Cetacei, Lond. W. CETRARIA. U S., Lond., Ed. Iceland Moss. " Cetraria Islandica." U S., Lond., Ed. Off. Syn, LICHEN ISLANDICUS. CETRARIA ISLANDICA, Planta. Dub. Lichen d'Islande, Fr.; Islandiches Moos, Germ.; Lichene Islanclico, Ital; Liquen Islandico, Span. Cktraria. Sex. Syst. Cryptogamia Lichenes.—Nat. Ord. Lichenaceaa. Gen. Ch. Plant cartilagino-membranous, ascending or spreading, lobed, smooth, and naked on both sides. Apotheeia shield-like, obliquely adnate with the margin, the disk coloured, plano-concave; border inflexed, deriA'ed from the frond. (Loudon's Encyc.) The genus Lichen of Linnaeus has been divided by subsequent botanists into numerous genera, which have been raised to the dignity of a distinct order, both in the natural and artificial systems of arrangement. The name Cetraria has been conferred on the genus to which the Iceland moss belongs. Cetraria Islandica. Aeharius, Licheuog. Univ. 512.—Lichen Islandicus. Woodv. Md. Bot. p. 803, t. 271. Iceland moss is foliaceous, erect, from two to four inches high, with a dry, coriaceous, smooth, shining, laciniated frond or leaf, the lobes of which are irregularly subdivided, channeled, and 204 Cetraria. PART I. fringed at their edges with rigid hairs. Those divisions upon which the fruit is borne are dilated. The colour is olive-brown or greenish-gray above, reddish at the base, and lighter on the under than the upper surface. The fructification is in flat, shield-like, reddish-brown receptacles, with elevated entire edges, placed upon the surface of the frond near its border. The plant is found in the northern latitudes of the old and new continents, and on the elevated mountains further south. It received its name from the abundance in which it prevails in Iceland. It is also abundant on the moun- tains and in the sandy plains of New England. The dried moss is of diversified colour, grayish-white, brown, and red, in different parts, with less of the green tint than in the recent state. It is inodorous, and has a mucilaginous, bitter taste. Macerated in water, it ab- sorbs rather more than its own weight of the fluid, and, if the water be warm, renders it bitter. Boiling water extracts all its soluble principles. The de- coction thickens upon cooling, and acquires a gelatinous consistence, resem- bling that of starch in appearance, but without its viscidity. After some time the dissolved matter separates, and when dried forms semitransparent masses, insoluble' in cold water, alcohol, or ether, but soluble in boiling water, and in solution forming a blue compound with iodine. This principle resem- bles starch in its general characters, but differs from it in some respects, and has received the distinctive name of lichenin. Berzelius found in 100 parts of Iceland moss 1-6 of ehlorophylle, 3-0 of a peculiar bitter principle, 3-6 of uncrystallizable sugar, 3-7 of gum, 7-0 of the apotheme of extractive, 44-6 of the peculiar starch-like principle, 1-9 of the bilichenates of potassa and lime mixed with phosphate of lime, and 36-2 of amylaceous fibrin—the ex- cess being 1-6 parts. (Trade de Chim., vi. 251.) The name of cetrarin has been conferred on the bitter principle of Iceland moss. The following process for obtaining it is that of Dr. Herberger, who is said to have been the first to procure it in a pure state. The moss, coarsely powdered, is boiled for half an hour in four times its weight of alcohol, of 0-883. The liquid, when cool, is expressed and filtered, and treated with diluted muriatic acid, in the proportion of three drachms to every pound of moss employed. Water is then added in the quantity of about four times the bulk of the liquid, and the mixture left for a night in a closed matrass. The deposit which forms is collected on a filter, allowed to drain as much as possible, and submitted to the press. To purify it, the mass, while still moist, is broken into small pieces, washed with alcohol or ether, and treated with two hundred times its weight of boiling alcohol, which dissolves the cetrarin, leaving the other organic principles by which it has been hitherto accompa- nied. The greater part is deposited as the liquor cools, and the remainder may be obtained by evaporation. By this process one pound of moss yielded to Dr. Herberger 133 grains of cetrarin. This principle is white, not crys- talline, light, unalterable in the air, inodorous, and exceedingly bitter, espe- cially in alcoholic solution. Its best solvent is absolute alcohol, of which 100 parts dissolve 1-7 of cetrarin at the boiling temperature. Ether also dissolves it, and it is slightly soluble in water. Its solutions are quite neutral to test paper. It is precipitated by the acids, and rendered much more soluble by the alkalies. Concentrated muriatic acid changes its colour to a bright blue. It precipitates the salts of iron, copper, lead, and silver. In the dose of two grains, repeated every two hours, it has been used successfully in inter- mittent fever. (Journ. de Pharm., xxiii. 505.) Drs. Sclmedermann and Knopp have ascertained that the cetrarin above referred to consists of three distinct substances, 1. cefraric acid, which is the true bitter principle, is crystallizable, and of an intensely bitter taste, 2. a substance resembling the part I. Cetraria.—Chenopodium. 205 fatty acids, which they call the lichstearic acid, and 3. a green colouring sub- stance, for which they propose the name of thallochlor. These principles are obtained perfectly pure with great difficulty. ( Chem. Gazette, Jan. and Feb. 1846, from Ann. der Pharm., Iv. 144.) The gum and starch contained in the moss render it sufficiently nutritive to serve as food for the inhabitants of Iceland and Lapland, who employ it powdered and made into bread, or boiled with milk, having first partially freed it from the bitter principle by repeated maceration in water. The bit- terness may be entirely extracted by macerating the powdered moss, for twenty-four hours, in twenty-four times its weight of a solution formed with 1 part of an alkaline carbonate and 375 parts of water, decanting the liquid at the end of this time, and repeating the process with an equal quantity of the solution. The powder being now dried is perfectly sweet and highly nutritious. This process was suggested by Berzelius. Medical Properties, and Uses.—Iceland moss is at the same time demul- cent, nutritious, and tonic, and well calculated for affections of the mucous membrane of the lungs and bowels, in which the local disease is associated with debility of the digestive organs, or of the system generally. Hence it has been found useful in chronic catarrhs, and other pulmonary affections attended with copious expectoration, especially when the matter discharged was of a purulent character; as also in dyspepsia, chronic dysentery, and diarrhoea. It has, moreover, been given in the debility succeeding acute disease, or dependent on copious purulent discharge from external ulcers. But the complaint in the treatment of which it has acquired most reputation is pulmonary consumption. It had long been employed in this disease, and in haamoptysis, by the Danish physicians, before it became known to the profession at large. In the latter half of the last century it was introduced into extensive use; and numerous cures supposed to have been effected by it are on record. But now that the pathology of phthisis is understood, phy- sicians have ceased to expect material advantage from it in that disease; and there is reason to believe that the cases which have recovered under its use, were nothing more than chronic bronchitis. It can act only as a mild, nutritious, demulcent tonic; and certainly exercises no specific influence over the tuberculous affection. It is usually employed in the form of decoction. (See Decoctum Cetrarise.) By some writers it is recommended to deprive it of the bitter principle by maceration in water, or a weak alkaline solution, before preparing the decoc- tion ; but we thus reduce it to the state of a simple demulcent, or mild article of diet, in which respect it is not superior to the ordinary farinaceous or gummy substances used in medicine. The powder is sometimes given in the dose of thirty grains or a drachm; and a preparation at one time obtained some repute, in which the ground moss was incorporated with chocolate, and used at the morning and evening meal as an ordinary beverage. Off. Prep. Decoctum Cetrariaa, U S., Lond., Dub. W. CHENOPODIUM. U.S. Wormseed. ''The fruit of Chenopodium anthelminticum." U. S. CiiKNOrODiUM. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Chenopo- diaceaa. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved, five-cornered. Corolla none. Seed one, len- ticular, superior. Willd. 206 Chenopodium. part i. Chenopodium anthelminticum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1304; Barton, Med, Bot. ii. 183. This is an indigenous perennial plant, with an herbaceous, erect, branching, furrowed stem, which rises from two to five feet in height. The leaves are alternate or scattered, sessile, oblong lanceolate, attenuated at both ends, sinuated and toothed on the margin, conspicuously veined, of -a yellowish-green colour, and dotted on their under surface. The flowers are very numerous, small, of the same colour with the leaves, and arranged in long, leafless, terminal panicles, which are composed of slender, dense, glo- merate, alternating spikes. This species of Chenopodium, known commonly by the names of wormseed and Jerusalem oak, grows in almost all parts of the United States, but most vigorously and abundantly in the southern section. It is usually found in the vicinity of rubbish, along fences, in the streets of villages, and in the commons about the larger towns. It flowers from July to September, and ripens its seeds successively through the autumn. The whole herb has a strong, peculiar, offensive, yet somewhat aromatic odour, which it retains when dried. All parts of the plant are occasionally employed; but the fruit only is strictly officinal. This should be collected in October. Wormseed, as found in the shops, is in small grains, not larger than the head of a pin, irregularly spherical, very light, of a dull, greenish-yellow or brownish colour, a bitterish, somewhat aromatic, pungent taste, and pos- sessed in a high degree of the peculiar smell of the plant. These grains, when deprived, by rubbing them in the hand, of a capsular covering which invests the proper seed, exhibit a shining surface of a very dark colour. They abound in a volatile oil, upon which their sensible properties and medical virtues depend, and which is obtained by distillation. (See Oleum Chenopodii.) The same oil impregnates to a greater or less extent the whole plant. The fruit of the Chenopodium ambrosioides, which is also an indigenous plant, and very prevalent in the Middle States, is said to be used indiscrimi- nately with that of the C. anthelminticum. It may be distinguished by its odour, which is weaker and less offensive, and to some persons agreeable. The plant itself is often confounded with the true wormseed, from which it differs in having its flowers in leafy racemes. This species of Chenopodium has been employed in Europe as a remedy in nervous affections, particularly chorea. Five or six cases of this disease, reported by Plenk, yielded, after having resisted the ordinary means, to the daily use of an infusion of two drachms of the plant in ten ounces of water, taken in the dose of a cupful morning and evening, and associated with the employment of peppermint (Merat and De Lens, Diet, de Mat. Med.) The C. Botrys, which is also known by the vulgar name of Jerusalem oak, is another indigenous species, possessing anthelmintic virtues. The plant is said to have been used in France with advantage as a pectoral in catarrh and humoral asthma. Medical Properties and Uses. Wormseed is one of our most efficient indi- genous anthelmintics, and is thought to be particularly adapted to the expul- sion of lumbrici in children. A dose of it is usually given before breakfast in the morning, and at bed time in the evening, for three or four days suc- cessively, and then followed by calomel or some other brisk cathartic. If the worms are not expelled, the same plan is repeated. The medicine is most conveniently administered in powder, mixed with syrup in the form of an electuary. The dose for a child two or three years old, is from one to two scruples. The volatile oil is perhaps more frequently given than the fruit in substance, though its offensive odour and taste sometimes render it of difficult administration. The dose for a child is from five to ten drops, mixed with sugar, or in the form of emulsion. A tablespoonful of the expressed juice PART I. Chenopodium.—Chimaphila. 207 of the leaves, or a wineglassful of a decoction prepared by boiling an ounce of the fresh plant in a pint of milk, with the addition of orange-peel or other aromatic, is sometimes substituted in domestic practice for the ordinary dose of the fruit and oil. Off. Prep. Oleum Chenopodii, U. S. W. CHIMAPHILA. U. S., Lond. Pipsissewa. " The leaves of Chimaphila umbellata." U. S. " Chimaphila corymbosa. Folia." Loud. Off.Si/n. PYROLA. Herb of Chimaphila umbellata. Ed.; PYROLA UMBELLATA. Herba. Dub. Ciiimapijila. Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Pyrolaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-toothed. Petals five. Style very short, immersed in the germ. Stigma annular, orbicular, with a five-lobed disk. Filaments stipitate; stipe discoid, ciliate. Capsules five-celled, opening from the summits, margins unconnected. Nuttall. This genus was separated from Pyrola by Pursh, and is now admitted by most botanical writers. It embraces two species, C. umbellata and C. macu- lata, which are both indigenous, and known throughout the country by the common title of winter green. The generic title was founded upon the vulgar name of the plants. It is formed of two Greek words, #f t/ia winter, and aoj a friend. The C. umbellata only is officinal. Chimaphila umbellata. Barton, Med, Bot, i. 17; Carson, Dlust. of Med. Bot. i. 62, pi. 53. — Pyrola umbellata. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 622; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 15. The pipsissewa is a small evergreen plant, with a peren- nial, creeping, yellowish root (rhizoma), which gives rise to several simple, erect or semi-procumbent stems, from four to eight inches in height, and lig- neous at their base. The leaves are wedge-shaped, somewhat lanceolate, ser- rate, coriaceous, smooth, of a shining sap-green colour on the upper surface, paler beneath, and supported upon short footstalks, in irregular whorls, of which there are usually two on the same stem. The flowers are disposed in a small terminal corymb, and stand upon nodding peduncles. The calyx is small, and divided at its border into five teeth or segments. The corolla is composed of five roundish, concave, spreading petals, which are of a white colour tinged with red, and exhale an agreeable odour. The stamens are ten, with filaments shorter than the petals, and with large, nodding, bifurcated, purple anthers. The germ is globular and depressed, supporting a thick and apparently sessile stigma, the style being short and immersed in the germ. The seeds are numerous, linear, chaffy, and enclosed in a roundish, depressed, five-celled, five-valved calyx, having the persistent calyx at the base. This humble but beautiful evergreen is a native of the northern latitudes of America, Europe, and Asia. It is found in all parts of the United States, and extends even to the Pacific Ocean. It grows under the shade of woods, and prefers a loose sandy soil, enriched by decaying leaves. The flowers ap- pear in June and July. All parts of the plant are endowed with active pro- perties. The leaves and stems are kept in the shops. The C. maculata, or spotted winter green, probably possesses similar vir- tues with the C. umbellata. The character of the leaves of the two plants will serve to distinguish them. Those of the C maculata are lanceolate, rounded at the base, where they are broader than near the summit, and of a deep olive-green colour, veined with greenish-white; those of the officinal 208 Chimaphila.— Chiretta. PART I. species are broadest near the summit, gradually narrowing to the base, and of a uniform shining green. In drying, with exposure to light, the colour fades very much, though it still retains a greenish hue. Pipsissewa, when fresh and bruised, exhales a peculiar odour. The taste of the leaves is pleasantly bitter, astringent, and sweetish; that of the stems and root unites with these qualities a considerable degree of pungency. Boil- ing water extracts the active properties of the plant, which are also imparted to alcohol. The constituents, so far as ascertained, are bitter extractive, tan- nin, resin, gum, lignin, and saline matters. The peculiar active principle has not yet been isolated, though it probably exists in the substance called bitter extractive. Medical Properties and. Uses. This plant is diuretic, tonic, and astringent. It was employed by the aborigines in various complaints, especially scrofula, rheumatism, and nephritic affections. From their hands it passed into those of the European settlers, and was long a popular remedy in certain parts of the country, before it was adopted by the profession. The first regular trea- tise in relation to it that has come to our knowledge, was the thesis of Dr. Mitchell, published in the year 1803; but it was little thought of till the appearance of the paper of Dr. Sommerville, in the 5th vol. of the London Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, By this writer it was highly recommended as a remedy in dropsy; and his favourable report has been sustained by the subsequent statements of many respectable practitioners. It is particularly useful in cases attended with disordered digestion and general debility, in which its tonic properties and usual acceptability to the stomach prove highly useful auxiliaries to its diuretic powers. Nevertheless, it cannot be relied on exclusively in the treatment of the complaint; for, though it generally pro- duces an increased flow of urine, it has seldom effected cures. Other disor- ders, in which it is said to have proved useful, are calculous and nephritic affections, and in general all those complaints of the urinary passages for which uva ursi is prescribed. It is highly esteemed by some practitioners as a remedy in scrofula, both before and after the occurrence of ulceration; and it has certainly proved highly advantageous in obstinate ill-conditioned ulcers and cutaneous eruptions, supposed to be connected with a strumous diathesis. In these cases it is used both internally, and locally as a wash. The decoction is the preparation usually preferred, and may be taken to the amount of a pint in twenty-four hours. The watery extract may be given in the dose of twenty or thirty grains four times a day. Mr. Procter prepares a syrup by macerating four ounces of the leaves, finely bruised, in eight fluid- ounces of water for thirty-six hours, and then subjecting the mass to percola- tion till a pint of fluid is obtained, which is reduced one-half by evaporation, and incorporated with twelve ounces of sugar. One or two tablespoonfuls may be given for a dose. Off. Prep. Decoctum Chimaphilaa, U. S., Lond., Dub. W. CHIRETTA. Ed, Chiretta. "Herb and root of Agathotes Chirayta." Ed. Agathotes. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentianacese. Gen, Ch. Corolla withering, rotate, in aestivation twisted to the right; with glandular hollows protected by a fringed scale upon the segments. Anthers not changing. Stigmas sessile. Capsules conical; one-celled, with sponoy pla- centae upon the sutures. Seeds indefinite, minute. (Lindley.) PART I. Chiretta.—Chondrus. 209 Agathotes Chirayta. Don, Lond. Phil. Mag. 1836, p. 76.— Gentiana Chi- rayta, Fleming, Asiof. Research, xi. 167. The chirayta or chiretta is an annual plant, about three feet high, with an erect, smooth, round stem, branch- ing into an elegant leafy panicle, and furnished with opposite, embracing, lanceolate, very acute, entire, smooth, three or five-nerved leaves. The flowers are numerous, peduncled, yellow, with a four-cleft calyx having linear acute divisions, the limb of the corolla spreading and four-parted, four stamens, a single style, and a two-lobed stigma. The capsules are shorter than the per- manent calyx and corolla. The plant is a native of Nepaul, and other parts of Northern India. The whole of it is officinal. It is gathered about the time when the flowers begin to decay. The dried plant is imported into Europe in bundles. The root is fibrous, and the stems contain a yellowish pith. In other respects it corresponds with the description above given. All parts of it have a very bitter taste, which is strongest in the root. It is without odour. Water and alcohol extract its virtues, which are also retained in the extract. According to Lassaigne and Boissel, the stems contain resin, a yellow bitter substance, brown colouring matter, gum, and various salts. Medical Properties and Uses. Chiretta has long been used in India, where it is a favourite remedy with both the native and European practitioners. It has recently been introduced into Europe, and appears to be highly esteemed; but has not been employed to any considerable extent in this country. Its properties are those of the pure bitters, and probably do not differ from those of the other members of the natural family of Gentianaceaa. (See Gentiana.) Like these, in overdoses it nauseates and oppresses the stomach. Some have supposed that, in addition to its tonic properties, it exerts a peculiar influence over the liver, promoting the secretion of bile and correcting it when deranged, and restoring healthy evacuations in cases of habitual costiveness. But it may well be doubted whether it produces any other effects of this kind than such as are incident to its tonic power, and might be expected from the other pure bitters. It has been used in dyspepsia, in the debility of convalescence, and generally in cases in which corroborant measures are indicated. In India it has been successfully employed in intermittents and remittents, combined with the seeds of the Guilandina Bonduc. It may be administered in pow- der, infusion, tincture, or extract. The dose in substance is twenty grains. The infusion is officinal. Off. Prep. Infusum Chirettaa, Ed, W. CHONDRUS. U.S., Secondary. Irish Moss. " Chondrus crispus. (Greville, Alg. Brit.)" U S. Chondrus. Sex.Sysf. Cryptogamia Algae.—Nat. Ord. Algaceae. Gen. Ch. Frond cartilaginous, dilating upwards into a flat, nerveless, dichotomously divided frond, of a purplish or livid-red colour. Fructifica- tion, subspherical capsules in the substance of the frond, rarely supported on little stalks, and containing a mass of minute free seeds. (Greville, from Lindley's Flor. 3led.) Chondrus crispus. Greville, Alg. Brit. 129,1.15.—Sphxrococcus crispus. Agardh.—Fucus crispus. Linn. The Irish moss, or carrageen as it is fre- quently called, consists of a flat, slender, cartilaginous frond, from two to twelve inches in length, dilated as it ascends until it becomes two or three lines in width, then repeatedly and dichotomously divided, with linear, wedge- 14 210 Chondrus.—Cimicifuga. part I. shaped segments, and more or less curled up so as to diminish the apparent length. The capsules are somewhat hemispherical, and are imbedded in the disk of the frond. The plant grows upon rocks and stones on the coasts of Europe, and is especially abundant on the southern and western coasts of Ire- land, where it is collected. It is said also to be a native of the United States. When collected, it is washed and dried. In the recent state it is of a pur- plish colour, but, as found in the shops, is yellowish or yellowish-white, with occasionally purplish portions. It is translucent, of a feeble odour, and nearly tasteless. It swells up in cold water, but does not dissolve. Boiling water dissolves a large proportion of it, and, if the solution be sufficiently concen- trated, gelatinizes on cooling. According to Feuchtwanger, it contains starch, and a large proportion of pectin, with compounds of sulphur, chlorine, and bromine, and some oxalate of lime. Herberger found 79-1 per cent, of vege- table jelly, and 9-5 of mucus, with fatty matter, free acids, chlorides, &c.,but neither iodine nor bromine. M. Dupasquier discovered in it both of these principles, which had generally escaped attention in consequence of their reaction, as soon as liberated, upon the sulphuret of sodium resulting from the decomposition of the sulphate of soda of the moss when charred. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., 3e sir., iii. 113.) The pectin or vegetable jelly, Pereira thinks entitled to the rank of a distinct proximate principle, and pro- poses to call carrageenin. It is distinguished from gum by affording when dissolved in water no precipitate with alcohol, from starch by not becoming blue with tincture of iodine, from pectin by yielding no precipitate with ace- tate of lead, and no mucic acid by the action of nitric acid. Carrageen is nutritive and demulcent, and, being easy of digestion and not unpleasant to the taste, forms a useful article of diet in eases in which the farinaceous preparations, such as tapioca, sago, barley, &c, are usually em- ployed. It has been particularly recommended in chronic pectoral affections, scrofulous complaints, dysentery, diarrhoea, and disorders of the kidneys and bladder. It may be used in the form of decoction, made by boiling a pint and a half of water with half an ounce of the moss down to a pint. Sugar and lemon juice may usually be added to improve the flavour. Milk may be substituted for water, when a more nutritious preparation is required. It is recommended to macerate the moss for about ten minutes in cold water before submitting it to decoction. Any unpleasant flavour that it may have acquired from the contact of foreign substances, is thus removed. W. CIMICIFUGA. U.S., Secondary. Black Snakeroot. " The root of Cimicifuga racemosa." U S. Cimicifuga. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Di-Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. Ranun- culaceae. Gen, Ch. Calyx four or five-leaved. Petals four to eight, deformed, thick- ish, sometimes wanting. Capsules one to five, oblong, many-seeded. ' Seeds squamose. Nuttall. Cimicifuga racemosa. Torrey, Flor. 219; Carson, Illust. of Med, Bot. i. 9, pi. 3.— C. Serpentaria. Pursh, Flor. Am. Sept. p. 372.—Actsea racemosa. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1139. — Macrotys racemosa. Eaton's Manual, p. 288. This is a tall stately plant, having a perennial root, and a simple herbaceous stem, which rises from four to eight feet in height. The leaves are large, and ternately decomposed, having oblong ovate leaflets, incised and toothed at their edges. The flowers are small, white, and disposed in a long, terminal, PART I. Cimicifuga. 211 wand-like raceme, with occasionally one or two shorter racemes near its base. The calyx is white, four-leaved, and deciduous; the petals are minute, and shorter than the stamens; the pistil consists of an oval germ and a sessile stigma. The fruit is an ovate capsule containing numerous flat seeds. The black snakeroot, or cohosh as this plant is sometimes called, is a native of the United States, growing in shady and rocky woods, from Canada to Florida, and flowering in June and July. The root is the part employed. This, as found in the shops, consists of a thick, irregularly bent or con- torted body or caudex, from one-third of an inch to an inch in thickness, often several inches in length, furnished with many slender radicles, and ren- dered exceedingly rough and jagged in appearance by the remains of the stems of successive years, which to the length of an inch or more are fre- quently attached to the root. The colour is externally dark brown, almost black, internally whitish; the odour, though not strong, is very peculiar and rather disagreeable; the taste is bitter, herbaceous, and somewhat astringent, leaving a slight sense of acrimony. The root yields its virtues to boiling water. It was found by Mr. Tilghman, of Philadelphia, to contain gum, starch, sugar, resin, wax, fatty matter, tannin and gallic acid, a black colour- ing matter, a green colouring matter, lignin, and salts of potassa, lime, mag- nesia, and iron. (Journ. of Phil. Col. of Pharm., vi. 20.) Medical Properties and Uses. The effects of cimicifuga in health have not been very accurately investigated. It has been usually considered a mild tonic, with the property of stimulating the secretions, particularly those of the skin, kidneys, and bronchial mucous membrane; and has been thought by some to have an especial affinity for the uterus. It undoubtedly exercises considerable influence over the nervous system, probably of a sedative charac- ter; but this influence, so far as our observation has gone, is shown rather in morbid states of that system than in health. Dr. Hildreth, of Ohio, has found it, in large doses, to produce some vertigo, impaired vision, nausea and vomiting, and a reduction of the circulation; but from very large quantities has seen no alarming narcotic effects. Dr. N. S. Davis, of New York, states that he has uniformly found it to lessen the force and frequency of the pulse, to soothe pain, and allay irritability. (Trans, of Am. Med. Assoc., i. 352.) Its common name was probably derived from its supposed power of curing the diseases arising from the bite of the rattlesnake. Till recently, it has been employed chiefly in domestic practice as a remedy in rheumatism, dropsy, hysteria, and various affections of the lungs, particularly those resembling consumption. Several cases of chorea are recorded by Dr. Jesse Young, in which it is said to have effected cures; and the editor of the American Jour- nal of the Medical Sciences states that he was informed by Dr. Physick that he had known it, in the dose of ten grains every two hours, to prove successful in the cure of this complaint in several instances. In the cases recorded by Dr. Young, the powdered root was given in the quantity of a teaspoonful three times a day. (Am. Journ. of Med, Sciences, ix. 310.) We have ad- ministered this medicine in chorea with complete success, after the failure of purgatives and metallic tonics; and have also derived the happiest effects from it in a case of convulsions, occurring periodically, and connected with uterine disorder. Dr. Hildreth has found it, in combination with iodine, very advantageous in the early stages of phthisis. (Am, Journ. of Med. Sci., N.'S., iv. 281.) Dr. F. N. Johnson, of New York, has employed it with extraordinary success in acute rheumatism; the "disease generally yielding completely to the remedy within eight or ten days. (Trans, of Am, Med. Assoc, i. 352.) It may be given in substance, decoction, or tincture. The dose of the powder is from a scruple to a drachm. The decoction has been 212 Cinchona. PART I. much used, but is thought by some not to exercise all the virtues of the root. An ounce of the bruised root may be boiled for a short time in a pint of water, and one or two fluidounces given for a dose. From half _ a pint to a pint of the decoction may be taken without inconvenience during the day. The tincture may be made in the proportion of four ounces to the pint of di- luted alcohol, and given in the dose of one or two fluidrachms. In acute rheumatism, the remedy is recommended by Dr. Davis, in the dose of from thirty to sixty drops of the tincture, or twenty grains of the powder, repeated every two hours, till its effects are observed. (Ibid. p. 356.) W. CINCHONA. U.S. Peruvian Bark. " The bark of different species of Cinchona from the western coast of South America." U. S. Varieties. CINCHONA FLAVA. Yellow Bark. The variety called in commerce Calisaya Bark, — CINCHONA PALLIDA. Pale Bark. The variety called in commerce Loxa Bark.—CINCHONA RUBRA. Red Bark. The variety called in commerce Red Bark. U. S. Off. Syn. CINCHONA CORDIFOLIA. Cinchona cordifolia. Cortex.— CINCHONA LANCIFOLIA. Cinchona lancifolia. Cortex.—CINCHONA OBLONGIFOLIA. Cinchona oblongifolia. Cortex. Lond. CINCHONA CORONA. Bark of Cinchona Condaminea. Crown Bark.— CINCHONA CINEREA. Bark of Cinchona micrantha. Gray Bark. Silver Bark.—CINCHONA FLAVA. Bark of an unascertained species of Cinchona. Yellow Bark. — CINCHONA RUBRA. Bark of an undetermined species of Cinchona. Red Baric. Ed. CINCHONA CORDIFOLIA. Cortex. Cinchona flava. — CINCHONA LANCIFOLIA. Cortex. Cinchona officinalis. — CINCHONA OBLONGIFO- LIA. Cortex. Cinchona rubra. Dub. Quinquina, Fr.; China, Pernvianische Rinde, Germ.; China, Ital; Quina, Span. When this work was originally written, various points in relation to the botanical and pharmacological history of Peruvian Bark were unsettled, and appeared to require discussion. Since that period, the botanical part of the subject has been laboriously investigated by Professor Lindley, of London, whose conclusions are as satisfactory as the existing state of information will permit; and certain opinions in relation to the sources and character of differ- ent varieties of the drug, which were held by us in common with eminent pharmacologists of the continent of Europe, but which, being wholly different from those of the highest British authorities, were thought to require what ever support we could give them, have now been adopted by the best writers of Great Britain, and may be considered as fully established. In the present edition, therefore, discussion upon these points may be spared as no longer necessary; and we shall content ourselves with stating the facts as now gene- rally admitted. Botanical History. Though the use of Peruvian bark was introduced into Europe so early as 1640, it was not till the year 1737 that the plant which produced it was known to naturalists. In that year, La Condamine, one of the French Aca- demicians who were sent to South America to make observations relative to the figure of the earth, on his journey to Lima, through the province of Loxa, PART I. Cinchona. 213 had an opportunity of examining the tree, of which, upon his return, he pub- lished a description in the Memoirs of the Academy. Soon afterwards Lin- naeus gave it the name of Cinchona officinalis, in honour of the Countess of Cinchon, who is said to have first taken the bark to Europe; but, in his de- scription of the plant, he is stated by Humboldt to have united the species discovered by La Condamine with the C. pubescens, a specimen of which had been sent him from Santa Fe de Bogota. For a long time botanists were ignorant that more than one species of this genus existed; and the C. offici- nalis continued, till a comparatively recent date, to be recognised by the Pharmacopoeias as the only source of the Peruvian bark of commerce. But numerous plants supposed to belong to the genus were afterwards discovered in various parts of the world; and the number of distinct species for which the honour has been claimed, is not less than forty-six, exclusive of the varie- ties which have been mistaken for species. But the propriety of associating all these plants in one genus has always been considered doubtful; and, accord- ing to De Candolle, there exist sufficient grounds for distributing them into at least eight genera; viz., Cinchona, Buena, Remijia, Exostemma, Pinckneya, Hymenodyction, Luculia, and Danais. The Cinchona is confined exclusively to the region of country now occupied by the republics of New Granada, Equador, Peru, and Bolivia. The Buena includes two Peruvian and one Brazilian species, the former of which, before their change of name, were designated as the Cinchona acuminata, and C obtusifolia. The genus Remijia was established by De Candolle, and embraces three shrubs of Brazil, which were ascribed by Aug. de St. Hilaire to the Cinchona, and the bark of which is used as a febrifuge by the natives of the country. To the Exostemma belong the West India species, of which there are not less than nine, formerly known as the Cinchona Caribcea, C. fioribunda, &c. To the same genus belong the former Cinchona Philippica of the Philippine islands, the C. corymbifcra of Tongataboo, four species indigenous-to Peru, and two discovered by M. de St. Hilaire in Brazil. The Pinckneya consists of a single species, inhabiting Georgia and South Carolina, discovered by Michaux the elder, and described in some botanical works by the name of Cinchona Caro- liniana. The Hymenodyction is an East India genus, including the Cinchona excelsa of Roxburgh, found on the Coromandel coast. The Luculia, of which there is but one species—the Cinchona gratissima of Roxburgh's Flora Indica —inhabits the mountains of Nepaul. The Danais embraces the Cinchona Afro-Inda of Willem., growing in the Isle of France. Of these various genera, the Cinchona, the Buena or Cosmibuena of Ruiz and Pavon, and the Exostemma, have been most generally confounded. The last, however, is decidedly distinguished by the projection of the stamens beyond the corolla, a character expressed in the name of the genus. Of the two former, Buena was originally suggested as a distinct genus by Ruiz and Pavon, has been recognised by De Candolle and some other authors, and appears to be suffi- ciently characterized. Its chief peculiarities are the shape of the corolla, the separation of the calyx from the fruit at maturity, and the opening of the capsule from above downwards. We have briefly noticed the genera which have been confounded with the true Cinchona, because the barks of some of them have been occasionally substituted in pharmacy for the genuine febri- fuge of Peru. We shall now proceed to consider the true Cinchonas. It may be proper, however, first to say, that the botanists who have personally observed these plants, besides La Condamine, of whom we have before spoken, are chiefly Joseph de Jussieu, who in the year 1739 explored the country about Loxa, and gathered specimens still existing in the cabinets of Europe; Mutis, who in the year 1772 discovered Cinchona trees in New Granada, and 214 Cinchona. PART I. afterwards, aided by his pupil Zea, made further investigations and discoveries in the same region; Ruiz and Pavon, who in the year 1777 began a course of botanical inquiries in the central portions of Lower Peru, and discovered several new species; Humboldt and Bonpland, who visited several of the Peruvian bark districts, and published the results of their observations after 1792; and finally Poppig, who travelled in Peru as late as 1832, and pub- lished an account of his journey about the year 1835. Cinchona. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Cinchonaceaa. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-toothed. Corolla hypocrateriform, with a five-parted limb, valvate in aestivation. Anthers linear, inserted within the tube, and not projecting, unless in a very slight degree. Capsule splitting through the dis- sepiment into two cocci open at the commissure, and crowned by the calyx. Seeds girted by a membranous lacerated wing. (Lindley.) The plants composing this genus are trees or shrubs. The leaves are oppo- site upon short petioles, with flat margins, and are attended with ovate or oblong, foliaceous, free, deciduous stipules. The flowers are terminal, in corymbose panicles, and of a white or purplish rose-colour. (De Candolle.) It has been stated that the genuine cinchona trees are confined exclusively to South America. In that continent, however, they are widely diffused, extending from La Paz, in the former vice-royalty of Buenos Ayres, to the mountains of Santa Martha on the northern coast. Those which yield the bark of commerce grow at various elevations upon the Andes, seldom less than 4000 feet above the level of the sea; and require a temperature con- siderably lower than that which usually prevails in tropical countries. There has been much difficulty in properly arranging the species of Cin- chona; and botanists have not only differed on this point, but have in some instances exhibited a warmth of feeling unbecoming the dignity of science. Ruiz and Pavon, in the Flora Peruviana, describe thirteen new species, while Mutis reduced the number to seven, and Professor Zea attempted to prove that almost all the efficacious species of Ruiz and PavOn are reducible to the four described by Mutis in the year 1793, in the Literary News of Santa Fe de Bogota. It appears, from the best testimony, that the number of the spe- cies has been unnecessarily augmented by certain botanists; mere fugitive differences, depending on peculiarities of situation or growth, having been exaggerated into permanent characteristics. One source of the difficulty of a proper discrimination is stated by Humboldt to be the varying shape of the leaves of the same species, according to the degree of elevation upon the mountainous declivities, to the severity or mildness of the climate, the greater or less humidity of the soil, and to various circumstances in the growth of individual plants. Even the same tree often produces foliage of a diversified character; and a person, not aware of this fact, might be led to imagine that he had discovered different species, from an examination of the leaves which had grown upon one and the same branch. The fructification partakes, to a certain extent, of the same varying character. Lambert, in his "Illustration of the genus Cinchona," published in the year 1821, after admitting with Humboldt the identity of several varieties which had received specific names fivm other botanists, describes nineteen species, exclusive of the two Peruvian Buense. De Candolle enumerates only sixteen well ascertained species. In the present state of our knowledge, it is impossible to decide from which species of Cinchona the several varieties of bark are respectively derived. The former references of the yellow bark to C. cordifolia, of the pale to C. (ancifolia, and of the red to C. oblougifolia, have been very properly aban- doned in the U. S. and Ed. Pharmacopoeias, though still retained in those of PART I. Cinchona. 215 the London and Dublin Colleges. It is now almost universally admitted that the valuable barks, known in the market by these titles, are not the product of the species to which they have been ascribed. It is stated by Humboldt, that the property of curing agues belongs to the barks of all the cinchonas with hairy and woolly blossoms, and to those alone. In Lindley's catalogue this division includes fifteen species. We shall notice the most prominent, mentioning also the synonymes employed by different authors. 1. Cinchona Condaminea. Humb. and Bonpl. Plant. Equin. i. p. 33, t. 10; Lindley, Flor. Med. 414; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot., i. 53, pi. 45. This tree, when full grown, has a stem about eighteen feet high and a foot in thickness, with opposite branches, of which the lower are horizontal, and the higher rise at their extremities. The bark of the trunk is ash-gray with clefts or fissures, and yields when wounded a bitter astringent juice; that of the small branches is greenish, smooth, and glossy, and easily separable from the wood. The leaves are of variable shape, but generally ovate-lanceolate, about four inches in length by less than two in breadth, smooth, and scrobiculate at the axils of the veins beneath. The flowers are in axillary, downy, corymbose panicles. The tree grows on the declivities of the mountains, at an elevation of from about a mile to a mile and a half, and in a mean temperature of 67° F. It was seen by Humboldt and Bonpland in the neighbourhood of Loxa, and is said also to grow near Guancabamba and Ayavaca in Peru. It is now admitted to be the source of the crown bark of Loxa. 2. C. micrantha. Ruiz and Pavon. Fl. Peruv. ii. 52, t. 194; Lindley, Flor. Med. 412; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot., i. 52, pi. 44.— C. scrobiculata, Humb. and Bonpl. Plant, Equin, i. p. 165, t. 47. Lindley has no hesitation in uniting the C. scrobiculata of Humboldt and Bonpland with the C. micrantha of Ruiz and Pavon. It is a large tree, attaining the height of forty feet, with oblong leaves, from four to twelve inches in length and from two to six in breadth, scarcely acute, smooth, shining on the upper surface, and scrobiculate at the axils of the veins beneath. The flowers are in terminal, loose, leafless panicles, and are smaller than those of any other species except C. lancifolia. (Jjiudley.) The tree was seen by Humboldt and Bonpland, forming large forests in the mountains near the city of Jaen de Bracomoros. It grows also, according to Ruiz and Pavon, in the mountains near Chicoplaya, Monzon, and Puebla de San Antonio, and, according to Poppig, at Cuchero. Large quantities of the bark are collected by the people of Jaen, and sent to the coast to be shipped to Lima; and Ruiz states that it is always mixed with that sent into the market from the provinces of Panatahuas, Huamilies, and Huanuco. The Edinburgh College ascribes to this species their cinchona cinerea, the gray or silver bark of British commerce, frequently called also Huanuco bark. It undoubtedly contributes to furnish the officinal pale bark. 3. C. lancifolia, Mutis, Period, de Santa Fe", p. 465; Lindley, Flor. Med. 415.— 0. angustifolia. Pavon, Quino/og. Suppl. p. 14. This species has been shorn of much of its honours by Lindley, who has separated from it the C. nitida and C. lanceolafa of Ruiz and Pavon, the union of which with it by other botanists had given it an unmerited importance. As seen by Mutis, it is a very handsome tree, from thirty to forty-five feet in height, with a trunk from one to four feet in diameter. Its leaves are oblong-lanceolate, very acute at each end, revolute at the edge, smooth above, and not scrobi- culate. The flowers, which are the smallest in the genus, are in five-flowered axillary cymes. (Lindley.) This species is a native of New Granada. The London and Dublin Colleges ascribe to it one of the officinal varieties of bark, under the impression, probably, that the species is identical with C. Conda- minea, and, therefore, affords the most esteemed pale bark of the shops. This, 216 Cinchona. PART I. however, is a mistake. The product of C. lancifolia is one of the Carthagena barks, and of inferior quality. It was named orange bark—quina naranjanda —by Mutis, and a specimen deposited by Humboldt, under this name, in the Museum of Natural History of Paris, was found by Guibourt to be identical with his spongy Carthagena bark. That the tree cannot produce one of the valuable .varieties is proved by the fact, that none of these come from Cartha- gena, through which the bark of the C lancifolia must be exported. 4. C. cordifolia. Mutis, in Humb. Magaz. Berlin, 1807, p. 117; Lindley, Flor. Med. 839; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot., i. 51, pi. 43. This is a spreading tree, fifteen or twenty feet high, with a single, erect, round stem, covered with a smooth bark, of a brownish-gray colour. The bark of the smaller branches is lighter coloured. The leaves vary much in form, but some of a heart-shape are to be found on almost every branch. They are usually roundish-ovate, about nine inches long, smooth and shining on the upper surface, ribbed and pubescent on the under. The flowers are in thyrsoid, brachiate, tomentose panicles. This species was first discovered by Mutis in the mountains about Santa Fe" de Bogota in New Granada, and grows at elevations varying from 5800 to 9500 feet. It is considered by the London and Dublin Colleges as the source of the yellow bark. It has been ascertained, beyond the possi- bility of doubt, not to produce the officinal yellow bark, which never comes from the region where it is known to grow. Guibourt found that the quina amarilla, or yellow bark of Santa Fe, which is probably produced by C cor- difolia, is identical with hard Carthagena bark. 5. C. magnifolia. Ruiz and Pavon, Fl. Peruv. ii. 53, t. 196.— C. oblongi- folia. Mutis. There has been some confusion in relation to the species de- signated by these two names. The London and Dublin Colleges, in recog- nizing the C. oblong if alia as the source of the officinal red bark, undoubtedly have in view the plant discovered by Mutis in New Granada; while the former College gives the authority of Lambert for the name. Now Lindley has ascer- tained that the C. oblongifolia of Lambert is a different plant from that of Mutis of the same name, and believes, with the authors of the Flora Peru- viana, that the latter is identical with their C. magnifolia. We shall, there- fore, take it for granted that this is the plant intended by the London Col- lege, the bark of the C. oblongifolia of Lambert being wholly unknown. The C. oblongifolia of Mutis is a stately tree with very large leaves, which are oblong, strongly ribbed, smooth and shining on both surfaces, and often a foot in length exclusive of the footstalk. The flowers are in large, terminal, leafless thyrses, and have a fragrant odour, not unlike that of orange-blossoms. This species grows in New Granada, and, according to Ruiz and Pavon, is abundant also on the mountains of Panatahuas, about Cuchero, Chincao, Cha- cahuassi, &c. Some years since, it was considered as indisputably the source of the best red bark of commerce, ascribed to it by the London and Dublin Pharmacopoeias. A little reflection might have convinced those acquainted with the commerce in bark, that this reference is incorrect; for who ever hears of the officinal red bark as coming from Carthagena ? and yet this is the port from which the product of the C. oblongifolia, growing in New Granada, is shipped. The tree does, undoubtedly, as asserted by Mutis, produce a red bark; but it is the red Carthagena bark, the quina roxa de Santa Fe" of Ruiz, a comparatively valueless variety, wholly distinct from the efficient and highly esteemed red bark from the Pacific. Ruiz speaks of it as of inferior quality and little esteemed; and Bergen and Guibourt have proved it to be identical with the worthless quina nova or new bark of European commerce. The foregoing species have been particularly noticed, because recognised in some of the Pharmacopoeias as the sources of officinal varieties of bark. The following, for a description of which we refer to Lindley's Flora Medica, PART I. Cinchona. 217 yield barks possessing febrifuge properties.—6. C. nit id a of the Flora Peru- viana, incorrectly confounded, according to Lindley, with C. lanceolata by De Candolle, and C. Condaminea by Lambert, grows in groves, in cold situations upon the Andes, in the Peruvian provinces of Huanuco, Tarma, Huamilies, and Xauxa, and affords a bark which is very highly esteemed in those places, though unknown as a distinct variety in commerce.—7. C. lucumaefolia of Pavon, confounded by Lambert with C. Condaminea, grows near Loxa, and probably contributes to the Loxa or pale barks.—8. C. lanceolata of the Flora Peruviana is found at Cuchero, and various other places fifteen or twenty leagues distant from Huanuco, where it forms groves in lofty cold situations upon the Andes. Its bark is said by Ruiz and Pavon to be called yellow bark, from the colour of its inner surface, and to resemble Calisaya bark in flavour. Ruiz, indeed, conjectures that it is the source of that highly valued variety of bark, in which case, the tree must also grow in Bolivia at a great distance from its known locality.—9. C. ovahfolia of Humboldt and Bon- pland, the C. Humboldtiana of Romer and Schultes, and of De Cand., is a shrub from six to nine feet high, inhabiting the province of Cuenca, where it forms considerable forests. It probably contributes to the Loxa barks, although its product is said to be of inferior quality.—10. C. ovata, of the Fl. Peruv., grows in close groves, in warm situations at the foot of the Andes, near Pozuzo and Panao, about ten leagues from Huanuco. Lindley considers it quite dis- tinct from the C. pubescens of Vahl, and C. cordifolia of Mutis, with both of which it has been confounded. Ruiz calls its bark cascarillo pallido or pale bark, and states that it was not to be found in commerce, though employed at Panao in the preparation of an extract. Von Bergen, however, upon com- paring a specimen of the cascarillo pallido in the collection of Ruiz with the Jaen bark, found them identical.—11. C. pubescens of Vahl, considered by Lindley as identical with the C. purpurea of the Fl. Peruv., is a tree of considerable magnitude, distinguished by the violet tint of its large leaves, and the purple colour of its flowers. It occurs in groves on the lower moun- tain ridges in the provinces of Loxa, Jaen, Pauatahuas, &c, was seen by Poppig at Cuchuo, and is said to grow also in New Granada. The bark is inferior, and is said to be employed for adulterating the better kinds. A specimen taken to Europe by Poppig was found by Reichel to be identical with the Huamilies bark.—12. C. hirsuta of the Fl. Peruv. grows on wooded mountains in the province of Panatahuas near Huanuco, and is said to yield a good bark, called formerly quina delgadilla or delgada, but now scarcely collected.—13. C. glandulifera of the Fl. Peruv. is a shrub of about twelve feet, flourishing on the high mountains N. W. of Huanuco, and yield- ing an excellent bark, unknown in commerce, called by the inhabitants casca- rillo negrillo from its blackish epidermis. In its flowering season, it perfumes the forest by the strong scent of its blossoms.—14. C. acutifolia of the Fl. Peruv., discovered by Tafalla in the Peruvian Andes, north of Huanuco, yields a very inferior bark, said by Ruiz and Pavon sometimes to occur in parcels of the better kinds.—15. C. macrocarpa of Vahl, identical, according to Ruiz and Pavon, with the C ovalifolia of Mutis, is a shrub about eight feet high, forming considerable forests in the provinces of Loxa and Cuenca, found by Mutis in New Granada, and said to grow as far north as Santa Martha. Its bark is called quina bianco or white bark, from the colour of the epidermis, and is not highly esteemed. May not this species be the source of the commercial variety brought from Maracaybo and Santa Martha ? Besides the above species, Lindley enumerates, 16. C. rotundifolia of Ruiz and Pavon, growing in the province of Loxa; 17. C. villosa of Pavon, the C Humboldtiana of Lambert, growing at Jaen of Loxa; 18. C. oblongifolia of Lambert, in the same locality; 19. C. caducifiora of Bonpland, growing 218 Cinchona. PART I. near Jaen de Bracomoros; 20. C. stenoearpa of Lambert, inhabiting the mountains of Loxa; and 21. C. cam of Pavon, the C Pavonii of Lambert, which is found in Quito. None of these are known to yield bark to commerce. The C. dichotoma of the Flora Peruviana, C. macrocalyx of De Candolle, C. crassifolia of Pavon in De Candolle's Prodromus, C. Pelalba of the same authority, and C. Muzonensis of Goudot in De Candolle's Prodromus, are considered by Lindley as uncertain species. Commercial History. For more than a century after Peruvian bark came into use, it was pro- cured almost exclusively from Loxa, and the neighbouring provinces. In a memoir published A. D. 1738, La Condamine speaks of the bark of Rhio- bambo, Cuenca, Ayavaca, and Jaen de Bracomoros. Of these places, the first two, together with Loxa, lie within the ancient kingdom of Quito, at its southern extremity; the others are in the same vicinity, within the borders of Peru. The drug was shipped chiefly at the port of Payta, from which it was carried to Spain, and thence spread over Europe. Beyond the limits above mentioned, the Cinchona was not supposed to exist, till, in the year 1753, a gentleman of Loxa, familiar with the aspect of the tree, discovered it while on a journey to Santa Fe de Bogota, in numerous situations along his route, wherever, in fact, the elevation of the country was equal to that of Loxa, or about 6,500 feet above the level of the sea. This discovery extended quite through Quito into the kingdom of New Granada, as far as two degrees and a half north of the equator. But no practical advantage was derived from it; and the information lay buried in the archives of the vice-royalty, till subsequent events brought it to light. To Mutis belongs the credit of making known the existence of the Cinchona in New Granada. He first discovered it in the neighbourhood of Bogota, in the year 1772. A botanical expedi- tion was afterwards organized by the Spanish government, with the view of exploring this part of their dominions, and the direction of it was given to Mutis. The researches of the expedition eventuated in the discovery of seve- ral species of Cinchona in New Granada; and a commerce in the bark soon commenced, which was afterwards carried on with great vigour through the ports of Carthagena and Santa Martha. The English and North Americans, opening a contraband trade with these ports, were enabled to undersell the Spanish merchant, who received his supplies by the circuitous route of Cape Horn; and the barks of New Granada were soon as abundant as those of Loxa in the markets of Europe. To these sources another was added about the same time, A. D. 1776, by the discovery of the Cinchona in the centre of Peru, in the mountainous region about the city of Huanuco, which lies on the eastern declivity of the Andes, north-east of Lima, at least six degrees south of the province of Loxa. To explore this new locality, another botanical expedition was set on foot, at the head of which were Ruiz and Pavon, the distinguished authors of the Flora Peruviana. These botanists spent several years in this region, durino- which time they discovered numerous species that were afterwards described in their Flora. Lima became the entrepot for the barks collected around Huanuco; and hence probably originated the name of Lima bark, so often conferred in common language, not only upon the varieties received through that city, but also upon the medicine generally. Soon after the last-mentioned discovery, two additional localities of the Cin- chona were found, one at the northern extremity of the continent near Santa Martha, the other very far to the south, in the provinces of La Paz and Co- chabamba, then within the vice-royalty of Buenos Ayres, now in the republic part I. Cinchona. 219 of Bolivia. These latter places became the source of an abundant supply of excellent bark, which received the name of Calisaya. It was sent partly to the ports on the Pacific, partly to Buenos Ayres. The consequence of these discoveries, following each other in such rapid succession, was a vast increase in the supply of bark, which was now shipped from the ports of Guayaquil, Payta, Lima, Arica, Buenos Ayres, Carthagena, and Santa Martha. At the same time, the average quality was probably de- teriorated; for, though many of the new varieties were possessed of excellent properties, yet equal care in superintending the collection and assorting of the article could not be exercised, now that the field was so extended, as when it was confined to a small portion of the South of Quito and North of Peru. The varieties which were poured into the market soon became so numerous as to burthen the memory, if not to defy the discrimination of the druggist; and the best pharmaceutists found themselves at a loss to discover any permanent peculiarities, which might serve as the basis of a proper and useful classifica- tion. This perplexity has continued more or less to the present time; though the discovery of the alkaline principles has presented a ground of distinction before unknown. The restrictions upon the commerce with South America, by directing the trade into irregular channels, had also a tendency to deterio- rate the character of the drug. In the complexity of contrivance to which it was necessary to resort, to deceive the vigilance of the government, little attention could be paid to a proper assortment of the several varieties; and not only were the best barks mixed with those of inferior species and less careful preparation, but the products of other trees, bearing no resemblance to the Cinchona, were sometimes added, having been artificially prepared so as to deceive a careless observer. The markets of this country were pecu- liarly ill furnished. The supplies being derived chiefly, by means of a con- traband trade, from Carthagena and other ports on the Spanish Main, or indi- rectly through the Havana, were necessarily of an inferior character; and the little good bark which reached us was imported by our druggists from Lon- don, whither it was sent from Cadiz. A great change, however, in this respect, has taken place since the ports on the Pacific have been opened to our commerce. The best kinds of bark have thus been rendered directly accessible to us; and the trash with which our markets were formerly glutted is now in great measure excluded. Our ships trading to the Pacific, run along the American coast from Valparaiso to Guayaquil, stopping at the intermedi- ate ports of Coquimbo, Cnpiapo, Arica, Callao, Truxillo, &c, from all which they probably receive supplies of bark in exchange for the mercury, piece- goods, flour, &c, constituting their outward cargo. The persons who collect the bark are called in South America Cascarilleros. Considerable experience and judgment are requisite to render an individual well qualified for this business. He must not only be able to distinguish the trees which produce good bark from those less esteemed, but must also know the proper season and the age at which a branch should be decorticated, and the marks by which the efficiency or inefficiency of any particular product is indicated. The bark gatherers begin their operations with the setting in of the dry season in May. Sometimes they first cut down the tree, and after- wards "strip off the bark from the branches; 'in other instances, they decorti- cate the tree while standing. The former plan is said to be the most econo- mical ; as, when the tree is cut down, the stump pushes up shoots which in the course of time become fit for decortication, while, if deprived of its bark, the whole plant perishes. The operator separates the bark by making a longi- tudinal incision with a sharp knife through its whole thickness, and then forcing it off from the branch with the back of the instrument. Other means are resorted to when the trunk or larger limbs are decorticated. According to 220 Cinchona. PART I. Poppig, the bark is not separated until three or four days after the tree is felled. It must then be speedily dried, as otherwise it becomes deteriorated. For this purpose it is taken out of the woods into the vicinity of some inha- bited place, where it is exposed to the sun. In the drying process it rolls itself up, or in technical language becomes quilled; and the degree to which this effect takes place, is proportionate directly to the thinness of the bark, and inversely to the age of the branch from which it was derived. In pack- ing the bark for exportation, it often happens that several different kinds are introduced into the same case. The packages are, in commercial language, called seroons. As found in this market they are usually covered with a case of thick and stiff ox-hide, which is lined within by a very coarse cloth, appa- rently woven out of some kind of grass. The Cinchona forests, being in very thinly inhabited districts, do not, for the most part, belong to individuals, and are open to the enterprise of all who choose to engage in the collection of the bark. The consequence is, that the operations are carried on without reference to the future condition of this im- portant interest, and the most wasteful modes of proceeding are adopted, if they save present trouble, or contribute to immediate profit. Nevertheless, the great extent to which the Cinchona forests prevail, spreading, as they do, with some interruptions, over more than thirty degrees of latitude, and occu- pying regions which can never be applied to agricultural purposes, almost pre- cludes the idea of their even remote, extinction. Classification. To form a correct and lucid system of classification is the most difficult part of the subject of bark. An arrangement founded on the botanical species, though the most scientific and satisfactory when attainable, is in the present instance quite out of the question. There are few varieties, of the precise origin of which we can be said to have any certain knowledge; by far the greater number being either derived from an unknown source, or but ob- scurely traceable to the species producing them. The Spanish merchants adopted a classification, dependent partly on the place of growth or shipment, and partly on the inherent properties, or sup- posed relative value of the bark. So long as the sources of the drug were very confined, and the number of varieties small, this plan answered the pur- poses of trade; but at present it is altogether inadequate; and, though some of the names originally conferred upon this principle are still retained, they have ceased to be expressive of the truth, and are often erroneously, almost always confusedly applied. The Loxa barks embrace, among us, not only those which come from that province, but those also from the neighbourhood of Huanuco; while others, which have received different names, are brought from the same place. It is said that, by the traders in South America, the young slender gray barks are called by the name of Loxa, from Avhatever source they may be derived; while those somewhat larger and older receive their appellation from Lima. Perhaps the best arrangement for pharmaceutical and medicinal purposes is that adopted in the United States Pharmacopoeia, founded upon difference of colour. It is true that dependence cannot be placed upon this property alone; as barks of a similar colour have been found to possess very different virtues; and, between the various colours considered characteristic, there is an insensible gradation of shade, so that it is not always possible to decide where one ends and the other begins. Still it has been found that the most valuable barks, which are brought almost exclusively from the western or Pacific coast of South America, and are recognised only as coming from this PART I. Cinchona. 221 source by our Pharmacopoeia, may be arranged, according to their colour, in three divisions, which, though mingling at their extremes, are very distinctly characterized, in certain specimens, by peculiarity not only in colour, but also in other sensible properties, and even in chemical constitution. The three divisions alluded to are the pale, the yellow, and the red. These may be considered as exclusively the officinal barks; while the inferior varieties which approach one or other of these classes in colour, but differ in other properties, may be treated as extra-officinal, and considered under a separate head. As these inferior kinds come chiefly from the northern ports of New Granada and Venezuela, they are known in commerce by the name of Carthagena barks, and by this name will be here described. Parcels of little value may be occasionally imported from the Pacific coast of South America; but the quantity is small, as the profit on them would not pay the expense of so long a voyage. In describing, therefore, the different kinds of bark, we shall treat first of the officinal varieties under the heads of pale, yellow, and red, and secondly of the extra-officinal under the title of Carthagena barks. The com- mercial name will be given in all instances in which a knowledge of it can be useful in this country. It is proper to state that the different barks frequently come to us mingled in the same package, and that, in deciding upon the cha- racter of a seroon, the druggist is guided rather by the predominance than the exclusive existence of certain distinctive properties. There is a remarkable difference in the epidermis or outer covering of the strictly officinal barks from the western coast of South America, and that of the extra-officinal or Carthagena barks, from the ports of the Caribbean sea. In the former, the epidermis is cracked, rugose, and of a brownish colour, and, when apparently whitish, is so in consequence of adhering lichens, upon the removal of which by scraping the normal colour appears; in the latter it is comparatively destitute of fissures, smooth, whitish or yellowish-white, and micaceous. 1. Pale Bark. The epithet pale applied to the barks of this division is derived from the colour of the powder. The French call them quinquinas gris, or gray barks, from the colour of the epidermis. They come into the market in cylindrical pieces of variable length, from a few inches to a foot and a half, sometimes singly, sometimes doubly quilled, from two lines to an inch in diameter, and from half a line to two or three lines in thickness. The finest kinds are about the size of a goosequill. Their exterior surface is usually more or less rough, marked with circular and sometimes with longitudinal fissures, and of a gray- ish colour, owing to adhering lichens. The shade is different in different samples. Sometimes it is a light gray, approaching to white, sometimes dull and brown, sometimes a grayish-fawn, and frequently diversified by the inter- mixture of the proper colour of the epidermis with that of the patches of lichens. The interior surface, in the finer kinds, is smooth; in the coarser, occasionally rough and somewhat ligneous. Its colour is a brownish-orange, sometimes inclining to red, sometimes to yellow, and in some inferior speci- mens, of a dusky hue. The fracture is usually smooth, with some short fila- ments on the internal part only. In the coarser barks it is more fibrous. The colour of the powder is a pale fawn, which is of a deeper hue in the in- ferior kinds. The taste is moderately bitter and somewhat astringent, with- out being disagreeable or nauseous. Authors speak also of an acidulous and aromatic flavour, which is less evident. The better kinds have a feeble odour, which is distinct and agreeably aromatic in the powder and decoction. The pale barks are chemically characterized by containing a much larger propor- tion of cinchonia than of quinia; and their infusion does not yield a precipi- 0 00 Cinchona. PART I. tate with solution of sulphate of soda. Their appearance generally indicates that they were derived from the smaller branches. They are collected in the provinces about Loxa, or in the country which surrounds the city of Huanuco, northeast of Lima, and are probably derived chiefly from C. Condaminea and C. micrantha. There are several commercial varieties of pale bark, obtained from differ- ent sources, and differing more or less in their properties. The most highly esteemed of these is the Loxa bark, the finest specimens of which are some- times called croivn bark of Loxa, from the impression that they have the same origin and character with the bark formerly selected with great care for the use of the King of Spain and the royal family. The pale bark collected about Huanuco is either named Lima bark, because taken to that city for commercial distribution, or Huanuco bark, from its place of collection. The former name has been more common in this country, where, indeed, this com- mercial variety has not unfrequently been confounded with the Loxa bark. Other pale barks are the Jaen and Huamilies barks, which are scarcely known as distinct varieties in the United States.* * Since the publication of the first edition of this Dispensatory, we have had an op- portunity of examining Von Bergen's splendid work upon bark, entitled Vcrsuch einer Monographic der China, published in Hamburgh in the year 1826. His descriptions are among the most precise and accurate which have been published, and we have availed ourselves of them in preparing the following sketch of the varieties which may be ar- ranged under the head of pale bark. We have also consulted, in relation to this subject, the works of the French pharmaceutical writers, particularly that of Guibourt, the elabo- rate German work of Geiger, entitled Handbuch der Pharmacie, $$c, and, more recently, the English treatise on Materia Medica by Pereira. We have placed our remarks in a note; as the information in relation to these different varieties can be of little use to the student, though it may possibly serve to aid the discrimination of the druggist. 1. Loxa Bark. Crown Bark.— Quinquina de Loxa, Fr.— Loxa China, Kron-China, Germ.—This is in cylindrical tubes, strongly rolled, from six to fifteen inches long, from two lines to an inch in diameter, and from half a line to two lines thick. The outer sur- face is more or less rough, seldom much wrinkled longitudinally, but marked with numerous transverse fissures, which usually run round the bark, and divide it into rings, the edges of which are somewhat elevated. In the smallest quills these fissures are not very obvious: in the larger, they are distant and apt to be interrupted. In the largest the surface is sometimes very rough and even warty. The proper colour of the epidermis is dark-gray, sometimes almost black, sometimes ash-coloured, and occasionally inclining to fawn; but frequently diversified by whitish lichens, which are in some instances so numerous as to cover almost the whole exterior of the bark, and give it a light-gray ap- pearance. The inner surface is smooth and uniform, and of the colour of cinnamon, with occasionally a reddish tinge. The fracture in the smaller quills is quite smooth, in the larger somewhat fibrous. The bark is of a rather firm consistence, and when cut transversely exhibits a resinous character. Its odour is compared by Guibourt to that perceived in damp woods, by Von Bergen to that of tan. Its taste is acidulous, astringent, and bitterish. The powder is of a dull cinnamon colour. This variety of bark appears to contain, on an average of several results stated by Geiger, about 048 per cent, of cin- chonia, and 006 of quinia. In the thicker pieces, which appear to be richest in the organic alkalies, Thiel found 10 per cent, of cinchonia, and 003 of quinia. According to Soubeiran, one pound of Loxa bark yields from a drachm and a half to two drachms of sulphate of cinchonia. The strong reaction of a solution of gelatin indicates the pre- sence of much tannin. Guibourt, in the edition of his Histoire des Drogues, printed in 1836, describes several varieties of Loxa bark; one answering to the above under the name of Quinquina gris brun de Loxa, a second, under that of quinquina de Loxa cendri which he considers identical with the Jaen bark of Von Bergen, and two others both of which he calls quinquina de Loxa fibreux. Of these two, one is probably not found in commerce, and the other is the variety described in his former edition as the Quinquina gris de Loxa. This is characterized by its light-gray colour externally, and by its extreme thinness, which is observable even in the pieces taken from the larger branches the bark being almost as thin and as much rolled as Ceylon cinnamon. It is very rare. In the seroons of Loxa bark, other kinds are sometimes mixed with the genuine. Among them are quills of a bark supposed to be identical with the Huamilies and a variety part i. Cinchona. 223 In this country, the pale bark has fallen into disuse. As it yields little quinia, it is not employed in the manufacture of the sulphate of that alkali, which has almost superseded the bark as a remedy in interniittents; and the red or yellow bark is preferred by physicians, when it is necessary to resort to the which has been called white Loxa bark, of unknown origin, resembling the genuine ex- cept in the character of its epidermis, which is whitish and micaceous, like that of the C;>rthagena barks. English druggists distinguish Loxa bark into 1. the picked crown bark, which consists of the finest, thinnest, and longest quills; 2. the silvery crown bark, some- what larger in size, and characterized by a whitish silvery appearance of the epidermis derived from adhering lichens; and 3. the leopard crown bark, named from its speckled appearance, depending on whitish lichens alternating with the dark-brown epidermis. Loxa bark is thought to be derived chiefly from C. Condaminea, and to have been the variety first imported into Europe. 2. Lima or Huanuco Bark. Cinchona Cinerea, Gray Bark, Silver Bark, Ed.—Quinquina de Lima, Ft.—China Huanuco, Graue China, Germ.—The Lima or Huanuco bark was introduced into notice about the year 1779, after the discovery of Cinchona trees in the central regions of Peru; but Poppig says that the trade in it began in 1785. The first name originated from the circumstance that the bark entered into commerce through the city of Lima, the second was derived from the name of the city (Huanuco or Guanuco), in the more immediate neighbourhood of which the trees were found. The dimensions of this variety of bark do not materially differ from those of the preceding, although in the largest pieces the diameter is somewhat greater. Many of the smaller quills have a more or less spiral form. At the edge of most of the complete quills, a sharp oblique blit made with a knife is observable. The epidermis is usually adherent. The exterior surface is marked with longitudinal wrinkles, which in the thick pieces are often so deep as to amount to furrows, penetrating quite through the outer coating of the bark. Transverse fissures are also generally observable, but they never run wholly round the quill, often not more than a quarter or half round, and do not exhibit elevated borders. In some pieces the outer layer of the epidermis is rubbed off, either wholly or in spots; and in a few the entire thickness of the external layers, which we usually denominate the epidermis, is here and there removed, exhibiting the proper bark in patches. The colour externally is very light-gray, almost milk-white, with occasionally bluish gray and darkish spots intermingled. Where the outer crust which imparts this whitish colour i3 wanting, the surface is grayish fawn or reddish-gray, and in the thicker pieces of a dark cinnamon colour. The inner surface, though in the smaller quills sometimes tolerably uniform, is generally more or less uneven, fibrous, or splintery, especially in the larger pieces, in which may often be observed adhering yellowish-white splinters of wood. The colour is usually a rusty-brown inclining somewhat to red, with occasionally a pur- plUh tinge. The transverse fracture is smooth in the exterior part, fibrous or splintery in the interior. The longitudinal fracture is usually somewhat uneven, without being splintery, and exhibits here and there minute shining spots. The inner layers of the bark are usually soft and friable. The colour of the powder is a full cinnamon brown. The odour of the bark is like that of clay, and in this respect different from that of all other varieties. The tas-te is at first acidulous, astringent,and slightly aromatic, and ulti- mately bitter and adhesive. The proportion of cinchonia contained in Huanuco bark, by an average of several results stated by Geiger, is 1 -72 per cent., of quinia 0 29 per cent. Von Santen got from the best specimens, as the maximum, 2-73 per cent, of cinchonia and no quinia. The most productive pieces are those of middling size. Guibourt makes two varieties of this bark', the quinquina gris fin de Lima, including the smaller quills, and the quinquina gros Lima or Lima blanc, including the larger. It has been raised to the rank of a distinct officinal variety by the Edinburgh College. Little, if any of it, is brought to this country; and, according to Poppig, the trade in it ceased in South America in 1815. This variety of bark is now confidently ascribed to the C. micrantha. 3. Jaen Bark. Jlshbark. — China Jaen, Elasse Ten-China, Germ.— Quinquina de Loxa cendre of Guibourt. This variety probably derives its name from the province of Jaen de Bracomoros, in the vicinity of Loxa, where, large quantities of bark have been collected. The Jaen bark is always in quills, which do not differ much in size from those of the Loxa bark, but are distinguishable by being frequently curved longitudinally, or bent in different directions, and somewhat spiral. The outer coat is often partially or entirely rubbed oft', leaving the surface smooth and soft to the touch. When the epidermis is perfect, it exhibits small irregular transverse fissures, with occasionally faint longitudinal fissures and wavy wrinkles, and here and there a few warts, but no deep furrows. The colour varies from light or ash-gray to light yellow, diversified with blackish and brown- ish spots. When the outer coat is rubbed off, it inclines still more to yellow. Considered 224 Cinchona. part i. medicine in substance. There is little doubt, however, that cinchonia pos- sesses febrifuge properties little if at all inferior to those of quinia ; and should the source of the latter begin to fail, the pale bark would come into more ex- tensive use for the preparation of the former. in mass, the bark always appears somewhat yellowish or straw-coloured. The exterior layers are soft and rather spongy, and may be readily scraped by the nail. The inner surface is exceedingly diversified, sometimes smooth, sometimes uneven and splintery. It is usually of a dull cinnamon colour. The bark is very brittle, and the fracture is smooth in the smaller quills, more or less uneven and sometimes splintery in the larger, and in neither exhibits a resinous appearance. The odour is sweetish, and is compared to that of tan. The taste is acidulous, slightly astringent, and bitter, without being dis- agreeable. The colour of the powder is cinnamon-brown. The bark is very deficient in alkalies. Some experimenters have found none, or only traces, while the highest product obtained was 80 grains of quinia and 13 grains of cinchonia from a pound. M. Manzini, of Paris, extracted from it an alkaline principle which he believed to be peculiar, and named cinchovatin; but which has been ascertained to be identical with the aricina of Pelletier. This variety of bark is thought to be of little value. Von Bergen believes it to be the product of the C. ovata of the Fl. Peruv. It is exported chiefly in chests. Von Bergen describes a variety of pale bark, under the name of dark Jaen bark (dunkele Ten-China), or pseudo Loxa, which resembles the Loxa, but may be distinguished by the oblique or bent shape of the quills, and the uneven, fibrous, or splintery appearance of the inner surface. It seldom comes in large pieces. It contains very little of the active principles. Von Santen discovered neither quinia nor cinchonia in two specimens which he examined. Its appearance, and strong reaction with a solution of gelatin, associate it with the Loxa bark; and Geiger's conjecture is not improbable, that it is the product of the same tree, growing in unfavourable situations, or altered by disease. Brown Jaen Bark.—Winckler has recently described a new variety of bark, which he found to contain the same peculiar alkaloid as the Jaen bark, and has, therefore, classed with that variety under the name of brown Jaen bark. It was originally sent from Para to London. It was in pieces partially or completely quilled, from three to twelve inches long, and of variable thickness. In mass, the colour was a deep yellowish-brown. The surface exhibited longitudinal furrows; and in the greater number of pieces there were also transverse fissures, rather irregular and deep, resembling those of Huanuco bark, while the colour resembled that of the Huamilies. The epidermis was rather thin. It was covered, in many pieces, almost completely, or in spots, by lichens, of a silvery- white, brownish, or yellowish-gray colour; and when they were absent, the surface was of a dirty yellowish-white, or a deep yellowish-brown. The internal surface was very smooth, and of a deeper colour than the exterior. The bark was brittle transversely, with very short shining fibres on the inner portion of the fracture, and an unequal surface on the exterior part. The longitudinal fracture was unequal. In the external part of the fractured surface, layers of a deep colour were observed. The fibrous structure and the colour of the powder were not unlike those of the Calisaya bark. The taste was feebly astringent, and disagreeably bitter. The bark contained no cinchonia or quinia, and no kinovic acid: but was found by Winckler to afford a small quantity of the alkaline prin- ciple denominated cinchovatin (aricina) found previously in the Jaen bark. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., 3e sir., ix. 427.) 4. Huamilies Bark.—China Huamilies, Germ. This bark is not generally known as a distinct variety, though probably identical with the quinquina ferrugineux, or ferruginous bark of the French writers. Its commercial name was undoubtedly derived from the province of Huamilies, which lies in the interior of Peru, to the northward of Huanuco, and is a part of the country explored by the botanical expedition under Ruiz and Pavon. It came into notice in Germany about the beginning of the present century, when a parcel of it was imported directly from Lima into Hamburg. It is in quills and flat pieces. The quills are from three lines to an inch and a half in diameter, from five to sixteen inches long, and from half a line to three lines thick. The flat pieces, which are usually only fragments of the largest quills, are from one to two inches broad, and six to twelve inches long. In general all the layers of the bark are present, but sometimes the outer coat, and even the whole of that part usually called the epidermis in our descriptions of bark, (including those outer layers which in the tree are destitute of vitality, having been thrown outward by the annually renewed layers beneath them.) are wanting in spots though very seldom entirely absent. The epidermis is comparatively thin, very brittle, soft, and spongy. The outer surface, in the small and middling quills, is sometimes nearly smooth, but usually marked with wavy longitudinal wrinkles, and beset here and there with warts. These warts are abundant upon the thick pieces, which they some- PART I. Cinchona. 225 2. Yellow Bark. The officinal term yellow bark should be considered as applicable only to the valuable variety of the drug having this colour. This is known in com- merce by the name of Calisaya, which has been said, though erroneously, to be derived from a province in Bolivia, near the city of La Paz, where the bark is collected.* By the druggists, Calisaya bark is arranged in two divisions, the quilled and the flat, which sometimes come mixed together in the same seroon, sometimes separate. The appearance of both indicates that they were taken from larger branches than those which yield the pale varieties. They are sometimes called by the French quinquina jaune royal, from their resem- blance to a variety of bark formerly collected for the Spanish king. The quilled Calisaya (Calisaya arrolada of the Spanish Americans) is in pieces from, three or four inches to a foot and a half long, from a quarter of an inch to two or three inches in diameter, and of equally variable thickness. The epidermis is of a brownish colour, diversified or concealed by whitish or yellowish lichens, is marked by longitudinal wrinkles and transverse fissures, and is often partially separated, and generally easily separable from the proper bark. In the larger kinds, it is thick, rough, deeply indented by the trans- verse fissures, which often surround the quills, and is composed of several lay- ers, separated from each other by a reddish-brown membrane like velvet. The epidermis yields a dark-red powder, is tasteless, and possesses none of the vir- tues of the bark. It is desirable, therefore, to get rid of it before the bark is powdered, as the medicine is thus procured of greater strength. The bark itself, without the epidermis, is from one to two lines in thickness, of a fibrous texture, and when broken presents shining points, apparently the termination of small fibres running longitudinally, which, examined by the microscope, are found, when freed from a salmon-coloured powder that surrounds them, to be yellow and transparent. They readily separate, when the bark is powdered, in the form of spicule, which, like those of cowhage, insinuate themselves into the skin, and produce a disagreeable itching and irritation. The colour of the bark is brownish-yellow with a tinge of orange, the taste less astringent than that of the pale bark, but much more bitter; and the bitterness is some- what peculiar. The external part of the proper bark is more bitter and astrin- gent, and consequently stronger in medicinal power, than the internal; pro- bably from the longer exposure of the latter to the action of air and moisture. times almost entirely cover. Transverse fissures are seldom found, and only in the thick pieces. The colour of the epidermis is usually grayish-fawn, here and there passing into a rusty brown; but in the thicker pieces, in which the warts are abundant, it is between a liver and chestnut colour, often mixed with a tinge of purple. When the epidermis is wanting,,the colour is often a full ochre-yellow. The inner surface is sometimes uniform and almost smooth, sometimes slightly fibrous, rarely splintery. The colour of the surface is rusty brown, occasionally reddish, and in the fibrous or splintery pieces of an ochre- yellow. The fracture in the smaller quills is rather even, in the larger presents short fibres, and is sometimes even splintery. The odour of the bark is feeble but agreeable, the taste somewhat aromatic, bitterish, and slightly astringent. The powder is of a full cinnamon colour. The average product of cinchonia and quinia, as stated by Geiger, is 0-67 per cent, of the former, and 0-25 of the latter; so that the bark, though dissimilar in appearance from the other varieties of pale bark, agrees with them in containing more cinchonia than quinia. Von Santen obtained, as the maximum, 1-2 per cent, of cinchonia, and little or no quinia. Huamilies bark is now believed to be the product of the C.pur- purea of the Flor. Peruv. (See C. pubescens.) It is scarcely known in the United States. (Xolr to the second edition, altered in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh.) * No such province exists in Bolivia. According to M. Laubert, the name is a cor- ruption of colisalla, said to be derived from colla, a remedy, and salla, a rocky country. (Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 614.) 15 226 Cinchona. PART i. The odour is faint, but, when the bark is boiled, resembles that of the pale varieties. The small quills closely resemble some of the pale varieties in Ap- pearance, but may be distinguished by their very bitter taste. The fiat Calisaya (Calisayaplandia of the Spaniards) which appears to have been derived from the large branches and trunk, is in pieces of various lengths, either quite flat, or but slightly curved, generally destitute of the epi- dermis, and therefore presenting the yellowish colour of the bark both within and without. It is usually thicker than the quilled, more fibrous in its text- ure, less compact, less bitter, and possessed of less medicinal power. Though weaker than the proper bark of the quills, it is usually, in equal weight, more valuable than that variety, because free from the useless epidermis. The valuable yellow bark is characterized by its strongly bitter taste, with comparatively little astringency; by its fine brownish-yellow, somewhat orange colour, which is still brighter in the powder; and by containing a large pro- portion of quinia with very little cinchonia. The salts of quinia and lime are so abundant in its composition, that a strong infusion of it instantly precipi- tates a solution of sulphate of soda. (Guibourt.)* Nothing is known with certainty as to the particular species which yields * The Calisaya bark is the third variety of Von Bergen, who describes it under the name of China Regia or Konig's China. We give a brief abstract of his description, omitting the form and dimensions, which are given with sufficient minuteness in the text The epidermisd" which in many of the small quills is partly wanting, in the flat pieces usually altogether absent, is very thick and brittle, constituting from a third to one- half of the bark, and in some of the largest quills or partially quilled pieces, even two- thirds. In the latter case, it may often be seen to consist of six or eight different layers. The quills are generally marked with longitudinal wrinkles and furrows, as well as with transverse fissures, the last of which are never absent. The fissures, which often form complete circles round the quills, have usually an elevated border, and sink so deeply in many of the larger pieces, that they are even observable upon the proper bark. In the smaller pieces they are often faint, but usually crowded. The colour of the epidermis varies from whitish-gray to bluish-gray; but is very much diversified by lichens, so as to present yellowish-white, ash-gray, and blackish spots. When the outer layer of the epi- dermis is wanting, as is not unfrequently the case to a greater or less extent, the colour is somewhat sooty-brown or almost liver-brown. The outer surface of the pieces with- out epidermis is of a colour between cinnamon-brown and dark rusty-brown. The inner surface, in the pieces of all dimensions, is uniform and almost smooth, but exhibits fine longitudinal fibres closely compressed. Splinters of wood are never found adhering to the inner surface, as in some other varieties. The prevailing colour of this surface is a rather dark or full cinnamon-brown, passing sometimes into a rusty-brown, but sel- dom of a reddish hue. This bark breaks more easily in the longitudinal direction than any other variety, exhibiting a chestnut-brown colour in the part answering to the epi- dermis, a more or less dark cinnamon brown in that answering to the proper bark. The transverse fracture of the epidermis is rather even, that of the inner part sometimes fibrous, sometimes splintery. A resinous layer may be observed beneath the epidermis, which usually remains when the latter is removed, and communicates to the flat pieces the dark colour by which their external surface is distinguished. Small sharp splinters, which in the longitudinal fracture appear like shining points, are apt to insinuate them- selves into the skin when the bark is broken or much handled. The odour is feebly tan-like, the taste slightly acidulous, strongly but not disagreeably bitter, somewhat aro- matic, feebly astringent, and rather durable. The powder is of a fine cinnamon hue. Thiel obtained from the flat Calisaya bark 23 per cent, of quinia, and 008 of cin- chonia; Michaelis from the flat 37 per cent., and from the quill 20 per cent, of quinia, but no cinchonia from either; Von Santen from the flat, an average of 2-0 per cent, of quinia, and little or no cinchonia; Wittstock, on an average, 3-0 per cent, of sulphate of quinia, and 0'12 of cinchonia. (Geiger.) False Calisaya barks.—Under the name of light Calisaya, Guibourt, in the last edition of t By the epidermis is here understood the whole of the external layers which are accumulated upon the outer surface of the bark by the annual renewal of the cortical layers, and the consequent separation of those of former years, which remain, but without life, attached to the external surface. A different meaning is attached to the term by Von Bergen; but as we have taken pains to make the description in every instance correspond with our definition, we do not misrepresent his meanin". PART I. Cinchona. 227 Calisaya bark. Some writers, influenced simply by its officinal title of yellow bark, have attributed it to the C. cordifolia; because Mutis gave the same name to the product of that species. The British Colleges fell into this error, without, however, being aware, that the yellow bark which they adopted as officinal was really the Calisaya. That it is an error has been fully demon- strated ; as no Calisaya bark is brought from those regions where the C. cor- difolia most abounds. In the last edition of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, his work, describes a variety of bark which he says is brought from the same region of country that produces the genuine. It is identical with that named in previous editions orange-yellow bark (quinquina jaune orange), and is of comparatively little value, at least for the preparation of sulphate of quinia, though the best specimens, as they contain much cinchonia, are not without medicinal activity. Like the Calisaya, it is in quills or flat pieces, sometimes with and sometimes without the epidermis; but it may be distin- guished by its want of thickness, its finer and more compact texture, and by a character which is most striking in the fresh specimens, viz., that of presenting a rose colour in the part which is near the epidermis, while the inner portion is of a pure yellow, so that the whole bark has an orange colour. The epidermis, moreover, when present, is thin, smoother than that of the genuine Calisaya, and without the numerous transverse fissures which mark the latter bark. Another bark, derived from the same region of country as the preceding, and some- times sold as Calisaya bark, though wholly without quinia, is described by Guibourt under the name of Cusco bark, and has attracted some attention as the source of a new alkali, discovered by MM. Pelletier and Coriol, and named aricina from the port of Arica, whence the bark is said to be sent. The smaller pieces may be distinguished from the genuine Calisaya by their white, uniform epidermis, without fissures; but, when the epi- dermis is wanting, as frequently happens in the larger pieces, the two barks might easily be confounded. According to Holl, this bark may be best distinguished by the appear- ance, under the microscope, of the surface made by cutting it through obliquely, which, upon a dark reddish-brown ground, exhibits grayish-black, horn-like points, having com- monly in the middle a white spot. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, April 1847, p. 287, from Arch, der Pharm.) The test of sulphate of soda may also be found useful; as this salt, which so stri- kingly precipitates the infusion of Calisaya, does not disturb that of the Cusco bark. It is proper to state that Guibourt could obtain from this bark no other alkali than cinchonia, and is disposed to consider aricina as the result of the modifying influence of the process employed in its preparation. (Note to the second, fourth, and eighth editions.) We have in our possession specimens of a bark recently imported into the United States, having been consigned to a manufacturing chemist of this city by a commercial house in Valparaiso, with the information that it had been sent to them by Dr. J. Vil- lamil, and had been collected in the forests of Huanuco, in Peru. It bears a close resem- blance to the genuine Calisaya, and was believed to be identical with it by Dr. Villamil, who, having been for many years concerned in the collection of the Calisaya bark in Bolivia, must be supposed to be well acquainted with its characters, as well as with the tree producing it. The pieces are generally without the epidermis, which appears t© have separated spontaneously, and when retained, has the transverse fissures, and longi- tudinal furrows characteristic of the Calisaya. The colour and consistence of the bark are the same as in the genuine; and it even presents the shining spiculse which charac- terize the latter, though they are less numerous, and do not so readily penetrate the fin- gers. The taste is very bitter. Examined chemically by Mr. Procter, it was found to afford a precipitate with sulphate of soda, in consequence of containing kinate of lime, and thus in another point approaches the Calisaya. Yet it is a different bark; for Mr. Procter could not detect in it a trace of quinia. The only alkali it was found to con- tain was cinchonia, of which there was the large proportion of 2-S per cent.; so that this must rank with the valuable barks. For a more particular account of it the reader is referred to a paper by Mr. Procter in the American Journal of Pharmacy (xix. 178). It appears to us highly probable, considering the close resemblance of this bark to the Cali- saya in sensible properties, and the fact of its having been mistaken for the latter by one well acquainted with the Calisaya and the tree yielding it, that it is in fact derived from the same species of cinchona, and that the difference in its alkaline product is owing to the different circumstances of climate and position under which the tree grows. Such a result would not be remarkable; for quinia and cinchonia are in general found asso- ciated in the cinchona barks, and, differing only by a single equivalent of oxygen, might readily be converted the one into the other through natural agencies, as tannic acid is supposed to be converted into the gallic in the oak. (Note to eighth edition.) 228 Cinchona. PART I. the error has been corrected. Many writers ascribe this variety to the C. lancifolia, on the authority of Mutis himself, who asserts that it is indisputa- bly derived from that species. But Mutis was mistaken; fof it is now well known that the bark of the 0. lancifolia is wholly different from the Calisaya. (See C. lancifolia.) Kuiz was disposed to ascribe it to his C. lanceolata; but Von Bergen found a specimen of the bark of that species in Ruiz's col- lection to be different from the officinal yellow bark. According to M. Au- guste Delondre, who received specimens of the plants producing Calisaya bark from his correspondents in South America, no less than three distinct trees contribute to furnish the bark thrown into commerce under that title. One of these specimens appeared to Guibourt to belong to the Cinchona micrantha, and another to the C. Condaminea. The third resembled the latter of these two species, but differed somewhat both in its leaves and fruit. A fourth specimen had fruit like that of the Condaminea, but smaller leaves, and was considered by Guibourt as probably the C. angustifolia of Ruiz, now thought to be merely a variety of the C. lancifolia. But this information is quite too vague to lead to any satisfactory conclusion. It may, however, serve to ex- plain the fact, that barks are sometimes imported under the name of Calisaya, and derived from the same district of country, which differ from the genuine bark both in appearance and qualities, and will not serve for the preparation of sulphate of quinia.* The genuine Calisaya bark is produced most abundantly, if not exclusively, in Bolivia, formerly Upper Peru, in the province of La Paz, and in the coun- try about Apolobamba on the Rio Paro; and, before the disturbances in these countries, was shipped as well from the port of Buenos Ayres as from those on the Pacific. It is at present, however, procured exclusively from the lat- ter. A very fine parcel was exhibited to us, imported directly from Coquimho in Chili. We have been informed by gentlemen who have been long person- ally engaged in commercial transactions upon the Pacific coast of South America, that the Calisaya bark of commerce is originally obtained chiefly, if not exclusively, at the port of Arica, whither it is brought from the interior provinces of Bolivia. From that town it is sent to various other ports on the Pacific. It is generally supposed to have been first introduced into commerce towards the end of the last century, and it was probably not known by its present name till that period; but La Condamine states that the Jesuits of La Paz, at a period anterior to the discovery of the febrifuge of Loxa, sent to Rome a very bitter bark by the name quinaquina, which, though supposed by that traveller to have been derived from the Peruvian balsam tree, was very probably, as conjectured by Guibourt, the true cinchona. Besides, Po- met, in his History of Drugs, published in 1694, speaks of a bark more bitter than that of Loxa, obtained from the province of Potosi, which borders upon that of La Paz; and Chomel also states that the cinchona tree inhabited the mountains of Potosi, and produced a bark more esteemed than that which grew in the province of Quito. (Guibourt, Journ. de Pharm., xvi. 235.) It is possible that, though known at this early period, it may have gone out of use; and its re-introduction into notice, towards the end of the last century, may have been mistaken for an original discovery. Whether it is found in the other localities of bark in Peru and Quito, it is difficult to determine; but we may infer from the existence of a commercial variety known to the Span- iards by the name of Calisaya de Quito, that either the identical bark, or a variety closely analogous to it, has been found in that province. * See Guibourt's Histoire des Drogues, 1836, and an interesting article upon the subject of the origin and collection of the Calisaya bark, in the Journal de Pharmacie xxi. 505, and in the American Journ. of Pharm., vii. 325. PART I. Cinchona. 229 3. Red Bark. The name of this variety is very appropriately applied; as* the colour is usually distinct both in the bark and the powder. In South America it is called cascarilla roxa and colorada. Some writers have divided it into several sub-varieties; but there does not seem to be ground for such division in any essential difference of properties. Like the Calisaya, it comes in quills and flat pieces, which are probably derived from different parts of the same tree. It is imported in chests. Some of the pieces are entirely rolled, some partially so, as if they had been taken from half the circumference of the branch; others are nearly or quite flat. They vary very greatly in size, the quill being sometimes less than half an inch in diameter, sometimes so much as two inches; while the flat pieces are occasionally very large and thick, as if derived from the trunk of a tree. They are covered with a reddish-brown or gray, sometimes whitish epidermis, which is rugged, wrinkled longitudinally, and in the thicker pieces marked with furrows, which in some places penetrate to the surface of the proper bark. In many specimens, numerous small roundish or oblong emi- nences, called warts, may be observed upon the outer surface. Beneath the epidermis is a layer, dark red, brittle, and compact, which possesses some bitterness and astringency, but much less than the interior parts. These are woody and fibrous, of a more or less lively brownish-red colour, which is usually very distinct, but in some specimens passes into the orange and even yellowish-brown; so that it is not always possible to distinguish the variety by this property alone. The taste is bitter and astringent, and the odour similar to that of other good barks. Red bark is chemically distinguished by containing considerable quantities both of quinia and of cinchonia.* It yields a turbid salmon-coloured decoction with water. The species of Cinchona which produces red bark is unknown; the notion derived from Mutis, and formerly generally prevalent, that it was obtained from the C. oblongifolia of that botanist, having been demonstrated to be * The red bark is given as a distinct variety by Von Bergen, and stands first on his list, under the name of China rubra, or rolhe China. The following is an abstract of his descrip- tion. The quills are from two lines to an inch and a quarter in diameter, from one-third of a line to two lines thick, and from two to twelve inches or more in length. The smaller quills are often spiral. The flat pieces are from one to two inches broad, from three- eighths to a quarter of an inch thick, and of the same length as the quills. In the smaller and middling-sized quills, the external surface exhibits longitudinal wavy wrinkles. In the thicker pieces, these wrinkles, between which are here and there longitudinal fur- „ rows, often elevate themselves into roundish or oblong warts, which are of a somewhat friable and granular consistence. The longitudinal furrows sometimes penetrate to the bark. Transverse fissures seldom occur. The colour in the smaller quills varies from a fawn-gray to a dull reddish-brown, in the larger is reddish-brown or chestnut-brown with a tinge of purple. When the wrinkles and warts are rubbed off, the peculiar brownish-red colour of the bark appears. The pieces are often in part or almost wholly covered with a whitish-gray or yellowish-white coat, either belonging to the epidermis or consisting of lichens. In some of the quills the epidermis is wanting in spots, which exhibit a dirty reddish cinnamon-colour. The inner surface is delicately fibrous and almost uniform in the small quills,, but becomes more fibrous and uneven in the larger, and in the flat pieces is splintery and very irregular. Its colour varies with the size of the pieces, being a reddish-rusty brown in the least, redder in the larger, and a full brownish-red in the largest. The inner surface is also sometimes yellowish, or brownish, or of a dirty appearance. It becomes darker when scraped with the nail or other hard body. The fracture exhibits the different colours of the epidermis and inner bark, as also of a resinous layer which lies between the two. It is usually smooth in the smaller quills, fibrous in the larger, and at the same time fibrous and splintery in the largest and' flat pieces. The fracture of the epidermis, however, is in all either smooth, or only here and there somewhat granular. The odour is like that of tan and earthy, the taste strongly 230 Cinchona. PART I. incorrect. For the proofs upon this point, which have now ceased to have any practical importance, the reader is referred to the article Cinchona, section Red Bark, in early editions of this work. It has been supposed that red bark may be derived from the same species with one or more of the pale barks, but taken from the larger branches of the trunk. This opinion receives some support from a statement made by La Condamine, in his memoir upon cinchona. We are told by this author that three kinds of bark were known at Loxa—the white, the yellow, and the red. The white, so named from the colour of the epidermis, scarcely possessed any medicinal virtue, and was ob- tained from a tree entirely distinct from that which yielded the two other varieties. The red was superior to the yellow; but he was assured, on the very best authority, that the trees producing them grew together, and were not distinguishable by the eye. Of the three varieties mentioned by La Con- damine, the white, which was probably one of the inferior barks with mica- ceous epidermis, does not reach us; and that which he calls yellow is probably identical with the pale variety of the Pharmacopoeia, as this grows abundantly about Loxa. Should it be admitted that the red bark is furnished by the same tree which yields the pale, we have a ready explanation of the difference in size of the two varieties. Carthagena Barks. Under this head may be classed all the Cinchona barks brought from the northern Atlantic ports of South America. In commerce, they are variously called Carthagena, Maracaybo, and Santa Martha barks, according to the particular port at which they may be shipped. They are all characterized hy a soft, whitish or yellowish-white, micaceous epidermis, which may be easily scraped by the nail, and which, though often more or less completely removed, almost always leaves behind traces sufficient to indicate its character. They contain cinchonia and quinia, though in smaller proportion than the best barks from the Pacific. Similar barks are found on the Western coast of South America; but they never reach us, unless accidentally; as they would not bear the expense of carriage. Such are the irhite barks of the Spanish writers. The Carthagena barks are not recognised by the Pharmacopoeias. In the state of powder, however, they are generally kept in the shops, and sold for tooth powder, &c, under the name of common bark. They are not unfrequently substituted, either fraudulently or by mistake, for the better kinds. Like the proper officinal barks they may be arranged into several subdivisions, according to their diversities in colour. but not disagreeably bitter, somewhat aromatic, and not lasting. The powder is of a dull brownish-red colour. Experiments upon many different specimens of red bark, as stated by PfafT, give as an average result 1-7 per cent, of pure cinchonia, and 044 of sulphate of quinia. The highest product obtained was 3-17 per cent, of cinchonia, and 0-15 of sulphate of quinia. Another specimen yielded T21 per cent, of the former, and 1-33 of the latter. Pelletier and Caventou obtained 08 per cent, of cinchonia, and 1-7 of quinia. (Geiger.) It appears, therefore, that the proportion of the alkalies is exceedingly different in different speci- mens. The degree of bitterness is, perhaps, the best criterion of their efficacy. Guibourt divides the red bark into two varieties, which he distinguishes by the names of quinquina rouge verruqueux, and quinquina rouge non verruqueux, from the presence or absence of the warts upon the outer surface. He describes also a variety of bark under the name of quinquina rouge de Lima, resembling the proper red bark in appearance, but without bitterness; and two others, distinguished severally by the names of quinquina rouge orange, and quinquina rouge pale, which, however, merit little attention. (Note to second and fourth editions.) A specimen of bark in our possession, brought by Dr. Dillard, of the U. S. Navy, from the Pacific, and labelled red bark of Cuenca, has a thick epidermis like that of the ordi- nary red barks, is of a very deep dark-red colour, and possesses little bitterness. PART I. Cinchona. 231 1. Yellow Carthagena Bark. This is by far the most abundant of the non-officinal barks, and the only one uniformly found in the market. It occurs in quills or flat pieces, but most commonly in the latter form, and is distin- guished, independently of the peculiar epidermis already described, by the brownish-yellow colour of the proper bark. There are two varieties of it very well characterized by their appearance and other properties, but not distin- guished in commerce.* * Von Bergen considers the Carthagena barks under the two divisions of 1. China flava dura, or harte gelbe China, and 2. China flava fibrosa, or holzigegelbe China. As these, with the varieties before noticed as described by him, complete the nine divisions under which he ranks the barks of commerce, we shall give an abstract of his account of them. 1. China flava dura, or hard yellow bark.—This is in quills and flat pieces. The quills are from three to eight lines in diameter, from half a line to a line and a half thick, and from five to nine inches, and sometimes, though rarely, even fifteen inches long. The flat pieces are considerably thicker, from half an inch to two inches broad, and from four to eight in length. They are often somewhat twisted, and so curved in the drying that the upper surface is rather concave. The epidermis is in many pieces partially or almost wholly wanting. The outer surface is on the whole rather smooth, though it usually ex- hibits a few faint longitudinal furrows and transverse fissures, and pieces are occasionally found with hard warts or protuberances. In the flat pieces, the epidermis, when present, has somewhat of the consistence of cork, and is composed of several layers. The colour of the epidermis varies from yellowish-white to ash-gray, and is sometimes diversified by bluish-gray or blackish lichens. When it is wanting, the colour is between a dark cinna- mon and brownish-yellow. These shades, however, are seldom clear, and the flat pieces have usually a somewhat dusty aspect. The inner surface of the quills is tolerably uni- form, that of the flat pieces uneven or faintly furrowed and even splintery, the points of the splinters often projecting. Its colour, Which is almost always dull, as if the surface were dusty, varies between a light cinnamon and a dull ochre yellow, and in some pieces is rusty-brown, or fawn-gray, or even whitish-yellow. The bark does not readily break in the longitudinal direction. The transverse fracture presents short splinters, and is sometimes fibrous. When cut transversely, the bark obscurely exhibits a very small darker-coloured resinous layer beneath the epidermis. The odour is feeble, the taste slightly astringent and bitter, but not strongly so. The powder is of the colour of cinna- mon. Von Bergen attributes this variety to C. cordifolia. 2. China flava fibrosa, or fibrous yellow bark.-—In shape and dimensions, this variety does not materially differ from the preceding; but the flatter pieces are almost always a little rolled, or curved laterally. The epidermis is seldom entire, being in general either in part or wholly rubbed off. When present, it resembles in consistence that of the former variety. Its outer surface is nearly smooth, only marked here and there with faint irre- gular transverse fissures and longitudinal furrows. Its colour varies from a dirty whitish- gray to yellowish, but is sometimes more or less dark. When the outer surface is rubbed off, as is the case here and there in the quills, and almost always in the flat pieces, the colour is a nearly pure ochre-yellow. Where the whole thickness of the epidermis is wanting, as happens here and there in spots, it is dark cinnamon, or dark ochre-yellow, and commonly dull or powdery. The inner surface is usually even, but is sometimes irregular and splintery, and always feels harsh to the fingers, leaving small splinters sticking in the skin when drawn over it. It is of a nearly pure ochre-yellow colour, and is very powdery. The fracture distinguishes this variety from the preceding and from all others. The longitudinal fracture is strikingly fibrous, and in the flat pieces the frag- ments still hang together by connecting fibres. The bark, moreover, breaks obliquely, and the fracture even of the epidermis, which in other varieties is almost always smooth, is here uneven or rough-grained. The transverse fracture exhibits very long and thin splinters or fibres, which are very flexible and may almost be said to be soft. No traces of a resinous appearance are observable in the fracture. The odour is feeble, the taste at first woody and flat, afterwards slightly bitter and astringent, and weaker in this than in any other variety of bark. The colour of the powder is intermediate between that of cinnamon and yellow ochre. The tree from which this variety is obtained is unknown. Of these two varieties of Carthagena bark, the first yielded, on an average of two ex- periments, 0-57 percent, of pure cinchonia, and 0-33 percent, of sulphate of quinia; the second yielded, on an average of five trials with different specimens, 0-4 per cent, of pure cinchonia, and 0-3G of sulphate of quinia. The highest product of the woody bark was about 0-59 per cent, of cinchonia, and 0-52 of sulphate of quinia. From this state- ment, it appears that, so far as regards the relative proportion of their two active ingre- dients, they should rank with the red bark, though greatly inferior to it in strength. 232 Cinchona. part i. Hardyelloio Carthagena Bark (China flava dura of Von Bergen) is in pieces of various size and form, sometimes wholly or partially quilled, and sometimes flat; and the flat pieces present the appearance of having been warped in drying, being frequently curved longitudinally backward, and some- times also in the transverse direction or spirally. The dimensions are some- times those given by Yon Bergen (see Note); but, as found in this market, the bark is more commonly in small, irregularly square or oblong, flattish, and variously warped pieces, from one to three or four inches long, and from one to three lines in thickness, mixed with small quills or fragments of quills; the former appearing as if chipped from the trunk or large branches, the latter evidently derived from the small branches. In this shape it was treated of, in former editions of this work, as a distinct variety, under the name of Santa Martha bark, which it at one time held in the market; but a closer examina- tion has convinced us that it is the same bark as the hard yellow bark of Yon Bergen, though collected in a different manner. The quills are generally more covered with the micaceous epidermis than the flat pieces, in which it is often nearly or quite removed. The inner surface of the latter, though sometimes smooth, is often rough and splintery, as if forcibly separated from the wood to which it adhered. The colour of the proper bark is a pale, dull, brownish-yellow, darker in parcels which have been long kept; and the sur- face often appears as if rubbed over with powdered bark. The texture is rather firm and compact, and the fracture abrupt without being smooth or presenting long splinters. The taste is bitter and nauseous. This variety of bark is thought to be obtained from the C. cordifolia; as Guibourt found that a specimen of the bark of that tree, which came originally from Mutis, resem- bled it precisely in all its sensible properties. Fibrous yellow Carthagena Bark (China flava fibrosa of Yon Bergen) is said by Yon Bergen and Pereira sometimes to occur in quills; but we have seen it only in flat or slightly rolled pieces, which are from half an inch to two inches broad, and from four to six or even nine inches long. It differs from the former variety chiefly in a somewhat brighter colour, and in its less compact and very fibrous texture, which causes it to exhibit long splin- ters when broken transversely, and often to hang together by connecting fibres when broken longitudinally. (See Note.) We have seen specimens of a bark, of which large quantities were brought in a cargo from Maracaybo, presenting the general aspect, and in a striking degree the fibrous texture of this variety, but in rather larger pieces, and dif- fering also somewhat in the colour, which, instead of being a nearly pure ochre-yellow, has an orange tint, especially in the exterior portion, where it is decidedly reddish in some of the pieces. It closely resembles the officinal yellow or Calisaya, for which it might be mistaken by an inexperienced per- son, and, if regarded only upon its inner surface, even by the most experienced. But it is rather thicker, less hard, compact, and heavy, and much more fibrous than the Calisaya, and, though in general deprived of the epidermis, yet occa- sionally exhibits remains of it, having the characters of that of the Carthagena barks, and, where it is quite absent, appears as though it had been removed by scraping or cutting with a knife, and not spontaneously separated at the natural juncture, as in the Calisaya. Besides, the bark is spongy under the teeth, and wants the strong peculiar bitterness of the officinal yellow. Still it is decidedly bitter, and its infusion, though not precipitated by sulphate of soda, affords a copious precipitate with infusion of galls, indicating the presence of no inconsiderable proportion of the active alkaline principles. Were it not for these evidences of activity, we should be disposed to class this bark with the orange Carthagena bark referred to in a succeeding paragraph. PART I. Cinchona. 233 A specimen of bark labelled yellow bark of Loxa, brought from South America by Dr. Dillard, of the U. States Navy, and said to be employed in Loxa for making ^extract of bark, presents characters closely analogous to those of the fibrous Carthagena bark, and sufficient to justify the supposition that it was derived from the same species of Cinchona. The powder of yellow Carthagena bark has a yellowish cinnamon colour, with less of the reddish tint than the Calisaya, for which, however, it may be readily mistaken, and, there is reason to believe, is not unfrequently sold. It may be distinguished by its comparatively feeble bitterness; but much more certainly by the test of sulphate of soda, which throws down no preci- pitate with its infusion. 2. Red Carthagena Bark. This name properly belongs to a bark known to the French pharmaceutists by the name of quinquinia nova or new bark, and ascertained to be Mutis's red bark of Santa Fe, produced by his Cin- chona oblongifolia—the C. magnifolia of the Flora Peruviana. It is never found in our markets, unless sometimes, possibly, as an adulteration of the officinal red bark.* A red bark, with whitish and micaceous epidermis, thick, spongy, and of little taste, is sometimes mixed with the packages of the officinal red bark from the Pacific. May it not be the product of the same species of Cinchona, which grows in Peru as well as in New Granada? 3. Orange Carthagena Bark. This is the orange cinchona of Santa Fe, so highly lauded by Mutis, and the spongy Carthagena bark of Guibourt. It has occurred in commerce in large, flat, somewhat curved, or semi-cylindrical pieces, sometimes as much as three or four inches broad, a foot long, and nine lines in thickness, covered with a yellowish-white, micaceous epidermis, marked with longitudinal and sometimes transverse fissures. The bark itself is of an orange colour, externally fibrous, light, spongy under the teeth, without taste or very feebly bitter, and destitute of virtues. It yields a beautiful orange powder. It scarcely occurs in commerce. The destruction at Cadiz by the Spanish authorities, of a large quantity of this bark, collected by Mutis at the expense of the government, which was ascribed by Humboldt to mercantile cunning, is now considered as an indication of a just appreciation of its vir- tue?. The bark is the product of C. lancifolia. 4. Brown Carthagena Bark. Under this name Guibourt has described a bark of a white and smooth epidermis, rough, hard, compact, very heavy, sometimes as much as half an inch thick, of an orange-brown colour when freshly cut, and a chocolate colour on its inner surface, and of a bitter astrin- gent taste, analogous to that of the pale barks, but more disagreeable. Some of the pieces from the smaller branches are completely quilled, and others some- what larger appear as if warped or contorted by desiccation. Pereira thinks this may be a variety of the hard yellow Carthagena bark. We have not met in this market with specimens answering the description of Guibourt. * As described by Guibourt, this bark is in pieces a foot or more long, rolled when small, open, or nearly flat when larger, in general of a perfectly cylindrical form ; with a whitish, thin, uniform epidermis, showing scarcely any cryptogamia, and but a few trans- verse fissures answering to those of the liber, and sometimes entirely wanting; one to three lines thick without the epidermis; of a pale carnation colour, becoming deeper in the air, especially upon the outer surface, which, when destitute of epidermis, is always reddish-brown; of a fracture which is foliaceous in the outer part, and short-fibrous in the inner; and exhibiting, under the microscope, between its fibres, and especially be- tween the laminae, a great abundance of two granular matters, of which one is red and the other whitish. In some pieces the fracture exhibits, nearer the external than the internal surface, a yellow, transparent, resinous or gummy exudation. The taste is flat and astringent like that of tan, the odour feeble, between that of tan and the pale barks. The powder is fibrous and decide Uy red. Examined by Pelletier and Caventou it af- forded neither quinia nor cinchonia. 234 Cinchona. part I. False Barks. Before dismissing the subject of the varieties of cinchona, it is proper to observe that numerous barks have at various times been introduced into the market, and sold as closely resembling or identical with the febrifuge of Peru, which experience has proved to differ from it materially, both in chemical composition and medicinal virtues. These barks are generally procured from trees which were formerly ranked among the Cinchonas, but are now arranged in other genera. They are distinguished from the true Peruvian bark by the absence of quinia and cinchonia. Among them are 1. the Caribsean bark, from the Exostemma Caribsea; 2. the St. Lucia bark, or quinquina p item of the French, derived from the Exostemma floribunda; and 3. the Pitaya bark, from the mountain of Pitaya in Columbia, of uncertain botanical origin, known in France by the name of quinquina bicolore, and in Italy by that of china bicolorata. Of these the last only is known in this country. A considerable quantity of it was some time since imported into New Orleans, whence a por- tion reached this city. The specimen in our possession is in quills, for the most part singly,, but in some instances doubly rolled, from eight to ten inches to more than two feet in length, and from a quarter of an inch to an inch or more in diameter. The outer surface is of a dull grayish-olive colour, with numerous large oval or irregular spots much lighter coloured, sometimes even whitish, and slightly depressed beneath the general surface, as if a layer of the epidermis had fallen off within their limits. It is to this appearance that the bark owes its name of bicolorata. The colour of the internal surface is deep brown or almost blackish; that of the fresh fracture, brownish-red or orange. The bark is hard, compact, and thin, seldom as much as a line in thickness, and breaks with a short but not smooth fracture. Its taste is very bitter, and of a flavour not unlike that of some of the inferior kinds of cin- chona. It is without odour. It has been considerably employed by the Italian physicians, and Brera found it to cure intermittents in the quantity of half an ounce. Folchi and Peretti discovered in it a new crystallizable alka- line principle, which they named pitaina. This is without taste, but forms bitter salts with the acids. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., xii. 430.) Chemical History. In the analysis of Peruvian bark, the attention of chemists was at first directed exclusively to the action of water and alcohol upon it, and to the determination of the relative proportions of its gummy or extractive and resin- ous matter. The presence of tannin and of various alkaline or earthy salts in minute quantities was afterwards demonstrated. Fourcroy made an elabo- rate analysis, which proved the existence of other principles in the bark besides those previously ascertained. Dr. Westring was the first who at- tempted the discovery of an active principle in the bark, on which its febri- fuge virtues might depend; but he was unable to carry out his conception to a successful result. Seguin afterwards pursued the same track, and endea- voured, by observing the effects of various reagents, to discover the relative value of different varieties of the drug. The conclusions, however, at which he arrived, have not been supported by subsequent experiment. M. Deschamps, an apothecary of Lyons, obtained from bark a crystallizable salt of lime, the acid of which Yauquelin afterwards separated, and called kinic acid. The latter chemist also pushed to a much further extent the researches of Seguin, as to the influence of reagents. He examined seventeen different kinds of bark, which he arranged in three classes, according to their chemical relation with certain reagents—the first class including those which afforded precipi- PART I. Cinchona. 235 tates with tannin and not with gelatin; the second, those which precipitated gelatin and not tannin; the third, those which precipitated at the same time tannin, gelatin, and tartar emetic. He supposed those to be the most efficient which gave precipitates with tannin or the infusion of galls. Reuss, of Mos- cow, succeeded in isolating a peculiar colouring matter from red bark, which he designated by the name of cinchonic red, and obtained a bitter substance, which probably consisted in part of the peculiar alkaline principles subse- quently discovered. The first step, however, towards the discovery of cincho- nia and quinia appears to have been taken loy the late Dr. Duncan, of Edin- burgh. He believed the precipitate afforded by the infusion of cinchona with that of galls, to be a peculiar vegetable principle, and accordingly denominated it cinchonine. Dr. Gomez, a Portuguese physician, convinced that the active principle of bark resided in this cinchonine, but mixed with impurities, insti- tuted experiments upon some pale bark, which resulted in the separation of a white crystalline substance, considered by him to be the pure cinchonine of Dr. Duncan. It was obtained by the action of potassa upon an aqueous infu- sion of the alcoholic extract of the bark, and was undoubtedly the principle now universally known by the name of cinchonine or cinchonia. But Dr. Gomez was ignorant of its precise nature, considering it to be analogous to resin. M. Laubert afterwards obtained the same principle by a different pro- cess, and described it under the name of white matter, or pure white resin. To Pelletier and Caventou was reserved the honour of crowning all these ex- periments, and applying the results which they obtained to important prac- tical purposes. They demonstrated the alkaline character of the principle discovered by Gomez and Laubert, and gave it definitively the name of cin- chonine. They discovered in the yellow or Calisaya bark another alkaline principle which they denominated quinine. Jfyth these bases they proved to exist in the barks, combined with the kinic acid in the state of kin ate of cin- chonine and of quinine. It has moreover been established by their labours, that the febrifuge property of bark depends upon the presence of these two principles. It was in the year 1820 that these chemists announced their dis- covery. Dr. Duncan's suggestion was made so early as 1803. Among Eng- lish and American chemists, the names of these alkaline bodies have been changed to cinchonia and quinia, for the sake of uniformity of nomenclature; and by these names we shall always call them.* It has before been stated, on more than one occasion, that the three offici- nal varieties of bark are distinguished by peculiarities of composition. We give the result of the analysis of each variety, as obtained by Pelletier and Caventou. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 70. 89. 92.) Pale bark of Loxa contains, 1. a fatty matter; 2. a red colouring matter, very slightly soluble, identical with the cinchonic red of Reuss; 3. a yellow colouring matter, soluble in water and alcohol, and capable of being precipi- tated by the subacetate of lead; 4. tannin; 5. gum; 6. starch; 7. lignin; * In a previous note, it has been stated that Pelletier and Coriol had discovered an alkali called aricina in the Arica or Cusco bark. It was obtained by the same process as that employed in the extraction of quinia from yellow bark. It is white, crystalliza- ble, and distinguishable from cinchonia, which it in many respects resembles, by exhibit- ing a green colour under the action of nitric acid, and by the property, possessed by its sulphate, of forming a tremulous jelly, when a saturated boiling solution of^the salt is allowed to cool. Manzini obtained from Jaen bark an alkaline substance which he sup- posed to be peculiar, and named cinchovatin; but the same had been obtained by Bou- chardat, and considered by him, as well as by Pelletier, to be identical with aricina; and Winkler, having extracted a portion from the bark, and examined it with great care, coincides in this conclusion. (Journ. de Pharm., et de Chim., Be sir., ii. 95 et 313; Pharm. Central Blatt, A. D. IS 14, p. 126.) Aricina, in the present state of our knowledge re- specting it, is of no practical importance. 236 Cinchona. PART I. 8. kinate of lime; 9. kinate of cinchonia, with a very minute proportion of kinate of quin ia. Yellow Calisaya bark contains the fatty matter, the cinchonic red, the yel- low colouring matter, tannin, starch, lignin, kinate of lime, and kinate of quinia, with a comparatively small proportion of kinate of cinchonia* Red bark contains the fatty matter, a large quantity of the cinchonic red, the yellow colouring matter, tannin, starch, lignin, kinate of lime, and a large proportion both of kinate of quinia, and of kinate of cinchonia. Carthagena bark contains the same ingredients with the red bark, but in different proportions. It has less of the alkaline matter, which it also yields with much greater difficulty to water, in consequence of the abundance of in- soluble cinchonic red which it contains, and which either involves the salts of quinia and cinchonia so aa to prevent the full contact of water, or retains these alkalies in combination. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 105.) By the experiments of Henry, jun., and Plisson, it may be considered as established, that the alkalies of the different varieties of bark are combined at the same time with kinic acid, and with one or more of the colouring mat- ters, which, in relation to these substances, appear to act the part of acids. This idea was originally suggested by Robiquet. (Journ. de Pharm., xii. 282. 369.) It is stated that the compounds of quinia and cinchonia with the cinchonic red are scarcely soluble in water, while the kinates of these bases are very soluble. (Ibid., xvii. 201.) From the statements above made, it appears that the three officinal varie- ties of bark differ little except in the proportion of their constituents. All contain both quinia and cinchonia; the yellow bark abounding in the first, the pale in the second, and the red in both. Gum is the only constituent found in one and not in the otj^rs. It is an ingredient in the pale bark, but is wanting in the red and yellow. The odour of bark appears to depend on a volatile oil which Fabroni and Trommsdorff obtained by distillation with water. The oil floated on the sur- face of the water, was of a thick consistence, and had a bitterish acrid taste, with the odour of bark. The fatty matter, which was first obtained pure by M. Laubert, is of a greenish colour as obtained from the pale bark, orange-yellow from the yellow. It is insoluble in water, soluble in boiling alcohol, which deposits a part of it on cooling, very soluble in sulphuric ether even cold, and capable of forming soaps with the alkalies. The colour is probably owing to extraneous matter connected with it. The cinchonic red of Reuss, the insoluble red colouring matter of Pelletier and Caventou, is reddish-brown, insipid, inodorous, largely soluble in alcohol, especially when hot, and almost insoluble in ether or water, though the latter dissolves a little at the boiling temperature. The acids promote its solubility in water. It precipitates tartar emetic, but not gelatin; but, if treated with * Winkler is said to have discovered in Calisaya bark a peculiar bitter principle, which he found also in greater proportion in the new bark (kina nova), and for which he proposes the name of kinovic bitter. It is insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether, without alkaline or acid properties, and without nitrogen in its composition. Winkler obtained it from the new bark by treating this in fine powder with ether, evaporating the ether, treating the residue with alcohol, then decolorizing the solution by means of ani- mal charcoal, and precipitating the bitter principle by ammonia. It exists in the new bark along with a peculiar acid discovered by Pelletier and Caventou, and denominated by them kinovic acid. This acid is somewhat analogous to the stearic, being white, shin- ing, light, slightly soluble in water, and readily soluble in alcohol and ether. Schneder- man thinks that he has proved this acid and the kinovic bitter to be identical but, as it has acid properties, it should retain the name of kinovic acid. (Journ. fur prakt. Ch., xxviii. p. 327.) PART T. Cinchona. 237 a cold solution of potassa or soda, or by ammonia, lime, or baryta with heat, and precipitated by an acid from the solution thus formed, it acquires the property of forming an insoluble compound with gelatin, and seems to be converted into a species of tannin. It is precipitated by subacetate of lead. It is most abundant in the red bark, and least so in the pale. Berzelius supposes it to consist of tannin and apotheme, and to be formed from tannin by the action of the air. The yellow colouring matter has little taste, is soluble in water, alcohol, and ether, precipitates neither gelatin nor tartar emetic, and is itself precipi- tated by subacetate of lead. The tannic acid, tannin, or soluble red colouring matter of Pelletier and Caventou, has been considered as possessing all the properties which charac- terize the proximate vegetable principles associated together under the name of tannic acid. It has a brownish-red colour and austere taste, is soluble in water and alcohol, combines with metallic oxides, and produces precipitates with the salts of iron, which vary in colour according to the variety of bark; being deep green with the pale bark, blackish-brown with the yellow, and reddish-brown with the red. It also forms white precipitates with tartar emetic and gelatin, and readily combines with atmospheric oxygen, becoming insoluble. It must, however, differ materially from the tannin or tannic acid of galls, which could not exist in aqueous solutions containing cinchonia without forming an insoluble compound with that base. But the most interesting and important constituents of Peruvian bark are the cinchonia and quinia, and the acid with which they are combined. In relation to these, therefore, we shall be more minute in our details. Cinchonia when pure is a white crystalline substance, soluble in 2500 parts of boiling water, almost insoluble in cold water, very soluble in boiling alcohol, which deposits a portion in the crystalline state upon cooling, and slightly soluble in ether and the fixed and volatile oils. Its bitter taste, at first not very obvious in consequence of its difficult solubility, is developed after a short time by the solution of a minute portion in the saliva. Its alcoholic, ethereal, and oleaginous solutions are very bitter. By heat it is at the same time melted and decomposed. Its alkaline character is very decided, as it neutralizes the strongest acids, forming with them saline com- pounds. Of the salts of cinchonia, the sulphate, nitrate, muriate, phosphate, and acetate are soluble in water. The neutral tartrate, oxalate, and gallate are insoluble in cold water, but may be dissolved in hot water, in alcohol, or in an excess of acid. Winckler has shown that crystallizable cinchonia is rendered uncrystallizable or amorphous by the action of sulphuric acid in excess, aided by heat; a fact of some importance in the preparation of the sulphate or other salts of this alkali. (Chem. Gaz., March 15,1848.) Seve- ral processes have been employed for the preparation of cinchonia. One of the simplest is the following. Powdered pale bark is submitted to the action of sulphuric or muriatic acid very much diluted, and the solution thus obtained is precipitated by an excess of lime. The precipitate is collected on a filter, washed with water, and treated with boiling alcohol. The alcoholic solution is filtered while hot, and deposits the cinchonia when it cools. A further quantity is obtained by evaporation. If not perfectly white, it may be freed from colour by first converting it into a sulphate with dilute sulphuric acid, then treating the solution with animal charcoal, filtering, precipitating by an alkali, and redissolving by alcohol in the manner already mentioned. It may also be obtained from the mother waters of sulphate of quinia, by diluting them with water, precipitating with ammonia, collecting the precipitate on a filter, washing and drying it, and then dissolving it in boiling alcohol, which 238 Cinchona. part l deposits the cinchonia in a crystalline form upon cooling. _ It may be still further purified by a second solution and crystallization. Cinchonia consists of 1 equivalent of nitrogen, 20 of carbon, 12 of hydrogen, and 1 of oxygen (NC20H120); and its combining number may be stated at 154, hydrogen being considered as unity. Exposed to the air, it does not suffer decomposi- tion, but very slowly absorbs carbonic acid, and acquires the property of effervescing slightly with acids. It may be distinguished, when dissolved in the saline state in water, from any other vegetable alkali, hy a reddish some- what orange colour, produced by the addition first of solution of chlorine and then of ammonia to the solution.* It is precipitated of a sulphur-yellow by the perchloride of gold. (Journ. de Chim. Med., Oct., 1842.) Sulphate of cinchonia, or more strictly disulphate of cinchonia, the only salt of this base which has been employed to any extent in a separate state, may be prepared by heating cinchonia with a little water, adding dilute sulphuric acid gradually till the alkali is dissolved, then boiling with animal charcoal previously washed with muriatic acid, filtering the solution while hot, and setting it aside to crystallize. By alternate evaporation and crystal- lization, the whole of the sulphate may be obtained from the solution. It is a white, very bitter salt, crystallizing in flexible, somewhat shining, four-sided, flattened prisms, terminated by an inclined face, and generally collected in fasciculi. It is soluble in fifty-four parts of water at common temperatures, and in a smallar quantity of boiling water. Chemists consider it as a disul- phate. By the addition of the necessary quantity of acid, it passes into the neutral sulphate, which is soluble in less than half its weight of water at 58°. It consists, according to Pelletier and Caventou, of 100 parts of cinchonia, and 13-021 of sulphuric acid. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 57.) Quinia (Quina, Lond.) is whitish, and, as usually prepared, is rather flocculent in its appearance, not crystalline like cinchonia. It may, however, be crystallized, by cautious management, from its alcoholic solution, in pearly silky needles. (Journ. de Pharm., xi. 249.) It is fusible without chemical change at about 300° F., and becomes brittle on cooling. It is more bitter than cinchonia, is almost insoluble in water, but is very soluble in alcohol, and soluble also in ether, and in the fixed and volatile oils. Its alcoholic solution is intensely bitter. It unites with the acids to form salts, which crystallize with facility. The gallate, tartrate, and oxalate are said to be insoluble, or nearly so, in cold water, but are dissolved by an excess of acid. It is unalterable in the air, not even absorbing carbonic acid. Its salts may be distinguished from those of the other vegetable alkalies by the beautiful emerald green colour which results, when their solution is treated first with solution of chlorine and then with ammonia, and which changes to a white or violet upon saturation with a dilute acid. They are precipitated of a buff colour by perchloride of gold. (Journ. de Chim. Med., Oct., 1842.) Quinia * Cinchonia, quinia, and strychnia, when heated with caustic potassa, yield acrid vapours, which condense into an oily liquid having alkaline properties, for which the name of quinolein was proposed by its discoverer M. Gerhardt, and which is also called cincholin. It has a peculiar odour, not unlike that of the bean of Saint Ignatius and an extremely acrid and bitter taste, is slightly soluble in water, and freely so in alcohol, ether, and the volatile oils; produces crystallizable salts with the acids; and is charac- terized by producing a yellow crystalline precipitate with chromic acid. It results also from the dry distillation of quinia. (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., 3e ser., ii. 341.) Dr. A. W. Hoffmann has found that a substance called leucol, existing in coal-^as naphtha, is identical with cincholin. (Chem. Gazette, June, 1845, p. 251.) Mr. Stenhouse proposes as a test of the presence of alkaline principles in bark, to macerate with dilute sulphuric acid, precipitate with an excess of carbonate of potassa or soda, and distil the precipitate with a great excess of caustic potassa or soda. Cincholin will distil over in oily drops, lecognizable by their peculiar odour and strong alkaline properties. (Phil. Mag., xxvi. 199.) PART I. Cinchona. 239 consists of 1 equivalent of nitrogen, 20 of carbon, 12 of hydrogen, and 2 of oxygen (NC^Ii^Oa); and its combining number is 1G2. This number, however, is founded on the opinion, that of the two salts which quinia forms with sulphuric acid, the one originally considered neutral, and denominated simply sulphate of quinia, is in fact basic, consisting of two equivalents of the base, and one of the acid; while the other, at first supposed to be a super- salt, is strictly neutral, consisting of one equivalent of each of its ingredients. The same remark is applicable to the combining number of cinchonia. Quinia is obtained by treating its sulphate with the solution of an alkali, collecting the precipitate which forms, washing it till the water comes away tasteless, then drying it, dissolving it in alcohol, and slowly evaporating the solution. The most important artificial salt of quinia is the sulphate, the process for procuring which, as well as its properties, will be hereafter described. (See Quiniee Suljdtas, among the preparations.) The muriate,phosphate, acetate, citrate, valerianate, lactate, ferrocyanate, and tannate have also been em- ployed and recommended; but none of them has yet gained a reputation which entitles it to rank among standard remedies. The first six may be prepared by saturating a solution of the acids respectively with quinia, and evaporating the solutions. M. Devay prepares the valerianate by adding a slight excess of the acid to a concentrated alcoholic solution of quinia, then diluting the solution with twice its volume of water, and evaporating at a temperature not exceeding 122° F. After the evaporation of the alcohol, the valerianate appears in fine crystals. (Ann. de The rap., A. D. 1845, p. 136.) The fer- rocyanate is directed to be made by boiling together two parts of sulphate of quinia and three of ferrocyanuret of potassium in a very little water, pour- ing off the liquor from a greenish-yellow substance of an oily consistence which is precipitated, washing the latter with distilled water, then dissolving it in strong alcohol at 100° F., filtering immediately, and afterwards evapo- rating the solution. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 351.) M. Pelouze, how- ever, found this preparation to be pure quinia, mixed with a little Prussian blue. (Archives Gin., Se sir., xv. 236.) The tannate may be prepared by precipitating the infusion of bark, or solution of sulphate of quinia, by the infusion of galls or solution of tannic acid, and then washing and drying the precipitate. Either of these salts may be given in the same dose as the sul- phate. Arsenite of quinia has been recommended by Dr. Ringdon, espe- cially in chronic cutaneous affections. He prepares it by boiling 64 grains of arsenious acid, with half the quantity of carbonate of potassa, in four fluidounces of distilled water, until dissolved, adding water enough to make the solution measure four fluidounces, and then mixing five drachms of this solution with two scruples of sulphate of quinia, previously dissolved in boil- ing distilled water. The arsenite (diarsenite) of quinia is thrown down in the form of a white curdy precipitate, which is to be washed on a filter and dried. It is uncrystallizable, insoluble in water, and soluble in alcohol. The dose is one-third of a grain given at first twice a day, and afterwards three and four times a day. (Prov. Med. & Surg. Journ., Aug. 25, 1847.) Kinic Acid (called also Cinchonic, or Quinic Acid), and the Kinates of Cinchonia and Quinia.—It may be desirable to procure the alkaline princi- ples in the state of saline combination in which they exist in the bark; as it is possible that they may exert an influence over the system in this state, somewhat different from that produced by their combinations with the sul- phuric or other mineral acid. As it is impossible to procure the kinates immediately from the bark in a pure state, it becomes necessary first to obtain the kinic acid separately, which may thus become of some practical import- ance. We shall, therefore, briefly describe the mode of procuring it, and 240 Cinchona. part i. its characteristic properties. By evaporating the infusion of bark to a solid consistence, and treating the extract thus obtained with alconol, we have in the residue a viscid matter consisting chiefly of mucilage with kinate of lime, which is insoluble in alcohol. If an aqueous solution of this substance be formed, and allowed to evaporate at a gentle heat, crystals of the kinate are deposited, which may be purified by a second crystallization. The salt thus obtained, being dissolved in water, is decomposed by means of oxalic acid, which precipitates the lime and leaves the kinic acid in solution. This may be procured in the crystalline state by spontaneous evaporation, though, as usually prepared, it is in the form of a thick syrupy liquid. The crystals are transparent and colourless, sour to the taste, and readily soluble in alcohol and in water.* The kinates of cinchonia and 'quinia may be obtained either by a direct combination of their constituents, or by the mutual decomposition of the sulphates of those alkalies and the kinate of lime. The kinate of cin- chonia has a bitter and astringent taste, is very soluble in water, is soluble also in alcohol, and is crystallized with difficulty. The kinate of quinia is also very soluble in water, but less so in rectified alcohol. Its taste is very bitter, resembling exactly that of yellow bark. It crystallizes in crusts of a mammillated form, and opaque or semitransparent. The salt is with difficulty obtained free, from colour, and only by employing the ingredients in a state of extreme purity. ' (Ann. de. Chim. et de Phys., Juillet, 1829.) Of the relations of bark to the several solvents employed in pharmacy we shall speak hereafter, under the heads of its infusion, decoction, and tincture; where we shall also have an opportunity of mentioning some of the more prominent substances which afford precipitates with its liquid prepara- tions. It is sufficient at present to state, that all the substances which pre- cipitate the infusion of bark do not by any means necessarily affect its virtues; as it contains several inert ingredients which form insoluble compounds with bodies that do not disturb its active principles. As tannic acid forms with quinia and cinchonia compounds insoluble in water, it is desirable that sub- stances containing this acid, in a free state, should not be prescribed in con- nexion with the infusion or decoction of bark; for, though this insoluble tannate might be found efficacious if administered, yet, being precipitated from the liquid, it would be apt to be thrown away as dregs, or at any rate would communicate, if agitated, an unpleasant turbidness. It is evident, from what has been said, that an infusion of bark, on account of the tannin-like principle which it contains, may precipitate gelatin, tartar emetic, and the salts of iron, without having a particle of cinchonia or quinia in its composition; and that consequently any inference as to its value, drawn from these chemical properties, would be fallacious; but, as the active princi- ples are thrown down by the tannic acid of galls, no bark can be considered good which does not afford a precipitate with the infusion of this substance. It is impossible to determine, with accuracy, the relative proportion of the active ingredients in the different varieties of cinchona; as the quantity is by no means uniform in different specimens of the same variety. Pelletier and Caventou state, in their first memoir, that they had been able to obtain only _ * When kinic acid is mixed with sulphuric acid and peroxide of manganese and dis- tilled, a neutral substance is obtained, called kinoile or kinone, in crystalline needle? of a beautiful golden yellow colour and high lustre, fusible and volatilizable without change and having a peculiar odour. The production of this substance, when a concentrated decoction of a bark is distilled with half its weight of sulphuric acid and peroxide of man- ganese, has been proposed as a test of the presence of kinic acid in the bark and conse- quently of its belonging to the cinchonas. If there is the least quantity of that acid the first portion of liquid distilled will have a yellow colour and the odour of kinone 'and will become bright green on the addition of chlorine water. (Philos. Mag xxvi 198 ) PART I. Cinchona. 241 2 parts of cinchonia from 1000 of pale bark; while from an equal quantity of the yellow they had succeeded in extracting 9 parts of quinia, and from the red, 8 parts of cinchonia and 17 parts of quinia. (Journ. de Pharm. vii. 92.) ^ But they either employed inferior specimens of the first two varieties or did not completely exhaust those upon which they experimented. Ac- cording to a statement subsequently made by them to the French institute they obtained from the best Calisaya bark 2-9 per cent, of sulphate of quinia^ from inferior kinds 1-5 per cent.; and the average result was 2-33 per cent! (North Am. 3fed. and Surg. Journ., v. 475.) Accounts generally agree in giving less alkaline matter to the pale barks than to the yellow, and more to the red than to either. Mr. Viltmann, of Osnabruck, obtained from the Huanuco bark 3-5 per cent, of cinchonia, from the Calisaya or royal yellow 5 per cent, of quinia, from the red, 6 per cent, of quinia and cinchonia, and from the Carthagena, 3-3 per cent, of alkaline matter. (Journ de Chim. Mi- dicale, Nov. 1830.) We cannot, however, avoid suspecting some inaccuracy in the process by which he obtained results so far exceeding those of the expe- rienced French chemists before quoted. The following mode of estimating the value of bark by the quantity of alkaline matter it contains, we copy from a communication of M. Tilloy, of Dijon, published in the 13th vol. of the Journ. de Pharmacie, p. 330. " Take an ounce of the bark coarsely powdered, introduce it into about 12 ounces of alcohol of 30° B. (sp. gr. 0-8748), expose the mixture half an hour to a temperature of from 105° to 120° F., draw off the alcohol, add a fresh portion, and act as before; unite the liquors, and throw into them a sufficient quantity of acetate or subacetate of lead to precipitate the colouring matter and kinic acid, then allow the insoluble matter to subside, and filter. Add to the filtered liquor a few drops of sulphuric acid to separate the excess of acetate of lead, filter, and distil off the alcohol. There remains an acetate or sulphate of quinia, according to the quantity of sulphuric acid employed, together with a fatty matter which will adhere to the vessel. Decant the liquor, and add ammonia, which will instantaneously precipitate the quinia. Too much ammonia will retain it in solution, but in this case a few drops of sulphuric acid will cause it to precipitate. The quinia washed with warm water, and then treated with sulphuric acid, water, and a little animal char- coal, yields very white sulphate of quinia. I have thus obtained in six hours nine grains of the sulphate from an ounce of bark [576 grains French], which is a large proportion when allowances are made for the loss during the pro- cess." The Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia gives the following mode of testing the value of yellow bark. " A filtered decoction of 100 grains in two fluid- ounces of distilled water gives, with a fluidounce of concentrated solution of carbonate of soda, a precipitate, which, when heated in the fluid, becomes a fused mass, weighing when cold two grains or more, and easily soluble in solution of oxalic acid." Medical Properties and Uses. This valuable remedy was unknown to the civilized world till about the middle of the seventeenth century; though the natives of Peru are generally supposed to have been long previously acquainted with its febrifuge powers. Humboldt, however, is of a different opinion. In his Memoir on the Cin- chona forests, he states that it is entirely unknown as a remedy to the Indians inhabiting the country where it grows; and, as these people adhere with per- tinacity to the practices of their ancestors, he concludes that it never was em- ployed by them. They have generally the most violent prejudices against it, 16 242 Cinchona. part i. considering it absolutely poisonous; and in the treatment of fever prefer the milder indigenous remedies. Humboldt is disposed to ascribe the discovery of the febrifuge powers of the bark to the Jesuits, who were sent to Peru as missionaries. As bitters had been chiefly relied on in the treatment of inter- mittent fevers, and as bitterness was observed to be a predominant property in the bark of certain trees which were felled in clearing the forests, the mis- sionaries were naturally led to give it a trial in the same complaint. They accordingly administered an infusion of the bark in the tertian ague, then a prevalent disorder in Peru, and soon ascertained its extraordinary powers. A tradition to this effect is said by Humboldt to be current at Loxa. Ruiz and Pavon, however, ascribe the discovery to the Indians; and Tschudi states, in his Travels in Peru (Am. ed., ii. 280), that the inhabitants of the Peruvian forests drink an infusion of the green bark as a remedy in intermittent fever.* The Countess of Cinchon, wife of the Yiceroy of Peru, having in her own person experienced the beneficial effects of the bark, is said, on her return to Spain in the year 1640, to have first introduced the remedy into Europe. Hence the name of pulvis Commitissee, by which it was first known. After its introduction, it was distributed and sold by the Jesuits, who are said to have obtained for it the enormous sum of its weight in silver. From this circumstance it was called Jesuits' powder, a title which it long retained. It had acquired some reputation in England so early as the year 1658, but from its extravagant price, and from the prejudice excited against it, was at first little used. At this early period, however, its origin and nature do not seem to have been generally known; for we are told that Sir John Talbot, an Eng- lishman, having employed it with great success in France, in the treatment of intermittents, under the name of the English powder, at length, in the year 1679, sold the secret of its origin and preparation to Louis XIY., by whom it was divulged. When taken into the stomach, bark usually excites in a short time a sense of warmth in the epigastrium, which often diffuses itself over the abdomen and even the breast, and is sometimes attended with considerable gastric and intestinal irritation. Nausea and even vomiting are sometimes produced, especially if the stomach was previously in an inflamed or irritated state. Purging, moreover, is not an unfrequent attendant upon its action. After some time has elapsed, the circulation often experiences its influence, as exhibited in the somewhat increased frequency of pulse; and, if the dose he repeated, the whole system becomes more or less affected, and all the func- tions undergo a moderate degree of excitement. Its action upon the nervous system is often evinced by a sense of tension or fulness or slight pain in the head, singing in the ears, and partial deafness, which are always experienced by many individuals when brought completely under its influence. The effects above mentioned entitle bark to a place among the tonics, and it is usually ranked at the very head of this class of medicines. But, besides the mere excitation of the ordinary functions of health, it produces other effects upon the system, which must be considered peculiar, and independent of its mere tonic operation. The power by which, when administered in the intervals between the paroxysms of intermittent disorders, it interrupts the progress of the disease, is something more than what is usually understood by the tonic property; for no other substance belonging to the class, however powerful or permanent may be the excitement which it produces, exercises a control over intermittents at all comparable to that of the medicine under consideration. * Tschudi also observes that he has found the fresh bark more efficacious than the dried; as, in less than half the usual dose, it not only effects cures in a short time, but insures the patient against the return of the disease. PART I. Cinchona. 243 As in these complaints it is probable that, in the intervals, a train of morbid actions is going on out of our sight, within the recesses of the nervous system • so it is also probable that bark produces, in the same system, an action equally mysterious, which supersedes that of the malady, and thus accomplishes the restoration of the patient. From the possession both of the tonic, and of the anti-intermittent property, if we may be allowed so to designate it, bark is capable of being usefully applied in the treatment of numerous diseases. It may usually bo employed with benefit in all morbid conditions of the system, whatever may be the peculiar modifications, in which a permanent corroborant effect is desirable, provided the stomach be in a proper state for its reception. In low or typhoid forms of disease, in which either no inflam- mation exists, or that which does exist has been moderated by proper measures, or has passed into the suppurative or the gangrenous stage, this remedy is often of the greatest advantage in supporting the system till the morbid action ceases. Hence its use in the latter stages of typhus gravior; in malio-nant scarlatina, measles, and small pox; in carbuncle, and gangrenous erysipelas; and in all cases in which the system is exhausted under large purulent dis- charges, and the tendency of the affection is towards recovery. As a tonic, bark is also advantageously employed in chronic diseases connected with de- bility; as, for example, in scrofula, dropsy, passive hemorrhages, certain forms of dyspepsia, obstinate cutaneous affections, amenorrhoea, chorea, hys- teria; in fact, whenever a corroborant influence is desired, and no contra- indicating symptoms exist. But in all these cases it greatly behooves the physician to examine well the condition of the system, and, before resorting to the tonic, to ascertain the real existence of an enfeebled condition of the functions, and the absence of such local irritations or inflammations, espe- cially of the stomach or bowels, as would be likely to be aggravated by its use. In doubtful cases, we have been in the habit of considering the occur- rence of profuse sweating during sleep as affording an indication for its use, and, under these circumstances, have prescribed it very advantageously, in the form of sulphate of quinia, in acute rheumatism, and in the advanced stages of protracted fevers. But it is in the cure of intermittent diseases that bark displays its most extraordinary powers. It was originally introduced into notice as a remedy in fever and ague, and the reputation which it acquired at an early period it has ever since retained. Yery few cases of this disease will be found to resist the judicious use of bark, or some one of its preparations. This is not the place to speak of the precise circumstances under which it is best administered. It will be sufficient to say that physicians generally concur in recommending its early employment, in divided closes, to the extent of one or two ounces, during the intermission, and the repetition of this plan till the disease is sub- dued, or the remedy is found insufficient for its cure. Other intermittent diseases have been found to yield with almost equal certainty to the remedy, particularly those of a neuralgic character. Hemicrania and violent pains in the eyes, face, and other parts of the body, occurring periodically, are often almost immediately relieved by the use of bark. Some cases of epilepsy, in which the convulsions recurred at regular intervals, have also been cured by it; and even the hectic intermittent is frequently arrested, though, as the cause still generally continues to operate, the relief is too often only tempo- rary. Diarrhoea and dysentery sometimes put on the intermittent form, especially in miasmatic districts; and under these circumstances may often be cured by bark. Nor is it necessary that, in the various diseases which have been mentioned, the intermission should always be complete, in order to jus- tify a resort to the remedy. Remittent fevers, in which the remission is very decided, not unfrequently yield to the use of bark, if preceded by proper 244 Cinchona. part r. depleting measures. But, as a general rule, the less of the diseased action there is in the interval, the better is the chance of success. Some observations are requisite as to the choice of the bark, and the forms of administration. In the treatment of intermittents, either the red or the yellow bark is decidedly preferable to the pale, and of the first two, the red is usually considered the most powerful. With regard to the red, experience had pronounced in its favour long before analysis proved its superiority. It not only contains more of the active principles of the bark than the other varieties, but has also the advantage of uniting them both in nearly equal proportion. The pale bark may possibly, in its finest forms, be superior for the purposes of a general tonic; as it is less liable to offend the stomach, and perhaps to irritate the bowels. Where the object is to obtain the full influence of bark, it is most effectually administered in substance. We can by no means be absolutely certain that quinia and cinchonia are its only active ingredients; and, even supposing them to be so, we are equally uncertain whether they may not be somewhat modified in their properties, even by the therapeutically inert principles with which they are associated. In fact, bark in substance has been repeatedly known to cure intermittents when sulphate of quinia has failed. It is best administered diffused in water or some aromatic infusion. Experience has proved that its efficacy in intermittents is often greatly promoted by admix- ture with other substances. A mixture of powdered bark, Virginia snakeroot, and carbonate of soda, was at one time highly esteemed in this city; and another, consisting of bark, confection of opium, lemon-juice, and port wine, has in our own experience, and that of some of our friends, proved highly efficacious in some obstinate cases of fever and ague.* But, notwithstanding the superior efficacy of the bark in substance, it is in the great majority of instances sufficient to resort to some one of its prepara- tions; and in many cases we are compelled to this resort by the inability of the stomach to support the powder, or the unwillingness of the patient to encounter its disagreeable taste. The best substitute, in intermittent dis- eases, is sulphate of quinia, or sulphate of cinchonia, the former of which is used almost to the exclusion of the latter, though not perhaps upon sufficient grounds. The advantage of these preparations is their facility of administra- tion, and the possibility, by their employment, of introducing a large quan- tity of the active matter, with less risk of offending the stomach. Sulphate of quinia is now almost universally employed in the treatment of intermit- tents, and bark resorted to only after this has failed. (See Quinire Sulphas.) Though quinia possesses the anti-intermittent power of bark, it is by no means satisfactorily ascertained that it is capable of exerting all the peculiar influence of that medicine as a tonic; but, as bark in powder can seldom be supported, by a delicate stomach, for a sufficient period to insure the neces- sary influence of the medicine in chronic disease, it is customary to resort, in this case, to some one of its preparations in which the quinia is extracted in connexion with the other principles; as the infusion, decoction, tincture, and extract. Each of these will be particularly treated of among the prepara- tions. It is here only necessary to say that their use is mostly confined to chronic cases, or to those of a malignant character, as typhus gravior, &c, in which the whole virtues of the bark are desired, but the stomach is unable * The following are the formulae for these mixtures: 1. R. Cinchon. pulv. ^ss; Ser- pentaria? pulv. 3J; Sod;£ Carbonat. Jss. Misce et in pulveres quatuor divide, una tertia vel quarta quaque hora sumenda. 2. R. Cinchon. Rub. pulv. 3 ss; Con feet. Opii gj; Sue. Limon. recentis fgij: Vin. Oporto f|iv. Misce. Tertia pars, tertia quaque hora sumenda. PART I. Cinchona.—Cinnamomum. 245 to bear the powder. Should bark or its preparations produce purging, as they occasionally do, they ought to be combined with a small portion of laudanum. It is sometimes desirable to introduce bark into the system by other sur- faces than that of the stomach; and it has been found to exercise its peculiar influence to whatever part it has been applied. Injected into the rectum, in connexion with opium to prevent purging, it has been employed success- fully in the cure of intermittents; and the use of bark jackets, made by quilt- ing the powder between two pieces of flannel or muslin, and worn next the skin, and of bark baths made by infusing the medicine in water, has proved serviceable in eases of children. But the best preparation of bark for exter- nal application is decidedly sulphate of quinia, which, sprinkled upon a blis- tered surface denuded of the cuticle, is speedily absorbed, and produces on the system effects not less decided than those which result from its internal administration. The medium dose of bark, as administered in intermittents, is a drachm, to. be repeated more or less frequently according to circumstances. When given as a tonic in chronic complaints, the dose is usually smaller; from ten to thirty grains being sufficient to commence with. Off. Prep. Decoctum Cinchonae, U. S., Loud., Ed., l>>b.; Extraetum Cin- chona), U.S., Load., Ed., Dub.; Infusum Cinchonas, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Infusum Oinchonae Comp., U.S.; Mistura Ferri Aromatica, Dub.; Quinia.' Sulphas, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cinchonae, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cinchonae Comp., U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Yinum Centianas, Ed. W. CINNAMOMUM. U.S., Lond. Cinnamon. "The bark of Cinnamomum Zejdanicum (Nee*), and of Cinnamomum aromaticum (Nees)." U.S. "Laurus Cinnamomum. Cortex." Lond. Off. Syn. CINNAMOMUM. Bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum; Cinna- mon.—CASSLE CORTEX. Bark of Cinnamomum Cassia; Cassia bark, Ed.; CIXXAMOMUM. LAURUS CIXNA3IOMUM. Cortex.—CASSIA. LAU- RUS CASSIA. Cortex. Dub. Ci vxamon.—Canelle, Fr.; Brauner Canel, Zimmt, Germ.; Canella, Ital; Canela, Span.; Kurundu, Cingalese; Karua puttay, Tamul. Cassia.—Cassia lignea; Casse, Fr.; Cassienzimmt, Germ.; Cannellina, Ital.; Casia, Span. The U. S. Pharmacopoeia embraces, under the title of cinnamon, not only the bark of that name obtained from the island of Ceylon, but also the com- mercial cassia, which is imported from China; and as the two products, though very different in price, and somewhat in flavour, possess identical medical properties, and are used for the same purposes, there seems to be no necessity for giving them distinct officinal designations. Indeed, the barks of all the species of the genus Cinnamomum, possessing analogous properties, are as much entitled to the common name of cinnamon, as those of the Cinchonas have to the name of cinchona, and the juice of different species of Aloe, to that of aloes. Yarieties may be sufficiently distinguished by an appropriate epithet. Both cinnaiiwmum and cassia were terms employed by the ancients, but whether exactly as now understood, it is impossible to determine. The term cassia, or cassia lignea, has been generally used in modern times to dcidgnate the coarser barks analogous to cinnamon. It was probt\"dy first applied to the barks from Malabar, and afterwards extended to those of Ckjna and other parts of Eastern Asia. It has been customary to ascribe cassia lignea to the Laurus Cassia of Linnaeus; but the specific character given by 24G Cinnamomum. PART I. that botanist was so indefinite, and based on such imperfect information, that the species has been almost unanimously abandoned by botanists. The fact appears to be, that the barks sold as cinnamon and cassia in different parts of the world are derived from various species of Cinnamomum. Dr. Wight, who was commissioned by the British Indian Government to inquire into the botanical source of "the common cassia bark of the markets of the world," expresses his belief, that the list of plants yielding this product extends to nearly every species of the genus, including not less than six plants on the Malabar coast and in Ceylon, and nearly twice as many more in the Eastern part of Asia, and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago. (Madras Journ. of Literal, and Sci., 1839, No. 22.) We shall describe only the two species recognised in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. Cinnamomum. Sex. Syst. Enneandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lauracca?. Gen. Ch. Flowers hermaphrodite or polygamous, panicled or fascicled, naked. Calyx six-cleft, with the limb deciduous. Fertile stamens nine, in three rows; the inner three with two sessile glands at the base; anthers four- celled, the three inner turned outwards. Three capitate abortive stamens next the centre. Fruit seated in a cup-like calyx- Leaves ribbed. Leaf buds not scaly. (Lindley.) 1. Cinnamomum Zeylanicum. Nees, Laurinese, 52; Lindley, Med. Flor. 329; Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib. &c, xii. 263.—Laurus Cinnamomum. Linn. This is a tree about twenty or thirty feet high, with a trunk from twelve to eighteen inches in diameter, and covered with a thick, scabrous bark. The branches are numerous, strong, horizontal and declining; and the young shoots are beautifully speckled with dark green and light orange colours. The leaves are opposite for the most part, coriaceous, entire, ovate or ovate-oblong, obtusely pointed, and three-nerved, with the lateral nerves vanishing as they approach the point. There are also two less obvious nerves, one on each side,_ arising from the base, proceeding towards the border of the leaf, and then quickly vanishing. The footstalks are short and slightly chan- neled, and, together with the extreme twigs, are smooth and without the least appearance of down. In one variety, the leaves are very broad, and some- what cordate. When mature, they are of a shining green upon their upper surface, and lighter-coloured beneath. The flowers are small, white, and ar- ranged in axillary and terminal panicles. The fruit is an oval berry, which adheres like the acorn to the receptacle, is larger than the black currant, and when ripe has a bluish-brown surface diversified with numerous white spots. The tree emits no smell perceptible at any distance. The bark of the root has the odour of cinnamon with the pungency of camphor, and yields this principle upon distillation. The leaves have a spicy odour when rubbed, and a hot taste.* The petiole has the flavour of cinnamon. It is a singular fact, that the odour of the flowers is to people in general disagreeable, being com- pared by some to the scent exhaled from newly sawn bones. The fruit when opened has a terebinthinate odour, and a taste in some degree like that of Juniper berries. A fatty substance, called cinnamon-suet, is obtained from it when ripe, by bruising and then boiling it in water, and removing the oleaginous matter which rises to the surface, and concretes upon cooling. It is the prepared bark that constitutes the spice so well known, and so highly valued, under the name of cinnamon. This species of Cinnamomum is a native of Ceylon, where it has long been cultivated for the sake of its bark. It is said also to be a native of the Mala- * Dr. Ruschenberger states that the leaves have a strong odour of cloves when broken and rubbed, and a "clove" oil is obtained from them by distillation, which yields con- siderable profit. ( Voyage round the World, p. 207.) PART I. Cinnamomum. 24Y bar Coast, and has at various periods been introduced into Java, the Isle of France, Bourbon, the Cape de Yerds, Brazil, Cayenne, several of the West India Islands, and Egypt; and in some of these places is at this time highly productive. This is particularly the case in Cayenne, where the plant was flourishing so early as the year 1755. It is exceedingly influenced, as regards the aromatic character of its bark, by the circumstances of soil, climate, and mode of culture. Thus, we are told by Marshall that in Ceylon, beyond the limits of Negombo and Matura, in the western and southern aspect of the island, the bark is never of good quality, being greatly deficient in the spicy, aromatic flavour of the cinnamon; and that even within these limits it is of unequal value, from the various influence of exposure, soil, shade, and other circumstances. 2. C. aromaticum. Nees, Laurineee, 52; Lindley, Flor. Med. 330.— C. Cassia. Blume; Ed. Ph.; Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib. &c. xii. 23.— Laurus Cassia. Aiton, Ilort. Kew. ii. 427.—Not Laurus Cassia of Linn. This is a tree of about the same magnitude as the former species, and like it has nearly opposite, shortly petiolate, coriaceous, entire leaves, of a shining green upon the upper surface, lighter coloured beneath, and furnished with three nerves, of which the two lateral vanish towards the point. The leaves, however, differ in being oblong-lanceolate and pointed, and in exhibiting, un- der the microscope, a very fine down upon the under surface. The footstalks and extreme twigs are also downy. The flowers are in narrow, silky panicles. The plant grows in China, Sumatra, and probably in other parts of Eastern Asia, and is said to be cultivated in Java. It is believed to be the species which furnishes, wholly or in part, the Chinese cinnamon or cassia brought from Canton, and is supposed also to be the source of the cassia buds of com- merce. Besides the two species above described, others have been thought to con- tribute to the cinnamon and cassia found in commerce. The opinion of Dr. Wight has been already stated. The C. Lourcirii of Nees, growing in the mountains of Cochin-china towards Laos, and in Japan, affords, according to Loureiro, a cinnamon, of which the finest kind is superior to that of Ceylon. The C. nitidum, growing in Ceylon, Java, and upon the continent of India, is said to have been the chief source of the drug, known formerly by the name of Folia Malabothri, and consisting of the leaves of different species of Cinnamomum mixed together. The leaves of the C. Tamala of Hindostan have been sold under the same name. The C. Culilawan of the Moluccas yields the aromatic bark called Culilawan, noticed in the Appendix; and similar barks are obtained from another species of the same region, denomi- nated C. rubrum, and from the C. Sin toe of Java. Culture, Collection, Commerce, &c. Our remarks under this head will first be directed to the cinnamon of Ceylon, in relation to which we have more precise information than concerning the aromatic obtained from other sources. The bark was originally collected exclusively from the tree in a wild state; but under the government of the Dutch the practice of cultivating it was in- troduced, and it has been continued since the British have come into posses- sion of the island. The principal cinnamon gardens are in the vicinity of Columbo. The seeds are planted in a prepared soil at certain distances; and, as four or five are placed in a spot, the plants usually grow in clusters like the hazel bush. In favourable situations they attain the height of five or six feet in six or seven years, and a healthy bush will then afford two or three shoots fit for pealing; and every second year afterwards will afford from four to seven shoots in a good soil. The cinnamon harvest commences in May and continues till late in October. The first object is to select shoots proper 248 Cinnamomum. PART i. for decortication, and those are seldom cut which are less than half an inch, or more than two or three inches in diameter. The bark is divided by longi- tudinal incisions, of which two are made opposite to each other in the smaller shoots, several in the larger, and is then removed in strips by means of a suitable instrument. The pieces are next collected in bundles, and allowed to remain in this state for a short time, so as to undergo a degree of fermenta- tion, which facilitates^ the separation of the cuticle. The epidermis and the green matter beneath it are removed by placing the strip of bark upon a con- vex piece of wood, and scraping its external surface with a curved knife. The bark now dries and contracts, assuming the appearance of a quill. The peeler introduces the smaller tubes into the larger, thus forming a congeries of quills into a cylindrical pipe, which is about forty inches long. When sufficiently dry, these cylinders are collected into bundles weighing about thirty pounds, and bound together by pieces of split bamboo. The commerce in Ceylon cinnamon was formerly monopolized by the East India Company; but the cultivation is now unrestricted, and the bark may be freely exported upon the payment of a duty of three shillings sterling a pound. (Ruschenberger.) It is assorted in the island into three qualities, distinguished by the designations of first, second, and third. The inferior kinds, which are of insufficient value to pay the duty, are used for the preparation of oil of cinnamon. Formerly, according to Marshall, they were exported to the continent of India, whence a portion was said to reach Europe under the name of cassia. Immense quantities of cinnamon are exported from China, the finest of which is little inferior to that of Ceylon, though the mass of it is much coarser. It passes in commerce under the name of cassia; and is said by Mr. Reeves to be brought to Canton from the province of Kwangse, where the tree producing it grows very abundantly. (Trans. Med. Bot. Soc, 1828, p. 26.) It has already been stated that this tree is supposed to be the Cinnamomum aro- maticum; but we have no positive proof of the fact. Travellers inform us that cinnamon is also collected in Cochin-china; but that the best of it is mo- nopolized by the sovereign of the country. It is supposed to be obtained from the Cinnamomum Loureirii of Nees, the Laurus Cinnamomum of Loureiro. According to Siebold, the bark of the large branches is of inferior quality and is rejected, as it will not bear the expense of carriage; that from the smallest branches resembles the Ceylon cinnamon in thickness, but has a very pungent taste and smell, and is little esteemed; while the intermediate branches yield an excellent bark, about a line in thickness, which is even more highly valued than the cinnamon of Ceylon, and yields on distillation a sweeter and less pungent oil. (Annal. der Pharm., xx. 280.) It is highly probable that a portion of the cassia exported from Canton is derived from Cochin-china, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago. Cinnamon of good quality is said to be collected in Java, and considerable quantities of inferior quality have been thrown into commerce, as cassia lignea, from the Malabar coast. Manilla and the Isle of France are also men- tioned as sources whence this drug is supplied. Little, however, reaches the United States from these places. Cayenne, and several of the West India Islands, yield to commerce con- siderable emantities of cinnamon of various qualities. That of Cayenne is of two kinds, one of which closely resembles, though it does not quite' equal, the aromatic of Ceylon; the other resembles the Chinese. The former is supposed to be derived from plants propagated from a Ceylonese stock, the latter from those which have sprung from a tree introduced from Sumatra. By far the greater proportion of cinnamon brought to this country is im- ported from China. It is entered as cassia at the custom house, while the PART I. Cinnamomum. 249 same article brought from other sources is almost uniformly entered as cin- namon. By an examination of the treasury returns from the year 1820 to 1829, we found that the average annual import of this spice was, in round numbers, 652,000 pounds from China, 12,000 pounds from England, 9,000 pounds from the British East Indies, 3,000 pounds from the West Indies, and an insignificant quantity from all other places, with the exception of 12,758 pounds brought in one year from the Philippines. There is no doubt that much of the amount brought from China is exported; but we have not been able to ascertain the proportion. From what source the ancients derived their cinnamon and cassia cannot now be ascertained with certainty. Neither the plants nor their localities, as described by Dioscorides, Pliny, and Theophrastus, correspond precisely with our present knowledge; but in this respect much allowance must be made for the inaccurate geography of the ancients. It is not improbable that the Arabian or other Eastern navigators, at a very early period, conveyed this spice within the limits of Phoenician and Grecian, and subsequently of Roman commerce. Properties. Ceylon cinnamon is in long cylindrical fasciculi, composed of numerous quills, the larger enclosing the smaller. In the original sticks, which are somewhat more than three feet in length, two or three fasciculi are neatly joined at the end, so as to appear as if the whole were one continuous piece. The finest is of a light brownish-yellow colour, almost as thin as paper, smooth, often somewhat shining, pliable to a considerable extent, with a splintery fracture when broken. It has a pleasant fragrant odour, and a warm, aromatic, pungent, sweetish, slightly astringent, and highly agreeable taste. When distilled it affords but a small quantity of essential oil, which, however, has an exceedingly grateful flavour. It is brought to this country from England; but is very costly, and is not generally kept in the shops. The inferior sorts are browner, thicker, less splintery, and of a less agreeable flavour, and are little if at all superior to the best Chinese. The finer variety of Cayenne cinnamon approaches in character to that above described, but is paler and in thicker pieces, being usually collected from older branches. That which is gathered very young, is scarcely distinguishable from the cinnamon of Ceylon. It is not recognised in our markets as a distinct variety. The Chinese cinnamon, called cassia in commercial language, is usually in single tubes of various sizes, from an eighth of an inch to half an inch or even an inch in diameter. Sometimes the tubes are double, but very rarely more than double. In some instances the bark is rolled very much upon itself, in others is not even completely quilled, forming segments more or less extensive of a hollow cylinder. It is of a redder or darker colour than the finest Ceylon cinnamon, thicker, rougher, denser, and breaks with a shorter fracture. It has a stronger, more pungent and astringent, but less sweet and grateful taste; and, though of a similar odour, is less agreeably fragrant. It is the kind almost universally kept in our shops, and, while it is much cheaper than the former variety, is perhaps scarcely inferior to it for the preparation of the various tinctures, &c, into which cinnamon enters as an ingredient. Of a similar character is the cinnamon imported directly from various parts of the East Indies. But under the name of cassia are also brought to us very in- ferior kinds of cinnamon, collected from the trunks or large branches of the trees, or injured by want of care in keeping, and perhaps some derived from inferior species. It is said that cinnamon from which the oil has been dis- tilled, is sometimes fraudulently mingled with the genuine. These inferior kinds are detected, independently of their greater thickness, and coarseness of fracture, by then- deficiency in the peculiar sensible properties of the spice. 250 Cinnamomum. PART i. From an analysis made by Yauquelin, it appears that cinnamon contains a peculiar essential oil, tannin, mucilage, a colouring matter, an acid, and lignin. The tannin is of the variety which yields a greenish-black precipitate with the salts of iron. The oil obtained from the Cayenne cinnamon, he found to be more biting than that from the Ceylonese, and at the same time to be some- what peppery. Bucholz found in 100 parts of cassia lignea, 0-8 of volatile oil, 4-0 of resin, 14-6 of gummy extractive (probably including tannin), 64-3 of lignin and bassorin, and 16-3 of water including loss. This aromatic yields its virtues wholly to alcohol, and less readily to water. At the tem- perature of boiling alcohol very little of the oil rises, and an extract prepared from the tincture retains, therefore, the aromatic properties. For an account of the essential oil, see Oleum Cinnamomi. Medical Properties and Uses. Cinnamon is among the most grateful and efficient of the aromatics. It is warm and cordial to the stomach, carmina- tive, astringent, and, like most other substances of this class, more powerful as a local than general stimulant. It is seldom, however, prescribed alone, though sometimes capable, when given in powder or infusion, of allaying nausea, checking vomiting, and relieving flatulence. It is chiefly used as an adjuvant to other less pleasant medicines, and enters into a great number of officinal preparations. It is peculiarly adapted to diarrhoea, and is often employed in that complaint with chalk and astringents. The dose of the powder is from ten grains to a scruple. Cassia Buds. This spice was formerly recognised as officinal by the Edinburgh College, under the name of Flores Lauri Cassix, but has been omitted in their last Pharmacopceia. It consists of the calyx of one or more species of Cinnamomum, surrounding the young germ, and, as stated by Dr. Martius on the authority of the elder Nees, about one quarter of the normal size. It is produced in China; and Mr. Reeves states that great quantities of it are brought to Canton from the province which affords the cassia. The species which yields it is in all probability the same with that which yields the bark, though it has been ascribed by Nees to the Cinnamomum Lourcirii. In favour of the former opinion is the statement of Dr. Christison, that the C. aromaticum, cultivated in the hot-houses of Europe, bears a flower-bud which closely resembles the cassia-bud when at the same period of advance- ment. Cassia-buds have some resemblance to cloves, and are compared to small nails with round heads. The enclosed germen is sometimes removed, and they are then cup-shaped at top. They have a brown colour, with the flavour of cinnamon, and yield an essential oil upon distillation. Though little known in this country, they may be used for the same purposes as the bark. Off. Prep. Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Aqua Cassiae, Ed.; Aqua Cinnamomi, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Confectio Aromatica, Lond., Dub.; Decoctum Haematoxyli, Ed., Dub.; Electuarium Catechu, Ed., Dub.; Emplastrum Aromaticum, Dub.; Infusum Catechu Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Aromaticus, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Cinnamomi Comp., Lond.; Pulvis Cretae Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Kino Comp., Lond., Dub.; Spiritus Ammoniae Aromaticus, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Spiritus Cassiae, Ed.; Spiritus Cinnamomi, Dub., Ed.; Spiritus Lavandulae Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Rhei Aromaticus, U. S.; Tinctura Carda- momi Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cassiae, Ed.; Tinctura Catechu, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cinnamomi, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cinnamomi Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed.; Tinctura Quassiae Comp., Ed.; Yinum Opii, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. PART I. Cocculus. 251 COCCULUS. Ed. Cocculus Indicus. "Fruit of Anamirta Cocculus." Ed. Off. Syn. COCCULUS SUBEROSUS. Fructus. Dub. Coque du Levant, Fr.; Kokkelskorner, Fischkorner, Germ.; Galla di Levante, Ital. The plant which produces cocculus Indicus was embraced by Linnams, with several others, under the title of Menispermum Cocculus. These were referred by De Candolle to a new genus, denominated Cocculus. From this the par- ticular species under consideration has been separated by Wight and Arnott, and erected into a distinct genus with the name of Anamirta, which has been adopted by Lindley and other botanists. Anamirta. Sex. Syst. Dioecia Dodecandria.—Nat. Ord. Menispermaceae. Gen. Ch. Flowers dioecious. Calyx of six sepals in a double series, with two close-pressed bractioles. Corolla none. Male. Stamens united into a central column dilated at the apex. Anthers numerous, covering the whole globose apex of the column. Female. Flowers unknown. Drupes one to three, one-celled, one-seeded. Seed globose, deeply excavated at the hilum. Albumen fleshy. Cotyledons very thin, diverging. ( Wight and Arnott.) Anamirta Cocculus. Wight and Arnott, Flor. Penins. Ind. Orient, i. 446; Lindley, Flor. Med. 371.—Menispermum Cocculus, Linn.— Cocculus sube- rosus. De Cand. Prodrom. i. 97. This is the only species. It is a climbing shrub, with a suberose or corky bark; thick, coriaceous, smooth, shining, roundish or cordate leaves, sometimes truncate at the base; and the female flowers in lateral compound racemes. It is a native of the Malabar coast, and of Eastern Insular and Continental India. The fruit is the officinal portion. This plant was proved to be the source of cocculus Indicus by Roxburgh, who raised it from genuine seeds which he had received from Malabar. It is believed that other allied plants, bearing similar fruit, contribute to furnish the drug; and the Cocculus Plukenetii of Malabar, and C. lacunosus of Celebes and the Moluccas, are particularly designated by authors. It was known to the Arabian physicians, and for a long time was imported into Europe from the Levant, from which circumstance it was called cocculus Leranticus. It is now brought exclusively from the East Indies. Properties, &c. Cocculus Indicus, as found in the shops, is roundish, some- what kidney-shaped, about as large as a pea; having a thin, dry, blackish, wrinkled exterior coat, within which is a ligneous bivalvular shell, enclosing a whitish, oily, very bitter kernel. It is without smell, but has an intensely and permanently bitter taste. It bears some resemblance to the bay berry, but is not quite so large, and may be distinguished by the fact that in the cocculus Indicus the kernel never wholly fills the shell. When the fruit is kept long, the shell is sometimes almost empty. The Edinburgh College directs that the " the kernels should fill at least two-thirds of the fruit." M. Boullay discovered in the seeds a peculiar bitter principle which he denomi- nated picrotoxin. This is white, crystallizable in quadrangular prisms, soluble in twenty-five parts of boiling and fifty of cold water, very soluble in alcohol and ether, but insoluble in the oils. It is poisonous, and, given to strong dogs, in the quantity of from five to ten grains, produces death preceded by convulsions. To procure it, the watery extract of the seeds is triturated with pure magnesia, and then treated with hot alcohol, which dissolves the picro- toxin, and yields it upon evaporation. In this state, however, it is impure. To obtain it colourless it must be again dissolved in alcohol, and treated with animal charcoal. After filtration and due evaporation, it is deposited in the 252 Cocculus.—Coccus. PART I. crystalline form. Besides picrotoxin, cocculus Indicus contains a large pro- portion of fixed oil, and other substances of less interest. The active principle above described is said to reside exclusively in the kernel. In the shell MM. Pelletier and Couerbe discovered two distinct principles, one alkaline and named mrni.pcrmin (menispermia), the other identical with it in composition, but distinguishable by its want of alkalinity, its volatility, and its solubility and crystalline form, and denominated paramcuispermin. They also found, in the same part, a new acid, which they called hypopicrotoxie. The picro- toxin of M. Boullay they believed to possess acid properties, and proposed for it the name ofpicrotoxic acid. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 122.) Medical Properties, dec. Cocculus Indicus acts upon the system in the manner of the acrid narcotic poisons, but is never given internally. In India it is used to stupefy fishes in order that they may be caught; and it has been applied to the same purpose in Europe and this country. It is asseited that the fish thus taken are not poisonous. In Europe, it is said to be added to malt liquors in order to give them bitterness and intoxicating properties; although the practice is forbidden by the law, in England, under heavy penal- ties. The powdered fruit, mixed with oil, is employed in the East Indies as a local application in obstinate cutaneous affections. An ointment made with the powder has been used in tinea capitis, and to destroy vermin in the hair. Picrotoxin has been successfully substituted by Dr. Jeager for the drug itself. Rubbed up with lard in the proportion of ten grains to the ounce, it usually effected cures of tinea capitis in less than a month. Off. Prep. Unguentum Cocculi, Ed. W. COCCUS. U.S. Cochineal. "Coccus Cacti." U.S. Off. Syn. COCCI. Coccus Cacti. Loud., Ed.; COCCUS CACTI. Dub. Cochenille, Fr., Germ.; Cocciniglia, Ital; Cochinilla, Span. The Coccus is a genus of hemipterous insects, having the snout or rostrum in the breast, the antennae filiform, and the posterior part of the abdomen furnished with bristles. The male has two erect wings, the female is wing- less. The C. Cacti is characterized by its depressed, downy, transversely wrinkled body, its purplish abdomen, its short and black legs, and its subu- late antennae, which are about one-third of the length of the body. (Bees's Cyclopsedia.) This insect is found wild in Mexico and the adjoining countries, inhabiting different species of Cactus and allied genera of plants; and is said to have been discovered also in some of the West India islands, and the southern parts of the United States. In Mexico, particularly in the provinces of Oaxaca and Guaxaca, it is an important object of culture. The Indians form plantations of the nopal ( Opuntia cochinillefera), upon which the insect feeds and propagates. During the rainy season, a number of the females arc pre- served under cover upon the branches of the plant, and are distributed, after the cessation of the rains, upon the plants without. They perish very speedily after having deposited their eggs. These, hatched by the heat of the sun, give origin to innumerable minute insects, which spread themselves over the plant. The males, of which, according to Mr. Ellis, the proportion is not greater than one to one hundred or two hundred females, being provided with wings and very active, approach and fecundate the latter. After this period, the females, which before moved about, attach themselves to the leaves, and increase rapidly in size; so that, in the end, their legs, antennae, and proboscis PART I. QoCCUS. 253 are scarcely discoverable, and they appear more like excrescences on the plant than distinct animated beings. They are now gathered for use, by detaching them from the plant by means of a blunt knife, a few being left to continue the race. They are destroyed either by dipping them enclosed in a bag into boiling water, or by the heat of a stove. In the former case they are subse- quently dried in the sun. The males, which are much smaller than the full grown females, are not collected. It is said that of the wild insect there are six generations every year, furnishing an ermal number of crops; but the domestic is collected only three times annually, the propagation being sus- pended during the rainy season, in consequence of its inability to support the inclemency of the weather. The insect has been taken from Mexico to the Canary Islands, where it has been successfully propagated; and considerable quantities of cochineal have been delivered to commerce from the island of Teneriffe. Attempts have also been made to introduce the culture into Spain, Corsica, and Algiers. As kept in the shops, the finer cochineal, grana fina of Spanish commerce, is in irregularly circular or oval, somewhat angular grains, about one-eighth of an inch in diameter, convex on one side, concave or flat on the other, and marked with several transverse wrinkles. Two varieties of this kind of coch- ineal are known to the druggist, distinguished by their external appearance. One- is of a reddish-gray colour, formed by an intermixture of the dark colour of the insect with the whiteness of a powder by which it is almost covered, and with patches of a rosy tinge irregularly interspersed. From its diversi- fied appearance, it is called by the Spaniards cochin ilia Jaspcada. It is the variety commonly kept in our shops. The other, cochin ilia renegrida, or grana nigra, is dark coloured, almost black, with only a minute quantity of the whitish powder between the wrinkles. The two are distinguished in our markets by the names of silver grains and black grains. Guibourt supposes the difference to depend upon culture, or, perhaps, on original varieties in the insect. Others think that it arises from the mode of preparation; the gray cochineal consisting of the insects destroyed by a dry heat; the black, of those destroyed by hot water, which removes the external whitish powder. Accord- ing to Mr. Faber, who derived his information from a merchant resident in the neighbourhood where the cochineal is collected, the silver grains consist of the impregnated female just before she has laid her eggs, the black of the female after the eggs have been laid and hatched. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 47.) There is little or no difference in their quality. Another and much inferior variety is the grana sylvestra or wild cochineal, consisting partly of very small separate insects, partly of roundish or oval masses, which exhibit, under the microscope, minute and apparently new born insects, enclosed in a white or reddish cotton-like substance. It is scarcely known in our drug market. Cochineal has a faint heavy odour, and a bitter slightly acidulous taste. Its powder is of a purplish carmine colour, tinging the saliva intensely red. According to Pelletier and Caventou, it consists of a peculiar colouring prin- ciple which they call carmine, a peculiar animal matter constituting the skele- ton of the insect, stearin, olein, an odorous fatty acid, and various salts. It was also analyzed by John, who called the colouring principle cochinilin. Carmine is of a brilliant purple-red colour, unalterable in dry air, fusible at 122° F., very soluble in water, soluble in cold, and more so in boiling alco- hol, insoluble in ether, and without nitrogen among its constituents. It is obtained by macerating cochineal in ether, and treating the residue with suc- cessive portions of boiling alcohol, which on cooling deposits a part of the carmine, and yields the remainder by spontaneous evaporation. It may be freed from a small proportion of adhering fatty matter, by dissolving it in 254 Coccus.—Cochlearia Officinalis. part I. alcohol of 40° Baum6, and then adding an equal quantity of sulphuric ether. Pure carmine is deposited in the course of a few days. The watery infusion of cochineal is of a violet-crimson colour, which is brightened by the acids, and deepened by the alkalies. The colouring matter is readily precipitated. The salts of zinc, bismuth, and nickel produce a lilac precipitate, and those of iron a dark purple approaching to black. The salts of tin, especially the nitrate and chloride, precipitate the colouring matter of a brilliant scarlet, and form the basis of those splendid scarlet and crimson dyes, which have ren- dered cochineal so valuable in the arts. With alumina the colouring matter forms the pigment called lake. The finest lakes are obtained by mixing the decoction of cochineal with freshly prepared gelatinous alumina. The pig- ment called carmine is the colouring matter of cochineal precipitated from the decoction by acids, the salts of tin, &c, or animal gelatin, and when pro- perly made is of the most intense and brilliant scarlet. Cochineal has been adulterated by causing certain heavy substances, such as powdered talc and carbonate of lead, by shaking in a bag or otherwise, to adhere to the surface of the insects, and thus increase their weight. The fraud may be detected by the absence, under the microscope, of a woolly ap- pearance which characterizes the white powder upon the surface of the una- dulterated insect. Metallic lead, which is said frequently to exist in fine particles in the artificial coating, may be discovered by powdering the coch- ineal, and suspending it in water, when the metal remains behind. Grains of a substance artificially prepared to imitate the dried insect have been mixed with the genuine in France. A close inspection will serve to detect the dif- ference. (Journ. de Pharm., Be sir., ix. 110.) Medical Properties, dec. Cochineal is supposed by some to possess ano- dyne properties, and has been highly recommended in hooping-cough and neuralgic affections. It is frequently associated, in prescription, with car- bonate of potassa, especially in the treatment of hooping-cough. In pharmacy it is employed to colour tinctures and ointments. To infants with hooping- cough, cochineal in substance is given in the dose of about one-third of a grain three times a day. The dose of a tincture, prepared by macerating one part of the medicine in eight parts of diluted alcohol, is for an adult from twenty to thirty drops twice a day. In neuralgic paroxysms, Sauter gave half a tablespoonful, with the asserted effect of curing the disease. Off. Prep. Tinctura Cardamomi Composita, Lond., Ed.; Tinct. Cinchonas Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinct. Gentianae Comp., Ed.; Tinct. Quassias Comp., Ed.; Tinct. Serpentariae, Ed. W. COCHLEARIA OFFICINALIS. Herba. Dub. Common Scurvy-grass. Cranson, Herbe aux cuillers, Fr.; Loffelkraut, Germ.: Coclearia, Ital, Span Cochlearia. See ARMORACIA. Cochlearia officinalis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 448; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 393, t. 112. Common scurvy-grass is an annual or biennial plant, sending up early in the spring a tuft of radical leaves, which are heart-shaped, round- ish, of a deep shining green colour, and supported on long footstalks. The leaves of the stem are alternate, oblong, somewhat sinuate, the lower petio- late, the upper sessile. The stem is erect, branched, angular, six or eio-ht inches high, and bears, at the extremity of the branches, numerous white cruciform peduncled flowers, in thick clusters. The fruit is a roundish two- celled pod, containing numerous seeds. The whole plant is smooth and suc- culent. part I. Cochlearia Officinalis.—Colchici Radix. 255 It is a native of the northern countries of Europe, where, as well as in the United States, it is occasionally cultivated in gardens. The whole herb is officinal. It has, when fresh, a pungent unpleasant odour if bruised, and a warm, acrid, bitter taste. These properties are lost by drying. They are imparted to water and alcohol by maceration, are retained by the expressed juice, and probably depend on a peculiar volatile oil which is separable in very small quantity by distillation with water. Medical Properties and Uses. Common scurvy-grass is gently stimulant, aperient, and diuretic. It is highly celebrated as a remedy in sea-scurvy; and has been recommended in chronic obstructions of the viscera, and certain forms of chronic rheumatism. The fresh plant may be eaten as a salad, or used in the form of infusion in water or wine, or of the expressed juice. Alco- hol and water are impregnated with its virtues by distillation; and the distilled spirit has been found useful in paralysis, in the dose of thirty drops several times a day. The expressed juice may be used as a local application in scor- butic affections of the gums. W. COLCHICI RADIX. U.S. Colchicum Root. " The cormus of Colchicum autumnale." U. S. Off. Syn. COLCHICI CORMUS. Colchicum autumnale. Cormus. Lond.; COLCHICI CORMUS. The cormus of Colchicum autumnale. Ed.; COL- CHICUM AUTUMNALE. Bulbus. Dub. COLCHICI SEMEN. U.S. Colchicum Seed. " The seeds of Colchicum autumnale." U. S. Off. Syn. COLCHICI SEMINA. Colchicum autumnale. Semina. Lond.; COLCHICI SEMINA. Seeds of Colchicum autumnale. Ed.; COLCHI- CUM AUTUMNALE. Semina. Dub. Colchique, Fr.; Zeitlose, Herbst Zeitlose, Germ.; Colchico, Ital, Span. Colchicum. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Melanthaceae. Gen. Ch. A spathe. Corolla six-parted, with a tube proceeding directly from the root. Capsules three, connected, inflated. Willd. Colchicum autumnale. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 272; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 759, t. 258. This species of Colchicum, often called meadow-saffron, is a perennial bulbous plant, the leaves of which appear in spring, and the flowers in autumn. Its manner of growth is peculiar, and deserves notice in this place, as connected in some measure with its medicinal efficacy. In the latter part of summer, a new bulb, or cormus as botanists now call the part, begins to form at the lateral inferior portion of the old one, which receives the young offshoot in its bosom, and embraces it half round. The new plant sends out fibres from its base, and is furnished with a radical spathe, which is cylin- drical, tubular, cloven at top on one side, and half under ground. In Septem- ber, from two to six flowers, of a lilac or pale purple colour, emerge from the spathe, unaccompanied with leaves. The corolla consists of a tube five inches long, concealed for two-thirds of its length in the ground, and of a limb di- vided into six segments. The flowers perish by the end of October, and the rudiments of the fruit remain under ground till the following spring, when they rise upon a stem above the surface, in the form of a three-lobed, three- celled capsule. The leaves of the new plant appear at the same time; so that 256 Colchici Radix. PART I. in fact they follow the flower instead of preceding it, as might be inferred from the order of the seasons in which they respectively show themselves. The leaves are radical, spear-shaped, erect, numerous, about five inches long, and one inch broad at the base. In the mean time, the new bulb has been in- creasing at the expense of the old one, which having performed its appointed office perishes, while the former, after attaining its full growth, sends forth new shoots from itself, and in its turn decays. The old bulb, in its second spring, and a little before it perishes, puts forth one or more small and im- perfect bulbs, which detach themselves from the parent, and are supposed to be sources of new plants, though their mode of spontaneous developement is unknown. The C. autumnale is a native of the temperate parts of Europe, where it grows wild in moist meadows. Attempts have been made to introduce its culture into this country, but with no great success; though small quantities of the bulb, of apparently good quality, have been brought into the market. The officinal portions are the bulb or cormus, and the seeds. The root, botanic- ally speaking, consists of the fibres attached to the base of the bulb. The flowers possess similar virtues with the bulb and seeds. 1. Colchici Radix. The medicinal virtue of the bulb depends much upon the season at which it is collected. Early in the spring, it is too young to have fully developed its peculiar properties; and late in the fall, it has become exhausted by the nourishment which it has afforded to the new plant. The proper period for its collection is from the early part of June, when it has usually attained per- fection, to the middle of August, when the offset appears. It is probably owing, in a great measure, to this inequality in the colchicum at different sea- sons, that entirely opposite reports have been given by different authors of its powers. Krapf ate whole bulbs without experiencing inconvenience; Haller found it entirely void of taste and acrimony; and we are told that in Carniola the peasants use it as food with impunity in the autumn. On the contrary, abundant testimony might be adduced of its highly irritating and poisonous nature, of which in fact there at present exists no doubt. Perhaps soil and climate may have some influence in modifying its character. The bulb is often used in the fresh state in the countries where it grows; as it is apt to be injured in drying, unless the process is very carefully con- ducted. The usual plan is to cut the bulb, as soon after it has been dug up as possible, into thin transverse slices, which are spread out separately upon paper or perforated trays, and dried with a moderate heat. The reason for drying it quickly after removal from the ground, is that it otherwise begins to vegetate, and a change in its chemical nature takes place; and such .is its retentiveness of life, that, if not cut in slices, it is liable to undergo a partial vegetation even during the drying process. Dr. Houlton recommends that the bulb should be stripped of its dry coating, carefully deprived of the bud or young bulb, and then dried whole. It is owing to the high vitality of the bud that the bulb is so apt to vegetate. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans, iv. 18.) Much loss of weight is sustained by exsiccation. Mr. Bainbrido-e ob- tained only two pounds fifteen ounces of dried bulb from eight pounds of the fresh. Properties. ^ The recent bulb or cormus of the C. autumnale resembles that of the tulip in shape and size, and is covered with a brown membranous coat. Internally it is solid, white, and fleshy; and, when cut transversely, yields, if mature, an acrid milky juice. There is often a small lateral pro- jection from its base, particularly noticed by Dr. J. R. Coxe, which appears to be merely a connecting process between it and the new plant, and is not PART I. Colchici Radix. 257 always present. When dried, and deprived of its external membranous covering, the bulb is of an ash-brown colour, convex on one side, and some- what flattened on the other, where it is marked by a deep groove extending from the base to the summit. As found in our shops it is always in the dried state, sometimes in segments made by vertical sections of the bulb, but gene- rally in transverse circular slices, about the eighth or tenth of an inch in thickness, with a notch at one part of their circumference. The cut surface is white, and of an amylaceous aspect. The odour of the recent bulb is said to be hircine; the dried is inodorous. The taste is bitter, hot, and acrid. Its constituents, according to Pelletier and Caventou, are a vegetable alkali combined with an excess of gallic acid; a fatty matter composed of olein, stearin, and a peculiar volatile acid analogous to the cevadic; a yellow colour- ing matter; gum; starch; inulin in large quantity; and lignin. The active properties are ascribed to the alkaline principle, which was believed by its discoverers to be identical with veratria, but has been subsequently found to be peculiar, and has received the appropriate name of colchicia* Wine and vinegar extract all the virtues of the bulb. Dr. A. T. Thomson states that the milky juice of fresh colchicum produces a beautiful cerulean blue colour, if rubbed with the alcoholic solution of guaiac; and that the same effect is obtained by substituting for the juice an acetic solution of the dried bulb. He considers the appearance of this colour, when the slices are rubbed with a little distilled vinegar and tincture of guaiac, as a proof that the drug is good and has been well dried. A very deep or large notch in the circumference of the slices is considered by the same author an unfavourable sign; as it indicates that the bulb has been somewhat exhausted in the nou- rishment of the offset. The decoction yields a deep blue precipitate with solution of iodine, white precipitates with the acetate and subacetate of lead, nitrate of protoxide of mercury, and nitrate of silver, and a slight precipitate with tincture of galls. Medical Properties and Uses.—Meadow-saffron is believed to act upon the nervous system, allaying pain and producing other sedative effects, even when it exerts no obvious influence over the secretions. Generally speaking, when taken in doses sufficiently large to affect the system, it gives rise to more or less disorder of the stomach or bowels, and sometimes occasions active vomit- ing and purging, with the most distressing nausea. When not carried off by the bowels, it often produces copious diaphoresis, and occasionally acts as a diuretic and expectorant; and a case is on record of a violent salivation supposed to have resulted from its use. (N. Am. Med. and Surg. Journ., x. 204.) It appears in fact to have the property of stimulating all the secre- * To Geiger and Hesse belongs the credit of determining the precise nature of this alkaline principle. Colchicia is crystallizable, and has a very bitter and sharp taste, but is destitute of the extreme acrimony of veratria, and does not, like that principle, excite violent sneezing when applied to the nostrils. It differs also in being more soluble in water, and less poisonous in its influence on the animal system. To a kitten eight weeks old, one-tenth of a grain was given dissolved in a little dilute alcohol. Violent purging and vomiting were produced, with apparently severe pain and convulsions, and the ani- mal died at the end of twelve hours. The stomach and bowels were found violently inflamed, with effusion of blood throughout their whole extent. A kitten somewhat younger was destroyed in ten minutes by only the twentieth of a grain of veratria; and, on examination after death, marks of inflammation were found only in the upper part of the oesophagus. We do not know that the conclusions of Geiger and Hesse have yet been confirmed by other experimentalists. The process for obtaining colchicia is similar to that employed in the preparation of hyoscyamia from hyoscyamus. (See the article Hyoscyamus.) A simpler process is to digest the seeds of meadow-saffron in boiling alcohol, precipitate the tincture with magnesia, treat the precipitated matter with boiling alcohol, and finally filter and evaporate. 17 258 Colchici Radix.—Colchici Semen. parti. tions, while it rather diminishes than otherwise the action of the heart. In an overdose, it is capable of producing dangerous and even fatal effects. Excessive nausea and vomiting, abdominal pains, purging and tenesmus, great thirst, sinking of the pulse, coldness of the extremities, and general prostration, with occasional symptoms of nervous derangement, such as head- ache, delirium, and stupor, are among the results of its poisonous action. It was well known to the ancients as a poison, and is said to have been employed by them as a remedy in gout and other diseases. Storck revived its use among the moderns. He gave it as a diuretic and expectorant in dropsy and humoral asthma; and on the continent of Europe it acquired considerable reputation in these complaints ; but the uncertainty of its operation led to its general abandonment, and it had fallen into almost entire neglect, when Dr. Want, of London, again brought it into notice by attempting to prove its identity with the active ingredient of the eau medie.inale d'Uusson, so highly celebrated as a cure for gout. In James's Dispensatory, printed in 1747, it is said to be used in gout as an external application. The chief employment of the meadow-saffron is at present in the treatment of gout and rheumatism, in which experience has abundantly proved it to be a highly valuable remedy. We have, within our own observation, found it especially useful in these affections, when of a shifting or neuralgic character. It sometimes produces relief without obviously affecting the system; but is more efficient when it evinces its influence upon the skin or alimentary canal. Professor Chelius states that it changes the chemical constitution of the urine in arthritic pa- tients, producing an evident increase of the uric acid. (N Am. Med. and Surg. Journ., xi. 234.) This effect, however, is by no means uniform. Dr. Elliotson successfully treated a case of prurigo with the wine of colchicum given in the dose of half a drachm three times a day, and continued for three weeks. (Medico- Chirurg. Pee., Oct., 1827.) Dr. Smith, of Port au Prince, employed it advantageously in tetanus both traumatic and idiopathic. He gave it in full doses, repeated every half hour till it produced an emetic or cathartic effect. (Am. Journ. of the Med. Sci., xvii. 66.) Mr. Ritton found the powdered bulb an effectual remedy in numerous cases of leucorrhcea. (Ibid., vi. 527.) Colchicum has also been recommended in inflammatory and febrile diseases as an adjuvant to the lancet, in diseases of the heart with excessive action, in various nervous complaints, as chorea, hysteria, and hypo- chondriasis, and in chronic bronchial affections. The medicine is generally given in the state of vinous tincture. (See Vinum Colchici Pad ids.) In this form it has been used externally in rheumatism. The dose of the dried bulb is from two to eight grains, which may be repeated every four or six hours till the effects of the medicine are obtained. Off. Prep. Acetum Colchici, U.S., Lond., Ed.; Extraetum Colchici Aceticum, Lond., Ed.; Extraetum Colchici Cormi, Lond.; Oxymel Colchici Dub.; Vinum Colchici Radicis, U. S., Lond., Ed. 2. Colchici Semen. The seeds of the meadow-saffron ripen in summer, and should be collected about the end of July or beginning of August. They never arrive at maturity m plants cultivated in a dry soil, or in confined gardens. ( William* ) They are nearly spherical, about the eighth of an inch in diameter, of a reddish- brown colour externally, white within, and of a bitter acrid taste Their active properties reside in the testa or husk, and they should not, therefore, be bruised m the preparation of the wine or tincture. Dr. Williams, of Ipswich in England, who first brought them into notice, recommends them parti. Colchici Semen.— Colocynthis. 259 in the warmest terms in chronic rheumatism, and considers them superior to the bulb, both in the certainty of their effects and the mildness of their operation. There is no doubt that they possess virtues analogous to those of the bulb, and have this advantage, that they are not liable to become injured by drying—an advantage of peculiar value in a country where the plant is not cultivated, and where the bulb cannot be readily procured in the fresh state. A wine of the seeds is directed in the United States Pharmacopceia. Their dose is about the same with that of the bulb.* Off. Prep. Tinctura Colchici Composita, Lond.; Tinct. Colchici Seminis, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Vinum Colchici Seminis, U. S. W. COLOCYNTHIS. U. S., Lond., Ed. Colocynth. "The fruit of Cucumis Colocynthis deprived of its rind." U. S. " Cucu- mis Colocynthis. Peponum Pulpa exsieeata." Loud. u Pulp of the fruit of Cucumis Colocynthis." Ed. Off. Syn. CUCUMIS COLOCYNTHIS. Fructus pulpa. Dub. Culiiquintida ; Coloquinte, Fr.; Coloquinte, Coloquintenapfel, Germ.; Coloquintida, Ital. Span. Cucumis. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Cucurbitaeeoe. Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx five-toothed. Corolla five-parted. Filaments three. Female. Calyx five-toothed. Corolla five-parted. Pistil three-cleft. Seeds of the l characters of the seeds is the more necessary, as the seeds of other plants have been sold for them. 260 Colocynthis. PART I. Thus prepared it is imported from the Levant. Pereira states that very small quantities are imported into England from Mogador unpeeled.* Peojw.rties. As kept in the shops, colocynth is in the shape of whitish balls about the size of a small orange, very light and spongy, and abounding in seeds which constitute three-fourths of their weight. The seeds are some- what bitter; but possess little activity, and, according to Captain Lyon, are even used as food in Northern Africa. When the medicine is prepared for use, they are separated and rejected, the pulpy or medullary matter only being employed. This has a very feeble odour, but a nauseous and intensely bitter taste. Water and alcohol extract its virtues. Vauquelin obtained the bitter principle in a separate state, and called it colocynthin. According to Meissner, 100 parts of the dry pulp of colocynth contain 14-4 parts of colo- cynthin, 10-0 of extractive, 4-2 of fixed oil, 13-2 of a resinous substance in- soluble in ether, 9-5 of gum, 3-0 of pectic acid (pectin), 17 6 of gummy extract derived from the lignin by means of potassa, 2-7 of phosphate of lime, 3-0 of phosphate of magnesia, and 19-0 of lignin, besides water. (Berzelius, Trait, de Chim.) Colocynthin is obtained by boiling the pulp in water, evaporating the decoction, treating the extract thus procured with alcohol, evaporating the alcoholic solution, and submitting the residue, which consists of the bitter principle and acetate of potassa, to the action of a little cold water, which dissolves the latter, and leaves the greater part of the former untouched. It is yellowish-brown, somewhat translucent, brittle and friable, inflammable, more soluble in alcohol than in water, but capable of imparting to the latter an intense bitterness. The aqueous solution gives with infusion of galls an abundant white precipitate. An infusion of colocynth, made with boiling water, has a golden-yellow colour, and gelatinizes upon cooling. Neumann obtained from 768 parts of the pulp, treated first with alcohol and then with water, 168 parts of alcoholic and 216 of aqueous extract. Medical Properties and Uses. The pulp of colocynth is a powerful drastic, hydragogue cathartic, producing, when given in large doses, violent griping, and sometimes bloody discharges, with dangerous inflammation of the bowels. Death has resulted from a teaspoonful and a half of the powder. ( Christison.) Even in moderate doses it sometimes acts with much harshness, and is, there- fore, seldom prescribed alone. By some writers it is stated to be diuretic. It was frequently employed by the ancient Greeks and the Arabians, though its drastic nature was not unknown to them. Among the moderns it is occa- sionally used, especially by the German practitioners, in obstinate cases of dropsy, and various affections depending on disordered action in the brain. In combination with other cathartics it loses much of its violence, but retains its purgative energy; and in this state is very extensively employed. The compound extract of colocynth is a favourite preparation with many practi- tioners; and, combined with calomel, extract of jalap, and gamboge, it forms a highly efficient and safe cathartic, especially applicable in congestion of the portal circle and torpidity of the liver. (See Pilulse Catharticse Composite.) * In a letter from Mr. R. W. Pelham, of the Shakers' Village, near New Lebanon, Ohio, the author was informed that a hybrid plant between the colocynth and water- melon had been successfully cultivated in that place, and yielded a bitter fruit having the medicinal virtues of colocynth. With the letter came also some seeds of the plant, and a portion of extract prepared from the pulp of the fruit. This was found, upon trial, to be actively cathartic. The seeds, planted in the garden of the author, produced vigor- ous plants, which perfected their fruit. The plant appeared intermediate between the colocynth and watermelon. The fruit was globular, about four inches in diameter, green like the watermelon externally, having the same odour when cut, but of an extremely bitter taste. A portion of the pulp was dried; and an extract prepared from it was found to have the properties of the extract of colocynth. PART I. Colocynthis.—Colomba. 261 The dose of colocynth is from five to ten grains. It is best administered in a state of minute division, effected by trituration with gum or farinaceous matter. Thunberg states that the fruit of the C. Colocynthis, at the Cape of Good Hope, is rendered so mild by being properly pickled, that it is eaten both by the natives and colonists; but, as it is thus employed before attaining perfect maturity, it is possible that the drastic principle may not have been developed. Off. Prep. Extraetum Colocynthidis, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Extract. Colo- cynth. Comp., U.S., Lond., Dub.; Piluko Colocynth. Comp., Dub., Ed. W. COLOMBA. U.S. Columbo. "The root of Cocculu.3 palmatus." U. S. Off. Syn. CALUMBA. Cocculus palmatus. Radix. Lond.; CALUMBA. Boot of Cocculus palmatus. Ed.; COLOMBA. Baclix. Dub. Colombo, .Fr.; Columbowurzel, Germ.; Columba, Ital; Raiz de Columbo, Span.; Ka- lumbo, Port.; Calumb, Mozambique. The columbo plant was imperfectly known till within a recent period. Flowering specimens of a plant gathered by Commerson, about the year 1770, in the garden of M. Poivre in the Isle of France, and sent to Europe with that botanist's collection, were examined by Lamarck, and described under the name of Menispermum pahnafum. But its original locality was unknown, and it was only conjectured to be the source of columbo. In the year 1805, M. Fortin, while engaged in purchasing the root as an article of trade in Mozambique, obtained possession of a living offset, which he took to Madras, and which, being planted in the garden of Dr. Anderson, produced a male plant. This was figured and described by Dr. Berry, without- any knowledge of the previous description of Lamarck. From the drawing thus made, the plant was referred to the natural family of the Menispermeae; but, as the female flowers were wanting, some difficulty was experienced in fixing its pre- cise botanical position. De Candolle, who probably had the opportunity of examining Commerson's specimens, did indeed give its generic and specific character; but confessed that he was not acquainted with the structure of the female flower and fruit. The desideratum, however, has been supplied by ample drawings sent to England by Mr. Telfair, of Mauritius, made from plants which were propagated from roots, obtained by Captain Owen in 1*25, while prosecuting his survey of the eastern coast of Africa. (Curtis's Botan. Mag., vol. 4:,pd. 2970.) The genus Co'-culns, in which the plant is now placed, was separated by De Candolle from Menispermum, and includes those species which have six stamens, while the Menispermum is limited to those with twelve or more. Cocculus. Sex. Syst. Dicecia Hexandria.—Nat. Ord. Menispermaceae. Gen. Ch. Sejuds and Petcds ternate, usually in two, rarely in three rows. Stamens six, distinct, opposite the petals. Drupes berried, 1-6, generally oblique, reniform, somewhat compressed, one-seeded. Cotyledons distant. De Cand. Cocculus palmatus. De Cand. Sysf. Veg. i. 523; Woodv. Med. Bot., M cd. vol. b,p. 21. This is a climbing plant, with a perennial root, consisting of several fascieulated, fusiform, somewhat curved, and descending tubers, of the thickness of an infant's arm. The stems, of which one or two proceed from the same root, are twining, simple in the male plant, branched in the female, round, hairy, and about as thick as the little finger. The leaves, which stand on rounded, glandular-hairy footstalks, are alternate, distant, cor- 262 Colomba. PART I. date, with three, five, or seven entire, acuminate, wavy, somewhat hairy lobes, and as many nerves, each of which runs into one of the lobes. The flowers are small and inconspicuous, and are arranged in solitary axillary racemes, which, in the male plant, are compound, in the female, simple, and in both, shorter than the leaves. This species of Cocculus is a native of Mozambique, on the south-eastern coast of Africa, where it grows wild in great abundance in the thick forests which extend from the sea many miles into the interior. It is never culti- vated. The root is dug up in March, when dry weather prevails. From the base of the root numerous fusiform offsets proceed, less fibrous and woody than the parent stock. These offsets are separated and cut into transverse slices, which are dried in the shade. The old root is rejected. Columbo is a staple export of the Portuguese from their dominions in the south-east of Africa, It is taken to India, and thence distributed to various parts of the world. It was formerly supposed to be a product of Ceylon, and to have derived its name from Colombo, a city of that Island, from which it was thought to be exported. It is possible that, when the Portuguese were in possession of Ceylon, Colombo may have been the entrepot for the drug brought from Africa, and thus haATe given origin to its name. Some, how- ever, consider a more probable derivation to be from the word calumb, which is said to be the Mozambique name for the root. Dr. Christison has been misinformed in relation to the cultivation of the true columbo plant in this country. (See Christison's Dispensatory, Am. ed., p. 304.) Properties. The root, as it reaches us, is in flat circular or oval pieces, from the eighth of an inch to near an inch in thickness, and from one to two inches in diameter. Along with these are sometimes a few cylindrical pieces an inch or two in length. The cortical portion is thick, of a bright yellow, slightly greenish colour internally, but covered with a brownish-wrinkled epidermis. The interior or medullary portion, which is readily distinguishable from the cortical, is light, spongy, yellowish, usually more or less shrunk, so that the pieces are thinnest in the centre; and is frequently marked with concentric circles and radiating lines. Those pieces are to be preferred which have the brightest colour, are most compact and uniform in their texture, and least worm-eaten. The odour of columbo is slightly aromatic. The taste is very bitter, that of the cortical much more so than that of the central portion, which is somewhat mucilaginous. The root is brittle, and easily pulverized. The powder has a greenish tinge, which becomes browner with age, and deepens when it is moistened. As it attracts moisture from, the air, and is apt to undergo decomposition, it should be prepared in small quantities at a time. M. Phmche analyzed columbo in 1811, and found it to'contain an azotized substance, probably albumen, in large quantity, a bitter yellow substance not precipitated by metallic salts, and one-third of its weight of starch. He ob- tained also a small proportion of essential oil, salts of lime and potassa, oxide of iron, and silica. Wittstock, of Berlin, afterwards isolated a peculiar crys- tallizable principle, in which the bitterness resides, and for which he proposed the name of colombin. (Journ. de Pharm., Fcvricrf 1831.) It appears to be the bitter yellow substance of Planche, deprived of a portion of colouring matter. Colombin crystallizes in beautiful transparent quadrilateral prisms, is without smell, and is extremely bitter. It is but very slightly soluble in water, alcohol, or ether, at ordinary temperatures, and yet imparts to these fluids a strongly bitter taste. It is more soluble in boilino- alcohol, which deposits it upon cooling. The best solvent is diluted acetic acid. It i's taken up by alkaline solutions, from which it is precipitated by acids. It has neither acid nor alkaline properties, and its alcoholic and acetic solutions are not affected by the metallic salts, or the infusion of galls. It is obtained by PART I. Colomba. 203 exhausting columbo by means of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-835, distilling off three-quarters of the alcohol, allowing the residue to stand for some days till crystals are deposited, and lastly treating these crystals with alcohol and animal charcoal. The mother waters still contain a considerable quantity of colombin, which may be separated by evaporating with coarsely powdered glass to dryness, exhausting the residue with ether, distilling off the ether, treating the residue with boiling acetic acid, and evaporating the solution so that crystals may form. Colombin is thought to be the active principle of columbo. The virtues of the root are extracted by boiling water and by alcohol. Precipitates are produced with the infusion and tincture by the infusion of galls, the acetate and subacetate of lead, corrosive chloride of mercury, aud lime-water; but the bitter principle is not affected by these re- agents.* Adulterations.—In France, a spurious columbo was some }rears since ex- tensively substituted for the genuine root, which, according to Guibourt, had become rare in the commerce of that country. As it may possibly be intro- duced into our market, it is desirable that our druggists should be put in pos- session of the characters by which it may be distinguished. Though similar to columbo in appearance, it is different in properties, and is therefore truly a sophistication, it is said to be taken to France from Barbary; but the plant which yields it is not known. Though in round slices like the genuine root, it has an epidermis of a gray-fawn colour, marked with close and parallel cir- cular striae; its transverse surfaces are irregularly depressed; the medullary portion is of a yellowish-orange, with a deeper-coloured circle; the smell is weak like that of gentian, the taste feebly bitter and rather saccharine; the powder is of a yellow-fawn instead of a greenish colour; but the most striking difference is the total absence of starch, which constitutes one-third of columbo. Iodine therefore is an excellent test, If the true columbo be moistened with hot water, and touched with iodine, it immediately assumes a blackish colour; while the spurious root, treated in the same way, undergoes no change. The latter differs also in communicating a fine yellow colour to ether, in evolving ammonia when treated with caustic potassa, and in reddening in infusion the tincture of litmus. It is said that the root of white bryony, tinged yellow with the tincture of columbo, has sometimes been fraudulently substituted; but the adulteration is too gross to deceive those acquainted with the charac- ters of either of these drugs. American columbo, which is the root of the Fraser'a Walteri, is said to be sold in some parts of Europe for the genuine. Independently of the sensible differences between the two roots, (See Frasera,) M. Stolze of Halle states that, while the tincture of columbo remains unaf- fected by the sulphate or sesquichloride of iron, and gives a dirty gray pre- * From the researches of Dr. Bodeker, it appears that another bitter principle exists in columbo, which corresponds in composition and chemical relations with berberin, the active principle of Berberis vulgaris, and is assumed to be identical with that substance. It was obtained by exhausting columbo with alcohol of 0889, distilling off the alcohol, allowing the residual liquor to stand for three days so as to deposit its columbin, evapor- ating the supernatant liquid together with the aqueous washings of the columbin to dry- ness, exhausting the residue with boiling alcohol of 0Sii3, treating the solution thus obtained as the former one, submitting the residue to the action of boiling water, filtering and adding muriatic acid, collecting the precipitate thus formed on a filter, drying it with bibulous paper, and finally, in order to separate adhering acid, dissolving it in alcohol, and precipitating with ether. The result was an imperfectly crystalline, bright yellow powder, of a disagreeable bitter taste, supposed to be a muriate of berberin. I: is stated that berberin is present in columbo in much larger proportion than columbin, and. being abundantly soluble in hot water and alcohol, while columbin is but slightly so, is pro- bably more largely extracted in the ordinary liquid preparations of the root. (.dm. Juurn. of Pharm., xx. o22, through the Chem. Gaz., from Journ. fur Prakl. Chem.)—iW'e to eighth edition. 264 Colomba.—Conii Folia. PART I. cipitate with tincture of galls, the tincture of frasera acquires a dark green with the former reagent, and is not affected by the latter. (Duncan.) Medical Properties and Uses. Columbo is among the most useftd of the mild tonics. Without astringency, with very little stimulating power, and generally acceptable to the stomach, it answers admirably as a remedy in sim- ple dyspepsia, and in those states of debility which are apt to attend conva- lescence from acute disorders, especially when the alimentary canal is left in an enfeebled condition. Hence, it is often prescribed in the declining stages of remittent fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, cholera morbus, and cholera infantum. The absence of irritating properties renders it also an appropriate tonic in the hectic fever of phthisis, and its kindred affections. It has been highly recom- mended in vomiting, unconnected with inflammation of the stomach, as in the sickness of pregnant women. It is frequently administered in combination with other tonics, with aromatics, with mild cathartics, and with antacids. The remedy which we have found most effectual in the permanent cure of a disposition to the accumulation of flatus in the bowels, is an infusion made with half an ounce of columbo, half an ounce of ginger, a drachm of senna, and a pint of boiling water, and given in the dose of a wineglassful three times a day. Columbo is much used by the natives of Mozambique, and the neighbouring parts of Africa, in dysentery and other diseases. (Berry.) It was first introduced to the notice of the profession in Europe by Francois Redi, in the year 1685. It is most commonly prescribed in the state of infusion. (See Infusum Colombse.) The dose of the powder is from ten to thirty grains, and may be repeated three or four times a clay. It is frequently combined with pow- dered ginger, carbonate of iron, and rhubarb. Off. Prep. Infusum Colombse, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Ferri Aromatica, Dab.; Tinctura Colomba), U. S., Land., Ed., Dub. W. CONII FOLIA. U.S., Lond. Hemlock Leaves. "The leaves of Conium maculatum." U.S. " Conium maculatum. Folia." Lond. Off Syn. CONIUM. Leaves of Conium maculatum. Eel; CONIUM MACULATUM. Folia. Dub. CONII SEMEN. U.S. Hemlock Seed. "The seeds of Conium maculatum." U. S. Off. Syn. CONII FRUCTUS. Conium maculatum. Eruefus. Lond. C'igue ordinaire, Grande ciime. Fr.; Gefleckter Schierling, Germ.; Cicuta, Ital. Span. Conium. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Apiac'ese or Um- belliferse. Gen. Ch. Partial Involucre halved, usually three-leaved. Fruit nearly globular, five-streaked, notched on both sides. Willd. Conium macidatum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1395; Bigelow Am. Med. JBoL i. 113; Woodv. Med. Bot, p. 104, t, 42. This is an umbelliferous plant] having a biennial spindle-shaped whitish root, and an herbaceous branching stem, from three to six feet high, round, hollow, smooth, shining, slightly striated, and marked with brownish-purple spots. The lower leaves are tri- pinnate, more than a foot in length, shining, and attached to the joints of the part I. Conii Folia.—Conii Semen. 265 stem by sheathing petioles; the upper are smaller, bipinnate, and inserted at the divisions of the branches; both have channeled foot-stalks, and incised leaflets, which are deep green on their upper surface and paler beneath. The flowers are very small, white, and disposed in compound terminal umbels. The general involucre consists of from three to seven lanceolate, reflected leaflets, whitish at their edges; the partial involucre, of three or four, oval, pointed, spreading, and on one side only. The petals are cordate, with their points inflected, five in number, and nearly equal. The stamens are spread- ing, and about as long as the corolla; the styles diverging. The fruit is roundish ovate, a line and a half or rather less in length by a line in breadth, striated, and composed of two plano-convex, easily separable parts, which have on their outer surface five crenated ribs. The hemlock is a native of Europe, and has been introduced into the United States, where it is now naturalized. It grows usually in bunches along the road sides, or in waste grounds, and is found most abundantly in the neighbourhood of old settlements. Its flowers appear in June and July. The whole plant, especially at this period, exhales a fetid odour, compared by some to that of mice, by others to that of the urine of cats; and narcotic effects are experienced by those who breathe for a long time air impregnated with the effluvia. The plant varies in narcotic power according to the climate and character of the weather, being most active in hot and dry seasons, and in warm countries. The hemlock of Greece, Italy, and Spain is said to be much more energetic than that of the North of Europe. As a general rule, those plants are most active which grow in a sunny exposure. The term cimta, which till recently was very often applied to this plant, belongs to a different genus. Both the leaves and fruit are officinal. The proper season for gathering the leaves is when the plant is in flower; and Dr. Fothcrgill asserts, from experimental knowledge, that they are most active about the time when the flowers begin to fade. The footstalks should be rejected, and the leaflets quickly dried, either in the hot sun, on tin plates before a fire, or by a stove heat not exceeding 120° F. They should be kept in boxes or tin cases, excluded as much as possible from the air and light, by exposure to which they lose their fine green colour, and become deteriorated in medical virtues. The same end is answered by pulverizing them, and pre- serving the powder in opaque and well stopped bottles. But little reliance can be placed on the dried leaves; as, even when possessed of a strong odour and a fine green colour, they are sometimes destitute of the peculiar narcotic principle. When rubbed with caustic potassa they should exhale the odour of conia. The fruit, commonly called seeds, retains its activity much longer than the leaves. Dr. Christison found it to have sustained no diminution of power, after having been kept eight years, (Ed. New. Phil. Journ., April, 1845.) Properties. The dried leaves of the hemlock have a strong, heavy, nar- cotic odour, less disagreeable than that of the recent plant. Their taste is bitterish and nauseous; their colour a dark green, which is retained in the powder. A slight degree of acrimony possessed by the fresh leaves is said to be dissipated by drying. The seeds have a yellowish-gray colour, a feeble odour, and a somewhat bitterish taste. Their form has already been de- scribed. Water distilled from the fresh leaves has the odour of hemlock, and a very nauseous taste, but does not produce narcotic effects. The decoc- tion has little taste, and the extract resulting from its evaporation is nearl}- inert. From these facts it is inferrible, that the active principle, as it exists in the plant, is not volatile at 212°, and, if soluble in water, is injured by a boiling heat, Alcohol and ether take up the narcotic properties of the leaves; and the ethereal extract, which is of a rich dark green colour, is stated by Dr. A. T. Thomson to have the smell and taste of the plant in perfection, and 266 Conii Folia.—Conii Semen. PART i. in the dose of half a grain to produce headache and vertigo. Upon destruc- tive distillation, the leaves yield a very poisonous empyreumatic oil. We have no satisfactory analysis of hemlock. Schrader found in the juice of the leaves, resin, extractive, gum, albumen, a green fecula, and various saline substances. Brandos obtained from the plant a very odorous oil, albumen, resin, colouring matter, and salts, and believed that he had discovered a pecu- liar alkaline principle; but there is reason to think that he was mistaken; as the principle which he described is essentially different from that which sub- sequent experiment has proved to exist in the plant. So long ago as 1827, Giseke obtained an alkaline liquid by distilling hem- lock leaves with water and caustic lime; but he did not succeed in isolating the substance in which this alkalinity resided. Geiger was the first who ob- tained the active principle in a separate state, and proved it to possess alka- line properties. It appears that there are two volatile substances in hemlock, one of them an oil, which comes over by simple distillation, and upon which the odour of the plant depends, and the other an alkaline principle, which, as it exists in the plant, is so combined as not to be volatilizable, but which, when separated by one of the mineral alkalies from its native combination, rises readily in distillation, and may thus be procured separate. This latter substance is the active principle, and merits the name of conia which has been conferred upon it. Conelne, conine, conicine, and cicutine are synonymes, which have been adopted by different writers; but the name first mentioned accords best with the nomenclature of the vegetable alkalies generally recog- nised in England and this country. In what state of combination it exists in the plant is not certainly known; but it is probably united with an acid, as it is separated by the alkalies. This acid Peschier believed to be peculiar, and named eoniic acid. Geiger obtained conia by the following process. He distilled fresh hemlock with caustic potassa and water, neutralized with sul- phuric acid the alkaline liquid which came over, evaporated this liquid to the consistence of syrup, added anhydrous alcohol so long as a precipitate of sul- phate of ammonia was afforded, separated this salt by filtration, distilled off the alcohol, mixed the residue with a strong solution of caustic potassa, and distilled anew. The conia passed over with the water, from which it sepa- rated, floating on the surface in the form of a yellowish oil. Caustic soda or lime might be substituted for potassa in the first distillation. According to Dr. Christison, an easier process is to distil cautiously a mixture of strong solution of potassa and the alcoholic extract of the unripe fruit. The alkaloid is obtained floating like an oil upon the surface of the water in the receiver. As obtained by the above processes, conia is in the state of a hydrate, contain- ing one-fourth of its weight of water and a little-ammonia, From the former, it may be freed by chloride of calcium; from the latter, by exposing it under an exhausted receiver till it ceases to emit bubbles of gas. The fresh leaves or seeds should be employed in the preparation of conia; as the alkali appears to undergo decomposition by time and exposure. The seeds contain most of this principle; but even in these it exists in very small proportion. From six pounds of the fresh and nine pounds of the dried seeds, Geiger obtained about an ounce of conia; while from one hundred pounds of the fresh herb he got only a drachm, and from the dried leaves could obtain none of the alkali. Christison recommends the full grown fruit while yet green, and states that eight pounds will yield half an ounce of hy- drate of conia, and contains much more. (Dispensatory.) Some doubts were at onetime thrown upon the accuracy of Geiger's conclusions as to the nature of conia, which was supposed to owe its alkalinity to the presence of ammonia; but the experiments of MM. Boutron and Henry have satisfactorily settled the question in favour of its claims to be considered as a peculiar organic alkali. PART I. Conii Folia.— Conii Semen. 267 Conia is in the form of a yellowish, oily liquid, lighter than water, of a strong and penetrating odour, recalling that of fresh hemlock, yet not iden- tical with it, and of a very acrid taste. In volatility it resembles the essen- tial oils, readily rising with the vapour of boiling water, but, when unmixed, requiring for ebullition, according to Christison, a temperature of 370°. It is freely soluble in alcohol, ether, the fixed and volatile oils, and slightly so in water. It unites with about one-fourth of water to form a hydrate. It reddens turmeric, and neutralizes the acids, forming with them soluble salts, some of which are crystallizable. With tannic acid it forms an insoluble com- pound. Like ammonia it emits a white cloud, when approached by a rod moistened with muriatic acid. When exposed to the air, it speedily becomes of a deep brown colour, and is ultimately converted into a resinous matter, and into ammonia which escapes. Under the influence of heat this change takes place with much greater rapidity. Its presence may be detected in an extract or other preparation of hemlock by rubbing it with potassa, which in- stantly develops its peculiar odour. In ultimate composition it is analogous to the other organic alkalies, containing nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxy- gen. In its effects on the system it closely resembles hemlock itself. Dr. Christison found it, contrary to the experience of Geiger, even more active in the saline state, than when uncombined. It is a most energetic poison, one drop of it injected into the eye of a rabbit killing the animal in nine minutes, and three drops killing a stout cat in a minute and a half when similarly ap- plied. Dr. Christison, from whose paper these facts are derived (Trans. Roy. Soc. Ed., 1836), is of the opinion that it acts upon the spinal marrow, directly prostrating the nervous power, and thus producing paralysis of the voluntary muscles, which, invading the organs of respiration, destroys life by arresting this process. The brain does not seem to be especially attacked; as the animal, when it dies slowly, preserves its senses unimpaired so long as. it breathes. In cases of sudden death from the poison, the heart does not cease to act till after apparent death; and its action may be sustained after the animal has ceased to breathe by keeping up artificial respiration. Ex- periments made upon animals, with a recently prepared extract of hemlock, produced precisely the same phenomena as those which followed the use of conia. Locally the alkali appears to act as an irritant. Medical Properties and Uses. Hemlock is narcotic, without being decidedly stimulant or sedative to the circulation. Mr. Judd, however, has inferred from his experiments that it directly diminishes the action of the heart, and, when it produces death, contrary to the results obtained by Christison, ex- hausts the contractility of that organ. (Mdico-Bot. Trans., vol. i. pt. 4.) These conclusions require confirmation. When given so as fully to affect the system, it produces more or less vertigo, dimness of vision, nausea, faintness, sensations of numbness, and general muscular debility. In larger doses it occasions dilated pupils, difficulty of speech, delirium or stupor, tremors and paralysis, and ultimately convulsions and even death. Sometimes it produces fatal effects, through paralysis alone, without coma or convulsions. Its ope- ration usually commences in less than half an hour, and, if moderate, seldom continues longer than twenty-four hours. It is supposed to be the narcotic used by the Athenians to destroy the life of condemned individuals, and by which Socrates and Phocion died. It was also used by the ancients as a medicine, but fell into entire neglect, and was not again brought into notice till the time of Storek, by whom it was much employed and extravagantly praised. Since that time it has been submitted to ample trial, and, though its original reputation has not been fully sustained, it still retains a place in the catalogue of useful medicines. Anodyne, soporific, antispasmodic, ant- aphrodisiac, deobstruent, and diuretic properties have been ascribed to it; 268 Conii Folia.—Contrayerva. part i. though its claims to the possession of so. many virtues have not been well esta- blished. It was highly recommended by Stbrck as a remedy in scirrhus and cancerous ulcers, but at present is only considered a useful palliative in this complaint. In mammary tumours and chronic enlargements of the liver and other abdominal viscera; in painful scrofulous tumours and ulcers; in various diseases of the skin, as leprosy and elephantiasis; in the complicated derange- ments of health attendant upon secondary syphilis; in chronic rheumatism and neuralgic affections; in excessive secretion of milk; in pertussis, asthma, chronic catarrh, and consumption; and in various other disorders connected with nervous derangement, or a general depraved state of the health, it is occasionally employed with the effect of relieving or palliating the symptoms, or favourably modifying the action of remedies with which it is combined. Dr. Gibson, Professor of Surgery in the University of Pennsylvania, speaks highly of its efficacy in the cure of goitre. (See Phil. Journ. of the Med. and Phys. Sci., i. 67.) The powdered leaves, and the inspissated juice (the extract of the Pharma- copoeias), are the forms in which it is usually administered. Either of these may be given in the dose of three or four grains twice a day, gradually in- creased till the occurrence of slight vertigo or nausea indicates that it has taken effect. To maintain a given impression, it is necessary to increase the dose even more rapidly than is customary with most other narcotics; as the system becomes very speedily habituated to its influence. In some instances, the quantity administered in one day has been augmented to more than two ounces. The strength of the preparations of hemlock is exceedingly unequal; and caution is therefore necessary, when the medicine is given in very large quantities, to employ the same parcel, or, if a change be made, to commence with the new parcel in small doses, so as to obviate any danger which might result from its greater power. Unpleasant consequences have followed a ne- glect of this precaution. There is also an officinal tincture and an alcoholic extract, both of which, when properly made, are efficient preparations. The fresh juice of the plant has been recommended by Hufeland in the dose of from twelve to forty drops. The powdered seeds may be employed in a dose somewhat smaller than that of the leaves. Cullen states that an extract pre- pared from them is stronger than that of the plant. The fresh leaves are sometimes used externally as an anodyne cataplasm; and the extract, and an ointment prepared from the leaves, are applied to the same purpose. Though fatal to some animals, hemlock is eaten with impunity by others, as horses, goats, and sheep. The best method of relieving its poisonous effects, is the speedy evacuation of the stomach. Off. Prep. Cataplasma Conii, Lond,, Dub.; Extraetum Conii, U. S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Extract. Conii Alcoholicum, U. S.; Tinctura Conii, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Unguentum Conii, Dub. W. CONTRAYERVA. U S. Secondary. Contrayerva. " The root of Dorstenia Contrayerva." U S. Off. Syn. CONTRAJERVA. Dorstenia Contrajerva. Radix. Lond. Contrayerva, Fr.; Giftwurzel, Germ.: Contrajerva, Ital; Contrayerba, Span. Dorstenia. Sex. Syst. Tetrandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Urticaceje. Gen. Ch. Receptacle common, one-leafed, fleshy, in which solitary seeds are nestled. Willd, The root known by the name of contrayerva is believed to be derived from several species of Dorstenia, among which, besides the D. Contrayerva, two part I. Contrayerva.—Convolvulus Panduratus. 269 others are mentioned by Dr. Houston, the D. Houstonia, and D. Drahena, the former growing near Campeachy, the latter near Yera Cruz. It is referred by Dr. Martius also to the D. Brasilicnsis, growing in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Brazil. The D. Contrayerva is the only one recognised in the Pharmacopoeias. Dorstenia Contrayerva. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 682; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 705, t. 240. This plant has a perennial, fusiform, branching, rough, com- pact root or rhizoma, which sends up several leaves of an irregular shape, about four inches in length, lobed, serrated, pointed, and placed upon long radical footstalks, which are winged towards the leaves. The scapes or flower- stems are also radical, rise several inches in height, and support irregular quadrangular receptacles, which contain male and female flowers, the former having two stamens, the latter a single style. The capsule, when ripe, possesses an elastic power, by which the seeds are thrown out with considerable force. The plant grows in Mexico, the West Indies, and Peru. The root (rhizo- ma) is the officinal portion. According to Pereira, however, the contrayerva of the shops is not the product of the species above described, but of the D. Brasiliensis, and is brought from Brazil. The term contrayerba, in the lan- guage of the Spanish Americans, signifies counterpoison or antidote, and was applied to this root under the impression that it had the property of counter- acting all kinds of poison. Properties. The root, as found in our shops, is oblong, an inch or two in length, of varying thickness, very hard, rough, and solid, of a reddish-brown colour externally, and pale within; and has numerous long, slender, yellowish fibres attached to its inferior part. The odour is aromatic; the taste warm, slightly bitterish, and pungent. The fibres have less taste and smell than the tuberous portion. The sensible properties are extracted by alcohol and boiling water. The decoction is of a dark brownish-red colour, and highly mucilaginous. The tincture reddens infusion of litmus, and lets fall a pre- cipitate on the addition of water. The root has not yet been analyzed, but is known to contain starch and a volatile oil. Medical Properties and Uses. Contrayerva is a stimulant tonic and dia- phoretic, and has been given in low states of fever, malignant eruptive dis- eases, some forms of dysentery and diarrhoea, and other diseases requiring gentle stimulation. It is very seldom used in this country. The dose of the powdered root is about half a drachm. W. CONVOLVULUS PANDURATUS. U.S. Secondary. Wild Potato. "The root of Convolvulus panduratus." U. S. Convolvulus. See SCAMMONIUM. Convolvulus panduratus. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 850; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 249. The wild potato has a perennial root, and a round, purplish, procum- bent or climbing stem, which twines around neighbouring objects, and grows sometimes twelve feet in length. The leaves, which stand alternately on long petioles, are broad, heart-shaped at the base, entire, or lobed on the sides like a guitar or violin, somewhat acuminate, deep green on the upper surface and paler beneath. The flowers are in fascicles, upon long axillary peduncles. The calyx is smooth and awnless; the corolla, tubular campanu- late, very large, white at the border, but purplish-red at the base. The plant is indigenous, growing throughout the United States in sandy £elds and along fences, and flowering from June to August. A variety with double flowers is cultivated in the gardens for the sake of ornament. 270 Convolvulus Panduratus.—Copaiba. part i. The root, which is the officinal part, is very large, two or three feet in length, about three inches thick, branched at the bottom, externally of a brownish-yellow colour, and full of longitudinal fissures, internally whitish and milky, and of a somewhat acrid taste. Pursh says that he has seen a root as thick as a man's thigh. Medical Properties. The wild potato is feebly cathartic, and has been proposed, as a substitute for jalap, but is scarcely used. It is thought also to be somewhat diuretic, and has been employed, with supposed advantage, in strangury and calculous complaints. Dr. G. M. Maclean considers it one of the best diuretics he has used, when given in infusion. (N York Journ. of Med, x. 375.) Forty grains of the dried root are said to purge gently. Perhaps an extract might be found more effectual. W. COPAIBA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Copaiba. "The juice of Copaifera officinalis and other species of Copaifera." U.S. "Copaifera Langsdorffii. Resiua liquida." Lond. "Fluid resinous exudation of various species of Copaifera. Copaira." Ed. Off. Syn. COPAIFERA OFFICINALIS. Resina liquida. Dub. Balsam of Copaiva; Baume de copahu, Fr.; Copaiva-Balsam, Germ.; Balsamo di copaiba, Ital; Balsamo de copayva, Span. Copaifera. Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Leguminosas, Jussieu. Amyridaeeni, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Calyx none. I'cfalsfouT. Legume ovate. Seed one, with an ovate arillus. Willd. The first notice to be found of the copaiba plant is that by Marcgrav and Piso in the year 1648. Jacquin in 1763 described a species of Copaifera, which grew in the Island of Martinique, and which he named C. officinalis, from the fact that it afforded this resinous juice. As this was believed to be the same plant with the one observed by Marcgrav in Brazil, it was adopted with- out hesitation in the Pharmacopoeias; but their identity is now denied; and Desfontaines has proposed for the officinal species the title of G. Jacquin i, in honour of the botanist who originally described it. From recent observation and discoveries, it appears that numerous species of Copaifera exist in Brazil and other parts of South America, all of which, according to Martius, yield copaiba. Besides the C. officinalis or C. Jacquini, the following are described by Hayne;—C. Guiancnsis, C. Langsdorffii, C. coriacea, C. Bryrichii, C. Martii, C.bijuga, C.uitida, C.laxa, C. cord I folia, C. Jussieui, C. Sellowii, C. oblongifolia, and C multijuga. Hayne believes that the C. bijuga is the plant seen by Marc/n. PIPER CUBEBA. Piper Cubeba. Baccse. Lond.; CUBE- BA. Fruit of Piper Cubeba. Ed. . Cubebe, Fr.: Kubeben, Germ.; Cubebe, Ital.; Cubebas, Span.; Kebabeh, Arab. Piper. Sex. Syst. Diandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Piperaceao. Gen. Ch. Calyx none. Corolla none. Berry one-seeded. Willd. Piper Cubeba. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 159; Woodv. Med. Bot. 3d ed. v. 95. This is a climbing perennial plant, with a smooth, flexuous, jointed stem, and entire, petiolate, oblong or ovate oblong, acuminate leaves, rounded or ob- liquely cordate at the base, strongly nerved, coriaceous, and very smooth. The flowers are dioecious and in spikes, with peduncles about as long as the petiole. The fruit is a globose, pedicelled berry. PART I. Cubeba. 287 This species of Piper is a native of Java, Penang, and probably other parts of the East Indies. It grows wild in the woods, and does not appear to be cultivated. The dried unripe fruit is the officinal portion. Dr. Blume thinks it probable that the drug is derived chiefly from another species—the P. ca- ninum inhabiting the same countries; but Dr. Lindley could discover no dif- ference between the fruit of the P. cubeba and ordinary cubebs. 1'roperties. Cubebs are round, about the size of a small pea, of a blackish or grayish-brown colour, and furnished with a short stalk, which appears to be continuous with raised veins that run over the surface of the berry, and embrace it like a network. The shell is hard, almost ligneous, and contains within it a single loose seed, covered with a blackish coat, and internally white and oleaginous. The odour of the berry is agreeably aromatic; the taste warm, bitterish, and camphorous, leaving in the mouth a peculiar sensation of cool- ness, like that produced by the oil of peppermint. The powder is dark coloured and of an oily aspect. From 1000 parts of cubebs, M. Monheim obtained 30 parts of a ceruminous substance, 25 of a green volatile oil, 10 of a yellow volatile oil, 45 of cubebin, 15 of a balsamic resin, 10 of chloride of sodium, 60 of extractive, and 650 of lignin, with 155 parts lost. According to MM. Ca- pitaine and Soubeiran, cubebin is best obtained by expressing cubebs from which the oil has been distilled, preparing with it an alcoholic extract, treat- ing this with a solution of potassa, washing the residue with water, and puri- fying it by repeated crystallizations in alcohol. Thus prepared, it is white, inodorous, and insipid, not volatilizable by heat, almost insoluble in water, slightly soluble in cold alcohol, freely so in that liquid when hot, and soluble also in ether, acetic acid, and the fixed and volatile oils. It bears a close re- semblance to piperin, but differs from it in composition. (Journ. de Pharm,, xxv. 355.) The volatile oil is officinal. (See Oleum Cubeibse.) Cubebs gra- dually deteriorate by age, and in powder become rapidly weaker, in conse- quence of the escape of their volatile oil. They should be kept whole, and pulverized when dispensed. The powder is said to be sometimes adulterated with that of pimento. Medical Properties and Uses. Cubebs are gently stimulant, with a special direction to the urinary organs. In considerable quantities they excite the circulation, increase the heat of the body, and sometimes occasion headache and giddiness. At the same time they frequently produce an augmented flow of the urine, to which they impart a peculiar odour. Nausea and moderate purging are also occasional results of their action; and they are said to give rise to a sense of coolness in the rectum during the passage of the feces. We have no evidence that they were known to the ancients. They were probably first brought into Europe by the Arabians, and were formerly employed for similar purposes with the black pepper; but they were found much less pow- erful and fell into disuse. Some years since they were again brought into notice in England as a remedy in gonorrhoea. This application of cubebs was derived from India, where they have long been used in gonorrhoea and gleet, and as a grateful stomachic and carminative in disorders of the digestive organs. They are said to have occasionally produced swelled testicle, when given in the first mentioned complaint; and, though recommended in all its stages, will probably be found most safe and effectual in cases where the in- flammation is confined to the mucous membrane of the urethra. If not speedily useful, they should be discontinued. They have been given also in leucor- rhcea, cystirrhcea, abscess of the prostate gland, piles, and chronic bronchial inflammation. They are best administered in powder, of which the dose in gonorrhoea is from one to three drachms, three or four times a day. For other 288 Cubeba.—Cuprum. PART I. affections, the dose is sometimes reduced to ten grains. The volatile oil may be substituted, in the dose of ten or twelve drops, suspended in water by the intervention of sugar. An infusion, made in the proportion of an ounce of powdered cubebs to a pint of water, has been employed as an injection in dis- charges from the vagina, with asserted advantage. Mr. Wm. Procter, jun., proposes an ethereal extract, or oleo-resin of cubebs, made by treating one part of the powder with from two and a half to three parts of sulphuric ether, in a displacement apparatus, submitting the resulting tincture to evaporation until five-sixths of the ether are recovered, and then completing the evaporation at a temperature below 120° F. The residue should amount to one-eighth of the cubebs employed, and the dose of it bears the same relation to that of the powder. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 168.) Off. Prep. Oleum Cubebae, Ed.; Tinctura Cubebae, U. S., Lond. W. CUPRUM. Copper. Cuivre, Fr.; Kupfer. Germ.; Rame, Ital; Cobre, Span. This metal is very generally diffused in nature, and exists principally in four states; as native copper, as an oxide, as a sulphuret, and as a salt. Its principal native salts are the sulphate, carbonate, arseniate, and phosphate. In the United States it occurs in various localities, but especially in the neigh- bourhood of Lake Superior, where a mass of metallic copper, weighing more than 3000 pounds, has been found. The principal copper mines of Europe are those of the Pyrenees in France, Cornwall in England, and Fahlun in Sweden. Properties. Copper is a brilliant, sonorous metal, of a reddish colour, and very ductile, malleable, and tenacious. It has a slightly nauseous taste, and emits a disagreeable smell when rubbed. Its texture is granular, and its fracture hackly. Its sp. gr. is 8-89, and its fusing point, 1996 F. according to Daniell; being intermediate in fusibility between silver and gold. Its equivalent number is 31-6. Exposed to the air it undergoes a slight tarnish. Its combinations are numerous and important. With oxygen it forms two well characterized oxides, a red suboxide or dioxide, consisting of two eqs. of copper and one of oxygen; and a black protoxide formed of one eq. of metal and one of oxygen. The latter oxide, which alone is salifiable, forms with acids several salts, important in medicine and the arts. With metals, copper forms numerous alloys, of which that with zinc, called brass, is the most useful. Characteristics. Copper is recognised by its colour and the effect of tests on its nitric solution. This solution, with potassa, soda," and ammonia, yields a blue precipitate, soluble in excess of the latter alkali, with which it forms a deep blue liquid. Ferrocyanuret of potassium occasions a brown precipitate of ferrocyanuret of copper; and a bright plate of iron, immersed in the solu- tion, immediately becomes covered with a film of metallic copper. The ferro- cyanuret of potassium is an exceedingly delicate test for detecting minute por- tions of copper in solution. Another test, proposed by M. Verguin, is to precipitate the copper in the metallic state on platinum by electro-chemical action. For this purpose a drop of the liquid to be examined is placed on a slip of platinum foil, and a slip of bright iron is brought in contact with the platinum and the liquid. If copper be present, it will be instantly precipi- tated on the surface of the platinum. PART I. Cuprum. 289 Action on the Animal Economy. Copper, in its pure state, is perfectly inert, but in combination is highly deleterious. Nevertheless, a minute por- tion of the metal, so far as researches have extended, is always present in the healthy body. According to Millon, the copper in the blood, like the iron, is attached to the red corpuscles. To bring the copper into a state favourable for ready detection, he advises that blood, as it escapes from a vein, be re- ceived in about three times its bulk of water, and the mixture poured into a bottle of chlorine and agitated. The whole, upon being rapidly filtered, fur- nishes a liquid in which copper is readily detected. (Chem. Gaz., June 1, 1848.) Its combinations, when taken in poisonous doses, produce a coppery taste in the mouth; nausea and vomiting; violent pain of the stomach and bowels; frequent black and bloody stools; small, irregular, sharp, and fre- quent pulse; faintings; burning thirst; difficulty of breathing; cold sweats; paucity of urine; violent headache; cramps, convulsions, and finally death. The best treatment in cases of poisoning by copper, is to administer white of eggs, diffused in water, in large and repeated doses. If this remedy be not at hand, the patient must in the mean time be gorged with warm water, or with milk, and the throat irritated by the finger or a feather, in order to ex- cite vomiting. Should vomiting not take place by these means, the stomach- pump may be employed. The efficacy of the new antidote, bicarbonate of soda, proposed by W. Benoist, requires confirmation. In medico-legal examinations, where cupreous poisoning is suspected, Orfila recommends that the viscera be boiled in distilled water for an hour, and that the matter obtained by evaporating the filtered decoction to dryness, be car- bonized by nitric acid. The matter thus treated will contain the copper. By proceeding in this way, there is no risk of obtaining the copper naturally existing in the animal tissues. This method of proceeding is preferable to that of examining the contents of the stomach and intestines, from which copper may be absent, while yet it may have penetrated the different organs by absorption, especially the abdominal viscera. Vessels of copper should be discontinued in all operations connected with pharmacy and domestic economy; for, although the metal uncombined is inert, yet the risk is great that the vessel may be acted on; in which event, whatever may be contained in it would be rendered deleterious. Pharm. Prep. The following is a list of all the preparations containing copper, in the U.S. and British Pharmacopoeias. Cupri Acetas. Crystalli, Dub. Cupri Subacetas, U. S., Dub.; JErugo, Lond., Ed.; Anglice, Verdigris. Cupri Subacetas Praeparatum, Dub.; Anglice, Prepared verdigris. Unguentum Cupri Subacetatis, U.S., Dub.; Unguentum iEruginis, Ed. Oxymel Cupri Subacetatis, Dub.; Linimentum iEruginis, Lond. Emplastrum Cantharidis Compositum, Ed. Cupri Sulphas, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Cuprum Ammoniatum, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Cupri Ammonio-Sulphas, Lond. Cupri Ammoniati Aqua, Dub.; Cupri Ammoniati Solutio, Ed.; Liquor Cupri Ammonio-Sulphatis, Lond. Pilulae Cupri Ammoniati, Ed. B. 19 290 Cupri Subacetas. PART I. CUPRI SUBACETAS. U.S., Dub. Subacetate of Copper. " Impure subacetate of copper." U S. Off. Syn. ^ERUGO. Lond,, Ed. Verdigris; Acetate de cuivre brut, Vert-de-gris, Fr.; Griinspan, Germ..; Verde rame, Ital.; Cardenillo, Span. Preparation. Verdigris is prepared in large quantities in the South of France, more particularly in the neighbourhood of Montpellier. It is also manufactured in Great Britain and Sweden. In France the process is con- ducted in the following manner. Sheets of copper are stratified with the refuse of the grape which remains after the expression of the juice in making wine, and allowed to remain in this state for a month or six weeks. At the end of this time, the plates are found coated with a considerable quantity of verdigris. This is scraped off, and the plates are then replaced as at first, to be further acted on. The scrapings thus obtained form a paste, which is afterwards well beaten with wooden mallets, and packed in oblong leathern bags, about ten inches in length by eight in breadth, in which it is dried in the sun, until the loaf of verdigris, as it is called, attains the proper degree of hardness. The rationale of the process is easily understood. The grape- refuse contains a considerable quantity of juice, which, by contact with the air, undergoes the acetous fermentation. The copper becomes oxidized, and the resulting oxide, by combination with the acetic acid generated during the fermentation, forms the subacetate of copper or verdigris. In England, a purer verdigris is prepared by alternating copper plates with pieces of woollen cloth steeped in pyroligneous acid. Verdigris comes to this country exclusively from France, being imported principally from Bordeaux and Marseilles. The leathern packages in which it is put up, called sacks of verdigris, weigh generally from twenty-five to thirty pounds, and arrive in casks, each containing from thirty to forty sacks. Properties. Verdigris is in masses of a pale green colour, and composed of a multitude of minute silky crystals. Sometimes, however, it occurs of a bright blue colour. Its taste is coppery. It is insoluble in alcohol, and, by the action of water, a portion of it is resolved into the neutral acetate which dissolves, and a trisacetate which remains behind in the form of a dark green powder, gradually becoming black. It is hence evident that, when verdigris is prepared by levigation with water, it is altered in its nature. The neutral acetate is the crystallized acetate of copper of the Dublin College (see Cupri Acetas. Crystalli); while the trisacetate may be viewed as identical with the prepared verdigris of the same College (see Cupri Subacetas Prseparatum). When acted on by sulphuric acid it is decomposed, vapours of acetic acid being evolved, easily recognisable by their vinegar odour. It is soluble almost entirely in ammonia, and dissolves in muriatic acid with the exception of impurities, which should not exceed five per cent. When of good quality, it has a lively green colour, is free from black or white spots, and is dry and difficult to break. The green rust, called in popular language verdigris, which copper vessels are apt to contract when not kept clean, is a carbonate of copper, and must not be confounded with real verdigris. Composition. Verdigris, apart from its impurities, is a variable mixture of the subacetates of copper; the subsesquiacetate predominating in the green variety, the diacetate in the blue. The London College defines it to be an impure diacetate of copper; the Edinburgh, the commercial diacetate. When part I. Cupri Acetas.—Cupri Sulphas. 291 acted on by water, two eqs. of the portion consisting of diacetate are converted into one eq. of soluble neutral acetate, and one of insoluble trisacetate. Medical Properties and Uses. Verdigris is used externally as a detergent and escharotic, and is occasionally applied to chronic eruptions, foul and in- dolent ulcers, and venereal warts. The special applications of it will be mentioned under its preparations. For its effects as a poison, see Cuprum. Off. Prep. Cupri Subacetas Praeparatum, Dub.; Emplastrum Cantharidis Compositum, Ed.; Linimentum .^ruginis, Lond.; Unguentum Cupri Sub- acetatis, U. S., Ed. B. CUPRI ACETAS. Crystalli. Dub. Crystals of Acetate of Copper. Distilled verdigris, Crystals of Venus, Neutral acetate of copper; Cristaux de Venus, Verdet crystallise, Fr.; Destillirter Griinspan, Kupferkrystallen, Germ. Crystallized acetate of copper is prepared principally at Montpellier, in France. The verdigris which is made in private houses is collected and car- ried to the manufactory. It is there dissolved in vinegar by the assistance of heat, and the solution, after having been sufficiently concentrated, is trans- ferred to suitable vessels, where it crystallizes on cooling. The crystallization is facilitated by inserting sticks in the liquid, split in four longitudinally, the several portions being kept apart by small wedges of wood. On these sticks the crystals are deposited. This salt has a deep blue colour and strong styptic taste, crystallizes in rhomboidal prisms, and effloresces slightly in the air. It dissolves in water without residue, a character which serves to distinguish it from verdigris. It consists of one eq. of acetic acid, one of protoxide of copper, and one of water. Its popular name of distilled verdigris is incorrect; as no distillation is prac- tised in its preparation. Medical and Pharmaceutical Uses. It is not very obvious for what reason the Dublin College has included this among its officinal preparations. It is sometimes employed in pharmacy for the purpose of obtaining acetic acid, which may be disengaged from it by the action of sulphuric acid; and the larger proportional quantity of acetic acid which it contains makes it more eligible for this purpose than verdigris. B. CUPRI SULPHAS. U. S, Lond., Ed., Dub. Sulphate of Copper. Blue vitriol, Roman vitriol, Blue stone; Sulfate cle cuivre, Vitriol bleu, Couperose bleu, Fr.; Schwefelsaures Kupfer, Kupfervitriol, Blauervitriol, Blauer Galitzenstein, Germ.; Ratne solfato, Vitriolo di rame, Ital; Sulfato de cobre, Vitriolo azul, Span. Preparation, dr. Sulphate of copper occasionally exists in nature, in solution in the water which flows through copper mines. In this case the salt is obtained by merely evaporating the waters which naturally contain it. Another method for obtaining it, is to roast the native sulphuret in a rever- beratory furnace, whereby it is made to pass, by absorbing oxygen, into the state of sulphate. The roasted mass is lixiviated, and the solution obtained is evaporated that crystals may form. The salt, procured by either of these methods, contains a little sulphate of the sesquioxide of iron, from which it may be freed by adding an excess of protoxide of copper, which has the effect of precipitating the sesquioxide of iron. A third method consists in wetting, 292 Cupri Sulphas. PART i. and then sprinkling with sulphur, sheets of copper, which are next heated to redness, and afterwards plunged into water while hot. The same opera- tion is repeated until the sheets are entirely corroded. At first a sulphuret is formed, which, by the action of heat and air, gradually passes into the state of sulphate. This is dissolved in the water, and obtained in crystals by evaporation. Sometimes sulphate of copper is obtained in pursuing one of the methods for separating silver from gold. The silver is separated by boiling the alloy in sulphuric acid. The sulphate of silver formed is then decomposed by the immersion of copper plates, with the effect of forming sulphate of copper, and precipitating the silver. Properties. Sulphate of copper has a rich deep-blue colour, and strong metallic styptic taste. It reddens vegetable blues, and crystallizes in large, transparent, rhomboidal prisms, which effloresce slightly in the air, and are soluble in four parts of cold, and two of boiling water, but insoluble in alco- hol. When heated it first melts in its water of crystallization, and then dries and becomes white. If the heat be increased, it next undergoes the igneous fusion; and finally, at a high temperature, loses its acid, protoxide of copper being left. Potassa, soda, and ammonia throw down from it a bluish-white precipitate of hydrated protoxide of copper, which is immediately dissolved by an excess of the last-mentioned alkali, forming a rich deep-blue solution, called aqua sapphirina. It is also decomposed by the alkaline carbonates, and by borax, acetate and subacetate of lead, acetate of iron, nitrate of silver, corrosive chloride of mercury, tartrate of potassa, and chloride of calcium; and it is precipitated by all astringent vegetable infusions. If it become very green on the surface by the action of the air, it shows the presence of sesqui- oxide of iron. This oxide may also be detected by ammonia, which will throw it down along with the oxide of copper, without taking it up when added in excess. When sulphate of copper is obtained from the dipping liquid of manufacturers of brass or German silver ware, it is always contaminated with sulphate of zinc, as pointed out by Mr. S. Piesse. This liquid is originally a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids, but becomes, at last, nearly saturated with copper. The metallic articles are dipped into it, in order to give the surface the proper clean state for the reception of varnish or other finishing. Sulphate of copper consists of one eq. of sulphuric acid, one of protoxide of copper, and five of water. Medical Properties. Sulphate of copper, in small doses, is astringent and tonic; in large ones a prompt emetic. With a view to its tonic effect it has been given in intermittent fever, as well as in epilepsy and other spasmodic diseases; and as an emetic, for discharging poisons from the stomach, espe- cially opium. In croup it has been employed as an emetic with encouraging success. It has also been highly recommended in chronic diarrhoea. Exter- nally it is employed in solution as a stimulant to ill-conditioned ulcers, as an escharotic for destroying warts, fungous granulations, and callous edges, and as a styptic to bleeding surfaces. It is found, in not a few instances, to pro- mote the cicatrization of ulcers; and it is not unfrequently employed, with that view, as a wash for chancres. In weak solution, either alone or asso- ciated with other substances, it forms a useful collyrium in the chronic stages of some forms of ophthalmia. Eight grains of it, mixed with an equal weight of Armenian bole and two grains of camphor, and added to half a pint of boiling water, forms, after becoming limpid by rest, a collyrium strongly re- commended by Mr. Ware, in the purulent ophthalmia of infants. The dose, as an astringent or tonic, is a quarter or half a grain, gradually increased; as an emetic, from two to five grains. As a stimulant wash, the solution may part I. Cupri Sulphas.—Curcuma. 293 be made of the strength of two, four, or eight grains to the fluidounce of water. Orfila cautions against giving large doses of this salt as an emetic in cases of poisoning; as it is apt, from its poisonous effects, to increase the mischief, where it happens not to be expelled by vomiting. Upon the whole, such is the activity of the sulphate of copper, that it should be exhibited with caution. For its effects as a poison, see Cuprum. Off. Prep. Cuprum Ammoniatum, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. B. CURCUMA. U. S. Secondary, Lond., Ed. Turmeric. " The rhizoma of Curcuma longa." U. S., Ed. " Curcuma longa. Rhi- zoma." Loud. Off Syn. CURCUMA LONGA. Radix. Dub. Safran des Indes, Fr.; Kurkuma, Gelbwurz, Germ.; Curcuma, Ital, Span.; Zirsood, Arab.; Huldie, Hindoo. Curcuma. Sex. Syst. Monandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Zingiberaceae. Gen, Ch. Both limbs of the corolla three partite. Anther with two spurs at the base. Seeds with an arillus. Loudon's Encyc. Curcuma longa. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 14; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 737, t. 252. The root of this plant is perennial, tuberous, palmate, and internally of a deep yellow or orange colour. The leaves are radical, large, lanceolate, obliquely nerved, sheathing at their base, and closely embrace each other. The scape or flower-stem, which rises from the midst of the leaves, is short, thick, smooth, and constitutes a spike of numerous imbricated bracteal scales, between which the flowers successively make their appearance. The plant is a native of the East Indies and Cochin-china, and is cultivated in various parts of Southern Asia, particularly in China, Bengal, and Java, whence the root is exported. The best is said to come from China. The dried root is in cylindrical or oblong pieces, about as thick but not as long as the finger, tuberculated, somewhat contorted, externally yellowish- brown, internal^ deep orange-yellow, hard, compact, and breaking with a fracture like that of wax. Another variety, comparatively rare, is round or oval, about the size of a pigeon's egg, and marked externally with numerous annular wrinkles. It is distinguished by the name of curcuma rotunda, the former being called curcuma longa. The two varieties have a close resem- blance in sensible properties, and are thought to be derived from the same plant, though formerly ascribed to different species of Curcuma. The odour of turmeric is peculiar; the taste warm, bitterish, and feebly aromatic. It tinges the saliva yellow, and affords an orange-yellow powder. Analyzed by Pelletier and Vogel, it was found to contain lignin, starch, a peculiar yellow colouring matter called curcumin, a brown colouring matter, gum, an odorous and very acrid volatile oil, and a small quantity of chloride of calcium. Cur- cumin is obtained, mixed with a little volatile oil, by digesting the alcoholic extract of turmeric in ether, and evaporating the ethereal tincture. It may be procured perfectly pure by separating it from its combination with oxide of lead. It is brown in mass, but yellow in the state of powder, without odour or taste, scarcely soluble in water, but very soluble in alcohol, ether, and the oils. The alkalies rapidly change its colour to a reddish-brown; and paper tinged with tincture of turmeric is employed as a test of their presence. Berzelius, however, states that its colour is changed to red or brownish-red by the concentrated mineral acids, by pure boracic acid, especially when dissolved in alcohol, and by numerous metallic salts; so that its indications 294 Curcuma.—Cydonia. PART i. cannot be certainly relied on. Its alcoholic solution produces coloured preci- pitates with acetate of lead, nitrate of silver, and other salts. Turmeric is used for dyeing yellow; but the colour is not permanent. Medical Properties, adix covered with perfect flowers. Calyx with four segments. Petals none. Style pyramidal. Seeds immersed in the spa- dix. Bigelow. Symplocarpus fcetidus. Barton, Med. Bot. i. 123. — Ictodes fcetidus. Bige- low, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 41. The skunk cabbage is a very curious plant, the only one of the genus to which it belongs. The root is perennial, large, abrupt, and furnished with numerous fleshy fibres, which penetrate to the depth of two feet or more. The spathe, which appears before the leaves, is ovate, acuminate, obliquely depressed at the apex, auriculated at the base, folded inwards at the edges, and of a brownish-purple colour, varied with spots of red, yellow, and green. Within the spathe, the flowers, which re- semble it in colour, are placed in great numbers upon a globose, peduncled spadix, for which they form a compact covering. After the spathe has decayed, the spadix continues to grow, and, when the fruit is mature, has attained a size exceeding by several fold its original dimensions. The differ- ent parts of the flower, with the exception of the anthers, augment in like proportion. At the base of each style is a roundish seed, immersed in the spadix, about the size of a pea, and speckled with purple and yellow. The leaves, which rise from the ground after the flowers, are numerous and crowded, oblong, cordate, acute, smooth, strongly veined, and attached to the root by long petioles, which are hollowed in front, and furnished with coloured sheathing stipules. At the beginning of May, when the leaves are fully developed, they are very large, being from one to two feet in length, and from nine inches to a foot in breadth. This plant is indigenous, growing abundantly in meadows, swamps, and other wet places throughout the whole northern and middle sections of the Union. Its flowers appear in March and April, and in the lower latitudes often so early as February. The fruit is usually quite ripe, and the leaves are decayed before the end of August. The plant is very conspicuous from its abundance, and from the magnitude of its leaves. All parts of it have a disagreeable fetid odour, thought to resemble that of the offensive animal after which it is named. This odour resides in an extremely volatile prin- ciple, which is rapidly dissipated by heat, and diminished by desiccation. The root is the part usually employed in medicine. It should be collected in autumn, or early in spring, and dried with care. The root, as found in the shops, consists of two portions; the body or caudex, either whole or in transverse slices, and the separated radieles. The former, when whole, is cylindrical, or in the shape of a truncated cone, two 304 Dracontium.—Dulcamara. PART I. or three inches long by about an inch in thickness, externally dark brown and very rough from the insertion of the radicles, internally white and amylaceous. The latter are of various lengths, about as thick as a hen's quill, very much flattened and wrinkled, white within, and covered by a yellowish reddish-brown epidermis, considerably lighter coloured than the body of the root. More or less of the fetid odour remains for a considerable period, after the completion of the drying process. The taste, though less decided than in the fresh state, is still acrid, manifesting itself, after the root has been chewed for a short time, by a pricking and smarting sensation in the mouth and throat. The acrimony, however, is dissipated by heat, and is entirely lost in decoction. It is also diminished by time and exposure; and the root should not be kept longer than a single season. According to Mr. Turner (Am. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 2), the radicles, even in the recent plant, have less acrimony than the caudex. The seeds are said by Mr. Turner to have an exceedingly acrid taste, and, though inodorous when whole, to give out strongly, when bruised, the peculiar odour of the plant. Medical Properties and Uses. This root is stimulant, antispasmodic, and narcotic. In large doses it occasions nausea and vomiting, with headache, vertigo, and dimness of vision. Dr. Bigelow has witnessed these effects from thirty grains of the recently dried root. The medicine was introduced into notice by the Rev. Dr. Cutler, who recommended it highly as an antispas- modic in asthma; and it has been subsequently employed with apparent advantage in chronic catarrh, chronic rheumatism, and hysteria. Cures are also said to have been effected by its use in dropsy. It is best given in powder, of which the dose is from ten to twenty grains, to be repeated three or four times a day, and gradually increased till some evidence of its action is afforded. A strong infusion is sometimes employed, and the people in the country prepare a syrup from the fresh root; but the latter preparation is very unequal. The root itself, as kept in the shops, is of uncertain strength, in consequence of its deterioration by age. W. DULCAMARA. U S., Lond., Ed. Bittersweet. " The stalks of Solanum Dulcamara." U. S. " Solanum. Dulcamara. Caulis." Lond., Dub. "Twigs of Solanum Dulcamara." Ed. Douce amere, Fr.; Bittersiiss, Alpranken, Germ; Dulcamara, Ital, Span. Solanum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Solanacese. Gen. Ch. Corolla wheel-shaped. Anthers somewhat coalescing, opening by two pores at the apex. Berry two-celled. Willd. This genus includes numerous species, of which several have been used in medicine. Besides the S. Dulcamara, which is the only officinal species, two others merit a brief notice. 1. Solanum nigrum, the common gar- den or black nightshade, is an annual plant from one to two feet high, with an unarmed herbaceous stem, ovate, angular-dentate leaves, and white or pale violet flowers, arranged in peduncled nodding umbel-like racemes, and followed by clusters of spherical black berries, about the size of peas. There are numerous varieties of this species, one of which is a native of the United States. The leaves are the part employed. They are said to produce diaphoresis, sometimes diuresis and moderate purging, and in large doses nausea and giddiness. As a medicine they have been used in cancerous, scrofulous, and scorbutic diseases, and other painful ulcerous affections, being given internally, and applied at the same time in the form of poultice, oint- PART I. Dulcamara. 305 ment, or decoction to the tumours or ulcers themselves. A grain of the dried leaves may be given every night, and gradually increased to ten or twelve grains, or till some sensible effect is experienced. The medicine, however, is scarcely used at present. By some persons the poisonous pro- perties ascribed to the common nightshade are doubted. M. Dunal, of Mont- pellier, states as the result of numerous experiments, that the berries are not poisonous to man or the inferior animals; and the leaves are said to be con- sumed in large quantities in the Isles of France and Bourbon as food, having been previously boiled in water. In the latter case, the active principle of the plant must have been extracted by decoction. 2. The leaves, stalks, and unripe berries of the Solanum tuberosum, or common potato, are asserted to have narcotic properties, and an extract prepared from the leaves has been employed as a remedy in cough and spasmodic affections, in which it is said to act like opium. ( Geiger.) From half a grain to two grains may be given as a dose. Dr. Latham, of London, found the extract to produce very favour- able effects in protracted cough, chronic rheumatism, angina pectoris, cancer of the uterus, &c. Its influence upon the nervous system was strongly marked, and, in many instances, the dose could not be increased above a few grains without giving rise to threatening symptoms. It appeared to Dr. Latham to be very analogous in its operation to digitalis. His experiments were repeated in Philadelphia by Dr. Worsham with different results. The extract was found, in the quantity of nearly one hundred grains, to produce no sensible effect on the system. (Philad. Journ. of Med. and Phys. Sciences, vi. 22.) We can reconcile these opposite statements only upon the supposition, that the properties of the plant vary with the season, or with the place and cir- cumstances of culture. An excellent form of starch, called potato arrow-root, is prepared from potatoes for medical use; and an imitation of sago is also made from them in Germany. Dr. Julius Otto found solan ia in the germs of the potato. He was induced to make the investigation by observing that cattle were destroyed by feeding on the residue of germinated potatoes, used for the manufacture of brandy. Solanum Dulcamara. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1028; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 237, t. 84; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i. 169. The bittersweet or woody night- shade is a climbing shrub, with a slender, roundish, branching, woody stem, which, in favourable situations, rises six or eight feet in height. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, ovate, pointed, veined, soft, smooth, and of a dull green colour. Many near the top of the stem are furnished with lateral pro- jections at their base, giving them a hastate form. Some have the projec- tion only on one side. Most of them are quite entire, some cordate at the base. The flowers are disposed in elegant clusters, somewhat analogous to cymes, and standing opposite to the leaves. The calyx is very small, pur- plish, and divided into five blunt persistent segments. The corolla is wheel- shaped, with five-pointed reflected segments, which are of a violet-blue colour, with a darker purple vein running longitudinally through their centre, and two shining greenish spots at the base of each. The filaments are very short, and support large erect lemon-yellow anthers, which cohere in the form of a cone around the style. The berries are of an oval shape and a bright scarlet colour, and continue to hang in beautiful bunches after the leaves have fallen. This plant is common to Europe and North America. It flourishes most luxuriantly in damp and sheltered places, as on the banks of rivulets, and among the thickets which border our natural meadows. It is also found in higher and more exposed situations, and is frequently cultivated in gardens. In the United States it extends from New England to Ohio, and is in bloom from June to August. The root and stalk have medicinal properties, though 20 306 Dulcamara. part I. the latter only is officinal. The berries, which were formerly esteemed poi- sonous, and thought to act with great severity on the stomach and bowels, are now said to be innoxious. Bittersweet should be gathered in autumn, after the fall of the leaf; and the extreme twigs should be selected. That grown in high and dry situations is said to be the best. The dried twigs, as brought to the shops, are of various lengths, cylindrical, about as thick as a goose-quill, externally wrinkled and of a grayish-ash colour, consisting of a thin bark, an interior ligneous portion, and a central pith. They are inodorous, though the stalk in the recent state emits, when bruised, a peculiar, rather nauseous smell. Their taste, which is at first bitter, and afterwards sweetish, has given origin to the name of the plant. Boiling water extracts all their virtues. These are supposed to depend, at least in part, upon a pecular alkaline principle called solanin or solania, which was origin- ally discovered by 31. Desfosses, of Besancon, in the berries of the Solanum nigrum, and has subsequently been found in the stalks, leaves, and berries of the S. Dulcamara and S. tuberosum. It is supposed to exist in the bitter- sweet combined with malic acid.* Solania is in the form of a white opaque powder, or of delicate acicular crystals, somewhat like those of sulphate of quinia, though finer and shorter. It is inodorous, of a bitter taste, fusible at a little above 212°, scarcely soluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether, and capable of neutralizing the acids. It is distinguished by the deep-brown, or brownish-yellow colour which iodine imparts to its solution, and by its reaction with sulphuric acid, which becomes first reddish-yellow, then pur- plish-violet, then brown, and lastly again colourless, with the deposition of a brown powder. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, A. D. 1843, p. 177.) Given to a cat, it was found by M. Desfosses to operate at first as an emetic, and afterwards as a narcotic. Dr. J. Otto observed, among its most striking effects, a para- lytic condition of the posterior limbs of the animals to which it was adminis- tered. One grain of the sulphate of solania was sufficient in his hands to destroy a rabbit in six hours. Besides solania, the stalks of S. Dulcamara contain, according to Pfaff, a peculiar principle to which he gave the name of picroglycion, indicative of the taste at once bitter and sweet, which it is said to possess. This has been obtained in a crystalline state by Blitz, by the following process. The watery extract is treated with alcohol, the tincture evaporated, the residue dissolved in water, the solution precipitated with sub- acetate of lead, the excess of this salt decomposed by sulphuretted hydrogen, the liquor then evaporated to dryness, and the residue treated with acetic ether, which yields the principle in the form of small isolated crystals by spontaneous evaporation. Pfaff found also in dulcamara a vegeto-animal substance, gummy extractive, gluten, green wax, resin, benzoic acid, starch, lignin, and various salts of lime. * Solania is most conveniently obtained from the sprouts of the common potato. The following is Wackenroders process for extracting it. The sprouts, collected in the begin- ning of June, and pressed down in a suitable vessel, by means of pebbles, are macerated for twelve or eighteen hours in water enough to cover them, previously acidulated with sulphuric acid, so as to have a strongly acid reaction during the maceration. They are then expressed by the hand, and the liquor, with the addition of fresh portions of sulphuric acid, is added twice successively, as at first, to fresh portions of sprouts, and, in like manner separated by expression. After standing for some days, it is filtered, and treated with powdered hydrate of lime in slight excess. The precipitate which forms is sepa- rated by straining, dried in a warm air, and boiled several times with alcohol. The alcoholic solution, having been filtered while hot, will, upon cooling, deposit the solania in flocculent crystals. An additional quantity of the alkali may be obtained by evapor- ating the mother liquor to one-quarter of its volume, and then allowing it to cool. The whole residuary liquor will assume a gelatinous consistence, and, upon being dried, will leave the solania in the form of a translucent, horny, amorphous mass. (Pharm. Central Blatt, 1843, p. 174.) PART I. Dulcamara.—Elaterium. 307 Medical Properties and Uses. Dulcamara possesses feeble narcotic proper- ties, with the power of increasing the secretions, particularly that of the kidneys and skin. We have observed, in several instances, when the system was under its influence, a dark purplish colour of the face and hands, and at the same time considerable languor of the circulation. Its narcotic effects do not become obvious, unless when it is taken in large quantities. In over- doses it produces nausea, vomiting, faintness, vertigo, and convulsive muscular movements. It has been recommended in various diseases, but is now nearly confined to the treatment of cutaneous eruptions, particularly those of a scaly character, as lepra, psoriasis, and pityriasis. In these complaints it is often decidedly beneficial, especially in combination with minute doses of the anti- monials. Its influence upon the secretions is insufficient to account for its favourable effects, and we must be content with ascribing them to an alterative action. It is said to have been beneficially employed in chronic rheumatism and chronic catarrh. Antaphrodisiac properties are ascribed to it by some physicians. We have seen it apparently useful in mania connected with strong venereal propensities. The usual form of administration is that of decoction, of which two fluidounces may be taken four times a day, and gra- dually increased till some slight disorder of the head indicates the activity of the medicine. (See Decoctum Dulcamarse.) An extract may also be prepared, of which the dose is from five to ten grains. That of the powder would be from thirty grains to a drachm. In cutaneous affections a strong decoction is often applied to the skin, at the same time that the medicine is taken internally. Off. Prep. Decoctum Dulcamarae, U S,, Lond.; Extraetum Dulcamaras, u. s. w. ELATERIUM. U.S., Ed. Elaterium. "A substance deposited by the juice of the fruit of Momordica Elaterium." U. S. " Feculence of the juice of the fruit of Momordica Elaterium." Ed, Off. Sun. ELATERIUM. Momordica Elaterium. Pepones recentes.— EXTRACTUM ELATERII. Lond.; MOMORDICA ELATERIUM. Fructus. Fjecula. Folia.— ELATERIUM.—EXTRACTUM ELATERII. Dub. Elaterion, Fr.; Elaterium, Germ.; Elaterio, Ital, Span. Momordica. Sex. Syst, Moncecia Monadelphia. — Nat, Ord. Cucurbita- ceae. Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla five-parted. Filaments three. Female. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla five-parted. Style trifid. Gourd bursting elastically. Willd. Momordica Elaterium. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 605; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 192, t. 12.—Ecbalium Elaterium. French Codex, A.D. 1837. The wild or squirting cucumber is a perennial plant, with a large fleshy root, from which proceed several round, thick, rough stems, branching and trailing like the common cucumber, but without tendrils. The leaves are petiolate, large, rough, irregularly cordate, and of a grayish-green colour. The flowers are yellow, and proceed from the axils of the leaves. The fruit has the shape of a small oval cucumber, about an inch and a half long, an inch thick, of a greenish or grayish colour, and covered with stiff hairs or prickles. When fully ripe, it separates from the peduncle, and throws out its juice and seed with considerable force through an opening at the base, where it was attached to the footstalk. The name of squirting cucumber was derived from this cir- 308 Elaterium. part i. cumstance; and the scientific and officinal title is supposed to have had a simi- lar origin; though some authors maintain that the term elaterium was applied to the medicine, rather from the mode of its operation upon the bowels, than from the projectile property of the fruit.* This species of Momordica is a native of the South of Europe; and is cul- tivated in Great Britain, where, however, it perishes in the winter. _ Elate- rium is the substance spontaneously deposited by the juice of the fruit, when separated and allowed to stand. Dr. Clutterbuck, of London, proved that it is contained only in the free juice which surrounds the seeds, and which is obtained without expression. The body of the fruit itself, the seeds, as well as other parts of the plant, are nearly or quite inert. When the fruit is sliced and placed upon a sieve, a perfectly limpid and colourless juice flows out, which after a short time becomes turbid, and in the course of a few hours begins to deposit a sediment. This, when collected and carefully dried,_ is very light and pulverulent, of a yellowish-white colour, slightly tinged with green. It is the genuine elaterium, and was found by Clutterbuck to purge violently in the dose of one-eighth of a grain. But the quantity contained in the fruit is exceedingly small. Clutterbuck obtained only six grains from forty cucumbers. Commercial elaterium is often a weaker medicine, owing in part, perhaps, to adulteration, but much more to the mode in which it is prepared. In order to increase the product, the juice of the fruit is often ex- pressed ; and there is reason to believe that it is sometimes evaporated so as to form an extract, instead of being allowed to deposit the active matter. The French elaterium is prepared by expressing the juice, clarifying it by rest and filtration, and then evaporating it to a suitable consistence. As the liquid which remains after the deposition of the sediment is comparatively inert, it will be readily perceived that the preparation of the French Codex must be very feeble. The following are the directions of the London College, with which those of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges essentially correspond. " Slice ripe wild cucumbers, express the juice very gently, and pass it through a very fine hair sieve; then set it aside for some hours until the thicker part has subsided. Reject the thinner supernatant part, and dry the thicker part with a gentle heat." As the process is executed at Apothecaries' Hall, the juice, after expression, is allowed to stand for about two hours, when the su- pernatant liquor is poured off, and the matter deposited is carefully dried, constituting the finest elaterium. Another portion, of a paler colour, is de- posited by the decanted liquor. (Pereira.) The slight pressure directed is necessary for the extraction of the juice from the somewhat immature fruit employed. The perfectly ripe fruit is not used; as, in consequence of its disposition to part with its contents, it cannot be carried to market. The medicine is incorrectly denominated by the London and Dublin Colleges Extraetum Elaterii; being neither an extract, strictly speaking, nor an in- spissated juice. The Edinburgh College calls it Elaterium in the Materia Medica list, but inconsistently admits the name of Extraetum Elaterii in the preparations. In the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, it is named simply Elaterium. As the plant is not cultivated in this country for medicinal purposes, our Pharmacopoeia very properly adopts, as officinal, the medicine as it is found in commerce. It is brought chiefly from England, but it is probable that a portion of the elaterium, of which Dr. Pereira speaks as coming from Malta, reaches our market also. Properties. The best elaterium is in thin flat or slightly curled cakes or * From the Greek i\a.wta I drive, or eXarnp driver. The word elaterium was used by Hippocrates to signify any active purge. Dioscorides applied it to the medicine of which we are treating. part I. Elaterium. 309 fragments, often bearing the impression of the muslin upon which it was dried, of a greenish-gray colour becoming yellowish by exposure, of a feeble odour, and a bitter somewhat acrid taste. It is pulverulent and inflammable, and so light that it swims when thrown upon water. When of inferior cpudity, it is sometimes dark-coloured, much curled, and rather hard, either breaking with difficulty or presenting a resinous fracture. The Maltese elaterium is in larger pieces, of a pale colour, sometimes without the least tinge of green, destitute of odour, soft, and friable; and not unfrequently presents evidences of having been mixed with chalk or starch. It sinks in water. Dr. Clutterbuck first observed that the activity of elaterium resided in that portion of it which was soluble in alcohol and not in water. This fact was afterwards confirmed by Dr. Paris, who found that the alcoholic extract, treated with boiling distilled water, and afterwards dried, had the property of purging in very minute doses, while the remaining portion of the elaterium was inactive. The subsequent experiments of the late Mr. Hennel, of Lon- don, and Mr. Monies, of Edinburgh, which appear to have been nearly simultaneous, demonstrated the existence of a crystallizable matter in elate- rium, which is probably the active principle of the medicine, and for which Mr. Monies proposed the appropriate name of elaterin. According to Mr. Hennel, 100 parts of elaterium contains 44 of elaterin, 17 of a green resin (chlorophylle), 6 of starch, 27 of lignin, and 6 of saline matters. The alco- holic extract, which Dr. Paris called elatin, is probably a mixture of elaterin and the green resin or chlorophylle.* Elaterin, according to Mr. Monies, crystallizes when pure in colourless microscopic rhombic prisms, which have a silky appearance when in mass. It is extremely bitter and somewhat acrid to the taste, insoluble in water and alkaline solutions, soluble in alcohol, ether, and hot olive oil, and sparingly soluble in dilute acids. At a temperature between 300° and 400° it melts, and at a higher temperature is dissipated in thick, whitish, pungent vapour, having an ammoniacal odour. It has no alkaline reaction. It may be easily procured by evaporating an alcoholic tincture of elaterium to the consistence of thin oil, and throwing the residue while yet warm into a weak boiling solu- tion of potassa. The potassa holds the green resin or chlorophylle in solution, and the elaterin crystallizes as the liquor cools. Mr. Hennel obtained it by treating with ether the alcoholic extract procured by the spontaneous evapora- tion of the tincture. This consists of elaterin and the green resin, the latter of which being much more soluble in ether than the former, is completely ex- tracted by this fluid, leaving the elaterin pure. But as elaterin is also slightly soluble in ether, a portion of this principle is wasted by Mr. Hennel's method. By evaporating the ethereal solution, the green resin is obtained in a separate state. Mr. Hennel says that this was found to possess the purgative pro- perty of the elaterium in a concentrated state; as it acted powerfully in a dose less than one-third of a grain. But this effect was probably owing to the pre- sence of a portion of elaterin which had been dissolved by the ether. The late Dr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, ascertained that the crystalline principle or elaterin produced, in the quantity of —th or TLth of a grain, all the effects of a dose of elaterium. The proportion of elaterin varies exceedingly in different parcels of the drug. Mr. Monies obtained 26 per cent, from the best British elaterium, 15 per cent, from the worst, and only 5 or 6 per cent, from the French; while a portion procured according to the directions of the London College, yielded to 3Ir. Hennel upwards of 40 per cent. * The substance to which Pelletier gave the name of chlorophylle, under the impression that it was a peculiar proximate principle, has been ascertained by that chemist to be a mixture of wax, and a green fixed oil. (Journ. de Pharm., xix. 109.) 310 Elaterium.—Elemi. PART I. Choice of Elaterium. The inequality of elaterium depends probably more on diversities in the mode of preparation than on adulteration. It should possess the sensible properties above indicated as characterizing good elate- rium, should not effervesce with acids, and should yield, as directed by the Edinburgh College, from one-seventh to one-fourth of elaterin, when treated in the mode above recommended for procuring that principle. Medical Properties and Uses. Elaterium is a powerful hydragogue cathar- tic, and in a large dose generally excites nausea and vomiting. If too freely administered, it operates with great violence both upon the stomach and bowels, producing inflammation of these organs, which has in some instances eventuated fatally. It also increases the flow of urine. The fruit was em- ployed hj the ancients, and is recommended in the writings of Dioscorides as a remedy in mania and melancholy. Sydenham and his cotemporaries con- sidered elaterium highly useful in dropsy;. but, in consequence of some fatal results from its incautious employment, it fell into disrepute, and was gene- rally neglected, till again brought into notice by Dr. Ferriar. It is now con- sidered one of the most efficient hydragogue cathartics in the treatment of dropsical diseases, in which it has sometimes proved successful after all other remedies have failed. The full dose of commercial elaterium is often from one to two grains; but, as in this quantity it generally vomits, if of good quality, the best mode of administering it is in the dose of a quarter or half a gram, repeated every hour till it operates. The dose of Clutterbuck's elate- rium is the eighth of a grain. That of elaterin is from the sixteenth to the twelfth tf a gram, and is best given in solution. One grain may be dissolved in a fluidounce of alcohol with four drops of nitric acid, and from 30 to 40 minims may be given diluted with water. W. ELEMI. Lond., Ed., Dub. Elemi. " Amyris elemifera. Resina." Lond., Dub.; "Concrete resinous exudation from one or more unascertained plants." Ed. Resine elemi, Fr.; Oelbaumharz, Elemi, Germ.; Elemi, Ital; Goma de limon, Span. Amyris. bcx.Syst. Octandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Terebintacese, Jwss.: Amyndeae, R. Brown, Lindley. Gen Ch. Calyx four-toothed. Petals four, oblong. Stigma four-cornered. Berry drupaceous. Willd. # Some botanists separate from this genus the species which have their fruit in the form of a capsule instead of a nut, and associate them together in a distinct genus with the name of Idea. This is recognised by De Candolle Most of the trees belonging to these two genera yield, when wounded, a resinous juice analogous to the turpentines, and differing little as procured from the different species. It is not improbable that the drug usually known by the name of elemi, though referred by the Colleges to one tree, is in fact derived from several. That known to the ancients is said to have been ob- tained from Ethiopia, and all the elemi of commerce was originally brought from the Levant. The tree which afforded it was not accurately known but was supposed to be a species of Amyris. Geiger states that it was derived from the A. Zeilanica, growing in Ceylon. At present the drug is said to be derived from three sources, namely, Brazil, Mexico, and Manilla The Brazilian is believed to be the product of a plant mentioned by Marcgrav under the name of icieariba, and considered by Linnaeus as the Amur is elemifra. It appears, however, to be properly an Idea, and De Candolle denominates it I. Icieariba. It is a lofty tree, with pinnate leaves, consisting PART I. Elemi.—Ergota. 311 of three or five pointed, perforated leaflets, which are smooth on their upper surface, and woolly beneath. It is erroneously stated in some works to be a native of Carolina. The elemi is obtained by incisions into the trees, through which the juice flows and concretes upon the bark. The Mexican is said by Dr. Royle to be obtained from a species of Elaphrium, which that author has described from dried specimens, and proposes to name E. elemiferum. [Mate- ria Medica, Am. ed., p. 339.) The Manilla elemi is conjecturally referred to Canarium commune. (Ibid., p. 340.) Elemi is in masses of various consistence, sometimes solid and heavy like wax, sometimes light and porous; unctuous to the touch; diaphanous; of di- versified colours, generally greenish with intermingled points of white or yel- low, sometimes greenish-white with brown stains, sometimes yellow like sul- phur; fragile and friable when cold; softening by the heat of the hand; of a terebinthinate somewhat aromatic odour, diminishing with age, and said, in some varieties, to resemble that of fennel; of a warm, slightly bitter, disa- greeable taste; entirely soluble, with the exception of impurities, in boiling alcohol; and affording a volatile oil by distillation. A variety examined by M. Bonastre was found to consist of 60 parts of resin, 24 of a resinous mat- ter soluble in boiling alcohol, but deposited when the liquid cools, 12-5 of volatile oil, 2 of extractive, and 1-5 of acid and impurities. Elemi is some- times adulterated with colophony and turpentine. The Manilla elemi is said to be in masses of a light-yellowish colour, internally soft, and of a strong odour of fennel. (Royle.) Medical Properties and Uses. Elemi has properties analogous to those of the turpentines; but is exclusively applied to external use. In the United States it is rarely employed even in this way. In the pharmacy of Europe it enters into the composition of numerous plasters and ointments. We are told that it is occasionally brought to this country in small fragments, mixed with the coarser kinds of gum Arabic from the Levant and India. Off. Prep. Unguentum Elemi, Lond., Dub. W. ERGOTA. U.S., Lond., Ed, Ergot. * "The diseased seeds of Secale cereale." U S. " Acinula clavus." Lond. "An undetermined fungus, with degenerated seed of Secale cereale." Ed. Spurred rye; Secale cornutum ; Seigle ergote, Fr.; Mutterkorn, Germ. In all the Graminaceee or grass tribe, and in some of the Cyperacese, the place of the seeds is sometimes occupied by a morbid growth, which, from its resemblance to the spur of a cock, has received the name of ergot, adopted from the French. This product is most frecpient in the rye, Secale cereale of botanists, and having been found, as occurring in that plant, to possess valuable medicinal properties, was adopted in the first edition of the U. S. Phar- macopoeia under the name of Secale cornutum or spurred rye. In the last edition, this name was changed for Ergota, in conformity with the nomencla- ture of the London and Edinburgh Colleges, by whom the medicine was re- cognised for the first time at the last revision of their catalogues. Considerable difference of opinion has existed in relation to the nature of this singular substance. It was at one time generally thought to be merely the seed altered by disease; the morbid condition being ascribed by some to the agency of an insect, by others to excess of heat and moisture. A second opinion considered it a parasitic fungus, occupying the place of the seed. This was entertained by De Candolle, who called the fungus Sclcrotium Cla- vus. According to a third and intermediate opinion, the ergot is the seed, 312 Ergota. part i. diseased and entirely perverted in its nature by the influence of a parasitic fungus, attached to it from the very beginning of its developement. This view was put forth by M. Leveille, in a memoir published in the Annals of the Linn. Society of Paris for the year 1826. According to this writer, a soft viscid tubercle may be seen, at the earliest stage of the flower, surmounting the germ, the character of which it changes, without preventing its growth. The germ becomes of a dark colour, and, increasing in size, pushes the tu- bercle before it, which also expands, and exudes a viscid matter, which spreads over the germ, and, drying upon its surface, gives it a thin yellowish coating. The tubercle was considered by M. Leveille' a fungus, and named Sphacelia segetum. The more recent observations of Mr. Quekett, of London, confirm this general view of the nature of ergot; but lead to a different conclusion as to the character of the parasitic plant. According to Mr. Quekett, the be- ginning of the growth of the ergot is marked by the appearance, about the • yo^ng grain and its appendages, of multitudes of minute filaments like cob- webs, which run over all its parts, cementing anthers and stigmas together, and of a white coating upon the surface of the grain, from which, upon im- mersion in water, innumerable minute particles separate, and after a time sink in the fluid. These particles, when examined by the microscope, prove to be the reproductive agents, germs, or sporidia of a species of fungus, and may be observed to sprout and propagate in various ways under favourable circumstances. Their length, upon the average, is about the four-thousandth of an inch. The filaments are the results of the growth of these singular germs. The sporidia and filaments do not increase with the increase of the ergot; and when this has projected beyond the paleae and become visible, it has lost a portion of its white coating and presents a dark violet colour. It now increases with great rapidity, and attains its full size in a few days. When completely developed, it exhibits very few of the filaments or sporidia upon its surface. But Quekett believes that the germs of the fungus emit their fila- ments through the tissue of the ergot when young and tender, and that, as this increases, it is made up partly of the diseased structure of the grain, and partly of the fungous matter. The fungus was named by Quekett Ergotsetia abortifaciens. This view of the nature and cause of ergot is strongly sup- ported by the asserted facts, that the microscopic fungus has an existence in- dependent of the morbid grain, being found in various other parts of the plant, and growing even when entirely separated from it; and that the sporidia or wbite dust upon the surface of ergot, if applied to the seeds of certain Gra- minacea3 before germination, or sprinkled in the soil at the roots of the plants after they have begun to grow, will give rise to ergotized fruit. That the ergot is not itself a peculiar fungus, but the perverted grain, is evinced by the frequent remains of the stigma upon its summit, by the scales at its base, and by the circumstance that in some instances only a portion of the seed is ergotized. How far its peculiar medical properties may depend upon the morbid substance of the grain, and how far on the fungous matter associated with it, has not been determined. (See Am. Journ of Pharm., xi. 116 and 237—and Med, Exam., N. S., i. 62.) The ergot usually projects out of the glume or husk beyond the ordinary outline of the spike or ear. In some spikes the place of the seeds is wholly occupied by the ergot, in others only two or three spurs are observed. It is stated that this substance is much more energetic when collected before than after harvest. Rye has generally been thought to be most subject to the dis- ease in poor and wet soils, and in rainy seasons; and intense heat succeeding continued rains is said to favour its developement, especially if these circum- stances occur at the time the flower is forming. It is now, however, asserted that part i. Ergota. 313 moisture has little or nothing to do with its production.* It should not be collected until some days after it has begun to form; as, according to M. Bon- jean, if gathered on the first day of its formation, it does not possess the poi- sonous properties which it exhibits when taken on the sixth day. (Pharma- ceutical Transactions, Jan., 1842, from Journ. de Chim, Med.) Properties. Ergot is in solid, brittle yet somewhat flexible grains, from a third of an inch to an inch and a half long, from half a line to three lines in thickness, cylindrical or obscurely triangular, tapering towards each end, ob- tuse at the extremities, usually curved like the spur of a cock, marked with one or two longitudinal furrows, often irregularly cracked or fissured, of a violet-brown colour and often somewhat glaucous externally, yellowish-white, or violet-white within, of an unpleasant smell when in mass, resembling that of putrid fish, and of a taste which is at first scarcely perceptible, but ulti- mately disagreeable and slightly acrid. Under the microscope, the surface appears more or less covered with sporidia, which occasion its glaucous aspect; and the interior structure is found to be composed of minute roundish cells, containing, according to Quekett, particles of oil. Ergot yields its virtues to water and alcohol. The aqueous infusion or decoction is claret-coloured, and has an acid reaction. It is precipitated by acetate and subacetate of lead, nitrate of silver, and tincture of galls; but affords with iodine no evidence of the presence of starch. Long boiling impairs the virtues of the medicine. Ergot has been analyzed by Vauquelin, Winkler, a German chemist named Wiggers, Wright, Legrip, and several others. The analysis by M. Legrip is the most recent and complete. That chemist obtained from 100 parts of ergot 34-50 parts of a thick, very fluid, fixed oil, of a fine yellow colour; 2-75 of starch; 1-00 of albumen; 2-25 of inulin; 2-50 of gum; 1-25 of un- crystallizable sugar; 2-75 of a brown resin; 3-50 offungin; 13-50 of vegeto- animal matter; 0-75 of osmazome; 0-50 of a fatty acid; 24-50 of lignin; 0-50 of colouring principles; an odorous principle not isolated; 2-25 of fun- gate of potassa; 0-50 of chloride of sodium; 0-50 of sulphate of lime and magnesia; 1-25 of subphosphate of lime;' 0-25 of oxide of iron; 0-15 of silica; and 2-50 of water, with 2-35 loss. (Ann. de Therap., A. D. 1845, p. 44.) Wiggers obtained a peculiar principle, which he denominated ergotin, under the impression that it was the active ingredient. It was reddish-brown, of a peculiar nauseous odour and a bitter slightly acrid taste, soluble in alco- hol, but insoluble in water or ether. It was obtained by digesting ergot in ether and afterwards in alcohol, evaporating the alcoholic solution, and treat- ing the extract thus obtained with water, which left the ergotin undissolved. It was given with fatal effects to a hen; but much ampler observation is necessary to establish its claim to be considered as the active principle. Dr. Christison, though following the process of Wiggers, was unable to obtain ergotin, and Dr. Wright was equally unsuccessful. The latter chemist, after careful investigation, came to the conclusion that the activity of the medicine resided in its fixed oil, which was accordingly introduced into practice as a substitute for ergot. The oil of ergot, when obtained from grains recently collected, is, according to Dr. Wright, often quite free from colour; but, as usually prepared, is reddish-brown. It has a disagreeable, somewhat acrid taste, is lighter than water, and is soluble in alcohol and alkaline solutions. It is prepared by forming an ethereal tincture of ergot by the process of dis- placement, and evaporating the ether with a gentle heat. (Ed. Mid. and * Mr. J. Price Wetherill informed the author that, in two seasons, he had found rye. sown very late, so as scarcely to come up before spring, to be almost universally ergotted; while neighbouring rye, sown at the proper season, in the same kind of soil precisely, had nothing of the disease, though the seed was the same in both cases. {Note to the sixth edition.) 314 Ergota. PART I. Surg. Journ. for 1839-40.) The conclusions of Dr. Wright in relation to the action of this oil upon the system have been confirmed by the experiments and observations of others; and there can scarcely be a doubt that its effects are identical with those of ergot. It may, however, be said rather to contain the active principle of ergot, than itself to constitute that principle; for the oil obtained by simple expression produces on animals none of the effects which constantly result from that obtained by means of ether. (Journ. de Pharm., N S., i. 183.) The opinion of M. Bonjean, that there are two active principles in ergot, the oil which is poisonous, and another resident in the watery extract, and possessing anti-hemorrhagic properties without being in the least degree poisonous, requires confirmation. That writer is certainly not warranted in giving to his extract, however purified, the name of ergotin, until he can show that it is a characteristic proximate principle. The active principle of ergot remains yet to be isolated. Ergot, when perfectly dry and kept in well-stopped bottles, will retain its virtues for a considerable time; but exposed to air and moisture it speedily undergoes chemical changes and deteriorates. It is, moreover, apt to be at- tacked by a minute worm, which consumes the interior of the grain, leaving merely the exterior shell and an excrementitious powder. This insect is some- times found in the ergot before removal from the plant. (Muller, Am. Journ. of Pharm., x. 269.) In the state of powder, the medicine still more readily deteriorates. It is best, as a general rule, to renew it every year or two. It should be gathered from the rye while standing in the field, and not after threshing. Medical Properties and Uses. Given in small doses, ergot produces, in the system of the male, no obvious effects; but, in the female, exhibits a strong tendency to the uterus, upon the contractile property of which it operates with great energy. It is perhaps the only medicine which specifically pro- motes contraction in that organ. In the quantity of half a drachm or a drachm it often occasions nausea or vomiting, and in still larger doses produces a sense of weight and pain in the head, giddiness, dilatation of the pupils, deli- rium, and even stupor, proving that it posesses narcotic properties. It is said also to excite febrile symptoms; but our own observation coincides with that of authors who ascribe to it the power of reducing the frequency of the pulse. We have seen this effect produced by it in a remarkable degree, even with- out nausea. Dr. Hardy, of the Dublin Lying-in Hospital, found it to di- minish the pulsations of the foetal heart. Its long-continued and copious use is highly dangerous, even when no immediate effects are perceptible. Ter- rible and devastating epidemics in different parts of the continent of Europe, particularly in certain provinces of France, have long been ascribed to the use of bread made from rye contaminated with this degenerate grain. Dry gangrene, typhus fever, and disorder of the nervous system attended with convulsions, are the forms of disease which have been observed to follow the use of this unwholesome food. It is true that ergot has been denied to be the cause; but accurate investigations made by competent men upon the spot where the epidemics have prevailed, together with the result of experiments made upon inferior animals, leave no room for reasonable doubt upon the subject. Very large quantities are required for immediate poisonous effects. From two to eight drachms have been given at one dose to a man without very serious results, and three ounces, according to Dr. Wright, were required to kill a small dog. Death from single doses, in inferior animals, is preceded by symptoms indicating irritation of the stomach and bowels, great muscular prostration, loss of sensation, and sometimes slight spasms. The most important remedial application of ergot is founded on its power of promoting the contraction of the uterus. On the continent of Europe, in PART I. Ergota. 315 various parts of Germany, France, and Italy, it has long been empirically employed by midwives for this purpose; and its German name of mutter- korn implies a popular acquaintance with its peculiar powers. But the attention of the medical profession was first called to it by a letter from Dr. Stearns, of Saratoga county, in the State of New York, addressed to Dr. Ackerly, A. D. 1807, and published in the eleventh volume of the New York Medical Repository. Since that period, the journals have teemed with communications attesting its efficacy in facilitating parturition ; and, though it has failed in the hands of some physicians, the general opinion of the pro- fession is so decidedly in its favour, that it may now be considered among the established articles of the materia medica. When it has proved wholly inefficient, the result is ascribable to peculiarity of constitution in the indi- vidual, or to the inferior character of the particular parcel employed. In its operation upon the pregnant uterus it produces a constant unremitting con- traction and rigidity, rather than that alternation of spasmodic effort and relaxation which is observable in the natural process of labour. Hence, unless the os uteri and external parts are sufficiently relaxed, the medicine would be likely to produce injury to the child by the incessant pressure which it maintains. Such in fact has been the observation of numerous practitioners, and the death of the infant is thought not unfrequently to re- sult from the injudicious employment of the medicine. The cases to which it is thought to be especially adapted are those of lingering labour, when the os uteri is sufficiently dilated, and the external passages sufficiently relaxed, when no mechanical impediment is offered to the passage of the child, and the delay is ascribable solely to want of energy in the uterus. Other cases are those in which the death of the foetus has been ascertained, and when great exhaustion or dangerous constitutional irritation imperiously calls for speedy delivery. The remedy may also be given to promote the expulsion of the placenta, to restrain inordinate hemorrhage after delivery, and to hasten the discharge of the foetus in protracted cases of abortion. In wo- men subject to dangerous flooding, a dose of ergot given immediately before delivery is said to have the happiest effects. It has also been recommended for the expulsion of coagula of blood, polypi, and hydatids from the uterine cavity. It has been accused of producing puerperal convulsions, hour-glass contraction of the uterus, and hydrocephalus in the new-born infant. (Dr. Catlett, Ed. Med. & Surg. Journ., Jan., 1842.) In menorrhagia and ute- rine hemorrhage, unconnected with pregnancy, the medicine has long been empirically employed, and is now found bighly useful in the hands of regular practitioners. Its use has even been extended to hemorrhages from other organs, and with reputed good effect. Cases of hemorrhage from the lungs are recorded in which ergot has proved highly beneficial. We have seen it promptly effectual after all the usual means had failed. May it not have the power of producing contraction in the capillaries in general, or of interfering in some other way with the circulation of the blood in these vessels, as by the exertion of a direct sedative or paralyzing influence upon them ? We might in this way account for the dry gangrene which results from its abuse, as well as for its influence in restraining hemorrhage. It has also been em- ployed in amenorrhoea, but not with encouraging success. Gonorrhoea, gleet, leucorrhcea, dysmenorrhoea, chronic dysentery and diarrhoea, paraplegia, paralysis or debility of the bladder and of the rectum, spermatorrhoea, hys- teria, and intermittent fever, are among the complaints in which it has been recommended. Ergot is usually given in substance, infusion, or decoction. The dose of the powder to a woman in labour is fifteen or twenty grains, to be repeated every twenty minutes till its peculiar effects are experienced, or till the 316 Ergota.—Erigeron Canadense. part I. amount of a drachm has been taken. Of an infusion made in the propor- tion of a drachm of ergot to four fluidounces of water, one-third may be given for a dose, and repeated with the same interval. For other purposes the dose of the medicine is ten or fifteen grains, repeated three times a day, and gradually increased, but not continued for a great length of time. In urgent cases of hemorrhage, the dose may be repeated every two hours, or oftener if necessary. A wine of ergot is directed by the United States Pharmacopceia, and should supersede the tinctures formerly used, which are of uncertain strength. (See Vinum Ergotse.) The oil of ergot, pre- pared by means of ether, as already described, was given by Dr. Wright in the dose of from twenty to fifty drops, diffused in cold water, warm tea, or weak spirit and water. He employed it not only as an aid to parturition and in uterine affections, but also, with marked advantage, in diarrhoea, in the dose of ten drops every three hours, and in gastric irritability and spasm. It may be kept for a long time unimpaired in a well-stopped bottle, in a cool, dark place. Its strength is diminished by an elevated temperature, or pro- longed exposure to the sun. The magnitude of the dose is sufficient proof that the oil is not the active principle of ergot, but only holds that principle in solution. Ergot has been employed externally. Dr. Midler found it to check the bleeding from large divided arteries; and Dr. Wright states that either in powder or infusion it has a prompt effect in arresting hemorrhage. It is re- commended by the latter practitioner as an injection in uterine hemorrhage. It should be used, however, with some caution; as the powder applied to abraded surfaces has produced sloughing in the lower animals. Ergot should be powdered only when wanted for use. Off. Prep. Vinum Ergotae, U. S. W. ERIGERON CANADENSE. U. S. Secondary. Canada Fleabane. " The herb of Erigeron Canadense." U S. Erigeron. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Orel. Compositaa-As- teroideae, De Cand. Asteraceae, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Calyx imbricated, sub-hemispherical, in fruit often reflected. Florets of the ray linear, very narrow, numerous. Receptacle naked. Paj)pus double, exterior minute, interior pilose, of few rays. Nuttall. Erigeron Canadense. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1954. This is an indigenous annual plant, with a stem from two to six feet high, covered with stiff hairs, and divided into numerous branches. The leaves are linear, lanceolate, and edged with hairs; those at the root are dentate. The flowers are very small, numerous, white, and arranged in terminal panicles. They differ from those of the other species of Erigeron in having an oblong calyx, the rays very minute and more numerous than the florets of the disk, and the seed down simple. Hence by some botanists the plant is placed in a sub-genus with the title Csenotus. Another variety of the E. Canadense, which Mr. Nuttall makes a distinct species, with the title E.pusilum, is not more than from four to six inches high, and has an erect smooth stem, less branched than the pre- ceding, with all its leaves entire, and scabrous on the margin. The panicle is simple, and the peduncles filiform, nearly naked, divaricate, each bearing two or three flowers. Canada fleabane is very common throughout the northern and middle sec- tions of the United States, and has become naturalized in many parts of Europe. It abounds in neglected fields, and blooms in July and August. part I. Erigeron Heterophyllum.—E. Philadelphicum. 317 The plant, all parts of which are medicinal, should be collected while in flower. The leaves and flowers are said to possess its peculiar virtues in greatest perfection. This species of Erigeron has an agreeable odour, and a bitterish, acrid, somewhat astringent taste. Among its constituents, according to Dr. De Puy, are bitter extractive, tannin, gallic acid, and volatile oil. Both alcohol and water extract its virtues. Its acrimony is diminished by decoction, in conse- quence, probably, of the escape of the oil. Medical Properties and Uses. From the observations of Dr. De Puy, it appears to be diuretic, tonic, and astringent; and has been found useful in dropsical complaints and diarrhoea. It may be given in substance, infusion, tincture, or extract. The dose of the powder is from thirty grains to a drachm; of an infusion prepared in the proportion of an ounce of the plant to a pint of boiling water, from two to four fluidounces; of the aqueous extract from five to ten grains. In each case, the dose should be repeated every two or three hours. W. ERIGERON HETEROPHYLLUM. U.S. Secondary. Various-leaved Fleabane. "The herb of Erigeron heterophyllum." U S. ERIGERON PHILADELPHICUM. U.S. Secondary. Philadelphia Fleabane. " The herb of Erigeron Philadelphicum." U. S. Erkjeron. See ERIGERON CANADENSE. 1. Erigeron heterophyllum. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1956; Barton, Am. Med. Bot. i. 231. — E. annuum. Persoon, Syn. ii. 431; Torrey and Gray, Flor. of N Am., ii. 175. This is a biennial herbaceous plant, belonging both to North America and Europe. It has a branching root, from which proceed several erect, roundish, striated, pubescent stems, much divided near the top, and rising two or three feet in height. The lower leaves are ovate, acute, deeply toothed, and supported upon long-winged footstalks; the upper are lanceolate, acute, deeply serrate in the middle, and sessile; the floral leaves are lanceolate and entire; all, except those from the root, are ciliate at the base. The flowers are in terminal corymbs. The florets of the disk are yellow; those of the ray numerous, very slender, and of a white, pale blue, or pale purple colour. The flowering period is from June to October. EriejeronPhiladelphicum. Barton, Med. Bot. i. 227.—E. strigosum. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1956; Torrey and Gray, Flor. of N Am,, ii. 176. The Philadelphia fleabane is perennial and herbaceous, with a branching yellowish root, and from one to five erect stems, which rise two or three feet in height, and are much branched at top. The whole plant is pubescent. The lower leaves are ovate lanceolate, nearly obtuse, ciliate on the margin, entire or marked with a few serratures, and supported on very long footstalks; the upper are narrow, oblong, somewhat wedge-shaped, obtuse, entire, sessile, and slightly embrace the stem; the floral leaves are small and lanceolate. The flowers are numerous, radiate, and disposed in a panicled corymb, with long peduncles bearing from one to three flowers. They resemble those of the pre- ceding species in colour, and make their appearance about the same period. We include these two species under one head, because they grow together, possess identical medical properties, and are indiscriminately employed. They 318 Eryngium.—Erythronium. part i. are found in various parts of the United States, and abound in the fields about Philadelphia, where they are known and used under the common though inac- curate name of scabious. The whole herb is used, and should be collected while the plants are in flower. It has an aromatic odour, and a slightly bit- terish taste, and imparts its properties to boiling water. Medical Properties and Uses. Fleabane is diuretic, without being offensive to the stomach. It has been a favourite remedy with some highly respectable practitioners of Philadelphia in gravel and other nephritic diseases, and has been employed with advantage in dropsy. By the late Dr. Wistar it was recommended in hydrothorax complicated with gout. When the obstinate character and long continuance of certain dropsical affections are considered, the advantage must appear obvious of having numerous remedies calculated to mitigate the symptoms without exhausting the strength of the patient; so that when one has lost its power from repetition, we may appeal to another with some prospect of benefit. On this account it is that fleabane is worthy of the notice of the profession. It cannot be relied on for the cure of dropsy. It is most conveniently administered in infusion or decoction, of which a pint, containing the virtues of an ounce of the herb, may be given in twenty- four hours. W. ERYNGIUM. U S. Secondary. Button Snakeroot. " The root of Eryngium aquaticum." U. S. Eryngium. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat, Ord, Apiaceae or Um- belliferae. Gen. Ch. Flowers capitate. Involucrum many-leaved. Proper Calyx five- parted, superior, persistent. Corolla of five petals. Receptacle foliaceous, segments acute or cuspidate. Fruit bipartile. Nuttall. Eryngium aquaticum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1357. The button snakeroot or water eryngo is an indigenous herbaceous plant, with a perennial tuberous root, and a stem two or three feet high, sometimes, according to Pursh, six feet, generally branching by forks, but trichotomous above. The leaves are very long, linear-lanceolate on the upper part of the stem, sword-shaped below, with bristly spines at distant intervals upon their margin. The floral leaves are lanceolate and dentate. The flowers are white or pale, and disposed in globose heads, with the leaflets of the involucrum shorter than the head, and, like the scales of the receptacle, entire. This plant is found in low wet places, from Virginia to Carolina. Its period of flowering is August. The root, which is the medicinal portion, has a bitter, pungent, aromatic taste, provoking, when chewed, a flow of saliva. It is diaphoretic, expecto- rant, in large doses occasionally emetic; and is used by some physicians in decoction as a substitute for seneka. (Bigelow.) We are told in Barton's " Collections," that it is nearly allied to the contrayerva of the shops. W. ERYTHRONIUM. U.S. Secondary. Erythronium. "The root and herb of Erythronium Americanum." U. S. Erythronium. Sex. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Liliacese. Gen. Ch. Calyx none. Corolla inferior, six-petailed; the three inner petals with a callous prominence on each edge near the base. Bigelow. part I. Erythronium.—Eupatorium. 319 Erythronium Americanum. Muhl. Catalogue, 84; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. iii. 151.—E. lanceolatum. Pursh, p. 230. This is an indigenous perennial bulbous plant, sometimes called, after the European species, dog's tooth violet. The bulb (cormus), which is brown externally, white and solid within, sends up a single naked slender flower stem, and two smooth lanceolate nearly equal leaves, sheathing at their base, with an obtuse callous point, and of a brownish- green colour diversified by numerous irregular spots. The flower is solitary, nodding, yellow, with oblong lanceolate petals obtuse at the point, a club- shaped undivided style, and a three-lobed stigma. The Erythronium grows in woods and other shady places throughout the Northern and Middle States. It flowers in the latter part of April or early in May. All parts of it are active. In the dose of twenty or thirty grains, the recent bulb acts as an emetic. The leaves are said to be more powerful. The activity of the plant is dimi- nished by drying. So far as we are at present acquainted with its virtues, it may be considered a useless addition to the Materia Medica. Having, how- ever, been adopted in the original edition of the Pharmacopoeia, it was deemed best, upon the revision of that work, not to expunge it from the catalogue till it had undergone a longer period of trial. W. EUPATORIUM. U.S. Thoroughwort. " The tops and leaves of Eupatorium perfoliatum." U. S. Eupatorium. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia iEqualis.—Nat, Ord. Compositas- Eupatoriaceae, De Cand. Asteraceae, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Calyx simple or imbricate, oblong. Style long and semi-bifid. Receptacle naked. Pappus pilose, or more commonly scabrous. Seed smooth and glandular, quinquestriate. Nuttall. Of this numerous genus, comprising not less than thirty species within the limits of the United States, most of which probably possess analogous medical properties, the E. perfoliatum alone now holds a place in our national Phar- macopceia. The E. purpureum and E. teucrifolium were originally in the Secondary List, but were discarded at the last revision of the work. They merit, however, a brief notice here, if only from their former officinal rank. Eupatorium purpureum, or gravel root, is a perennial herbaceous plant, with a purple stem, five or six feet in height, and furnished with ovate lanceolate, serrate, rugosely veined, slightly scabrous, petiolate leaves, placed four or five together in the form of whorls. The flowers are purple, and consist of numerous florets contained in an eight-leaved calyx. It grows in swamps and other low grounds, from Canada to Virginia, and flowers in August and September. The root, which is the part used, has, according to Dr. Bigelow, a bitter, aromatic, and astringent taste, and is said to operate as a diuretic. Its vulgar name of gravel root indicates the popular estimation of its virtues. Eupatorium teucrifolmm (Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1753), E. pilosum (Walt. Flor. Car. 199), E. verbensefolium (Mich. Flor. Am. ii. 98), commonly called wild horehound, is also an indigenous perennial, with an herbaceous stem, which is about two feet high, and supports sessile, distinct, ovate, acute, scabrous leaves, of which the lower are coarsely serrate at the base, the upper- most entire. The flowers are small, white, composed of five florets within each calyx, and arranged in the form of a corymb. The plant grows in low 320 Eupatorium. PART I. wet places from New England to Georgia, and is very abundant in the South- ern States. It is in flower from August to November. The whole herb is employed. In sensible properties it corresponds with the E. perfoliatum, though less bitter and disagreeable. It is said to be tonic, diaphoretic, diuretic, and aperient; and in the South has been much employed as a do- mestic remedy in intermittent and remittent fevers. Dr. Jones, formerly president of the Georgia Medical Society, was the first to make its properties known to the profession. It is usually administered infused in water. One quart of the infusion, containing the virtues of an ounce of the plant, may be given in separate portions during the day. The E. Cannabinum of Europe, the root of which was formerly used as a purgative, and the E. Aya-pana, of Brazil, the leaves of which at one time enjoyed a very high reputation as a remedy in numerous diseases, have fallen into entire neglect. The Aya-pana is an aromatic bitter, with the medical properties of E. perfoliatum in an inferior degree. Eupatorium perfoliatum. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1761; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot, i. 33; Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 125. The thoroughwort, or, as it is perhaps more frequently called, boneset, is an indigenous perennial plant, with nume- rous herbaceous stems, which are erect, round, hairy, from two to five feet high, simple below, and trichotomously branched near the summit. The character of the leaves is peculiar, and serves to distinguish the species at the first glance. They may be considered either as perforated by the stem, per- foliate, or as consisting each of two leaves joined at the base, connate. Con- sidered in the latter point of view, they are opposite and in pairs, which de- cussate each other at regular distances upon the stem; in other words, the direction of each pair is at right angles with that of the pair immediately above or beneath it. They are narrow in proportion to their length, broadest at the base where they coalesce, gradually tapering to a point, serrate, much wrinkled, paler on the under than the upper surface, and beset with whitish hairs which give them a grayish-green colour. The uppermost pairs are ses- sile, not joined at the base. The flowers are white, numerous, supported on hairy peduncles, in dense corymbs, which form a flattened summit to the plant. The calyx, which is cylindrical and composed of imbricated, lanceolate, hairy scales, encloses from twelve to fifteen tubular florets, having their bor- der divided into five spreading segments. The anthers are five in number, black, and united into a tube, through which the bifid filiform style projects above the flower. This species of Eupatorium inhabits meadows, the banks of streams, and other moist places, growing generally in bunches, and abounding in almost all parts of the United States. It flowers from the middle of summer to the latter end of October. All parts of it are active; but-the herb only is officinal. It has a faint odour, and a strongly bitter somewhat peculiar taste. The bitterness and probably the medical virtues of the plant reside in an extract- ive matter, which is readily taken up by water or alcohol. No accurate analysis of thoroughwort has been made since the recent improvements in vegetable chemistry. Medical Properties and Uses. Thoroughwort is tonic, diaphoretic, and in large doses emetic and aperient. It is said to have been employed by the Indians in intermittent fever, and has proved successful in the hands of seve- ral regular practitioners. The general experience, however, is not in its favour in that complaint. AVe have seen it effectual in arresting intermit- tents when given freely in warm decoction, immediately before the expected recurrence of the paroxysm; but it operated in this instance by its emetic rather than its tonic power. The medicine has also been used as a tonic and part I. Eupatorium.—Euphorbia Corollata. 321 diaphoretic in remittent and typhoid fevers, and is said to have been product- ive of advantage in yellow fever. Given in warm infusion, so as to produce vomiting or copious perspiration at the commencement of catanh, it will fre- quently arrest that complaint; and has been especially recommended in the treatment of influenza. It has even been recommended as a diaphoretic in inflammatory rheumatism; and may prove serviceable, if administered in the absence of general arterial excitement. As a tonic it has been given with advantage in dyspepsia, general debility, and other cases in which the simple bitters are employed. With a view to its tonic effects, it is best administered in substance, or in cold infusion. The dose of the powder is twenty or thirty grains, that of the infusion a fluidounce, frequently repeated. (See Infusum Eupatorii.) When the diaphoretic operation is required in addition to the tonic, the infusion should be administered warm, and the patient remain covered in bed. As an emetic and cathartic, a strong decoction, prepared by boiling an ounce with three half pints of water to a pint, may be given in doses of one or two gills, or more. Off. Prep. Infusum Eupatorii, U. S. W. EUPHORBIA COROLLATA. U.S. Secondary. Large-flowering Spurge. " The root of Euphorbia corollata." U. S. Euphorbia. Sex. Syst. Dodecandria Trigynia, Linn.; Monoecia Monadel- phia, Michaux.—Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae. Gen. Ch. Involucrum caliciform, eight to ten toothed, exterior alternate dentures glanduloid or petaloid. Stamina indefinite, twelve or more, rarely less; filaments articulated. Receptacle squamose. Female flower solitary, stipitate, naked. Capsule three-grained. Nuttall. In the flower of the Euphorbiae, the stamina are arranged two or more together, in distinct parcels, which correspond in number with the inner seg- ments of the calyx. These parcels were considered by Michaux as distinct male florets; while the central stipitate germ, with its three bifid styles, was considered as a distinct female floret, and the calyx took the name of an involucre. He accordingly placed the genus in the class and order Moncecia Monadelphia, and in this respect has been followed by most American bota- nists. The genus Euphorbia contains very numerous species, which have the common property of yielding a milky juice. They are herbaceous or shrubby, with or without leaves; and the leafless species, which are chiefly confined to the African deserts, have fleshy, naked, or spiny stems, resembling the genus Cactus. They nearly all afford products which act powerfully as emetics and cathartics, and in over-doses give rise to dangerous if not fatal prostration, with symptoms of inflamed gastro-intestinal mucous membrane. Their milky juice, which concretes on exposure to the air, usually possesses these proper- ties in a high degree, and, in addition, that of powerfully irritating the skin when externally applied. Two species only are acknowledged in our national Pharmacopoeia, the E. corollata and E. Ipecacuanha, which are both indigen- ous. The E. hypericifolia, which is also indigenous, has been very highly commended as a remedy in dysentery after due depletion, diarrhoea, monor- rhagia, and leuconhcea, by Dr. W. Zollickoffer, of Maryland. He infuses half an ounce of the dried leaves in a pint of boiling water, and gives half a fluidounce every hour in dysentery till the symptoms begin to yield, the same 21 322 Euphorbia Corollata. part i. quantity after every evacuation in diarrhoea, and two fluidounces, morning, noon, and night, in menorrhagia and fluor albus. The herb, according to Dr. Zollickoffer, is at first sweetish, afterwards harsh and astringent to the taste, and from his experiments appears to contain tannin. Its effects upon the system are those of an astringent and feeble narcotic. It differs, therefore, considerably, both in sensible and medicinal properties, from most of the other species of Euphorbia. (Am. Journ. of the Med, Sciences, xi. 22.) In a subsequent communication by the same author, it is stated that the E. maculata possesses similar properties with the E. hypericifolia. (Ibid., N. S, iii. 125.) Euphorbia corollata. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 916; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. iii. 119. The blooming or large-flowering spurge, in common language fre- quently called milk-weed, is a tall erect plant, with a large, perennial, branch- ing, yellowish root, which sends up several stems from two to five feet in height, rOund and generally simple. The leaves, which stand irregularly upon the stem, and without footstalks, are oblong, obovate, wedge-form, or linear, flat or revolute at the margin, smooth in some plants, and hairy in others. The flowers are disposed upon a large terminal umbel, with a five- leaved involucrum, and five trifid and dichotomous rays, at each fork of which are two oblong bractes. The calyx is large, rotate, white, with five obtuse segments closely resembling a corolla, from which the species has been named. At the base of these divisions are five interior smaller segments, which are described as nectaries by many systematic writers, while the larger are con- sidered as belonging to a real corolla. The stamens are twelve, evolving gradually, with double anthers. Many flowers have only stamens. The pis- til, when existing, is stipitate, nodding, rounded, with three bifid styles. The fruit is a smooth, three-celled, three-seeded capsule. The plant grows in various parts of the United States, from Canada to Florida, and abounds in Maryland and Virginia. It prefers a dry, barren, and sandy soil, seldom growing in woods or on the borders of streams. Its flowers appear in July and August. The root is the only part used. This, when full grown, is sometimes an inch in thickness, and two feet in length. It is without unpleasant taste, producing only a sense of heat a short time after it has been taken. The medical virtues are said to reside in the cortical portion, which is thick, and constitutes two-thirds of the whole root. They are taken up by water and alcohol, and remain in the extract formed by the evaporation of the decoction or tincture. Medical Properties and Uses. In a full dose, the root of E. corollata operates actively and with sufficient certainty as an emetic, producing ordi- narily several discharges from the stomach, and not unfrequently acting with considerable energy upon the bowels. In quantities insufficient to vomit, it excites nausea, almost always followed by brisk purging. In still smaller doses it is diaphoretic and expectorant. It cannot, however, like ipecacuanha, be given largely in cases of insensibility of stomach, without endangering hypercatharsis with inflammation of the mucous coat of the stomach and bowels. It is in fact greatly inferior to this emetic in mildness, while it is no less inferior to the tartarized antimony in certainty. It is objectionable as a purge, in consequence of the nausea which it occasions, when given in cathar- tic doses. Dr. Zollickoffer, of Maryland, was the first to introduce it to the particular notice of the medical profession. It is little prescribed, and seldom kept in the shops. The dose of the dried root as an emetic is from ten to twenty grains, as a cathartic from three to ten grains. The recent root, bruised and applied to the skin, produces vesication. W. part I. Euphorbia Fpecacuanha. 323 EUPHORBIA IPECACUANHA. U. S. Secondary. Ipecacuanha Spurge. " The root of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha." U. S. Euphorbia. See EUPHORBIA COROLLATA. Euphorbia Ipecacuanha. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 900; Barton, Med, Bot. i. 211; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. iii. 108. The ipecacuanha spurge, or, as it is sometimes called, American Ipecacuanha, is a singular plant, varying so much in the shape and colour of its leaves, and in its whole aspect, that mere indi- vidual peculiarities might without care be attributed to a real specific differ- ence. The root is perennial, of a yellowish colour, irregular and very large, penetrating sometimes to the depth of six or seven feet in the sand, and in its thickest part measuring, when full grown, from three-quarters of an inch to one inch and a half in diameter. The stems are numerous, herbaceous, erect or procumbent, smooth, dichotomous, jointed at the forks, white under the ground, red, pale-green, or yellow above, sometimes almost buried in the sand, usually forming thick low bunches upon its surface. The leaves are opposite, sessile, entire, smooth, generally oval, but sometimes round, obovate, or even lanceolate, or linear. They are small early in the spring, and increase in size with the age of the plant. Their colour varies from green to crimson. The flowers are solitary, and stand on long axillary peduncles. The calyx is spreading, with five exterior obtuse segments, and the same number of inner, smaller segments or nectaries. The fertile flowers have a roundish, drooping, pedicelled germ, crowned with six revolute stigmas. The capsule is three- celled, and contains three seeds. E. Ipecacuanha is indigenous, growing in pine banens and other sandy places in the Middle and Southern States, especially along the sea-board, and abundantly in New Jersey on the bank of the Delaware. It blooms from May to August. The root, which is the officinal portion, is, according to Dr. Bar- ton, equally efficacious at whatever period collected. The dried root is light and brittle, of a grayish colour externally, white within, inodorous, and of a sweetish not unpleasant taste. Its active principle has not been isolated. Dr. Bigelow inferred from his experiments that it contained caoutchouc, resin, gum, and probably starch. Medical Properties and Uses. Ipecacuanha spurge is an energetic, tolera- bly certain emetic, rather milder than the E. Corollata, but like it, disposed to act upon the bowels, and liable, if given in over-doses, to produce excessive nausea and vomiting, general prostration, and alarming hypercatharsis. It is, therefore, wholly unfit to supersede ipecacuanha. In small doses it is diaphoretic. The specific name of the plant indicates that the emetic property of the root has been long known. The late Professor Barton alludes to it in his " Collections ;" but it did not come into general notice till after the pub- lication of Dr. W. P. C. Barton's Medical Botany. The late Dr. Hewson, of Philadelphia, informed us, that this emetic was the subject of an inaugural essay by Dr. Royal, and that experiments, conducted with it among the con- victs in the Walnut Street prison, proved it to be advantageously available for all the purposes of an emetic; while, in consequence of its want of nau- seous taste, it seemed to answer even better than ipecacuanha as an expect- orant and diaphoretic. The dose of the powdered root is from ten to fifteen grains. W. 324 Euphorbium. PART I. EUPHORBIUM. Lond., Ed. Euphorbium. " Euphorbia officinarum. Gummi-resina." Lond. " Concrete resinous juice of undetermined species of Euphorbia." Ed. Off. Syn. EUPHORBIA CANARIENSIS. Gummi-resina. Dub. Euphorbe, Fr.; Euphorbium, Germ.; Euforbio, Ital, Span. Euphorbia. See EUPHORBIA COROLLATA. Euphorbium is obtained from one or more species of Euphorbia; but its precise source is somewhat uncertain. It has been ascribed to the E. offi- cinarum, which grows in the North of Africa and at the Cape of Good Hope, the E. Canadensis, a native of the Canary Islands and Western Africa, and the E. antiquorum, inhabiting Egypt, Arabia, and the East Indies, and sup- posed to be the plant from which the ancients derived this resinous product. These species of Euphorbia bear a considerable resemblance in their general form to the Cactxis, having leafless, jointed, angular stems, divided into branches of a similar structure, and furnished with double prickles at the angles. When wounded, they give out an acrid milky juice, which concretes upon the surface of the plant, and, being removed, constitutes the euphorbium of commerce. This occurs in the shape of tears, or in oblong or roundish masses, about the size of a pea or larger, often forked, and perforated with one or two small conical holes, produced by the prickles of the plant, around which the juice has concreted, and which sometimes remain in the holes. The masses are occasionally large and mixed with impurities. The surface is dull and smooth, bearing some resemblance to that of tragacanth; the consistence somewhat friable; the colour light yellowish or reddish; the odour scarcely perceptible; the taste at first slight, but afterwards excessively acrid and burning. The colour of the powder is yellowish. The sp. gr. of euphorbium is 1-124. Triturated with water it renders the liquid milky, and is partially dissolved. Alcohol dissolves a larger portion, forming a yellowish tincture, which becomes milky on the addition of water. Its constituents, according to Pelletier, are resin, wax, malate of lime, malate of potassa, lignin, bassorin, volatile oil, and water. Brandes found caoutchouc. Euphorbium contains no soluble gum, and is, therefore, incorrectly called a gum-resin. The proportions of the ingre- dients are variously stated by different chemists, and probably vary in different specimens. The most abundant is resin, and the remainder consists chiefly of wax and malate of lime. The resin is excessively acrid, is soluble in alcohol, and, when exposed to heat, melts, inflames, and burns with a brilliant flame, diffusing an agreeable odour. It is upon this principle that the acrimony of euphorbium chiefly depends. Medical Properties and Uses. Euphorbium taken internally is emetic and cathartic, pften acting with great violence, and in large doses producing severe gastric pain, excessive heat in the throat, and symptoms of great prostration. In consequence of the severity of its action, its internal use has been entirely abandoned. Applied to the mucous membrane of the nostrils, it excites vio- lent irritation, attended with incessant sneezing and sometimes bloody dis- charges. They who powder it are under the necessity of guarding their eyes, nostrils, and mouth against the fine dust which rises. Largely diluted with wheat flour or starch, it may be used as an errhine in amaurosis, deafness, and other obstinate affections of the head. Externally applied, it inflames the skin, often producing vesication; and on the continent of Europe is sometimes part I. Euphorbium.—Extraetum Grtycyrrhizse. 325 used as an ingredient of epispastic preparations. It is employed in veterinary practice, with a view to its vesicating power. As an article of the materia medica, however, it may well be dispensed with, and it has been very properly omitted in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States. Off. Prep. Acetum Cantharidis, Ed. W. EXTRACTUM GLYCYRHmZJE.U.S.,Lond.,Ed.,Dub. Liquorice. " The extract of the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra." U. S. Extrait de reglisse, Fr.; Siissholzsaft, Germ.; Sugo di liquirizia, Ital; Regaliza en bollos, Span. For an account of Glycyrrhiza glabra, see article GLYCYRRHIZA. The British Colleges direct this extract to be made in the same manner as extract of gentian; but, as it is never prepared in this country, it very pro- perly occupies, in the United States Pharmacopceia, a place in the catalogue of the Materia Medica. Liquorice is an article of export from the North of Spain, particularly Catalonia, where it is obtained in the following manner. The roots of the G. glabra, having been dug up, thoroughly cleansed, and half dried by expo- sure to the air, are cut into small pieces, and boiled in water till the liquid is saturated. The decoction is then allowed to rest, and, after the dregs have subsided, is decanted, and evaporated to the proper consistence. The extract thus prepared is formed into rolls from five to six inches long by an inch in diameter, which are dried in the air, and wrapped in laurel leaves. Much liquorice is also prepared in Calabria, according to M. Fee, from the G. echinata which abounds in that country. The process is essentially the same as that just described, but conducted with greater care; and the Italian liquorice is purer and more valuable than the Spanish. We have been in- formed that most of the extract brought to this country comes from the ports of Leghorn and Messina. It is in cylinders generally somewhat smaller than the Spanish, and sometimes stamped with the manufacturer's name. Crude liquorice is in cylindrical rolls, somewhat flattened, and often covered with bay leaves. We have seen it in the London market in large cubical masses. When good, it is very black, dry, brittle, breaking with a shining fracture, of a very sweet, peculiar, slightly acrid or bitterish taste, and almost entirely soluble in water. It is frequently, however, very impure, either from adulteration or improper preparation. Starch, sand, the juice of prunes, &c, are sometimes added; and carbonaceous matter, and even particles of copper are found in it, the latter arising from the boilers in which the decoction is evaporated. Four pounds of the extract have yielded two drachms and a half of metallic copper. (Fee.) It is rarely quite soluble in water. Neu- mann obtained 460 parts of watery extract from 480 of Spanish liquorice. A bitter and empyreumatic taste are signs of inferior quality. Before being used internally it generally requires to be purified. The refined liquorice, kept in the shops in small cylindrical pieces not thicker than a pipe stem, is prepared by dissolving the impure extract in water without boiling, straining the solution, and evaporating. The object of this process is to separate not only the insoluble impurities, but also the acrid oleo-resinous substance, which is extracted by long boiling from the liquorice root, and is necessarily mixed with the unrefined extract. It is customary to add during the process a portion of sugar, and sometimes perhaps mucilage or glue; and flour or starch is a frequent adulteration. Excellent liquorice 326 Extraetum G-lycyrrhizse.—Ferrum. part i. is prepared, in some parts of England, from the root cultivated in that coun- try. The Pontefract cakes are small lozenges of liquorice of a very superior quality, made in the vicinity of Pomfret. Medical Properties and Uses. Liquorice is a useful demulcent, much employed as an addition to cough mixtures, and frequently added to infu- sions or decoctions, in order to cover the taste or obtund the acrimony of the principal medicine. A piece of it held in the mouth and allowed slowly to dissolve, is often found to allay cough by sheathing the irritated membrane of the fauces. It is used in pharmacy to impart consistence to pills and troches, and to modify the taste of other medicines. Off. Prep. Decoctum Aloes Compositum, Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Aloe's, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Rhei et Sennae, U. S.; Trochisci Glycyrrhizse, Ed.; Trochisci Glycyrrhizae et Opii, U. S., Ed. W. FERRUM. Iron. Fer, Fr.; Eisen, Germ.; Ferro, Ital; Hierro, Span. Iron is the most abundant and useful of the metals, and so interwoven with the wants of mankind, that the extent of its consumption by a nation may be taken as an index of its progress in civilization. It is universally diffused throughout nature, not only in the mineral kingdom, but also in vegetables and animals. There are very few minerals in which traces of it may not be found, and it is an essential constituent in many parts of animals, but particularly in the blood. It is one of the few metals which are devoid of deleterious action on the animal economy. Iron occurs, 1. native; 2. sulphuretted, forming magnetic and cubic pyrites; 3. oxidized, embracing the magnetic, specular, red, brown, and argillaceous oxides of iron; 4. in saline combination, forming the carbonate, sulphate, phosphate, and arseniate of iron. Those minerals of iron which admit of being worked to advantage are called iron ores. These include the different native oxides, and the carbonate (sparry iron). The best iron is obtained from those varieties of the native oxide, usually called magnetic iron ore and specular iron ore. These occur very abundantly in Sweden, and furnish the superior iron of that country. As a general rule, those ores yield the best iron which occur in primitive formations. Extraction. The mode of extracting iron from its ores varies somewhat with the nature of the ore; but the general principles of the operation are the same for all. The ore, previously broken into small pieces and roasted, is exposed to the action of an intense heat in contact with carbonaceous matter, such as charcoal, coke, or anthracite, and in connexion with some flux, capable of fusing with the impurities of the ore. The flux varies with the nature of the ore, and is generally either limestone or clay; limestone being employed when the ore is argillaceous, clay when it is calcareous. The flux, whatever it may be, enters into fusion with the impurities, and forms what is called the slag; while the carbonaceous matter, acting on the oxide of iron, reduces it to the metallic state. The reduced metal, from its density, occupies the lower part of the furnace, and is protected from the action of the air by the melted slag which floats on its surface. When the reduction is completed, the slag is allowed to run out by a hole in the side of. the furnace, and the melted metal, by an aperture at its bottom; the latter being received into long triangular moulds, where it solidifies in masses, known in commerce by the name of pig or cast iron. In this state PART I. Ferrum. 327 the metal is brittle and far from being pure; as it contains carbon, silicon, phosphorus, sulphur, and sometimes manganese. It is purified, and thus brought to the state of malleable iron, by being fused, and subjected, while stirred, to the action of a current of air on its surface. By these means the carbon is nearly burnt out, and the other impurities are oxidized and made to rise to the surface as a slag. As the metal approaches to purity, it be- comes tough and less liquid, and its particles agglutinate, so as to form semi- fused lumps, though the temperature of the furnace continues the same. These lumps are then taken out of the furnace, and their particles, by means of ponderous hammers, moved by steam or water power, are beaten together so as to form one tenacious mass. The metal is finally rolled out into bars of a convenient size, when it constitutes the malleable iron of commerce. Iron mines occur in most countries, but more particularly in northern ones. In Spain the principal mines furnish sparry iron, and the red and brown oxides. The chief iron ores of France are the sparry iron, and the specular, brown, and argillaceous oxides; of Germany, the sparry iron and brown oxide. The island of Elba is celebrated for its rich and abundant specular iron ore. The ores which furnish the celebrated Swedish iron have already been indicated. In the United States iron is abundant. The principal ores that are worked are the magnetic, brown, and argillaceous oxides. They occur in the greatest abundance in the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The ores of the the three last-mentioned states rival the best Swedish in quality. Properties.—Iron is a hard, malleable, very ductile and tenacious metal, of a grayish-white colour and fibrous texture, and having a slight styptic taste, and a sensible odour when rubbed. Its sp. gr. is about 7*7, and its fusing point very high. It possesses the magnetic and welding properties. It is combustible, and, when heated to whiteness, burns in atmospheric air, and with brilliant scintillations in oxygen gas. At a red heat, its surface is con- verted into black oxide, and at common temperatures, by the combined agency of air and moisture, it becomes covered with a reddish matter, called rust, which consists of the hydrated sesquioxide. It combines with all the non- metallic bodies, except hydrogen and nitrogen, and with most of the metals, its equivalent being 28. It forms three principal combinations with oxygen, a protoxide and sesquioxide, which, by their union, form the native black oxide, and a teroxide, possessing acid properties, called ferric acid. The protoxide is of a dark-blue colour, attracted by the magnet, and spontaneously combustible in the air, being converted into sesquioxide. It is the base of green vitriol, and of the green salts of iron generally. It is very prone to absorb oxygen, and hence the salts which contain it are soon partially con- verted, when in solution, into salts of the sesquioxide. It consists of one eq. of iron 28, and one of oxygen 8=36. The sesquioxide is readily obtained pure by dissolving iron in nitromuriatic acid, precipitating by ammonia, and igniting the precipitate. It is of a red colour, not attracted by the magnet, and forms salts, which for the most part have a reddish colour. It is com- posed of two eqs. of iron 56, and three of oxygen 24 = 80. The native black oxide, the magnetic oxide of mineralogists, consists of one eq. of protoxide 36, and one of sesquioxide 80 = 116. The medicinal black oxides have a different composition. (See Ferrum. Oxydi Squamse, and Ferri Oxidum Nigrum.) The teroxide or ferric acid, discovered by Fremy, may be formed, in union with potassa, by passing chlorine through a very concentrated solution of the alkali, holding hydrated sesquioxide of iron in suspension. It has also been obtained by Poggendorff by a galvanic combination of platinum in nitric acid, 328 Ferrum. PART i. with cast iron in a solution of potassa. It forms as a ferrate of potassa, of a fine wine-red colour, becoming darker, around the cast iron. This acid con- sists of one eq. of iron 28, and three of oxygen 24=52. Iron, combined with a minute proportion of carbon, and, perhaps, of the radicals of silica and alumina, forms steel, a modification of iron formerly used in medicine, but now very properly laid aside. It also forms a number of important salts, several of which, as the sesquichloride, iodide, carbonate, subcarbonate, sul- phate, phosphate, ferrocyanuret, tartrate, and acetate, are officinal. Iron is readily detected, even in minute quantities, by bringing it to the state of sesquioxide in solution, and adding ferrocyanuret of potassium or tincture of galls; the former of which will strike a deep blue, the latter a black colour. The object of bringing it to the state of sesquioxide is readily effected by boiling the solution containing it with a little nitric acid. Medical Properties. The preparations of iron are powerfully tonic, raising the pulse, promoting the secretions, and increasing the colouring matter of the blood. They are useful in diseases characterized by debility and a languid circulation, more especially when the consequence of inordinate discharges. The diseases in which they are usually employed are chronic anaemia or chlo- rosis, hysteria, fluor albus, gleet, scrofula, rickets, chorea, and all passive hemorrhages. Chalybeates are also proper in palsy after the inflammatory excitement has subsided, in dyspepsia dependent upon deficient energy of the digestive functions, and in neuralgia. They are contra-indicated in all in- flammatory diseases, producing, when injudiciously prescribed, heat, thirst, headache, difficulty of breathing, and other symptoms of an excited circula- tion. The medicinal effects of iron, as modified in its different combinations, will be noticed under the head of each preparation. The following table embraces all the preparations of iron to be found in the United States and British Pharmacopoeias, together with the synonymes. Iron is officinal— I. In the metallic state. Ferri Filum, U. S., Ed.; Ferrum. Fila, Dub. Ferri Ramenta, U. S.; Ferrum. Ramenta, Lond.; Ferri Limatura, Ed.; Ferrum. Scobs, Dub. Mistura Ferri Aromatica, Dub. II. Oxidized. Ferrum. Oxydi Squamae, Dub. Ferri Oxydum Nigrum, Dub. Ferri Oxidum Nigrum, Ed. Ferri Rubigo, Dub. Ferri Oxydum Rubrum, Dub. Emplastrum Thuris, Dub. Ferri Oxidum Hydratum, U. S.; Ferrugo, Ed. III. Sulphuretted. Ferri Sulphuretum, Ed., Dub. IV. In saline combination. Ferri Iodidum, U. S., Lond., Ed. Ferri Iodidi Syrupus, Ed. Liquor Ferri Iodidi, U. S. Ferri Ferrocyanuretum, U. S.; Ferri Percyanidum, Lond.; Ferri Cyanuretum, Dub.; Anglice, Prussian blue. Ferri Acetas, Dub. Ferri Acetatis Tinctura, Dub. part I. Ferrum.—Ferri Filum.—Ferri Ramenta. 329 Tinctura Acetatis Ferri cum Alcohol, Dub. Ferri Carbonas Saccharatum, Ed. Pilulae Ferri Carbonatis, U.S., Ed.; Anglice, Vallei'sferrugin- ous pills. Mistura Ferri Composita, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Pilulae Feni Compositae, U S., Lond., Dub. Ferri Subcarbonas, U. S.; Ferri Sesquioxydum, Lond. ; Ferri Oxidum Rubrum, Ed.; Ferri Carbonas, Dub.; Anglice, Precipitated subcarbonate of iron. Emplastrum Ferri, U. S., Ed. Ferrum Ammoniatum, U. S.; Ferri Ammonio-Chloridum, Lond. Tinctura Ferri Ammonio-Chloridi, Lond. Ferri et Potassae Tartras, U. S.; Ferri Potassio-Tartras, Lond.; Ferrum Tartarizatum, Ed.; Ferri Tartarum, Dub. Ferri Phosphas, U. S. Ferri Sulphas, U. S., Lond,, Ed., Dub. Pilulae Aloes et Ferri, Ed. Ferri Sulphas Exsiccatum, Ed. Pilulae Ferri Sulphatis, Ed. Pilulae Rhei et Ferri, Ed. Tinctura Ferri Chloridi, U. S.; Tinctura Ferri Sesquichloridi, Lond.; Ferri Muriatis Tinctura, Ed.; Muriatis Ferri Liquor, Dub. B. FERRI FILUM. U. S., Ed. Iron Wire. FERRI RAMENTA. U.S. Iron Filings. Off. Syn. FERRUM. Ferrum, Ramenta. Lond.; FERRI LIMATURA. Iron filings. Ed.; FERRUM. Fila. Scobs. Dub. Fil de fei,Fr.; Eisendraht, Germ.; Fil di ferro, Ital; Hilo de hierro, Span. Limailles de fer, Fr.; Eisenfeilicht, Germ.; Limatura di ferro, Ital; Limadura de hierro, Span. Iron, when employed in pharmaceutical operations, should be of the purest kind; and hence the different Pharmacopoeias direct it, when wanted in small masses, to be in the form of iron wire, which is necessarily made from the softest and most malleable iron, and is readily cut into pieces of convenient size. The filings are for the most part used internally. Medical Properties of Iron Filings. Iron, in its uncombined state, has no action on the animal economy; and hence iron filings would prove inert, were it not that they meet with acid in the stomach, or some other agent, whereby they become oxidized and dissolved. During the solution of iron in the sto- mach, the oxygen furnished to the metal is derived from water, the hydrogen of which, by being disengaged, gives rise to unpleasant eructations. Iron filings are generally obtained from the workshops of the blacksmith; but, as furnished from this source, they are generally very impure, and unfit for medicinal use. Neither can they be purified by the magnet; as they often have attached to them certain impurities, which are carried up with them. The only way to obtain pure iron filings, is to file a piece of pure iron with a clean file. The French Codex directs iron in an impalpable poioder, prepared 330 Ferri Filum.—Ferri Ramenta. part i. by porphyrizing bright and clean iron filings without water. A dull black powder is formed, which must be carefully preserved from moisture. An impalpable powder of the metal, obtained by reducing the sesquioxide by hydrogen, has been prepared by MM. Quevenne and Miquelard, and found very useful by M. Raciborski in anaemia, and other diseases in which the ferruginous preparations are usually given. It is made by passing a stream of hydrogen over the oxide, contained in an iron tube heated to low redness. MM. Soubeiran and Dublanc have given a paper on the mode of preparation, suited to the production of eleven or twelve ounces of the pulverulent iron at one operation, with full directions for washing and drying the gas, construct- ing the furnace, regulating the heat, and avoiding explosions. The oxide employed by them is the ignited subcarbonate of iron, the astringent saffron of Mars of the French Codex. (See their paper in the Journ. de Pharm., viii. 187, copied into the Amer. Journ. of Pharm., xvii. 303.) Prof. Proc- ter, of this city, has made some improvements in the process of Soubeiran and Dublanc, which he has communicated in a paper, embracing many useful details, published in the Amer. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 11. He finds that the subcarbonate of iron of the U. S. Pharm., without ignition, answers very well for reduction. Reduced iron, thus prepared, is in pulverulent, slightly cohering, tasteless masses, of an iron-gray colour. If black, the product is to be rejected, as not fully deoxidized. On account of its great liability to oxidation, it must be kept in a dry bottle, well stopped. It may be given in lozenges, made with chocolate, sugar, and gum, and each containing five grains. Of these from six to twelve may be given in the course of the day. The dose of iron filings is from five to twenty grains, given in molasses or honey, or made up into pills with some bitter extract. Off. Prep. Ferri Iodidi Syrupus, Ed.; Ferri Iodidum, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Ferri Rubigo, Dub.; Ferri Sulphas, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Ferri Sulphuretum, Ed., Dub.; Ferri Tartarum, Dub.; Liquor Ferri Iodidi, U. S.; Mistura Ferri Aromatica, Dub. B. FERRUM. Oxydi Squama?. Dub. Scales of the Cxide of Iron. Batitures de fer, .Fr.; Eisenschlag, Germ.; Scaglia di ferro, Ital; Escamas de hierro, Span. This form of oxidized iron is obtained, when iron is heated to redness and subjected to the blows of a hammer on an anvil. The heat causes the iron to be covered with a thin crust of oxide, which is detached in scales during the hammering. Scales of iron consist of small, black, brittle masses, attracted by the mag- net, and without taste or smell. When reduced to powder, they have a dull grayish-white colour. Their precise composition is not well settled; but it is certain that they are not identical with the native blade oxide. (See Ferrum.) The results of Mosander seem to show that they consist of two distinct layers; the inner, of uniform composition, consisting of six eqs. of protoxide to one of sesquioxide, and the outer, of a variable mixture of these two oxides, the sesquioxide predominating on the surface, and diminishing gradually inwards. Medical Properties. These scales have the general medical properties of the ferruginous preparations, but are not fit for medicinal use until they have been reduced to fine powder, when they take the name of Ferri Oxydum Nigrum, to which title the reader is referred. B. PART I. Ficus. 331 FICUS. U.S. Figs. " The dried fruit of Ficus Carica." U. S. Off. Syn. FICI. Ficus Carica. Fructus siccus. Lond.; FICI. Dried fruit of Ficus Carica, Ed,; FICUS CARICA. Fructus siccatus. Dub. Figues, Fr.; Feigen, Germ.; Fichi, Ital; Higos, Span. Ficus. Sex. Syst. Polygamia Dicecia.—Nat. Ord. Urticaceae. Gen. Ch. Common receptacle turbinate, fleshy, converging, concealing the florets either in the same or distinct individuals. Male. Calyx three-parted. Corolla none. Stamens three. Female. Calyx five-parted. Corolla none. Pistil one. Seed one, covered with the closed, persistent, somewhat fleshy calyx. Willd. Ficus Carica. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1131; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 714, t. 244. The fig-tree, though usually not more than twelve feet in height, some- times rises in warm climates to twenty-five or even thirty feet. Its trunk, which seldom exceeds seven inches in diameter, is divided into numerous spreading branches, covered with a brown or ash-coloured bark. Its large, palmate leaves, usually divided into five obtuse lobes, are deep green and shining upon their upper surface, pale green and downy beneath, and stand alternately on strong round footstalks. The flowers are situated within a common receptacle, placed solitarily upon a short peduncle in the axils of the upper leaves. This receptacle, the walls of which become thick and fleshy, constitutes what is commonly called the fruit; though this term is, strictly speaking, applicable to the small seeds found in great numbers on the inter- nal surface of the receptacle, to which they are attached by fleshy pedicels. Cultivation has produced in the fig, as in the apple and peach, an almost infinite diversity in shape, size, colour, and taste. It is usually, however, tur- binate or top-shaped, umbilicate at the large extremity, of the size of a small pear, of a whitish, yellowish, or reddish colour, and of a mild, mucilaginous, saccharine flavour. The fig-tree is supposed to have come originally from the Levant. It was introduced at a very early period into various parts of the South of Europe, and is now very common throughout the whole basin of the Mediterranean, particularly in Italy and France. To hasten the maturation of the fruit, it is customary to puncture it with a sharp-pointed instrument covered with olive oil. The ancient process of capriflcation is still practised in the Levant. It consists in attaching branches of the wild fig-tree to the cultivated plant. The fruit of the former contains great numbers of the eggs of an insect of the genus Cynips, the larva) of which as soon as they are hatched, spread themselves over the cultivated fruit, and, by conveying the pollen of the male organs over which they pass to the female florets, hasten the impregnation of the latter, and cause the fig to come quickly to perfection, which might other- wise ripen very slowly, or wither and drop off before maturity. Some authors attribute the effect to the piercing of the fruit by the young insects. The figs, when perfectly ripe, are dried by the heat of the sun or in ovens. Those brought to the United States come chiefly from Smyrna, packed in drums or boxes. They are more or less compressed, and are usually covered in cold weather with a whitish saccharine efflorescence, which melts in the middle of summer, and renders them moist. The best are yellowish or brownish, somewhat translucent when held to the light, and filled with a sweet viscid pulp, in which are lodged numerous small yellow seeds. They 332 Fieus.—Filix Mas. PART I. are much more saccharine than the fresh fruit. Their chief constituents are sugar and mucilage. Medical Properties and Uses. Figs are nutritious, laxative, and demulcent. In the fresh state they are considered in the countries where they grow a wholesome and agreeable aliment, and have been employed from time imme- morial. As we obtain them, they are apt, when eaten freely, to produce flatu- lence, pain in the bowels, and diarrhoea. Their chief medical use is as a laxative article of diet in cases of constipation. They occasionally enter into demulcent decoctions; and when roasted or boiled, and split open, may be applied as a suppurative cataplasm to parts upon which an ordinary poultice cannot be conveniently retained. Off. Prep. Confectio Sennae, U. S, Lond., Ed.; Decoctum Hordei Com- positum, Lond., Ed., Dub. W. FILIX MAS. U S. Secondary. Male Fern. " The rhizoma of Aspidium Filix mas." U. S. Off. Syn. ASPIDIUM. Aspidium Filix mas. Radix. Lond.; FILIN. Rhizoma of Nephrodium Filix mas. (Richard.) Male Shield Fern, Ed.; FILIX MAS. ASPIDIUM FILIX MAS. Radix. Dub. Fougere male, Fr.; Johanniswurzel, Germ.; Felce maschio, Ital; Helecho, Span. Aspidium. Sex. Syst. Cryptogamia Filices.—Nat. Ord. Filices, Jussieu. Filicales, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Fructification in roundish points, scattered, not marginal. In- volucre umbilicated, open almost on every side. Smith. Aspidium Filix mas. Willd. *S^>. Plant, v. 259; Smith, Flor. Britan.— Nephrodium Filix mas. Lindley, Flor. Med. 619.—Polypodium Filix mas. Linn.; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 795, t. 267. The male fern has a peren- nial, horizontal root or rhizoma, from which numerous annual fronds or leaves arise, forming tufts from a foot to four feet in height. The stipe or footstalk, and midrib, are thickly beset with brown, tough, transparent scales; the frond itself is oval lanceolate, acute, pinnate, and of a bright green colour. The pinnae or leaflets are remote below, approach more nearly as they ascend, and run together at the summit of the leaf. They are deeply divided into lobes, which are of an oval shape, crenate at the edges, and gradually diminish from the base of the pinna to the apex. The fructification is in small dots on the back of each lobe, placed in two rows near the base, and distant from the edges. The male fern is indigenous, growing in shady pine forests from New York to Virginia. It is a native also of Europe, Asia, and the North of Africa. In the American plant, the leaflets are said by Pursh to be more obtuse, and oftener doubly serrated than in the European. The proper period for collecting the root is during the summer, when, ac- cording to M. Peschier, of Geneva, it abounds more in the active principle than at any other season. The same writer informs us that it deteriorates rapidly when kept, and in about two years becomes entirely inert. The roots of other species of fern are frequently substituted for the officinal; and in the dried state it is difficult to distinguish them. Properties, &c. As taken from the ground, the root consists of a long cylindrical caudex, around which are closely arranged, overlapping each other like the shingles of a roof, the remains of the leafstalks or stipes, which are an inch or two in length, from two to four lines thick, somewhat PART I. Filix Mas. 333 curved and directed upwards, angular, brown, shining, and sunounded near their origin from the root with thin silky scales, of a light brown colour. From between these remains of the footstalks emerge numerous small radi- cal fibres. The whole root, thus constituted, presents a somewhat flexible, cylindrical mass, one or two inches thick, and a foot or more in length. In this form, however, it is not usually found in our shops. The whole is ordinarily broken up into fragments, consisting of the separated remains of the leafstalks before described, with a small portion of the substance of the root attached to their base, where they are surrounded by the silky scales. These fragments ordinarily present the appearance of having been long kept, and are probably, as a general rule, much deteriorated by time. The male fern root is brought to us from Europe, but might perhaps be more advantageously collected in this country. The following observations are made by Geiger in relation to its collection and preservation. The inner parts of the fresh root and of the portions of stalk attached to it, are fleshy and of a light yellowish-green colour. In collecting them, all the black dis- coloured portions should be cut away, the fibres and scales separated, and only the sound green parts preserved. These should be immediately but carefully dried, and then reduced to powder; and the powder should be kept in small well stopped glass bottles. The powder thus prepared has a pale yellowish colour with a greenish tinge. Dried fern root is externally of a brown colour, internally yellowish-white or reddish, with a peculiar but feeble odour, which is most obvious in the powder and decoction, and a sweetish, bitter, astringent, nauseous taste. From the analysis of M. Morin, an apothecary of Rouen, it appears to contain a volatile oil, a fixed oil, gallic and acetic acids, uncrystallizable sugar, tannin, starch, a gelatinous matter insoluble in water and alcohol, lignin, and various earthy and saline substances. Geiger found also resin and gum. Peschier ascertained that its active properties reside in the ethereal extract, which is the fixed oil in an impure state, containing volatile oil, resin, colouring matter, &c. It is a thick dark liquid, having the odour of the fern, and a nauseous, bitterish, some- what acrid taste. Medical Properties and Uses. Male fern is slightly tonic and astringent; but produces, when taken internally, no very obvious effects upon the system. It was used by the ancients as a vermifuge; and is mentioned in the works of Dioscorides, Theophrastus, Galen, and Pliny. Its anthelmintic powers were also noticed by some of the earlier modern writers, among whom was Hoffmann. But it does not appear to have been generally known to the pro- fession, till attention was attracted to it, about the year 1775, by the publica- tion of the mode of treating taenia, employed by Madame Nouffer. This lady, who was the widow of a surgeon in Switzerland, had acquired great celebrity in the cure of tape-worm by a secret remedy. Her success was such as to attract the attention of the medical profession at Paris; and some of the most eminent physicians of that city, who were deputed to examine into the subject, having reported favourably of the remedy, the secret was purchased by the King of France, and published by his order. The outlines of her plan were to give a dose of the powdered root of the male fern, and two hours afterwards a powerful cathartic, to be followed, if it should not operate in due time, by some purging salt; and this process was to be repeated, with proper intervals, till the worm should be evacuated. A German physician, of the name of Herrenschwand, had used the male fern in a manner somewhat similar, before Madame Nouffer's secret was known. The remedy became very popular for a time, and was found successful in numerous instances; but the profession generally settled down in the opinion that the good which resulted was owing 334 Filix Mas.—Foeniculum. PART I. more to the purgatives than to the fern. Numerous instances, however, have been recorded, in which cures were effected by the root, without the use of cathartics ; and many physicians now warmly advocate the anthelmintic powers of the medicine. Dr. Peschier assures us that, in the course of nine months, one hundred and fifty tape-worms had been expelled by the ethereal extract of the male fern root. Dr. Ebers has found the same preparation completely successful in curing eight cases of taenia. (Journ. de Chimie Medicate, Fev., 1829.) He states that the medicine acts specifically against the worm, which it speedily destroys, and thus favours its expulsion from the body, without producing any severe or unpleasant symptoms. The testimony of Brera is also strongly in favour of the remedy, which he has found effectual even against the armed taenia. M. Ronzel has cured with it more than a hundred cases of taenia, and never found it to fail. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e s6r., iv. 474.) Perhaps the different results obtained by different practitioners may in part be ascribed to the variable strength and character of the root, dependent upon the season at which it may have been collected, and the length of time it may have been kept. It is also said that the remedy proves more effectual against the tape-worm of the Swiss (Bothriocephalus latus) than against the Tsenia solium, which is more frequent in France and England. (Bremser.) The medicine may be given in powder, or, as recommended by Dr. Peschier, in ethereal extract. The dose of the powder is from one to three drachms, to be given in the form of electuary or emulsion, and repeated morning and evening for one or two days successively. M. Ronzel gives half an ounce to adults, made into boluses, and swallowed within the space of fifteen minutes, in the morning, on an empty stomach. The dose of the ethereal extract (oil of fern) is from twelve to twenty-four grains. The decoction has also been employed, in the proportion of an ounce of the root to a pint of water. It is customary to follow the medicine by some brisk cathartic, though Dr. Peschier does not consider this essential. Dr. Mayor, of Geneva, recommends the oil of fern in the dose of from thirty to fifty drops, one half to be taken at night, the other half in the morning, and followed, at the interval of an hour, by an ounce and a half of castor oil. W. FOENICULUM. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Fennel-seed. " The fruit of Foeniculum vulgare." U. S. " Foeniculum vulgare. Fruc- tus." Lond, " Fruit of Foeniculum officinale." Ed. "Anethum Foeniculum. Semina." Dub. Fenouil, Fr.; Fenchel, Germ.; Finnocchio, Ital; Hinojo, Span. The plant producing fennel-seed was attached by Linnaeus to the genus Anethum, but was separated from it by De Candolle, and placed, with three or four others, in a new genus styled Foeniculum, wbich has been generally adopted by botanists. The Anethum Fcenicidum of Linnaeus embraced two varieties, the common or wild fennel, and the sweet fennel, the latter being the plant usually cultivated in the gardens of Europe. These are considered by De Candolle as distinct species, and named respectively Foeniculum vulgare and Fceniculum dulce. In the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, the former of these is recognised as the source of the medicine; the Edinburgh College adopts the F. officinale of Allioni. The last mentioned plant De Candolle considers as belonging to his F. vulgare (see Prodromus, iv. 142); while Werat treats of it as a distinct species, differing both from the F. vulgare and F. dulce of De Candolle (Diet, de Mat. Med.); and Dr. Christison in his Dispensatory, PART I. Foeniculum. 335 is disposed to unite it with the last-mentioned plant. In this confusion it is impossible to arrive at any definite and satisfactory conclusion as to the bota- nical history of the drug under consideration. One thing, however, is certain, that there are two kinds of fennel-seed found in the shops; and it is highly probable that these are derived, if not from distinct species of fennel, at least from marked varieties of the plant. One of them corresponds closely with the description given of the fruit of the F. vulgare, while the other is undoubt- edly produced by the plant cultivated under the name of sweet fennel, whe- ther that be the F. dulce of De Candolle, or F. officinale of Allioni and Merat. Fceniculum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Umbelliferae or Apiaceas. Gen. Ch. Calyx a tumid obsolete rim. Petals roundish, entire, involute, with a squarish blunt lobe. Fruit nearly taper. Half fruits with five pro- minent bluntly keeled ridges, of which the lateral are on the edge, and rather broadest. Vittse single in the channels, two on the commissure. Involucre none. (Lindley.) Fceniculum vulgare. De Cand. Prodrom. iv. 142.—Anethum Fceniculum. Linn.; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 127, t. 49. Common fennel has a biennial or perennial tapering root, and an annual, erect, round, striated, smooth, green, and copiously branching stem, which usually rises three or four feet in height. The leaves, which stand alternately at the joints of the stem, upon membran- ous striated sheaths, are many times pinnate, with long, linear, pointed, smooth, deep green leaflets. The flowers are in large, flat, terminal umbels, with from thirteen to twenty rays, and destitute both of general and partial involucres. The corolla consists of five petals, which, as well as the stamens, are of a golden yellow colour. The fruit is ovate, rather less than two lines in length by about a line in breadth, and of a dark colour, especially in the channels. The plant is a native of Europe, growing wild upon sandy and chalky ground throughout the continent. F. officinale. Merat and De Lens, Diet, de Mat. Med.fm. 270; Allioni; Ed. Pharm. This, which is sometimes called sweet fennel, is also perennial, with shorter leaves and less elongated leaflets than the common fennel, but resem- bling it very closely except in the character of the fruit. This is twice as long as that of the former plant, a little curved, of a less dark colour, with promi- nent ridges, and a persistent peduncle. It is sweeter and more aromatic than common fennel-seed. The plant is a native of the South of Europe; but is cultivated elsewhere in gardens, and is probably the source of much of the fennel-seed of the shops. Whether it is a distinct species, or a mere variety of the F. vulgare, is not determined. Some confound it with the following. F. dulce. De Cand. Prodrom., iv. 142. This plant is eminently entitled to the name of sweet fennel. It bears a general resemblance to the F. vulgare, but differs in having its stem somewhat compressed at the base, its radical leaves somewhat distichous, and the number of rays in the umbel only from six to eight. It is also a much smaller plant, being only about a foot in height; its flowers appear earlier; and its young shoots or turiones are sweeter and edible. It is a native of Portugal, Itaty, and perhaps other parts of Southern Europe; and it is cultivated largely in Italy and Sicily for the sake of the shoots, which are eaten raw, or in salad, or boiled as pot herbs. The fruit is described by Merat and De Lens as " being globular-ovate, twice the size of that of common fennel, and with prominent ridges." This description does not answer to the character of any of the fennel-seed we have seen in the shops. In all these species or varieties, the whole plant has an aromatic odour and taste, dependent on a volatile oil by which it is pervaded. The roots were formerly employed in medicine, but are greatly inferior in virtues to the fruit, 336 Foeniculum.—Frasera. PART I. which is now the only officinal portion. Our shops are partly supplied from our own gardens, but much the larger portion of the medicine is imported from Europe, and chiefly, as we have been informed, from Germany. The fennel-seed cultivated here is sweeter and more aromatic than that from abroad, probably in consequence of its greater freshness. Fennel seeds (half-fruits) are oblong oval, from one to three or four lines in length, flat on one side, convex on the other, not unfrequently connected by their flat surfaces, straight or slightly curved, of a dark grayish-green colour, with longitudinal yellowish ridges on the convex surface. There are two varieties, one of them from one to two lines long, dark-coloured, rather flat, almost always separate, and without footstalks; the other three or four lines, sometimes even five lines in length, lighter-coloured, with much more prominent ridges, often conjoined by their flat surface, and very frequently provided with a footstalk. They do not differ essentially in aromatic proper- ties. The odour of fennel-seed is fragrant, its taste warm, sweet, and agreeably aromatic. It imparts its virtues to hot water, but more abundantly to alcohol. The essential oil may be separated by distillation with water. (See Oleum Foeni- culi.) The seeds contain also fixed oil. From 960 parts of them, Neumann obtained 20 parts of the former, and 120 of the latter. Medical Properties and Uses. Fennel-seed was used by the ancients, is among our most grateful aromatics, and in this country is much employed as a carminative, and as a corrigent of other less pleasant medicines, particularly senna and rhubarb. It is recommended for these purposes by the absence of any very highly excitant property. The infusion, prepared by introducing two or three drachms of the seeds into a pint of boiling water, is the form usually preferred. The dose of the bruised or powdered seeds is from a scruple to half a drachm. In infantile cases, the infusion is frequently employed as an enema to produce the expulsion of flatus. Off.Prep. Aqua Foeniculi, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Confectio Piperis Nigri, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Decoctum Chamaemeli Comp., Dub.; Oleum Foeniculi, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Juniperi Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Sy- rupus Sennae, U. S., Lond.; Tinctura Rhei et Sennae, U. S. W. FRASERA. U.S. Secondary. American Columbo. "The root of Frasera Walteri." U. S. Frasera. Sex. Syst. Tetrandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentianaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx deeply four-parted. Corolla four-parted, spreading; seg- ments oval, with a bearded, orbicular gland in the middle of each. Capsule compressed, partly marginated, one-celled. Seeds few, imbricated, large, ellip- tical, with a membranaceous margin. Nuttall. Frasera Walteri. Michaux, Flor. Bor. Americ. i. 96; Barton, Med. Bot., ii. 103.—F. Carolinensis. Walter. This is one of our most elegant indigenous plants, and the only one of its genus hitherto discovered. From the root, which is triennial, long, spindle-shaped, horizontal, fleshy, and of a yellow colour, a strong, succulent, solid, smooth stem rises, from five to ten feet in height. The leaves are sessile, entire, glabrous, of a deep-green colour, and disposed in whorls, which commence at the root, and ascend to the summit with succes- sively diminishing intervals. The radical leaves, from five to twelve in num- ber, are elliptical, obtuse, a foot or more in length by about four inches in breadth, and lie upon the ground in the form of a star. Those constituting the whorls upon the stem are successively smaller as they ascend; the lowest PART I. Frasera. 337 oblong lanceolate, the upper lanceolate and pointed. The flowers are nume- rous, large, of a yellowish-white colour, and disposed in a beautiful terminal pyramidal panicle, from one to five feet long, the branches of which spring from the axils of the upper leaves. The segments of the calyx are lanceolate, acute, and somewhat shorter than those of the corolla. The filaments are in- serted into the base of the corolla, between its segments, which they do not equal in length. The anthers are oblong and notched at the base. The germ is oblong ovate, compressed, and gradually tapers into the style, which termi- nates in a bifid stigma. The fruit is an oval, acuminate, compressed, two- valved, one-celled, yellow capsule, containing from eight to twelve flat, ellip- tical seeds. The Frasera flourishes in the southern and western portions of the United States, and in many situations is very abundant, especially in Arkansas and Missouri. It prefers rich woodlands and moist meadows. The period of flowering is from May to July; but the stem and flowers are produced only in the third year, the radical leaves being the only part of the plant which previously appear above ground. From this manner of growth, it is inferred that the root should be collected in the autumn of the second, or the spring of the third year. Before being dried, it should be cut into transverse slices. As formerly found in the market, frasera was in pieces irregularly circular, an eighth of an inch or more in thickness, about an inch in diameter, some- what shrunk in the middle, consisting of a central medullary matter and an exterior cortical portion, of a yellowish colour on the cut surfaces, with a light reddish-brown epidermis. In appearance these pieces bore some resemblance to columbo, but were easily distinguishable by the greater uniformity of their internal structure, the absence of concentric and radiating lines, and their purer yellow colour without a greenish tinge. We have met with a parcel of the root sliced longitudinally, so as somewhat to resemble gentian, though not likely to be confounded with it by an experienced person. It was called American gentian. The taste of frasera is bitter and sweetish. Water and diluted alcohol extract its virtues, and the tincture throws down a pre- cipitate upon the addition of water, but is not disturbed by tincture of galls; thus affording additional means of distinguishing the root from columbo. Medical Properties and Uses. Frasera is a mild tonic, calculated to meet the same indications with the other simple bitters. It has been thought to resemble columbo in medical properties as well as in appearance, and hence has received the popular name of American columbo; but experience has not confirmed the high estimate which was at one time formed of its virtues; and though, perhaps, still occasionally employed in some parts of the coun- try, it has failed to supplant the tonic of Mozambique. It may be given in powder or infusion. The dose of the former is from thirty grains to a drachm; that of an infusion, made in the proportion of an ounce of the bruised root to a pint of boiling water, is one or two fluidounces, to be repeated several times a day. The fresh root is said to operate as an emetic and cathartic, and has sometimes been given with a view to the latter effect. W. 22 338 Gfalbanum. part i. GALBANUM. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Galbanum. " The concrete juice of an unknown plant." U. S. " Galbanum offici- nale. Gummi-resina." Lond. " Concrete gummy-resinous juice of an im- perfectly ascertained umbelliferous plant, probably a species of Opoidia." Ed, " Bubon Galbanum. Gummi-resina." Dub. Galbanum, Fr.; Mutterharz, Germ.; Galbano, Ital, Span. It is not certainly known from what plant galbanum is derived. At one time it was supposed to be the product of the Bubon Galbanum, an umbel- liferous plant growing on the eastern coast of Africa, from Nubia to the Cape of Good Hope; and this is still recognised as the source of it by the Dublin College. It has also been referred to the Ferxda ferulago of Linnaeus, the Ferula galbanifera of Lobel, which inhabits the coasts of the Mediterranean, and is found also in Transylvania and the Caucasus. But no part of either of these plants possesses the odour of galbanum; and it is, therefore, scarcely probable that they yield the drug. Mr. Don, having found the seeds taken from a parcel of galbanum to belong to an undescribed genus of umbelliferous plants, and concluding that they came from the same source as the gum-resin itself, gave the title of Galbanum to the new genus, and named the species Galbanum officinale. This has been rather hastily adopted by the London College; as it is by no means certain, however probable it may be, that the same plant produced the seeds and the gum-resin. Specimens of a plant were recently sent to England by Sir John M'Neill, collected in 1838 near Durrood, in the Persian province of Chorassan. The plant was supposed to yield a variety of ammoniac, and portions of a pale yellow gum-resin were adhering to the specimens received. Dr. Lindley ascertained that the plant belonged to an undescribed genus, which he named Opoidia, and, under the impression that the adhering concrete juice was identical with galbanum, designated the particular species O. galbanifera. Dr. Pereira, however, found the substance to be unlike galbanum, or any other product of the Um- belliferae. This supposed origin of the drug, therefore, though admitted as probable by the Edinburgh College, must be considered as more than doubt- ful. In this state of uncertainty, it is scarcely necessary to describe particu- larly any one of the plants referred to. Galbanum is said to be obtained from the plant by making incisions into the stem, or cutting it off a short distance above the root. A cream-coloured juice exudes, which concretes upon exposure to the air. A small portion of juice also exudes spontaneously from the joints, and hardens in the shape of tears. The drug is brought from the Levant, and, according to Lindley, also from India. Properties. The form in which galbanum usually appears is that of masses, composed of whitish, reddish, or yellowish tears, irregularly aggluti- nated by a darker coloured yellowish-brown, or greenish substance, more or less translucent, and generally mixed with pieces of stalk, seeds, or other foreign matters.. It is also found, though rarely in our markets, in the state of distinct roundish tears, about as large as a pea, of a yellowish-white or pale brownish-yellow colour, shining externally as if varnished, translucent, and often adhering together. Galbanum has in cool weather the consistence of firm wax; but softens in summer, and by the heat of the hand is rendered ductile and adhesive. At the temperature of boiling water, it is sufficiently liquid to admit of being strained; and it generally requires to be strained PART I. Grdlbanum. 339 before it can be used. A dark-brown or blackish colour, a consistence always soft, the absence of whitish grains, a deficiency in the characteristic properties of odour and taste, and the intermixture of earthy impurities, are signs of inferiority. The odour of galbanum is peculiar and disagreeable, but not alliaceous like that of sagapenum. Its taste is bitterish, warm, and acrid. Its specific gravity is 1-212. When triturated with water it forms an imperfect milky solution, which upon standing deposits the greater portion of what was taken up. Wine and vinegar act upon it in a similar manner. Alcohol dissolves a considerable proportion, forming a yellow tincture, which has the smell and taste of gal- banum, and becomes milky by the addition of, water, but affords no precipi- tate. In dilute alcohol it is wholly soluble, with the exception of impurities. Ether dissolves the greater portion. One hundred parts of it yielded to Pel- letier 66-86 parts of resin, 19-28 of gum, 6-34 of volatile oil including the loss, 7-52 of wood and impurities, with traces of the supermalate of lime. A small proportion of bassorin was found by Meissner. The medicine is, therefore, entitled to rank with the gum-resins. By distillation at the tem- perature of about 250° F., the essential oil is obtained of a fine indigo blue colour, which it imparts to alcohol. Procured by distillation with water, it is colourless, and becomes yellowish by age. It is lighter than water. According to Ludewig, a gum-resin, designated as Persian galbanum, is received in Russia by the way of Astracan or Orenburg, and is the kind used in that country. It comes enclosed in skins, and is in masses of a reddish- brown colour with whitish streaks, of a disagreeable odour somewhat like that of assafetida, and of an unpleasant, bitter, resinous taste. It is so soft as to melt with a slight elevation of temperature. It differs from common galbanum in its odour, in its colour which is never greenish, and in the absence of tears, and is probably derived from a different plant. It abounds in impurities. (Journ. de Pharm., N. S., i. 117.) Medical Properties and Uses. Galbanum is stimulant, expectorant, and antispasmodic; and may be considered as intermediate in power between am- moniac and assafetida. It is, however, much less employed than either of these gum-resins, and in the United States is seldom or never prescribed inter- nally. The complaints to which it was formerly thought applicable, were chiefly chronic affections of the bronchial mucous membrane, amenorrhcea, and chronic rheumatism. It is occasionally applied externally in the shape of plaster to indolent swellings, with the view of promoting resolution or suppuration. Gal- banum was known to the ancients. The dose is from ten to twenty grains, and may be given in pill, or triturated with gum Arabic, sugar, and water, so as to form an emulsion. Off. Prep. Emplastrum Assafcetidae, U.S.,Ed,; Emplastrum Galbani, Dub.; Emplastrum Galbani Compositum, U. S., Lond.; Emplastrum Gum- mosum, Ed.; Pilulae Galbani Compositae, U. S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Galbani, Dub. W. 340 G-alla. part i. GALLA. U.S. Galls. " Morbid excrescences upon Quercus infectoria." U. S. Off. Syn. GALLiE. Quercus infectoria. Gmimse morbidse. Lond. GAL- LiE. Excrescences of Quercus infectoria, formed by Diplolepis gallae tinctorum. Ed.; GALLiE. QUERCUS INFECTORIA. Dub. Noix de galle, Fr.; Galliipfel, Germ.; Galia, Ital; Agallas de Levante, Span. Many vegetables, when pierced by certain insects, particularly those of the genus Cynips, are affected at the points of puncture with a morbid action, re- sulting in the production of excrescences, which, as they are derived from the proper juices of the plant, partake more or less of its predominant chemical character. Most species of oak are susceptible of this kind of action; and the resulting excrescences, having in a high degree the astringency of the plant on which they grow, have been employed for various practical purposes. They are known by the name of galls, a term which, as well as their employment in medicine, has been handed down to us from the ancients. The Quercus infectoria, Q. jEgilops, Q. excelsa, Q. Ilex, Q. Cerris, and Q. Robur, have all been particularized as occasionally affording this product; but it is now generally admitted, upon the authority of Olivier, that the officinal galls are derived chiefly, if not exclusively, from the Q. infectoria; and this is recog- nised as their source in the Pharmacopoeias of the United States and Great Britain. Quercus. See QUERCUS ALBA. Quercus infectoria. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 436; Olivier, Voy. Or. t. 14 et 15; Carson, Illust, of Med. Bot. ii. 40, pi. 85. The dyers' oak is a small tree or shrub, with a crooked stem, seldom exceeding six feet in height. The leaves are obtusely toothed, smooth, of a bright green colour on both sides, and stand on short footstalks. The acorn is elongated, smooth, two or three times longer than the cup, which is sessile, somewhat downy, and scaly. This species of Quercus grows, according to Olivier, throughout Asia Minor, from the Archi- pelago to the confines of Persia. Captain M. Kinneir found it also in Armenia and Kurdistan; General Hardwicke observed it growing in the neighbourhood of Adwanie; and it probably pervades the middle latitudes of Asia. The gall originates from the puncture of the Cynips querctisjolii of Linnaeus, the Diplolepis gallse tinctorise of Geoffroy, a hymenopterous insect or fly, with a fawn-coloured body, dark antennae, and the upper part of its abdomen shining brown. The insect pierces the shoots and young boughs, and deposits its egg in the wound. This irritates the vessels of the part, and a small tumour very speedily rises, which appears to be the result of a morbid secretion, and upon examination by the microscope exhibits no signs of proper vegetable fibre. The egg grows with the gall, and is soon converted into a larva, which feeds upon the vegetable matter by which it is surrounded, and thus forms a cavity in the centre of the tumour. The insect at length assumes the form of a fly, and escapes by eating its way out of the excrescence. The galls are in per- fection when they have attained their full size, and before the egg has been hatched, or the fly has escaped. Collected at this period, they are called, from their dark colour, blue, green, or black galls, and are most highly esteemed. Those which are gathered later, and which have been injured by the insect, are called white galls. They are usually larger, less heavy and compact, and of a lighter colour than the former; and are considered much inferior. The galls collected in Syria and Asia Minor are brought to this country PART I. G-alla. 341 chiefly either from the ports of Smyrna and Trieste, or from London. As they are produced abundantly in the vicinity of Aleppo, it has been customary to designate them by the name of that city; though the designation, however cor- rect it may formerly have been, is now wholly inapplicable, as they are obtained from many other places, and the produce of different parts of Asiatic Turkey is not capable of being discriminated, at least in our markets. Great quantities of galls, very closely resembling those from the Mediterranean, have been brought to the United States from Calcutta. Ainslie is inclined to think that most of the galls found in the markets of India are imported from Persia by the Arab merchants. Dr. Royle states that they are taken to Bombay from Bussorah through the Persian Gulf. We are, nevertheless, informed that they are among the products of Moultan. The galls of France and other southern countries of Europe have a smooth, shining, reddish surface, are little esteemed, and are seldom or never brought to the United States. Properties. Galls are nearly round, from the size of a pea to that of a very large cherry, with a surface usually studded with small tuberosities, in the intervals of which it is smooth. The best are externally of a dark bluish or lead colour, sometimes with a greenish tinge, internally whitish or brownish, hard, solid, brittle, with a flinty fracture, a striated texture, and a small spot or cavity in the centre, indicating the presence of the undeveloped or decayed insect. Their powder is of a light yellowish-gray. Those of an inferior quality are of a lighter colour, sometimes reddish or nearly white, of a loose texture, with a large cavity in the centre, communicating externally by a small hole, through which the fly has escaped. Galls are inodorous, and have a bitter, very astringent taste. From 500 parts Sir H. Davy obtained 185 parts of matter soluble in water, of which, according to his analysis, 130 were tannin, 31 gallic acid with a little extractive, 12 mucilage and matter rendered in- soluble by evaporation, and 12 saline matter and calcareous earth. Braconnot discovered the presence of a small quantity of an acid to which he gave the name ellagie, derived from galle, the French name for galls, by reversing the order of the letters. According to M. Pelouze, however, neither gallic nor ellagie acid pre-exists in galls, being formed by the reaction of atmospheric oxygen upon their tannin. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 359.) Galls also yielded to Pro- fessor Branchi, by distillation with water, a concrete volatile oil. Guibourt found 65 per cent, of tannic acid, 10-5 of lignin, 5-8 of gum, sugar, and starch, 4-0 of gallic, ellagie, and luteo-gallic acids, and 11-5 of water, besides extract- ive, chlorophylle, volatile oil, albumen, and salts. All the soluble matter of galls is taken up by forty times their weight of boiling water, and the residue is tasteless; alcohol dissolves seven parts in ten, ether five parts. (Thomson's Dispensatory.) A saturated decoction deposits upon cooling a copious pale- yellow precipitate. The infusion or tincture affords precipitates with sulphuric and muriatic acids, lime-water, carbonate of ammonia, and carbonate of potassa; with solutions of acetate and subacetate of lead, the sulphates of copper and iron, the nitrates of silver and mercury, and tartrate of antimony and potassa; with the infusions of Peruvian bark, columbo, opium, and many other vege- tables, especially those containing proximate alkaline principles, with most of which tannin forms insoluble compounds. The solution of gelatin also pro- duces a precipitate. The infusion of galls reddens litmus paper, is rendered orange by nitric acid, milky by the corrosive chloride of mercury, and has its own colour deepened by ammonia; but throws down no precipitate with either of these reagents. Sulphate of zinc is said by Dr. A. T. Thomson to occasion a slow precipitate, but this result was not obtained by Dr. Duncan. Medical Properties and Uses. As might be inferred from the quantity of tannin they contain, galls are powerfully astringent. They are little employed 842 Gralla.—G-ambogia. PART I. as an internal remedy, though occasionally prescribed in chronic diarrhoea and chronic dysentery. They have been recommended as an antidote to tartar emetic, and those vegetable poisons which depend for their activity upon organic alkalies; but, though the insoluble compounds which these principles form with galls are probably less active than their soluble native compounds, they cannot be considered as inert. In the form of infusion or decoction, made in the proportion of half an ounce to a pint of water, galls may be advantage- ously used as an astringent gargle, lotion, or injection; and, mixed with simple ointment, in the proportion of one part of galls, in very fine powder, to eight parts of the unguent, they are frequently applied to the anus and rectum in hemorrhoidal affections. The dose of powdered galls is from ten to twenty grains, to be repeated several times a day. Off. Prep. Acidum Tannicum, U. S.; Tinctura Gallae, U S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.; Unguentum Gallae, U. S, Dub.; Unguentum Gallae Compositum, Lond., Ed. W. GAMBOGIA. U.S. Gamboge. "The concrete juice of an uncertain tree." U. S. Off. Syn. C AMBOGIA. Stalagmitis Cambogioides. Gummi-resina. Lond.; CAMBOGIA (Siamensis). Gum-resin from an unascertained plant inhabit- ing Siam, probably a species of Hebradendron. CAMBOGIA (Zeylanica). Gummy-resinous exudation of Hebradendron cambogioides. Ed.; GAMBO- GIA. STALAGMITIS CAMBOGIA. Dub. Gomme gutte, Fr.; Gumrnigutt, Germ.; Gomma-gotta, Ital; Gutta gamba, Span. Several plants belonging to the natural family of the Guttiferse, growing in the equatorial regions, yield on incision a yellow opaque juice, which hardens on exposure to the air, and bears a close resemblance to gamboge; but it is not certainly known from which of these plants the officinal gum-resin is pro- cured. Until recently the United States and all the British Pharmacopoeias ascribed it to the Stalagmitis Cambogioides. This genus and species were established by Murray, of Gbttingen, in 1788, from dried specimens belonging to Kbnig, procured in the island of Ceylon; and, from information derived from the same source, it was conjectured by Murray that the tree yielded not only the gamboge of Ceylon, but that also collected in Siam. It was on this autho- rity that the British Colleges made the reference alluded to. But it has been ascertained by Dr. Graham, of Edinburgh, that there is no such plant as the Stalagmitis Cambogioides; the description of Murray having been drawn up from accidentally conjoined specimens of two distinct trees belonging to dif- ferent genera. By several botanists the gum-resin has been ascribed to the Garcinia Cambogia, also a tree of Ceylon belonging to the family of Gutti- ferae, and yielding a yellowish concrete juice; but a specimen of the product of this tree sent to Edinburgh was found by Dr. Christison to be different from gamboge both in composition and appearance, being of a pale lemon-yellow colour. Thus it appears that neither of these references is correct; and, besides, the important fact seems to have been overlooked, that commercial gamboge is never obtained from Ceylon, but exclusively from Siam and Cochin-ehina. It is true that a gum-resin from Ceylon has recently been examined, and found similar in composition to the gamboge of commerce; that the tree which pro- duced it, having been ascertained by Dr. Graham to belong to a new genus, has been named by him Hebradendron Cambogioides, and is one of the two confounded by Murray in his Stalagmitis; and that the Edinburgh College, PART I. Crambogia. 343 in the last edition of their Pharmacopceia, have adopted this Ceylon gamboge as officinal. But, as this variety is never found in western commerce, and exists only in the cabinets of the curious, or the bazaars of India, it scarcely seems worthy of a place in an officinal catalogue; and though, from its resem- blance to the Siam gum-resin, the two may possibly be derived from the same or closely analogous plants, yet the fact is not proved; and it would be alto- gether premature at present to ascribe the latter to this or any other species of Hebradendron. On the whole, therefore, it must be admitted that we are uncertain, not only as to the precise tree which affords the officinal gamboge, but also whether it is derived from any one tree exclusively, or from several. In this uncer- tainty, it seems hardly necessary to crowd our pages with botanical descrip- tions, which may possibly have no relation to the subject. Gamboge is collected in Siam and Cochin-china. Similar products are ob- tained in Ceylon; but they do not appear to be sent out of the island. Mil- burn does not mention gamboge among the exports. The tree from which it is obtained in Siam has not been examined by any botanist. It is said to be procured by breaking off the leaves and young shoots, from which the juice issues in drops, and being received in suitable vessels gradually thickens, and at length becomes solid. When it has attained the requisite consistence, it is rolled into cylinders, and wrapped in leaves. The juice is sometimes re- ceived into the hollow joints of the bamboo, which give it a cylindrical form; and, as it contracts during the process of solidification, the cylinder is often hollow in the centre. The name gummi gutta, by which it is generally known on the continent of Europe, probably originated from the circumstance that the juice escapes from the plant by drops. The officinal title was undoubtedly derived from the province of Cambodia, in which the gum-resin is collected. It was first brought to Europe by the Dutch about the middle of the seven- teenth century. We import gamboge from Canton and Calcutta, whither it is carried by the native or resident merchants. There is no difference in the appearance or cha- racter of the drug as brought from these two ports—an evidence that it is originally derived from the same place. Varieties. The best gamboge is in cylindrical rolls, from one to three inches in diameter, sometimes hollow in the centre, sometimes flattened, often folded double, or agglutinated in masses in which the original form is not always readily distinguishable. The pieces sometimes appear as if rolled, but are in general striated longitudinally from the impression made by the inner surface of the bamboo. They are externally of a dull orange colour, which is occa- sionally displaced by greenish stains, or concealed by the bright yellow powder of the drug, which slightly adheres to the surface. In this form the drug is sometimes called pipe gamboge. Another variety is imported under the name of cake or lump gamboge. It is in irregular masses weighing two or three pounds or more, often mixed with sticks and other impurities, containing many air-cells, less dense, less uniform in texture, and less brittle than the former variety, and breaking with a dull and splintery, instead of a shining and conchoidal fracture. The worst specimens of this variety, as well as of the cylindrical, are sometimes called by the London druggists coarse gamboge. They differ, however, from the preceding, only in containing a greater amount of impurities. Indeed, it would appear, from the experiments of Christison, that all the commercial varieties of this drug have a common origin, and that cake or lump gamboge differs from that which comes in the cylindrical form, only from the circumstance that the latter is the pure concrete juice of the plant, while, in the former, farinaceous matter and other impurities have been 344 Gfambogia. PART I. mixed with the pure juice for the purpose of adulteration. The inferior kinds of gamboge may be known by their greater hardness and coarser fracture; by the brownish or grayish colour of their broken surface, which is often marked with black spots; by their obvious impurities; and by the green colour which their decoction, after having been cooled, gives with tincture of iodine. When pure, the gum-resin is completely dissolved by the successive action of ether and water.* Properties. Gamboge, in its pure form, is brittle, with a smooth, conchoidal, shining fracture; and the fragments are slightly translucent at their edges. The colour of the mass when broken is a uniform reddish-orange, which becomes a beautiful bright yellow in the powder, or when the surface is rubbed with water. From the brilliancy of its colour, gamboge is highly esteemed as a pigment. It has no smell, and little taste; but, after remaining a short time in the mouth, produces an acrid sensation in the fauces. Its sp. gr. is 1-221. Exposed to heat it burns with a white flame, emitting much smoke, and leav- ing a light spongy charcoal. It is a gum-resin, and, unlike most other sub- stances of the same class, contains no essential oil. In 100 parts of it Bra- connot found 19-5 parts of gum, 05 of impurities, and 80 of a red, insipid, transparent resinous substance, becoming yellow by pulverization, and sup- posed to consist of resin united with a yellow colouring principle. John ob- tained 10-5 per cent, of gum, 89 of resin, and 0-5 of impurities. Christison has shown that the proportion of gum and resin varies in different specimens even of the purest drug. His results approach nearly to those of Braconnot. In one experiment, out of 100-8 parts he obtained 74-2 of resin, 21-8 of gum, and 4-8 of water. The gum is quite soluble in water, and of the variety de- nominated arabin. In a specimen of cake gamboge he found 11-2 per cent. of fecula and lignin, and in a very bad sample of coarse gamboge, no less than 41 per cent, of the same impurities. (Am. Journ. of Pharm,, ix. 133.) In addition to gum and resin, Ph. Buchner has found a small and variable pro- portion of a peculiar reddish-yellow colouring matter, soluble both in alcohol and water. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., iii. 303.) Gamboge is readily and entirely diffusible in water, forming a yellow opaque emulsion, from which the resinous matter is very slowly deposited. It is dissolved by alcohol, with the exception of about 8 or 10 percent, of gum; and a golden yellow tincture results, which is rendered opaque and bright yellow by the addition of water. Its solution in ammoniated alcohol is not disturbed by water. Sulphuric ether dissolves about four-fifths of it, taking up only the resin, which is obtained by the evaporation of the ethereal solution. It is wholly taken up by alkaline solutions, from which it is partially precipitated by the acids. The strong acids dissolve it; but the solution when diluted with water deposits a yellow precipitate. The colour, as well as the acrimony and medicinal power of gam- boge, resides in the resinous portion; but, as pure resins are usually destitute of these properties, it is not improbable that they may belong to a distinct principle not yet separated from the resin. So intense is the colour of the resin that one part of it communicates a perceptible yellowness to ten thousand * Ceylon gamboge, derived from the Hebradendron Cambogioides of Graham (Cambogia gutta, Linn , Garcinia Morella, De Cand.), is procured by incisions, or by cutting away a portion of the bark, and scraping off the juice which exudes. The specimens sent to Dr. Christison are in llattish or round masses, eight or nine inches in diameter, apparently composed of aggregated irregular tears, with cavities which are lined with a grayish and brownish powdery incrustation. It's general aspect is that of coarse gamboge- but the individual tears have the characters of the best kind, and its chemical composition is identical. It is used as a pigment and purgative in Ceylon, but is not an article of com- merce. (Christison's Dispensatory.) PART I. Gambogia.—Gaultheria. 345 parts of water or spirit. It has the property of combining with salifiable bases, and belongs, according to Ph. Biichner, to the class of fatty acids. It has been called gambogic acid. Medical Properties and Uses. Gamboge is a powerful, drastic, hydra- gogue cathartic, very apt to produce nausea and vomiting when given in the full close. In large quantities it is capable of producing fatal effects, and death has resulted from a drachm. It is much employed in the treatment of dropsy attended with torpid bowels, generally in combination with bitartrate of potassa or jalap. It is also prescribed in cases of obstinate constipation, and has frequently been found effectual in the expulsion of the tapeworm-. It is often combined with other and milder cathartics, the action of which it promotes and accelerates, while its own is moderated. The full dose is from two to six grains, which in cases of taenia has been raised to ten or fifteen grains. As it is apt to occasion much sickness and griping, the best plan, under ordinary circumstances, is to give it in small doses, repeated at short intervals till it operates. It may be given in pill or emulsion, or dissolved in an alkaline solution. The last method of administration has been recom- mended in dropsical complaints. Off. Prep. Pilulae Catharticae Compositae, U S.; Pilulae Gambogiae Com- positae, Dub., Lond., Ed. W. GAULTHERIA. U.S. Partridge-berry.' " The leaves of Gaultheria procumbens." U S. Gaultheria. Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Ericacea?. Gen, Ch. Calyx five-cleft, bibracteate at the base. Corolla ovate. Cap- sule five celled, invested with the berried calyx. Pursh. Gaultheria procumbens. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 616; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 27; Barton, Med. Bot, i. 171. This is a small, indigenous, shrubby, evergreen plant, with a long, creeping, horizontal root, which sends up at in- tervals one and sometimes two erect, slender, round, reddish stems. These are naked below, leafy at the summit, and usually less than a span in height. The leaves are ovate or obovate, acute, revolute at the edges with a few mu- cronate serratures, coriaceous, shining, bright green upon the upper surface, paler beneath, of unequal size, and supported irregularly on short red petioles. The flowers, of which not more than from three to five are usually found upon each stem, stand on curved, drooping, axillary peduncles. The calyx is white, five-toothed, and furnished at its base with two concave cordate bractes, which are by some authors described as an outer calyx. The corolla is white, ovate or urceolate, contracted at its mouth, and divided at its border into five small acute segments. The stamens consist of curved, plumose filaments, and ob- long orange-coloured anthers opening on the outside. The germ, which rests upon a ring having ten teeth alternating with the ten stamens, is roundish, depressed, and surmounted by an erect filiform style, terminating in an ob- tuse stigma. The fruit is a small, five-celled, many-seeded capsule, enclosed in a fleshy covering, formed by the enlarged calyx, and presenting the ap- pearance of a bright scarlet berry. The plant extends from Canada to Georgia, growing in large beds in moun- tainous tracts, or in dry barrens and sandy plains, beneath the shade of shrubs and trees, particularly of other evergreens, as the Kalmiae and Rhododendra. It is abundant in the pine barrens of New Jersey. In different parts of the country, it is known by the various names of partridge-berry, deer-berry, tea- 346 Gf-aultheria.—Gf-entiana. PART i. berry, winter-cgreen, and mountain-tea. The flowers appear from May to Sep- tember, and the fruit ripens at corresponding periods. Though the leaves only are officinal, all parts of the plant are endowed with the peculiar flavour for which these are employed, and which is found in several other plants, particularly in the bark of the Betula leuta, or sweet birch. The fruit pos- sesses it in a high degree, and, being at the same time sweetish, is much relished by some persons, and forms a favourite article of food with partridges, deer, and other wild animals. To the very peculiar and agreeably aromatic odour and taste which belong to the whole plant, the leaves add a marked astringency, dependent on the presence of tannin. The aromatic properties reside in a volatile oil which may be separated by distillation. (See Oleum Gaultherise.) Medical Properties and Uses. Gaultheria has the usual stimulant opera- tion of the aromatics, united with astringency; and may, therefore, be used with advantage in some forms of chronic diarrhoea. Like other substances of the same class, it has been employed as an emmenagogue, and with the view of increasing the secretion of milk; but its chief use is to impart an agreeable flavour to mixtures and other preparations. It may be conveniently administered in the form of infusion, which, in some parts of the country, is not unfrequently used at the tables as a substitute for common tea. The oil, however, is more used in regular practice than the leaves. Instances of death are on record, resulting from the use of the oil, by mistake, in the quantity of about a fluidounce. On examination after death, strong marks of inflam- mation of the stomach were discovered. (Journ. of Phil. Col. of Pharm., vi. 290.) Off. Prep. Oleum Gaultherise. U S. W. GENTIANA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Gentian. " The root of Gentiana lutea." U.S., Ed. " Gentiana lutea. Radix." Lond. Off. Syn. GENTIANA LUTEA. Radix. Dub. Gentiane jaune, Fr.; Rother Enzian, Germ.; Genziatm, Ital; Genciana, Span. Gentiana. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentianaceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla one-petalled. Capsule two-valved, one-celled, with two longitudinal receptacles. Willd. Gentiana lutea. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1331; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 273, t. 95; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. ii. 12, pi. 60. Yellow gentian is among the most remarkable of the species which compose this genus, both for its beauty and great comparative size. From its thick, long, branching, peren- nial root, an erect, round stem rises to the height of three or four feet, bear- ing opposite, sessile, oval, acute, five-nerved leaves, of a bright green colour, and somewhat glaucous. The lower leaves, which spring from the root, are narrowed at their base into the form of a petiole. The flowers are large and beautiful, of a yellow colour, peduncled, and placed in whorls at the axils of the upper leaves. The calyx is monophyllous, membranous, yellowish, and semi-transparent, splitting when the flower opens, and reflected when it is fully expanded; the corolla is rotate, and deeply divided into five or six lanceolate, acute segments; the stamens are five or six and shorter than the corolla. This plant grows among the Apennines, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and in other mountainous or elevated regions of Europe. Its root is the only part used in medicine. Several other species of the genus possess analogous medicinal properties, PART I. Gentiana. 347 and are used for similar purposes. The roots of G. purpxirea and G. punc- tata, growing in the same regions as the G. lutea, and of G. Pannonica, growing in the Austrian dominions, are said to be frequently mingled with the officinal gentian, from which they are scarcely distinguishable. The G. macrophylla of Pallas is used in Siberia; and one indigenous species, the G. Catesbxi, has found a place in the secondary catalogue of the U. S. Pharma- copoeia. Gentian is imported from Germany. lyropcrties. As found in the shops, it is in pieces of various dimensions and shape, usually of considerable length, consisting sometimes of longitu- dinal slices, sometimes of the root cut transversely, twisted, wrinkled exter- nally, sometimes marked with close transverse rings, of a grayish-brown colour on the outside, yellowish or reddish within, and of a soft spongy tex- ture. The odour is feeble, but decided and peculiar. The taste is slightly sweetish, and intensely bitter, without being nauseous. The powder is of a yellowish colour. Water and alcohol extract the taste and medical virtues of the root. Examined by MM. Henry and Caventou, it was found to con- tain, 1. a peculiar crystallizable principle which they supposed to be the chief active ingredient of the root, and, therefore, named gentianin, 2. a volatile odorous principle, 3. a substance identical with birdlime (glu), 4. a greenish fixed oil, 5. a free organic acid, 6. uncrystallizable sugar, 7. gum, 8. yellow colouring matter, and 9. lignin. Mr. Denis has since detected in the root the existence of pectic acid; and the gentianin of Henry and Caventou has been proved by Trommsdorff and by M. Leconte to be, when quite pure, wholly destitute both of bitterness and of medicinal power; so that it would appear no longer to merit the name which it bears. M. Leconte proposes, accordingly, to call it gentisin; and, as it possesses the property of neutral- izing the alkalies, it has received also the name of gentisic acid. It is ob- tained by treating the alcoholic extract of gentian, previously exhausted by water, with sulphuric ether, filtering the ethereal solution, and allowing it to evaporate spontaneously. It is in needle-shaped crystals, pale yellow, insolu- ble in water, and soluble in alcohol. The same chemist believes that he has ascertained the birdlime or glu of Henry and Caventou to be a mixture of wax, oil, and caoutchouc. When distilled with water, gentian yields a mi- nute proportion of a concrete oil, which has a strong odour of the root. Pro- fessor Dulk of Konigsberg gives the following process for isolating the bitter principle. The alcoholic extract is macerated in water, and the solution, having been subjected to the vinous fermentation in order to separate the sugar, is treated first with acetate of lead, and then, after filtration, with sub- acetate of lead and a very little ammonia, in order to precipitate the combi- nation of the vegetable principle with oxide of lead; care being taken not to use too much ammonia, lest by its stronger basic powers it should separate the vegetable principle from the oxide. The precipitate thus obtained is washed with a little water, then mixed with a large proportion of the same fluid, and decomposed by hydrosulphuric acid. The liquid, having been fil- tered, is evaporated with a gentle heat to dryness, and the residue treated with alcohol of 0S20. The alcoholic solution being evaporated yields the bitter principle, which ought to receive the name of gentian in. It is a brownish- yellow, uncrystallizable substance, having in a high degree the bitter taste of the root. It is almost insoluble in absolute alcohol, but soluble in ordi- nary alcohol, and very soluble in water. It reddens litmus, and appears to possess acid properties. (Journ, de Pharm., xxiv. 638.) When gentian is macerated in cold water, it undergoes the vinous fermentation, in consecmence, probably, of the presence of its saccharine principle. From the fermented 348 Grentiana.—Grentiana Catesbsei. part i. infusion a spirituous liquor is obtained by distillation, which, though bitter and unpleasant to the smell, is much relished by the Swiss and Tyrolese. Medical Properties and Uses. Gentian possesses, in a high degree, the tonic powers which characterize the simple bitters. It excites the appetite, invigorates the powers of digestion, moderately increases the temperature of the body and the force of the circulation, and acts in fact as a general corro- borant of the system. In very large doses, however, it is apt to load and oppress the stomach, to irritate the bowels, and even to occasion nausea and vomiting. It has been known as a medicine from the highest antiquity, and is said to have derived its name from Gentius, a king of Illyria. Many of the complex preparations handed down from the Greeks and Arabians contain it among their ingredients; and it enters into most of the stomachic combina- tions employed in modern practice. It may be used in all cases of disease dependent on pure debility of the digestive organs, or requiring a general tonic impression. Dyspepsia, gout, amenorrhoea, hysteria, scrofula, intermit- tent fever, diarrhoea, and worms, are among the many forms of disease in which it has proved useful; but it is the condition of the stomach and of the system generally, not the name of the disease, which must be taken into con- sideration in prescribing it; and there is scarcely a single complaint in which it can be advantageously administered under all circumstances. Its powder has been applied externally to malignant and sloughing ulcers. It is usually given in the form of infusion or tincture. A syrup may be prepared by form- ing a saturated infusion by means of percolation, and incorporating this at a boiling temperature with simple syrup. The dose of the powder is from ten to forty grains. Off. Prep. Extraetum Gentianae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Infusum Gen- tianae Compositum, U. S., Lond., Ed,., Dub.; Tinctura Gentianae Comp., U.S., Lond., Ed., Du&.; Tinctura Rhei et Gentianae, U.S., Ed.; Vinum Gentianae Compositum, Ed. W. GENTIANA CATESBtEI. U.S. Secondary. Blue Gentian. " The root of Gentiana Catesbaei." U. S. Gentiana. See GENTIANA. Several indigenous species of gentian approach more or less nearly to the Gentiana lutea in the bitterness and medicinal virtues of their roots; but the G. Catesbsei, which resembles it most closely in these respects, is the only one which has attracted the particular attention of the medical profession. Gentiana Catesbaei. Walter, Flor. Car. 109; Bigelow, Am. Med, Bot. ii. 137; Nuttall, Gen, of Am. Plants, i. 172. The blue gentian has a peren- nial, branching, somewhat fleshy root, and a simple, erect, rough stem, rising eight or ten inches in height, and bearing opposite leaves, which are ovate lanceolate, acute, and rough on their margin. The flowers, which are of a palish-blue colour, are crowded, nearly sessile, axillary and terminal. The divisions of the calyx are linear lanceolate, and longer than the tube. The corolla is large, ventricose, plaited, and divided at its border into ten seg- ments, of which the five outer are more or less acute, the five inner bifid and fringed. The number of stamens is five, and the two stigmas are seated on the germ. The capsule is oblong, acuminate, with two valves, and a single cell. G. Catesbsei grows in the grassy swamps of North and South Carolina, where it flowers from September to December. It was named by Walter and part I. Gentiana Catesbsei.—Geoffroy a Inermis. 349 Elliot in honour of Catesby, by whom it was imperfectly delineated upwards of eighty years ago. Pursh confounds it with G. Saponaria, to which it is nearly allied. Properties. By Dr. Bigelow we are told that the dried root of this plant has at first a mucilaginous and sweetish taste, which is soon succeeded by an intense bitterness, approaching nearly to that of the officinal gentian. Alco- hol and boiling water extract its virtues, and the tincture and decoction are even more bitter than the root in substance. Blue gentian has not been satisfactorily analyzed. Medical Properties. As a medicine it is little inferior to the European gentian, and may be employed for similar purposes. In the Northern and Middle States it is not used; but it is said to be occasionally prescribed by the practitioners of the South in dyspepsia, and other cases of stomachic and general debility. It may be given in powder in the dose of fifteen or thirty grains, or in the form of extract, infusion, wine, or tincture, which may be prepared in the manner directed for the similar preparations of foreign gentian. W. GEOFFROYA INERMIS. Cortex. Dub. Cabbage-tree Bark. Geoffroya de Jamaique, Fr.; Jamaicanische Wurmrinde, Germ.; GeofFroGa, Ital The tree producing this bark was formerly placed in the genus Geoffroya, from which, however, it has been separated, and with a few others erected into a distinct genus entitled Andira, which is now generally admitted by botanists. Andira. Sex. Syst. Diadelphia Decandria. — Nat. Ord. Leguminosae or Fabaceic. Gen. Ch. Calyx turbinate-campanulate, five-toothed; teeth nearly equal, acute, erect. Corolla papilionaceous; the vexillum roundish, emarginate, longer than the keel. Stamens diadelphous. Ovary with three ovules. Legume stipitate, roundish, rather hard, one-celled, one-seeded, when ripe divisible into two valves. (De Cand.) Andira inermis. De Cand. Prodrom. ii. 475.— Geoffroya inermis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1130; Woodv. Med, Bot., p. 416, t, 151. The stem of this tree, which rises to a considerable height, is branched towards the top, and covered with a smooth gray bark. The leaves are pinnate, consisting of six or seven pairs of ovate lanceolate, pointed, veined, smooth, petiolate leaflets, with an odd one at the end. The flowers are rose-coloured, and arranged in terminal panicles, with very short pedicels. The cabbage-tree is a native of Jamaica and other West India Islands. The bark is the part used. On the continent of Europe the bark of the Andira retusa (Geoffroya Surinamensis), which grows in Surinam, has also been employed. It is con- sidered more powerfully vermifuge, without being equally liable to produce injurious effects. Cabbage-tree bark is in long pieces, thick, fibrous, externally of a brownish- ash colour, scaly and covered with lichens, internally yellowish, of a resinous fracture, a disagreeable smell, a sweetish, mucilaginous, bitterish taste, and affording a powder resembling that of jalap. Huttenschmidt obtained from it a crystallizable, very bitter substance, having the composition and neutral- izing properties of the vegetable alkaloids, and named very inappropriately jama icin a. Two grains of it produced violent purging in pigeons. The bark of the A. retusa has a grayish epidermis, beneath which it is 350 G-eoffroya Fnermis.—Gferanium. part i. reddish-brown, laminated, compact, very tenacious, and, when cut transversely, exhibits a shining and variegated surface. In the dried state it is inodorous, but has an austere bitter taste. The powder is of a pale cinnamon colour. Medical Properties and Uses. Cabbage-tree bark is cathartic, and in large doses is apt to occasion vomiting, fever, and delirium. It is said that these effects are more liable to result if cold water is drunk during its operation, and are relieved by the use of warm water, castor oil, or a vegetable acid. In the West Indies the bark is esteemed a powerful vermifuge, and is much employed for expelling lumbrici; but it is dangerous if incautiously adminis- tered, and instances of death from its use have occurred. It is almost un- known in this country, and does not enter into our officinal catalogues. The usual form of administration is that of decoction, though the medicine is also given in powder, syrup, and extract The dose of the powder is from a scruple to half" a drachm, of the extract three grains, of the decoction two fluidounces. Off. Prep. Decoctum Geoffroyae, Dub. W. GERANIUM. U.S. Cranesbill. "The root of Geranium maculatum." U. S. Geranium. Sex. Syst. Monadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Geraniaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved. Corolla five petalled, regular. Nectary five melliferous glands, united to the base of the longer filaments. Arilli five, one-seeded, awned, at the base of a beaked receptacle; awns simple, naked, neither spiral nor bearded. Willd. Geranium maculatum. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 705; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i. 84; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 149. This plant has a perennial, horizon- tal, fleshy root, which is furnished with short fibres, and sends up annually an herbaceous stem, with several radical leaves. The stem is erect, round, dichotomously branched, from one to two feet high, of a grayish-green colour, and thickly covered, in common with the petioles and peduncles, with reflexed hairs. The leaves are deeply divided into three, five, or seven lobes, which are variously incised at their extremities, hairy, and of a pale green colour, mottled with still paler spots. Those which rise immediately from the root are supported on footstalks eight or ten inches long; those of the stem are opposite, the lower petiolate, the upper nearly sessile, with lanceolate or linear stipules. The flowers are large, and usually of a purple colour. The peduncles spring from the forks of the stem, and severally support two flowers upon short pedicels. The calyx is composed of five oblong, ribbed, cuspidate leaves; the petals are five, obovate, and entire; the stamens ten, with ob- long, deciduous anthers, the five alternate filaments being longer than the others, and having glands at their base; the germ is ovate, supporting a straight style as long as the stamens, and surmounted by five stigmas. The fruit consists of five aggregate, one-seeded capsules, attached by a beak to the persistent style, curling up and scattering the seeds when ripe. The cranesbill is indigenous, growing throughout the United States, in moist woods, thickets and hedges, and generally in low grounds. It flowers from May to July. The root should be collected in autumn. This, when dried, is in pieces from one to three inches long, from a quarter to half an inch in thickness, somewhat flattened, contorted, wrinkled, tuber- culated, and beset with slender fibres. It is externally of an umber-brown colour, internally reddish-gray, compact, inodorous, and of an astringent taste, PART I. Geranium.—Geum. 351 without bitterness or other unpleasant flavour. Water and alcohol extract its virtues. Tannin is an abundant constituent. Medical Properties and Uses. Geranium is one of our most powerful indi- genous astringents, and may be employed for all the purposes to which these medicines are applicable. The absence of unpleasant taste, and of all other offensive qualities, renders it peculiarly serviceable in the cases of infants, and of persons with very delicate stomachs. Diarrhoea, chronic dysentery, cholera infantum in the latter stages, and the various hemorrhages, are the forms of disease in which it is most commonly used, and with greatest advantage; but care should be taken, before it is administered, that the condition of the system and of the part affected is such as not to contraindicate the use of astringents. As an application to indolent ulcers, an injection in gleet and leucorrhcea, a gargle in relaxation of the uvula and aphthous ulcerations of the throat, it answers the same purpose as kino, catechu, and other foreign remedies of similar character. It is a popular domestic remedy in various parts of the United States, and is said to be employed by the Indians in numerous dis- orders. It may be given in substance, decoction, tincture, or extract. The dose of the powder is twenty or thirty grains, that of a decoction, made by boiling an ounce of the root in a pint and a half of water to a pint, from one to two fluidounces. The medicine is sometimes given to children boiled in milk. W. GEUM. U.S. Secondary. Water Avens. "The root of Geum rivalc." U. S. Bcnoite aquatique, Fr.; Wiesen Benediktenwurzel, Germ. Gkum. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord. Rosaceae. Gen. Ch, Calyx ten-cleft. Petals five. Seeds with a bent awn. Willd. Several species belonging to this genus have been medicinally employed; but two only are deserving of particular notice—the Geum rivale, which has a place in the secondary list of the United States Pharmacopceia, and the G. urbanum, recognised by the Dublin College. Geum rivale, Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1115; Engl. Bot. 106. The water avens has a perennial, horizontal, jointed, scaly, tapering root, about six inches long, of a reddish-brown colour externally, white internally, and furnished with numerous descending yellowish fibres. Sometimes one, sometimes several stems rise from the same root, which also sends up numerous leaves. The stems are about a foot and a half high, simple, erect, pubescent, and of a purplish colour. The radical leaves are interruptedly pinnate, with large terminal leaflets, and stand on long, hairy footstalks; those of the stem are petiolate, and divided into three serrate, pointed segments. The flowers are few, solitary, nodding, yellowish-purple, and supported on axillary and termi- nal peduncles. The colour of the stems and flowers has given rise to the name of purple avens, by which the plant is sometimes called. The calyx is inferior, with ten lanceolate pointed segments, of which the five alternate are smaller than the others. The petals are five, and of the same length as the calyx. The seeds are oval, and furnished with plumose awns, minutely unci- nate, and nearly naked at the summit. This species of Geum is common to Europe and the United States; though the plant of this country has smaller flowers, with petals more rounded on the top, and leaves more deeply incised than the European. It delights in 352 Geum.—Geum Urbanum. PART I. wet boggy meadows, and extends from Canada into New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. Its flowers appear in June and July. The dried root is hard, brittle, easily pulverized, of a reddish or purplish colour, without smell, and of an astringent, bitterish taste. Boiling water extracts its virtues. Medical Properties and Uses. Water avens is tonic and powerfully astring- ent. It may be used with advantage in chronic or passive hemorrhages, leucor- rhcea, and diarrhoea; and is said to be beneficially employed, in the Eastern States, as a popular remedy in the debility of phthisis pulmonalis, in simple dyspepsia, and in visceral diseases consequent on disorder of the stomach. In Europe it is sometimes substituted for the root of the common avens, or Geum urbanum, but is less esteemed. The dose of the powdered root is from a scruple to a drachm, to be repeated three times a day. The decoction, which is usually preferred, may be made by boiling an ounce of the root in a pint of water, and given in the quantity of one or two fluidounces. A weak decoction is sometimes used by invalids in New England as a substitute for tea and coffee. W. GEUM URBANUM. Radix. Dub. Root of Avens. Benoite, Fr.; Benediktenwurzel, Germ.; Cariofillata, Ital; Cariofilata, Span. Geum. See GEUM. Geum urbanum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1113; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 502, t. 181. Avens is an herbaceous perennial plant, with slender, erect, branch- ing, hairy stems, about two feet in height. The leaves are petiolate, serrate, hairy; those on the upper part of the stem, simple, trifid, and pointed; those nearest the root, pinnate and lyrate, with two pairs of unequal leaflets, and a larger terminal leaflet which is usually three-lobed. The flowers are small, of a bright yellow colour, and solitary upon erect terminal peduncles. The seeds, which are hairy and collected in a roundish head, have at their summit a naked awn, bent like a hook at the apex. This plant is a native of Europe, where it grows in woods and shady unculti- vated places. The flowers appear in June and July. The root, which is the part employed, should be dug up in March, when its sensible properties are in greatest perfection, and should be dried by a moderate heat. The large roots are preferred to those which are very small, and the cultivated to the wild. The avens root consists of a short oblong body or caudex, from a quarter to half an inch in thickness, externally brown, internally white towards the circumference and reddish at the centre, and sending forth numerous long brown descending fibres. When quite dry it is nearly inodorous, but in the recent state has a smell resembling that of cloves, whence it is sometimes called radix caryophyllatse. Its taste is bitterish and astringent. It imparts its medicinal virtues to water and alcohol, which it tinges red. Distilled with water it yields a thick, greenish-yellow volatile oil, and gives a pleasant flavour to the liquid. Tannin is an abundant constituent. It contains, moreover, according to Trommsdorff, an insipid resin, gum, bassorin, and lignin. Medical Properties and Uses. This root has been largely used on the con- tinent of Europe as a tonic and astringent in numerous diseases. Among these are chronic and passive hemorrhages, chronic dysentery and diarrhoea, leucor- rhcea, congestions of the abdominal viscera, and intermittent fever. The dose of the powdered root is from thirty grains to a drachm three or four times a day, and the same quantity may be given at a dose in the form of decoction. The medicine is scarcely used in the United States. W. PART I. Gillenia. 353 GILLENIA. U.S. Gillenia. "The root of Gillenia trifoliafa." U. S. Indian physic, American ipecacuanha. Gillenia. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. Rosaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx tubular campanulate, border five-toothed. Corolla partly unequal. Petals five, lanceolate, attenuated at the base. Stamens few, in- cluded. Styles five. Cajysules five, connate at the base, opening on the inner side, each two-seeded. Torrey. This genus was separated by Moench from Spirsea, but was not generally acknowledged till after the publication of Barton's Medical Botany. It is ex- clusively North American, and includes only two discovered species—G. tri- foliafa and G. stipulacea—of which the former only is recognised in our Pharmacopceia, though the two are identical in properties. 1. Gillenia trifoliafa. Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. iii. 10; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 65; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. i. 40, pi. 34. This is an herbaceous plant with a perennial root, consisting of numerous long, slender, brown branches, proceeding from a thick tuber-like head or caudex. The stems, several of which usually rise from the same root, are two or three feet in height, erect, slender, smooth, flexuose, branched, and commonly of a reddish colour. The leaves are ternate, with very short petioles, and small linear lanceolate stipules. The leaflets are ovate lanceolate, sharply serrate, and acuminate. The flowers grow in a loose terminal nodding panicle, with long peduncles. The calyx is tubular campanulate, ventricose, and terminates in five pointed segments. The corolla is composed of five linear lanceolate, recurved petals, the two upper separated from the three lower, white, with a reddish tinge on their border, and of three times the length of the calyx. The stamens are twenty, the filaments short, the anthers small and yellow. Each flower is succeeded by five capsules, connate at their base, oblong, acuminate, gibbous without, acute within, two-valved, one-celled, opening inward, and containing each one or two oblong seeds. This species of Gillenia grows throughout the United States, east of the Alleghany ridge, and in Pennsylvania may also be found abundantly west of these mountains. Pursh found it in Florida, and it extends as far north as Canada. It frequents light soils, in shady and moist situations, and flowers in June and July. The root should be gathered in September. 2. G. stipulacea. Barton, Med. Bot. i. 71. This species is also herbaceous and perennial, though much taller, and more bushy than the preceding. The stems are brownish and branched. The upper leaves are ternate, lanceolate, serrate; the lower more deeply incised, becoming towards the root pinnatifid, and of a reddish-brown colour at the margin. The stipules are ovate, acumi- nate, deeply serrate, resembling leaves, and marking the species at the first glance. The flowers are smaller than those of G. trifoliafa, and grow on long slender peduncles in a lax corymb. In the valley of the Mississippi, this plant occupies the place of the G. tri- foliafa, which is not found beyond the Muskingum. It grows as far north as the state of New York, extends through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, and probably into the states south of the Ohio, as it has been found in Western Virginia.- Its root is precisely similar to that of the eastern species, and is reputed to possess the same properties. The dried root of Gillenia is not thicker than a quill, wrinkled longitudi- 23 354 G-illenia.—Grlycyrrhiza. part i. nally, with occasional transverse fissures, and in the thicker pieces presenting in some places an irregular undulated somewhat knotty appearance, arising from indentations on one side corresponding with prominences on the other. It is externally of a light brown colour, and consists of a thick, somewhat reddish, brittle, cortical portion, with an interior slender, tougher, whitish ligneous cord. The bark, which is easily separable, has a bitter, not disagree- able taste; the wood is nearly insipid and comparatively inert, and should be rejected. The powder is of a light brownish colour, and possesses a feeble odour, which is scarcely perceptible in the root. The bitterness is extracted by boiling water, which acquires the red colour of wine. The root has not been accurately analyzed. Medical l^roperties and Uses. Gillenia is a mild and efficient emetic, and, like most other substances belonging to the same class, occasionally acts upon the bowels. In very small doses it has been thought to exert a tonic influence. It is much used by some practitioners in the country as a substitute for ipe- cacuanha, which it is said to resemble in its mode of operation. It was em- ployed by the Indians, and became known as an emetic to the colonists at an early period. Linnaeus was aware of its reputed virtues. The dose of the powdered root is from twenty to thirty grains, repeated at intervals of twenty minutes till it vomits. W. GLYCYRRHIZA. U. S., Lond. Liquorice Root. " The root of Glycyrrhiza glabra." U. S. " Glycyrrhiza glabra. Radix vcccyis* 1 jOTi.cij. Off Syn. GLYCYRRHIZA RADIX. Root of Glycyrrhiza glabra. Ed.; GLYCYRRHIZA GLABRA. Radix. Dub. Bois de reglisse, Fr.; Siissholzwurzel, Germ.; Liquirizia, Ital; Regaliza, Span. Glycyrrhiza. Sex. Syst. Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Leguminosae or Fabacese. Gen. Ch. Calyx bilabiate; upper lip three-cleft, lower undivided. Legume ovate, compressed. Willd. Glycyrrhiza glabra. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1144; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 420, t. 152; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. i. 38, pi. 32. The liquorice plant has a perennial root, which is round, succulent, tough and pliable, furnished with sparse fibres, rapid in its growth, and in a sandy soil penetrates deeply into the ground. The stems are herbaceous, erect, and usually four or five feet in height; have few branches; and are garnished with alternate, pinnate leaves, consisting of several pairs of ovate, blunt, petiolate leaflets, with a single leaflet at the end, of a pale green colour, and clammy on their under surface. The flowers are violet or purple, formed like those of the pea, and arranged in axillary spikes supported on long peduncles. The calyx is tubular and persistent. The fruit is a compressed, smooth, acute, one-celled legume, containing from one to four small kidney-shaped seeds. The plant is a native of the South of Europe, Barbary, Syria, and Persia; and is cultivated in England, the North of France, and Germany. Much of the root imported into this country comes from the ports of Messina and Palermo in Sicily. It is also largely produced in the northern provinces of Spain, where it forms an important article of commerce. It is not improbable that a portion of the liquorice root from Italy and Sicily is the product of the G. echinafa, which grows wild in Apulia. This species is also abundantly produced in the South of Russia, where, according to Ilayne, sufficient extract is prepared from it to supply the whole Russian empire. PART I. Grlycyrrhiza. 355 A species of Glycyrrhiza, the G. lepidota, grows abundantly about St. Louis, in the state of Missouri, and flourishes along the banks of the Mis- souri river to its source in the mountains. It is probably the same with the liquorice plant mentioned by Mackenzie as growing on the northern coast of this continent. Mr. Nuttall states that its root possesses in no inconsiderable degree the taste of liquorice. Properties. The liquorice root of the shops is in long pieces, varying in thickness from a few lines to more than an inch, fibrous, externally grayish- brown, and wrinkled by desiccation, internally yellowish, without smell, and of a sweet mucilaginous taste, which is sometimes mingled with a slight de- gree of acrimony. It is often worm-eaten and more or less decayed. The best pieces are those which have the brightest yellow colour internally, and of which the layers are distinct. The powder is of a grayish-yellow colour, when the root is pulverized without being deprived of its epidermis, of a pale sulphur-yellow, when the epidermis has been removed. Robiquet found the following ingredients in liquorice root:—1. a peculiar transparent yellow sub- stance, called glycyrrhizin or glycion, of a sweet saccharine taste, scarcely soluble in cold water, very soluble in boiling water with which it gelatinizes on cooling, thrown down from its aqueous solution by acids, readily soluble in cold alcohol, insusceptible of the vinous fermentation, yielding no oxalic acid by the action of the nitric, and therefore wholly distinct from sugar; 2. a crystallizable principle, named agedolte by Robiquet, but subsequently proved to be identical with asparagin; 3. starch; 4. albumen; 5. a brown acrid resin; 6. a brown azotized extractive matter; 7. lignin; 8. salts of lime and magnesia, with phosphoric, sulphuric, and malic acids. Robiquet pre- pared glycyrrhizin by subjecting a strong cold infusion of the root to ebulli- tion, in order to separate the albumen; then filtering, precipitating with acetic acid, and washing the precipitate with cold water to remove any adhering acid. It may be still further purified by solution in absolute alcohol, and evaporation at a very gentle heat. According to Dr. T. Lade, glycyrrhizin, as it exists in the root, is rendered soluble in water by combination with in- organic bases, such as lime and ammonia, from which it is separated by the addition of an acid. Berzelius appears to have been mistaken in considering the precipitate, obtained by adding acetic acid to the infusion of the root, as a compound of the acid and glycyrrhizin. From the observations of Dr. Lade, it is to be inferred that this principle has no affinity for the acids, but com- bines with salifiable bases, forming salts of various degrees of solubility. Its sweetness is retained in the compounds which it forms with the alkalies. It consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. (Chem. Gaz., No. 100, from Liebig's Annalen, Aug. 1846.) An extract of liquorice root is brought from Spain and Italy, and much used under the name of liquorice. (See Extraetum Glycyrrhizee.) Medical Properties and Uses. Liquorice root is an excellent demulcent, well adapted to catarrhal affections, and to irritations of the mucous membrane of the bowels and urinary passages. It is best given in the form of decoction, either alone, or combined with other demulcents. It is frequently employed as an addition to the decoctions of acrid or irritating vegetable substances, such, for example, as seneka and mezereon, the acrimony of which it covers and conceals, while it renders them more acceptable to the stomach. Before being used, it should be deprived of its cortical part, which is somewhat acrid, without possessing the peculiar virtues of the root. The decoction may be prepared by boiling an ounce of the bruised root, for a few minutes, in a pint of water. By long boiling, the acrid resinous principle is extracted. Per- haps, however, to this principle may in part be ascribed the therapeutical virtues of liquorice-root in chronic bronchial diseases. The powder is used 356 Grlycyrrhiza.—Qossypium. part i. in the preparation of pills, either to give them due consistence, or to cover their surface, and prevent them from adhering together. Off. Prep. Aqua Calcis Composita, Dub.; Confectio Sennae, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Decoctum Glycyrrhizae, Dub.; Decoctum Guaiaci Comp., Dub., Ed,; Decoctum Hordei Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Decoctum Mezerei, Ed., Dub.; Decoctum Sarsaparillae Comp., U.S., Loud., Ed., Dub.; Electuarium Pi- peris, Ed.; Extraetum Glycyrrhizae, Ljond., Ed., Dub.; Infusum Lini, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pilulae Ferri Sulphatis, Ed.; Pil. Hydrargyri, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Sarsaparillae Comp., U. S.; Tinctura Rhei Comp., Lond,, Dub. W. GOSSYPIUM. Ed. Raw Cotton. " Hairs attached to the seeds of Gossypium herbaceum, and other species of the genus." Ed. Coton, Fr. ; Baumwolle, Germ.; Cotone, Ital.; Algodon, Span. Gossypium. Sex. Syst. Monadelphia Polyandria. — Nat. Ord. Malvaceae. Gen, Ch. Calyx cup-shaped, obtusely five-toothed, surrounded by a three- parted involucel, with dentate-incised, cordate leaflets, cohering at the base. Stigmas three to five. Capsule three to five-celled, many-seeded. Seeds surrounded by a tomentose wool. De Cand. In consequence of changes produced in the plants of this genus by cultiva- tion, botanists have found great difficulty in determining which are distinct species, and which merely varieties. De Candolle describes thirteen species in his Prodromus, and mentions six others; but considers them all uncertain. Royle describes eight and admits others. Swartz thinks they may all be re- ferred to one original species. The plants inhabit different parts of tropical Asia and Africa, and many of them are cultivated for their cotton in climates adapted to their growth. The species from which most of the cotton of com- merce is thought to be obtained, is the one indicated by the Edinburgh Phar- macopceia. Gossypium herbaceum. Linn. Sp. 975; De Cand. Prodrom. i. 456. This is a biennial or triennial plant, with a branching stem from two to six feet high, and palmate hoary leaves, the lobes of which are somewhat lan- ceolate and acute. The flowers are pretty, with yellow petals, having a pur- ple spot near the claw. The leaves of the involucel or outer calyx are serrate. The capsule opens when ripe, and displays a loose white tuft of long slender filaments, which surround the seeds, and adhere firmly to the outer coating. The plant is a native of Asia, but is cultivated in most tropical countries both of the old and new continents. It requires a certain duration of warm weather to perfect its seeds, and in the United States cannot be cultivated for practical purposes north of Virginia. The herbaceous part of the plant contains much mucilage, and has been used as a demulcent. The seeds yield by expression a fixed oil of the drying kind, which has been occasionally employed. The root has been supposed to possess medical virtues. But the only officinal portion, and that for which the plant is cultivated, is the filamentous matter surrounding the seeds. This when separated constitutes the cotton of commerce. Cotton consists of filaments, which, under the microscope, appear to be flattened tubes, with occasional joints indicated by transverse lines. It is without smell or taste, insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, the oils, and vege- table acids, soluble in strong alkaline solutions, and decomposed by the con- centrated mineral acids. It has not been analyzed, but bears a close analogy part i. Gossypium.—Granati Fructtis Cortex. 357 to lignin. By nitric acid it is converted into that remarkable explosive sub- stance denominated gun-cotton, for an account of which, as well as of a valu- able adhesive preparation made by dissolving it in ether, the reader is referred to the Appendix. For medical use it should be carded into thin sheets; or the wadding of the milliners may be employed, consisting of sheets somewhat stiffened and glazed on the surface by starch. In the latter case, the sheets should be split open when applied. Uses. Cotton has been used from time immemorial for the fabrication of eloth; but it is only recently that it has entered the catalogue of medicines. It is chiefly employed in the treatment of recent burns and scalds; an appli- cation of it which was adopted by surgeons from popular practice. It is said to relieve the pain, diminish the inflammation, prevent vesication, and very much to hasten the cure. Whatever advantages result from it are probably ascribable to the absorption of effused liquids, and the protection of the part affected from the air. It is applied in thin and successive layers; and benefit is said to result from the application of a bandage when the skin is not too much inflamed. We have, .however, seen cotton do much harm in burns, by becoming consolidated over a vesicated surface, and acting as a mechanical irritant. Such a result may be prevented by first dressing the burn with a piece of fine linen spread with simple ointment. It is also recommended in erysipelas, and as a dressing for blisters; and we have found it useful, applied in a large batch over parts affected with rheumatism, especially in lumbago. The root of the cotton plant has been employed by Dr. Bouchelle, of Mis- sissippi, who believes it to be an excellent emmenagogue, and not inferior to ergot in promoting uterine contraction. He states that it is habitually and effectually resorted to by the slaves of the South for producing abortion; and thinks that it acts in this way, without injury to the general health. To assist labour, he employs a decoction made by boiling four ounces of the inner bark of the root in a quart of water to a pint, and gives a wineglassful every twenty or thirty minutes. ( West- Journ. of Med. and Surg., Aug., 1840.) W. GRANATI FRUCTUS CORTEX. U.S. Pomegranate Rind. " The rind of the fruit of Punica Granatum." U. S. GRANATI RAD1CIS CORTEX. U.S. Bark of Pomegranate Root. " The bark of the root of Punica Granatum." U. S. Of Si/n. GRANATUM. Punica Granatum. Fructus Cortex. Lond.; GRANATI RADIX. Root-bark of Punica Granatum. Ed.; PUNICA GRANATUM. Baccae tunica exterior. Radicis cortex. Flores. Dub. Ecorce de granade, Fr.; Granatapfel-Echalin, Germ.; Malicorio, Scorza del melogranati, Ital; Corteza de granada, Span. Punica. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Myrtaceas. ' Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft, superior. Petals five. Pome many-celled, many-seeded. Willd. Punica Granatum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 981; Woodv. Med. Bot, p. 531, t. 190; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot., i. 45, pi. 3S. The pomegranate is a small shrubby tree, attaining in favourable situations the height of twenty feet, with a very unequal trunk, and numerous branches, which sometimes bear thorns. The leaves are opposite, entire, oblong or lance-shaped, pointed 358 Granati Fructits Cortex.—Granati Radicis Cortex, parti. at each end, smooth, shining, of a bright green colour, and placed on short footstalks. The flowers are large, of a rich scarlet colour, and stand at the end of the young branches. The petals are roundish and wrinkled, and are inserted into the upper part of the tube of the calyx, which is red, thick, and fleshy. The fruit is a globular berry, about the size of an orange, crowned with the calyx, covered with a reddish-yellow, thick, coriaceous rind, and divided internally into many cells, which contain an acidulous pulp, and numerous oblong, angular seeds. This tree grows wild upon both shores of the Mediterranean, in Arabia, Persia, Bengal, China, and Japan, has been introduced into the East and West Indies, and is cultivated in all civilized countries, where the climate is sufficiently warm to allow the fruit to ripen. In higher latitudes, where it does not bear fruit, it is raised in gardens and hot-houses for the beauty of its flowers, which become double, and acquire increased splendour of colour- ing by cultivation. Doubts have been entertained as to its original country. The name of " Punicum malum," applied by the ancients to its fruit, implies that it was abundant at an early age in the neighbourhood of Carthage. The fruit of the pomegranate, for which the plant is cultivated in tropical climates, varies much in size and flavour. It is said to attain greater perfection, in both these respects, in the West Indies than in its native country. The pulp is red, succulent, pleasantly acid, and sweetish, and is used for the same pur- pose as the orange. The rind of the fruit, and the bark of the root are the parts indicated in the United States Pharmacopceia. The flowers also are recognised by the Dublin College, and the seeds are officinal in France. Rind of the Fruit, This is presented in commerce under the form of irregular fragments, hard, dry, brittle, of a yellowish or reddish-brown colour externally, paler within, without smell, and of an astringent slightly bitter taste. It contains a large proportion of tannin, and in countries where the tree abounds^has been employed for tanning leather. Flowers. The flowers, which are sometimes called balaustines, are inodor- ous, have a bitterish strongly astringent taste, and impart a violet-red colour to the saliva. They contain tannin and gallic acid, and were used by the ancients in dyeing. Bark of the Root. The roots of the pomegranate are hard, heavy, knotty, ligneous, and covered with a bark which is yellowish-gray, or ash-gray on the outer surface, and yellow on the inner. As found in the shops, the bark is in quills or fragments, breaks with a short fracture, has little or no smell, when chewed colours the saliva yellow, and leaves in the mouth an astringent taste, without any disagreeable bitterness. It contains, according to M. Latour de Trie, fatty matter, tannin, gallic acid, a saccharine substance hav- ing the properties of mannite, resin, wax, and chlorophylle, besides insoluble matters. The name of punicin has been given by Giovanni Righini to a peculiar principle which he extracted from the bark. It has the aspect of an oleo-resin, affects the nostrils somewhat like medicinal veratria, and is of an acrid taste. It may be obtained by rubbing a hydro-alcoholic extract of the bark with one-eighth of hydrate of potassa, heating the mixture with eight parts of pure water gradually added, and then dropping in dilute sulphuric acid to saturate the potassa. The punicin subsides, and may be separated by filtration. (Journ. de Chim. et de Pharm., 3e ser., v. 298.) The infusion of the bark yields a deep blue precipitate with the salts of iron, and a yellowish- white precipitate with a solution of gelatin. These properties serve to dis- tinguish this bark from those of the box root and barberry, with which it is said to be sometimes adulterated. When used it should be entirely separated from the ligneous portion of the root, as the latter is inert. Medical Properties and Uses. The rind of the fruit is astringent, and in part I. Granati Radicis Cortex.—Guaiaci Lignum. 359 the form of decoction may be given in diarrhoea from weakness of the secret- ing vessels, and in the colliquative sweats of hectic fever or simple debility. But the decoction is more frequently used as an injection in leucorrhcea, and as a gargle in sorethroat in the earliest stages, or after the inflammatory action has in some measure subsided. The powdered rind has also been recommended in intermittent fever. The flowers have the same medical pro- perties, and are used for the same purposes as the rind. The bark of the root was used by the ancients as a vermifuge, and is recommended in the writings of Avicenna; but was unknown in modern practice till brought into notice by Dr. F. Buchanan, who learned its powers in India. The Mahometan physicians of Hindostan consider it a specific against tapeworm. One of these practitioners, having relieved an English gentleman in 1804, was induced to disclose his secret, which was then made public. Numerous cures were sub- sequently effected in Europe; and there can be no doubt of the occasional efficacy of the remedy. The French writers prefer the product of the wild pomegranate, growing on the borders of the Mediterranean, to that of the plant cultivated in gardens for ornamental purposes. The bark may be ad- ministered in powder or decoction; but the latter form is usually preferred. The decoction is prepared by macerating two ounces of the bruised bark in two pints of water for twenty-four hours, and then boiling to a pint. Of this a wineglassful may be given every half hour, hour, or two hours, until the whole is taken. It often occasions nausea and vomiting, and usually purges. Portions of the worm often come away a short time after the last dose. It is recommended to give a dose of castor oil, and to diet the patient strictly on the day preceding the administration of the remedy; and, if it should not operate on the bowels, to follow it by an enema, or a dose of castor oil. If it should not succeed on the first trial, it should be repeated every day for three or four days, until the worm is discharged. It appears to have been used by the negroes of St. Domingo before it was introduced into Eu- rope. Taenia is comparatively rare in this country; and the pomegranate root has been little used. The dose of the rind and flowers in powder is from twenty to thirty grains. A decoction may be prepared in the proportion of an ounce of the medicine to a pint of water, and given in the dose of a fluidounce. The seeds are demulcent. Off. Prep. Decoctum Granati, Lond. W. GUAIACI LIGNUM. U. S., Lond., Ed. Guaiacum Wood. " The wood of Guaiacum officinale." U. S., Ed. " Guaiacum officinale. Lignum?' Lond. Off. Syn. GUAIACUM OFFICINALE. Lignum. Dub. Bois de gayac, Fr.; Pockenholz, Germ.; Legno guaiaco, Ital; Guayaco, Span. Guaiacum. Sex. Syst, Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord, Zygophyllaceae. Gen, Ch. Calyx five-cleft, unequal. Peteds five, inserted into the calyx. Capsule angular, three or five-celled. Willd. Guaiacum officinale. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 538; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 557, t. 200; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. i. 25, pi. 17. This is a large tree of very slow growth. When of full size it is from forty to sixty feet high, with a trunk four or five feet in circumference. The branches are knotted, and covered with an ash-coloured striated bark. That of the stem is of a dark- gray colour, variegated with greenish or purplish spots. The leaves are opposite, and abruptly pinnate, consisting of two, three, and sometimes four 360 Guaiaci Lignum. PART I. pairs of leaflets, which are obovate, veined, smooth, shining, dark green, from an inch to an inch and a half long, and almost sessile. The flowers are of a rich blue colour, stand on long peduncles, and grow to the number of eight or ten at the axils of the upper leaves. The seeds are solitary, hard, and of an oblong shape. The G. officinale grows in the West Indies, particularly in Hayti and Jamaica, and is found also in the warmer parts of the neighbouring conti- nent. All parts of the tree are possessed of medicinal properties, but the wood and the concrete juice only are officinal. The bark, though much more efficacious than the wood, is not kept in the shops. It is said that other species of Guaiacum contribute to the supplies brought into the market. The G. sanctum of Linnaeus, and the G. arboreum of De Candolle, are particu- larly specified. The former, however, is said by Woodville not to be suffi- ciently characterized as a distinct species from the G. officinale. Fee states that the wood of the G. sanctum is paler, and less heavy and hard than the officinal. Guaiacum wood is imported from Hayti and other West India islands, in the shape of logs or billets, covered with a thick gray bark, which presents on its inner surface, and upon its edges when broken, numerous shining crystalline points. These are supposed by M. Guibourt to be benzoic acid, by others a resinous exudation from the vessels of the plant. The billets are used by the turners for the fabrication of various instruments and utensils, for which the wood is well adapted by its extreme hardness and density. It is kept by the druggists and apothecaries only in the state of shavings or raspings, which they obtain from the turners. It is commonly called lignum vitse, a name which obviously originated from the supposition that the wood was possessed of extraordinary remedial powers. Properties. The colour of the sap-wood is yellow, that of the older and central layers greenish-brown, that of the shavings a mixture of the two. It is said that when the wood is brought into a state of minute division, its colour is rendered green by exposure to the air (Richard), and bluish-green by the action of nitric acid fumes; and the latter change may be considered as a test of its genuineness. (Duncan,) An easier test is a solution of cor- rosive sublimate, which, added to the shavings, and slightly heated, developes a bluish-green colour in the genuine wood. (Chem. Gaz., No. 80, Feb., 1846.) Guaiacum wood is almost without smell unless rubbed or beated, when it becomes odorous. When burnt it emits an agreeable odour. It is bitterish and slightly pungent; but requires to be chewed for some time before the taste is developed. It contains, according to Trommsdorff, 26 per cent, of resin, and 0-8 of a bitter pungent extractive, upon both of which, probably, though chiefly on the former, its medical virtues depend. (See Guaiaci Resina.) It yields its virtues but partially to water. One pound of the wood afforded to Geiger two ounces of extract. In this extract M. Thierry discovered a volatilizable acid, which he supposed to be peculiar, and named guaiacic acid (acide gayacique). He obtained it by treating the extract with ether, evaporating the ethereal tincture, and carefully subliming the residue. The acid condenses in small, brilliant needles. If the heat be pushed too far, an oil is also produced which colours the crystals. He pro- cured the same acid from the guaiac of the shops. (See Journ. de Pharm., xxvii. 381.) According to Jahn, however, this substance is nothing more than benzoic acid, rendered impure by obstinately adhering volatile oil and resin. (Pharm. Central Blatt, 1843, p. 309.) Medical Properties and Uses. Guaiacum wood ranks among the stimulant diaphoretics. It is said to have been introduced to the notice of European practitioners by the natives of Hispaniola, soon after the discovery of America. PART I. Guaiaci Lignum.—Guaiaci Resina. 361 It was used in Europe so early as 1508, and attained great celebrity as a re- medy for lues venerea, in which it was long considered a specific. More ex- tended experience, however, has proved it to be wholly inadequate to the cure of that disease; and it is now employed simply to palliate the secondary symptoms, to assist the operation of other and more efficient remedies, or to obviate the unpleasant effects sometimes resulting from a mercurial course in syphilitic cases. It is thought to be useful also in chronic rheumatism and gout, scrofulous affections, certain cutaneous eruptions, ozaena, and other pro- tracted diseases dependent on a depraved or vitiated condition of the system. It is always exhibited in decoction, and generally in combination with other medicines, as in the compound decoction of sarsaparilla. As but a small pro- portion of the guaiac which it contains is soluble in water, the probability is that its virtues have been greatly overrated; and that the good which has in many instances followed its employment resulted rather from the more active medicines with which it was associated, or from the attendant regimen, than from the wood itself. The simple decoction may be prepared by boiling an ounce in a pint and a half of water down to a pint, the whole of which may be administered in divided doses during the twenty-four hours. An aqueous extract of guaiacum wood is directed by the French Codex. Off. Prep. Aqua Calcis Composita, Dub.; Decoctum Guaiaci Compositum, Dub., Ed.; Decoctum Sarsaparillae Comp., U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Sarsaparillae Comp., U. S. W. GUAIACI RESINA. U. S., Lond. Guaiac. "The concrete juice of Guaiacum officinale." U. S. "Guaiacum officinale. Resina." Lond, Off. Sipi. GUAIACUM. Resin obtained by heat from the wood of Guaia- cum officinale. Ed.; GUAIACUM OFFICINALE. Resina. Dub. Resine de gayac, Fr.; Guajakharz, Germ.; Resina de guajaco, Ital; Resina de guayaco, Span. For a description of the Guaiacum officinale, see GUAIACI LIGNUM. Guaiac is the concrete juice of this tree. It is obtained in several dif- ferent modes. The most simple is by spontaneous exudation, or by incisions made into the trunk. Another method is by sawing the wood into billets about three feet long, boring them longitudinally with an auger, then placing one end of the billet on the fire, and receiving in a calabash the melted guaiac, which flows out through the hole at the opposite extremity. But the plan most frequently pursued is probably to boil the wood, in the state of chips or saw-dust, in a solution of common salt, and skim off the matter which rises to the surface. Guaiac is brought to this market from the West Indies. It is usually in large irregular pieces of various size, in which small fragments of bark, sand, and other earthy impurities are mixed with the genuine guaiac, so as to give to the mass a diversified appearance. Sometimes we find it in small roundish portions separate or agglutinated together, and evidently the result of exudation; sometimes in homogeneous masses, prepared by melting and straining the drug in its impure state. It is probable that the guaiac, obtained from the billets of wood in the manner above described, is also of uniform consistence. Properties. The pieces are of a deep greenish-brown or dark-olive colour on their external surface, and internally wherever the air has been able to penetrate. The predominant hue of those parts not exposed to the air is reddish-brown or hyacinthine, diversified, however with shades of various 362 Guaiaci Resina. part L colours. The odour is feeble but fragrant, and is rendered stronger by heat. The taste, which is at first scarcely perceptible, becomes acrid after a short period, and a permanent sense of heat and pungency is left in the mouth and fauces. Guaiac is brittle, and when broken presents a shining glass-like sur- face, conchoidal or splintery, with the smaller fragments more or less trans- lucent. It is readily pulverized; and the powder, which is at first of a light- gray colour, becomes green on exposure to the light. Its specific gravity varies from 1-2 to 1-23. It softens in the mouth, and melts with a moderate heat. It is commonly, though erroneously, called gum guaiac, as it does not essen- tially contain gum. According to the analysis of Mr. Brande, it consists of 91 per cent, of a peculiar substance analogous to the resins, and 9 per cent. of extractive. Buchner found 79-8 parts of pure resin, and 20-1 of bark con- sisting of 16-5 of lignin, 1-5 of gum, and 2.1 of extractive; but he must have operated on the unstrained guaiac. The acid discovered by M. Thieny in guaiac is asserted by Jahn to be benzoic acid. Water dissolves a small pro- portion of guaiac, not exceeding 9 parts in 100, forming an infusion of a greenish-brown colour and sweetish taste, which, upon evaporation, yields a brown substance soluble in hot water and alcohol, but scarcely so in ether. Alcohol takes up the whole with the exception of impurities. The tincture is of a deep-brown colour, is decomposed by water, and affords blue, green, and brown precipitates with the mineral acids. Guaiac is soluble also in ether, in alkaline solutions, and in sulphuric acid. The solution in sulphuric acid is of a rich claret colour, deposits, when diluted with water, a lilac precipitate, and, when heated, evolves charcoal. Nitric acid converts it into oxalic acid. Exposed to air and light it absorbs oxygen and becomes green, and the change of colour takes place rapidly in the sunshine. Either in substance or tincture, it imparts a blue colour to gluten and substances containing it, to mucilage of gum Arabic, to milk, and to various freshly cut roots, as the potato, carrot, and horseradish. The tincture is usually coloured blue by spirit of nitric ether, and a similar change of colour takes place when it is treated succes- sively by dilute hydrocyanic acid, and solution of sulphate of copper. Guaiacin is a name which has been given to the pure resinoid principle of guaiac. It is insoluble in water, but is dissolved readily by alcohol, and less readily by ether. It has the acid property of combining with the alkalies, forming soluble compounds, which are decomposed by the mineral acids and by several salts. Hence it has been called guaiacic acid. It differs from most of the resins in being converted by nitric acid into oxalic acid instead of artificial tannin. It is also peculiar in the changes of colour which it under- goes under the influence of various reagents, and which have been already mentioned. By nitric acid and chlorine it is made to assume successively a green, blue, and brown colour. These changes are ascribed by Mr. Brande to the absorption of oxygen, which forms variously coloured compounds accord- ing to the quantity absorbed. According to Jahn, the resin of guaiac consists of three distinct bodies, viz: 1. a soft resin soluble in ether and ammonia, and constituting 18-7 per cent, of the guaiac; 2. another soft resin, soluble in ether, but with difficulty dissolved by ammonia, amounting to 58-3 per cent., and 3. a hard resin insoluble in ether, but soluble in ammonia, in the quantity of 11-3 per cent. The same chemist found in guaiac traces of benzoic acid, and 11-7 per cent, of impurities. (Arch, der Pharm., xxxiii. 209; from Pharm. Cent, Blatt, 1843, p. 317.) It will be inferred, from what has been said, that the mineral acids are incompatible with the solutions of guaiac. This drug is sometimes adulterated with the resin of the pine. The fraud may be detected by the terebinthinate odour exhaled when the sophisticated guaiac is thrown upon burning coals, as well as by its partial solubility in hot part I. Guaiaci Resina.—Hsematoxylon. ' 363 oil of turpentine. This liquid dissolves resin, but leaves pure guaiac un- touched. Amber is said to be another adulteration. Nitric acid affords an excellent test of guaiac. If paper moistened with the tincture be exposed to the fumes of this acid, it speedily becomes blue. Medical Properties and Uses. Guaiac is stimulant and alterative, produc- ing, when swallowed, a sense of warmth in the stomach, with dryness of the mouth and thirst, and promoting various secretions. If given to a patient when covered warm in bed, especially if accompanied with opium and ipeca- cuanha or the antimonials, and assisted by warm drinks, it often excites pro- fuse perspiration; and hence has been usually ranked among the diaphoretics. If the patient be kept cool during its administration, it is sometimes directed to the kidneys, the action of which it promotes. In large doses it purges; and it is thought by some practitioners to be possessed of emmenagogue powers. The complaint in which it has been found most beneficial is rheu- matism. In the declining stages of the acute form of this disease, after due depletion, it is very often given in combination with opium, ipecacuanha, nitre, and the antimonials; and in the chronic form is frequently useful with- out accompaniment. It is also advantageously prescribed in gouty affections, and is occasionally used in secondary syphilis, scrofulous diseases, and cuta- neous eruptions, though the guaiacum wood is more frequently resorted to in these latter complaints. It was much relied upon by the late Dr. Dewees in the cure of amenorrhoea and dysmenorrhcea. The medicine is given in substance or tincture. The dose of the powder is from ten to thirty grains, which may be exhibited in pill or bolus, or in the shape of an emulsion formed with gum Arabic, sugar, and water. An objection to the form of powder is that it quickly aggregates. Guaiac is sometimes administered in combination with alkalies, with which it readily unites. Several of the European Pharmacopoeias direct a soap of guaiac, under the name of sapo guaiacinus, to be prepared by diluting the Liquor Potassae with twice its weight of water, boiling lightly, then adding guaiac gradually, with continued agitation, so long as it continues to be dissolved, and finally filtering, and evaporating to the pilular consistence. Of this pre- paration one scruple may be taken daily in divided doses. Off. Prep. Mistura Guaiaci, Lond,, Ed,; Pilulae Hydrargyri Chloridi Compositae, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Aloes Comp., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Guaiaci, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Guaiaci Ammoniata, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. HEMATOXYLIN. U.S., Ed. Logwood. "The wood of Haematoxylon Campechianum." U. S., Ed. Off. Siyn. H^EMATOXYLUM. Haematoxvlon campechianum. Lignum. Lond.; HJEMATOXYLUM CAMPECHIANUM. Lignum. Dub. Bois de Campeche, Fr.; Blutholz, Kampeschenholz, Germ.; Lcgno di Campeggio, Ital; Palo de Campeche, Span. HvEMATOXYLON. Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five parted. Petals five. Capsule lanceolate, one-celled, two valved, with the valves boat-form. Willd. Hsematoxylon Campechiantim. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 547; Wooclv. Med. Bot. p. 455, t. 163; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot, i. 33, pi. 25. This is a tree of middle size, usually not more than twenty-four feet high, though, under favourable circumstances, it sometimes attains an elevation of forty or fifty 364 Hsematoxylon. PART I. feet. The trunk, which seldom exceeds twenty inches in diameter, is often very crooked, and is covered with a dark rough bark. The branches are also crooked, with numerous smaller ramifications, which are beset with sharp spines. The sap-wood is yellowish, but the interior layers are of a deep red colour. The leaves are alternate, abruptly pinnate, and composed of three or four pairs of sessile, nearly obcordate, obliquely nerved leaflets. The flowers, which are in axillary spikes or racemes near the ends of the branches, have a brownish-purple calyx, and lemon-yellow petals. They exhale an agreeable odour, said to resemble that of the jonquil. The tree is a native of Campeachy, the shores of Honduras Bay, and other parts of tropical America; and has been introduced into Jamaica, where it has become naturalized. The wood, which is the part used in medicine, is a valuable article of commerce, and largely employed in dyeing. It comes to us in logs, deprived of the sapwood, and having a blackish-brown colour ex- ternally. For medical use it is cut into chips, or rasped into coarse powder, and in these states is kept in the shops. Properties. Logwood is hard, compact, heavy, of a deep-red colour, be- coming dark by exposure, of a slight peculiar odour, and a sweet, somewhat astringent taste. It imparts its colour to water and to alcohol. The infusion made with cold water, though red, is less so than that with boiling water. It affords precipitates with sulphuric, nitric, muriatic, and acetic acids, with alum, sulphate of copper, acetate of lead, and sulphate of iron, striking a bluish-black colour with the last-mentioned salt. (Thompson's Dispensatory.) Precipitates are also produced with it by lime-water and gelatin. Among the constituents of logwood, according to Chevreul, are a volatile oil, an oleaginous or resinous matter, a brown substance the solution of which is precipitated by gelatin (tannin), another brown substance soluble in alcohol but insoluble in water or ether, an azotized substance resembling gluten, free acetic acid, vari- ous saline matters, and a peculiar principle, called hematoxylin or hematin, on which the colouring properties of the wood depend. This is obtained by digesting the aqueous extract in alcohol, evaporating the tincture till it be- comes thick, then adding a little water, and submitting the liquid to a new but gentle evaporation. Upon allowing it to rest, hematoxylin is deposited in the state of crystals, which may be purified by washing with alcohol and drying. Thus procured, the crystals are shining, of a yellowish rose colour, bitterish, acrid, and slightly astringent to the taste, readily soluble in boiling water, forming an orange-red solution which becomes yellow on cooling, and soluble also in alcohol and ether. According to Erdman, who obtained hema- toxylin by the process of Chevreul, substituting ether for alcohol, its crystals, when quite pure, are yellow without a tinge of redness; its taste is sweet like that of liquorice, without either bitterness or astringency; and of itself it is not a colouring substance, but affords beautiful red, blue, and purple colours, by the joint action of an alkaline base and the oxygen of the air. It consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. (Journ, de Chim. et de Pharm., Se sir., ii. 293.) It is sometimes found in distinct crystals in the crevices of the wood. Medical Properties and Uses. Logwood is a mild astringent, devoid of irritating properties, and well adapted to the treatment of that relaxed condi- tion of bowels which is apt to succeed cholera infantum. It is much used in the United States in that disease, and is occasionally employed with advan- tage in ordinary chronic diarrhoea, and in chronic dysentery. It may be given in decoction or extract, both of which are officinal. Off. Prep. Decoctum Haematoxyli, U S., Ed.; Extraetum Haematoxyli, U. S., Loud., Ed., Dub. W. PART I. Hedeoma.—Helleborus. 365 HEDEOMA. U.S. Pennyroyal. " Hedeoma pulegioides." U. S. This herb, first attached to the genus Melissa, and afterwards to Gun ila, is at present universally considered by botanists as belonging to the Hedeoma of Persoon. It has been very erroneously confounded by some with Mentha Pulegium, or European pennyroyal. Hedeoma. Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceae or Labiatae. Gen. Ch. Calyx bilabiate, gibbous at the base, upper lip three toothed, lower two; dentures all subulate. Corolla ringent. Stamens two, sterile; the two fertile stamens about the length of the corolla. Nuttall. Hedeoma pulegioides. Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 165. — Cunila pulegioides. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 122. This is an indigenous annual plant, from nine to fifteen inches high, with a small, branching, fibrous, yellowish root, and a pubescent stem, which sends off numerous slender erect branches. The leaves are opposite, oblong lanceolate or oval, nearly acute, attenuated at the base, remotely serrate, rough or pubescent, and prominently veined on the under surface. The flowers are very small, of a pale blue colour, supported on short peduncles, and arranged in axillary whorls, along the whole length of the branches. The plant is common in all parts of the United States, preferring dry grounds and pastures, and, where it is abundant, scenting the air for a considerable distance with its grateful odour. Both in the recent and dried state it has a pleasant aromatic smell, and a warm, pungent, mint-like taste. It readily imparts its virtues to boiling water. The volatile oil upon which they depend may be separated by dis- tillation, and employed instead of the herb itself. Medical Properties and Uses. Pennyroyal is a gently stimulant aromatic, and may be given in flatulent colic and sick stomach, or to qualify the action of other medicines. Like most of the aromatic herbs, it possesses the pro- perty, when administered in warm infusion, of promoting perspiration, and of exciting the menstrual flux when the system is predisposed to the effort. Hence it is much used as an emmenagogue in popular practice, and frequently with success. A large draught of the warm tea is given at bed-time, in recent cases of suppression of the menses, the feet having been previously bathed in warm water. Off. Prep. Oleum HedeomEe, U. S. W. HELLEBORUS. U.S., Lond., Ed. Black Hellebore. " The root of Helleborus niger." U. S., Ed. " Helleborus officinalis. Radix." Lond, Off. Syn. HELLEBORUS NIGER. Radix. Dub. Ellebore noire, Fr.; Schwarze Niesswurzel, Germ.; Elleboro nero, Ital; Heleboro negro, Span. Helleborus. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia. — Nat. Ord. Ranun- culaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx none. Petals five or more. Nectaries bilabiate, tubular. Capsules many-seeded, nearly erect. Willd, Helleborus niger. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1336; Woodv. Med, Bot. p. 473, t. 169; Carson, Illust, of Med. Bot. i. 8, pi. 1. The root or rhizoma of the 366 Helleborus. PART i. black hellebore is perennial, knotted, blackish on the outside, white within, and sends off numerous long, simple, depending fibres, which are brownish- yellow when fresh, but become dark-brown upon drying. The leaves are pedate, of a deep green colour, and stand on long footstalks which spring im- mediately from the root. Each leaf is composed of five or more leaflets, one terminal, and two, three, or four on each side supported on a single partial petiole. The leaflets are ovate lanceolate, smooth, shining, coriaceous, and serrated in their upper portion. The flower-stem, which also rises from the root, is six or eight inches high, round, tapering, reddish towards the base, and bears one or two large, pendent, rose-like flowers, accompanied with floral leaves, which supply the place of the calyx. The petals, five in number, are large, roundish, concave, spreading, and of a white or pale rose colour, with occasionally a greenish tinge. There are two varieties of the plant—Helle- borus niger humilifolius, and Helleborus niger altifolius—in the former of which the leaves are shorter than the flower stem, in the latter longer. This plant is a native of the mountainous regions of southern and tem- perate Europe. It is found in Greece, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, France, and Spain. It is cultivated in gardens for the beauty of its flowers, which expand in the middle of winter, and have, from this circumstance, given rise to the name of Christmas rose, by which the black hellebore is sometimes called. Till the publication of Tournefort's travels in the Levant, this species of hellebore was regarded as identical with that so well known, under the same title, to the ancient Greeks and Romans. But in the island of Anticyra, and various parts of continental Greece, in which it appears from the testimony of ancient writers that the hellebore abounded, this traveller discovered a species entirely distinct from those before described, and particularly from the II. niger. He called it H. orientalis, and reasonably inferred that it was the true hellebore of the ancients; and botanists at present generally coincide in this opinion. But as the H. niger is also found in some parts of Greece, it is not impossible that the two species were indiscriminately employed. It is, indeed, highly probable that they possess similar properties; and a third— II. viridis—which grows in the west of Europe, is said to be frequently sub- stituted for the H. niger, which it closely resembles, if it does not equal in medicinal power. The London College has adopted H. orientalis, under Salisbury's name of II. officinalis. The roots of various other plants not belonging to the same genus are said to be frequently substituted for the black hellebore. They may usually be readily distinguished by attending to the characters of the genuine root.* * The following minute description of the root, which we translate from Geiger's Handbuch der Pharmacie, may, perhaps, be useful in enabling the druggist to distinguish this from other analogous roots mingled with or substituted for it in commerce. " It is usually a many-headed root, with a caudex or body half an inch thick or less, seldom thicker, and several inches long, horizontal, sometimes variously contorted, uneven, knotty, with transverse ridges, slightly striated longitudinally, presenting on its upper surface the short remains of the leaf and flower stalks, and thickly beset upon the sides and under surface with fibres of the thickness of a straw, and from six to twelve inches long. These are undivided above, but at the distance of from two to six inches from their origin, are furnished with small, slender branches. The colour of the root is dark-brown, sometimes rather light-brown, dull, and for the most part exhibiting a gray, earthy tinge. Internally it is whitish, with a somewhat darker pith, which, when cut transversely, shows lighter converging rays. Sometimes it is porous. It has a medullary or fleshy, not a ligneous consistence. The fibres, when dried, are wrinkled, very brittle, sometimes grayish in- ternally, horny, with a white point in the centre. The odour of the dried root is feeble somewhat like that of seneka, but more nauseous, especially when the root is rubbed with water The taste is at first sweetish, then nauseously acrid and biting, but not very durable, and slightly bitterish." Handbuch, ii. s. 1181. A root said to be not unfrequently substituted or mixed with the genuine, and often to be met with in the shops of this country, is thought to be that of the Actaa spicata of PART I. Helleborus.—Hepatica. 367 The medicine of which we are treating is sometimes called mclampodium, in honour of Alelampus, an ancient shepherd or physician, who is said to have cured the daughters of King Praetus by giving them the milk of goats which had been fed on hellebore. Properties. Though the whole root is kept in the shops, the fibres are the portion usually recommended. They are about as thick as a straw, when not broken from four inches to a foot in length, smooth, brittle, externally black or deep-brown, internally white or yellowish-white, with little smell, and a bitterish, nauseous, acrid taste. In their recent state they are extremely acri- monious, producing on the tongue a burning and benumbing impression, like that which results from taking hot liquids into the mouth. This acrimony is diminished by drying, and still further impaired by age. MM. Feneulle and Capron obtained from black hellebore a volatile oil, an acrid fixed oil, a re- sinous substance, wax, a volatile acid, bitter extractive, gum, albumen, gallate of potassa, supergallate of lime, a salt of ammonia, and woody fibre. Water and alcohol extract its virtues, which are impaired by long boiling. Medical Properties and, Uses. Black hellebore is a drastic hydragogue cathartic, possessed also of emmenagogue powers, which by some are ascribed to a specific tendency to the uterus, by others are supposed to depend solely on the purgative property. In overdoses it produces inflammation of the gastric and intestinal mucous membrane, with violent vomiting, hypercatharsis, vertigo, cramp, and convulsions, which sometimes end in death. The fresh root applied to the skin produces inflammation and even vesication. The medicine was very highly esteemed by the ancients, who employed it in ma- nia, melancholy, amenorrhcea, dropsy, epilepsy, various cutaneous affections, and verminose diseases. By the earlier modern physicians it was also much used. Bacheds pills, celebrated for the cure of dropsy, consisted chiefly of black hellebore. It is at present little employed, except as an emmenagogue, in which capacity it is very highly esteemed by some practitioners. Dr. Mead considered it superior to all other medicines belonging to this class. It may be given in substance, extract, decoction, or tincture. The dose of the powdered root is from ten to twenty grains as a drastic purge, two or three grains as an alterative. The decoction is prepared by boiling two drachms in a pint of water, of which a fluidounce may be given every four hours till it operates. The extract and tincture are officinal. Off. Prep. Extraetum Hellebori, U. S., Dub.; Tinctura Hellebcri, U. S., Lond., Dub. W. HEPATICA. U. S. Secondary. Liverwort. " The leaves of Hepatica Americana." U. S. Hepatica. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia. — Nat. Ord. Ranuncu- lacea^. Gen. Ch. Calyx three leaved. Petals six to nine. Seeds naked. Nuttall. Europe. This has been particularly described by Dr. Carson in the American Journal of Pharmacy (xx. 163). The points of difference upon which that writer especially insists are the diffuse, jointed, stem-like character of the caudex of the false root, the straggling, separated, and horizontal arrangement of its fibres, and their dense, woody structure and reddish brown colour, contrasted with the thickness, double-headed form, and spongi- ness of the genuine caudex, the close set, perpendicular position of its fibres, and their wrinkled appearance, soft texture, and grayish brown colour. The transverse section of the fibre of the Actuea presents the appearance of a cross, which is not obvious in that of the black hellebore, though the central point of this, if closely examined, will be found to present a somewhat stellate appearance. 368 Hepatica.—Heracleum. part I. Hepatica Americana. De Cand.; Eaton, Manual of Botany, p. 241.— H. triloba. Willd. Enum.; Figured in Rafinesque's Med. Flor. i. 238. Bota- nists generally admit but one species of Hepatica, the II. triloba, and consider as accidental the difference of structure and colour observable in the plant. Pursh speaks of two varieties, one with the lobes of the leaf oval and acute, the other with the lobes rounded and obtuse. These are considered as dis- tinct species by De Candolle, and the latter is the one which has been adopted by the Pharmacopceia, and is popularly employed as a medicine in this coun- try, under the name of liverwort. Both have a perennial fibrous root, with three-lobed leaves, cordate at their base, coriaceous, nearly smooth, glaucous and purplish beneath, and supported upon hairy footstalks from four to eight inches long, which spring directly from the root. The scapes or flower-stems are several in number, of the same length with the petioles, round, hairy, and terminating in a single white, bluish, or purplish flower. The calyx is at a little distance below the corolla, and is considered by some an involucre, while the corolla takes the name of the calyx. In the H acutiloba the leaves are cordate, with from three to five entire, acute lobes; and the leaflets of the calyx are acute. In the // Americana the leaves are cordate- reniform, with three entire, roundish, obtuse lobes; and the leaflets of the calyx are obtuse. Both are indigenous, growing in woods upon the sides of hills and mountains; the former, according to Eaton, preferring the northern, the latter the southern exposure. The leaves resist the cold of the winter, and the flowers make their appearance early in spring. The whole plant is used. It is without smell, and has a mucilaginous, somewhat astringent, slightly bitterish taste. Water extracts all its active properties. Medical Properties and Uses. Liverwort is a very mild, demulcent tonic and astringent, supposed by some to possess diuretic and deobstruent virtues. It was formerly used to some extent in Europe in various complaints, espe- cially in chronic hepatic affections; but has fallen into entire neglect. In this country, some years since, it attracted much attention as a remedy in haemoptysis and chronic coughs, and acquired for a time groat popular con- fidence. Its credit, however, has declined. It may be used in infusion and taken ad libitum. The term liverwort properly belongs to the cryptogamous genus Marchantia, W. HERACLEUM. U. S. Secondary. • Masterwort. " The root of Heracleum lanatum." U. S. Heracleum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat, Ord. Apiacese or Umbelliferae. Gen. Ch. Fruit elliptical, emarginate, compressed, striated, margined. Co- rolla difform, inflexed, emarginate. Involucre caducous. Willd. Heracleum lanatum. Michaux, Flor. Boreal. Am. i. 166. This is one of our largest indigenous umbelliferous plants. The root is perennial, sending up annually a hollow pubescent stem, from three to five feet high, and often more than an inch in thickness. The leaves are ternate, downy on their under surface, and supported on downy footstalks; the leaflets petiolate, roundish cordate, and lobed. The flowers are white, in large umbels and followed by orbicular seeds. Like the European species this is sometimes called cow-parsnep. It grows in meadows and along fences or hedges, from Canada to Pennsylvania and flowers in June. The root, which is the officinal part, bears some resemblance to that of part I. Heracleum.—Heuehera.—Hirudo. 369 common parsley. It has a strong disagreeable odour, and a very acrid taste. Both the leaves and root excite redness and inflammation when applied to the skin. Dr. Bigelow considers the plant poisonous, and advises caution in its use, especially when it is gathered from a damp situation. Medical Properties, dec. Masterwort appears to be somewhat stimulant and carminative, and was used successfully by Dr. Orne, of Salem, Massachusetts, in cases of epilepsy, attended with flatulence and gastric disorder. He directed two or three drachms of the pulverized root to be taken daily, for a long time, and a strong infusion of the leaves to be drunk at bed-time. (Thacher's Dis- pensatory.) W. HEUCHERA. U.S. Secondary. Alum-root. " The root of Heuehera Americana." U. S. Heuchera. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Saxifragaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft. Petals five, small. Capsule bi-rostrate, bi-locular, many-seeded. Nuttall. Heuehera Americana. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1328 ; Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 159.—H. cortusa. Michaux, Flor. Boreal. Am. i. 171.—H. viscida. Pursh, Flor. Am. Sept. p. 187. The alum-root or American sanicle is a perennial, herbaceous plant, the leaves of which are all radical, petiolate, cordate, with rounded lobes, furnished with obtuse mucronate teeth. There is no proper stem ; but numerous scapes or flower-stems are sent up by the same root, from one to three feet in height, very hairy in their upper part, and terminating in long, loose, pyramidal, dichotomous panicles. The calyx is small, with obtuse segments; the petals lanceolate, rose-coloured, and of the same length with the calyx; the filaments much longer, yellowish, and surmounted by small, red, globose anthers. The whole plant is covered with a viscid pubescence. It is found in shady, rocky situations, from New England to Carolina, and flowers in June and July. The root is the medicinal portion. It is horizontal, somewhat compressed, knotty, irregular, yellowish, and of a strongly styptic taste. Medical Properties. Alum-root is powerfully astringent, and may be em- ployed in similar cases with other medicines belonging to the same class. It has hitherto, however, been little used. We are informed in Dr. Barton's "Collections," that it is applied by the Indians to wounds and obstinate ulcers, and that it is the basis of a powder which, when the author wrote, enjoyed some reputation as a cure for cancer. W. HIRUDO. Lond, The Leech. Off. Syn. HIRUDO MEDICINALIS. Dub. Sangsue, Fr.; Blutegel, Germ.; Mignatta, Ital; Sauguijuela, Span. Hirudo. Class 1, Annelides. Order 3, Abranchiatae. Family 2, Asetigerae. Cuvier. The leech belongs to that class of invertebrated articulated animals called Annelides. This class contains the worms with red blood, having soft retrac- tile bodies composed of numerous segments or rings, breathing generally by means of branchiae, with a nervous system consisting in a double knotted cord, 24 370 Hirudo. PART I. destitute of feet, and supplying their place by the contractile power of their segments or rings. The third order of this class—Abranchiatse—compre- hends those worms which have no apparent external organ of respiration. This order is again divided into two families, to the second of which—the Asetigerse, or those not having setae to enable them to crawl—the leech belongs. It is an aquatic worm with a flattened body, tapering towards each end, and terminating in circular flattened disks, the hinder one being the larger of the two. It swims with a vertical undulating motion, and moves when out of the water by means of these disks or suckers, fastening itself first by one and then by the other, and alternately stretching out and contracting its body. The mouth is placed in the centre of the anterior disk, and is furnished with three cartilaginous lens-shaped jaws at the entrance of the alimentary canal. These jaws are lined at their edges with fine sharp teeth, and meet so as to make a triangular incision in the flesh. The head is furnished with small raised points, supposed by some to be eyes. Respiration is carried on through small aper- tures ranged along the inferior surface. The nervous system consists of a cord extending the whole length, furnished with numerous ganglions. The intestinal canal is straight and terminates in the anus, near the posterior disk. Although hermaphrodite, leeches mutually impregnate each other. They are oviparous, and the eggs, varying from six to fifteen, are contained in a sort of spongy, slimy cocoon, from half an inch to an inch in diameter. These are deposited near the edge of the water, and hatched by the heat of the sun. The leech is torpid during the winter, and casts off from time to time a thick slimy coating from its skin. It can live a considerable time in sphagnous moss, or in moistened earth, and is frequently transported in this manner to great distances by the dealers. Savigny has divided the genus Hirudo of Linnaeus into several genera. The true leech is the Sanguisuga of this author, and is characterized by its three lenticular jaws, each armed with two rows of teeth, and by having ten ocular points. Several species are used for medicinal purposes, of which the most common are the gray and the green leech of Europe, both of which are varieties of the Hirudo medicinalis of Linnaeus; and the Hirudo decora of this country. 1. Hirudo medicinalis. Linn. Ed. Gmel. I. 3095.—Sanguisuga officinalis. Savigny, Mon. Hir.p. 112, t. 5,/. 1. The green leech.—Sanguisuga medici- nalis. Savigny, Mon. Hir.p. 114, t. 5,/ 2. The gray leech. Many of the best zoologists regard the Sanguisuga officinalis and S. medicinalis of Savigny as mere varieties. They are both marked with six longitudinal dorsal ferru- ginous stripes, the four lateral ones being interrupted or tesselated with black spots. The colour of the back varies from a blackish to a grayish-green. The belly in the first variety is of a yellowish-green colour, free from spots, and bordered with longitudinal black stripes. In the second it is of a green colour, bordered and maculated with black. This leech varies from two to three or four inches in length. It inhabits marshes and running streams, and is found abundantly throughout Europe. The great use made of leeches in the modern practice of medicine has occa- sioned them to become a considerable article of commerce. They are collected in Spain, France, Italy, and Germany, and carried in large numbers to London and Paris. They are also frequently brought to this country; as the practi- tioners in some of our large cities use only the foreign leech, although our own waters furnish an inexhaustible supply of this useful worm. 2. Hirudo decora. Say, Major Long's Second Expedition, ii. 268. The medicinal leech of America has been described by Say under the name of Hirudo decora, in the Appendix to the Second Expedition of Major Long. Its back is of a deep pistachio green colour, with three longitudinal rows of PART I. Hirudo. 371 square spots. These spots are placed on every fifth ring, and are twenty-two in number. The lateral rows of spots are black, and the middle range of a light brownish-orange colour. The belly is of the same colour, variously and irregularly spotted with black. The American leech sometimes attains the length of four or five inches, although its usual length is from two to three. It does not make so large and deep an incision as the European leech, and draws less blood. The indigenous leech is much used in the city of Philadelphia. The prac- titioners of New York and Boston depend chiefly for their supplies upon foreign countries. Those which are used in Philadelphia are generally brought from Bucks and Berks county in Pennsylvania, and occasionally from other parts of the State. The proper preservation of leeches is an object of importance to the prac- titioner, as they are liable to great and sudden mortality. They are usually kept in jars in clear, soft water, which should be changed twice a week in winter, and every other day in summer. The jar must be covered with a linen cloth, and placed in a situation not liable to sudden changes of tempera- ture. They will live a long time and continue active and healthy, without any other attention than that of frequently changing the water in which they are kept. M. Derheims has proposed the following excellent method of pre- serving them. In the bottom of a large basin or trough of marble he places a bed, six or seven inches deep, of a mixture of moss, turf, and fragments of wood. He strews pebbles above, so as to retain them in their place without compressing them too much, or preventing the water from freely penetrating them. At one end of the trough and about midway of its height, is placed a thin slab of marble or earthenware, pierced with numerous holes, and co- vered with a bed of moss which is compressed by a thick layer of pebbles. The reservoir being thus disposed is half-filled with water, so that the moss and pebbles on the shelf shall be kept constantly moist. The basin is pro- tected from the light by a linen cover stretched over it. By this arrangement the natural habits of the leech are not counteracted. One of these habits, essential to its health, is that of drawing itself through the moss and roots to clear its body from the slimy coat which forms on its skin, and is a principal cauge of its disease and death. Mr. James Banes recommends that, when kept in jars, they should be cleansed by means of a whisk of very fine broom or willow, when the water is changed.* Medical Uses.—Leeches afford the least painful, and in many instances the most effectual means for the local abstraction of blood. They are often appli- cable to parts which, either from their situation or their great tenderness when inflamed, do not admit of the use of cups; and, in the cases of infants, are under all circumstances preferable to that instrument. They are indeed a powerful therapeutic agent, and give to the physician in many instances, a control over disease which he could obtain in no other way. Their use is in great measure restricted to the treatment of local inflammations; and, as a general rule, they should not be resorted to until the force of the circulation has been diminished by bleeding from the arm, or in the natural progress of the complaint. In applying leeches to the skin, care should be taken to shave off the hair, if there be any, and to have the part well cleansed with soap and water, and * M. Soubeiran considers it important that they should be kept in running water, and has figured an apparatus for this purpose in the second edition of his Treatise on Phar- macy. The addition of a solution of chlorine to the water, in the proportion of one or two drops to the pint, or of a little muriatic or sulphuric acid to neutralize the ammonia which forms, has sometimes been found a preservative against diseases to which leeches are liable. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., x. 18G, from Repert.fiir die Pharm., xlii. 367.) 372 Hirudo. PART I. afterwards with pure water. If the leech does not bite readily, the skin should be moistened with a little blood, or milk and water. Sometimes the leech is put into a large quill open at both ends, and applied with the head to the skin until it fastens itself, when the quill is withdrawn. If it be de- sirable that the leech shall bite in a particular spot, this end may be attained by cutting a small hole in a piece of blotting paper, and then applying this moistened to the skin, so that the hole shall be immediately over the spot from which the blood is to be taken. Leeches continue to draw blood until they are gorged, when they drop off. The quantity of blood which they draw varies according to the part to which they are applied, and the degree of inflammation existing in it. In the loose and vascular textures they will abstract more than in those which are firm and compact, and more from an inflamed than a healthy part. As a general rule our leechers apply six for every fluidounce of blood. A single European leech will draw from half an ounce to an ounce. The quantity may often be much increased by bathing the wound with warm water. Leeches will continue to suck after their tails are cut off, which is sometimes done, although it is a barbarous practice. It is said that they will draw better if put into cold beer, and allowed to remain until they become very lively. They may be separated from the skin at any time by sprinkling a little salt upon them. After they drop off, the same application will make them disgorge the blood they have swallowed. Some leechers draw the leeches from the tail to the head through their fingers, and thus squeeze out the blood, after which all that is necessary is to put them in clean water, and change it frequently.* Leeches which are gorged with blood should be kept in a vessel by themselves, as they are more subject to disease, and often occasion a great mortality among the others. They should not be again used until they have recovered their activity. In cases where the bleeding from leech-bites continues longer than is desirable, it may be stopped by continued pressure, with the application of lint, or by touching the wounds with lunar caustic, f It may sometimes be necessary in the case of a deep bite, to sew the wound, which is readily done with a single stitch of the needle, that need not penetrate deeper than the cutis. D. B. S. * MM. Soubeiran and Bouchardat, after numerous experiments upon the different modes of fitting the gorged leeches for use again, came to the conclusion, that a carefully managed pressure is the best. Two conditions, however, are necessary to success; one that they should be disposed to disgorge the blood, and the other that they should be immersed in warm water previously to the stripping. The first object is effected by common salt. The following plan is recommended. The leeches are to be thrown into a solution of 16 parts of common salt in 100 of water, from which they are to be taken out one by one, and, being held by the tail, are to be dipped into water which feels hot to the hand, but yet can be borne by it, and then passed lightly between the fingers. Thus treated, they easily give up the blood. After being stripped, they should be placed in vessels containing fresh water, which should be renewed once a day. At the end of eight or ten days, they are fit for reapplication. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xi 343 and 350.)" It has been stated that, if the leeches, after being stripped, be put into water sweetened ■with a little white sugar, and the solution be renewed several times, at intervals of six or twelve hours, they will speedily recover their activity, and may be reapplied two or three times in the course of a few days. Immersion in camphor water, for a few mo- ments, is said by Mr. Boyce to cause them to vomit all their blood. They should after- wards be put into clean water, which should be changed in half an hour. (Pharm Journ, Jan. 1845.) t A little cotton, impregnated with a saturated solution of alum in boiling-hot water, and, after it has become sufficiently cool, and before the alum has begun to crystallize, pressed upon the wound, will often prove effectual. Another mode of repressing the hemorrhage is to press upon the bite a piece of thin caoutchouc, previously softened upon one. side by heat, so as to become adhesive. If lunar caustic be applied, the stick must first be brought to a fine point, which is to be inserted in the wound. Some have even recommended the use of a fine wire made red-hot. When the part wounded is Without a bony, basis,pressure may be made by pinching the wound between the fingers. PART I. Hordeum. 373 HORDEUM. U. S., Lond., Ed. Barley. " The decorticated seeds of Hordeum distichon." U. S., Ed. " Hordeum distichon. Semina iutei/umcntis niulata." Lond. Off. Syn. HORDEUM DISTICHON. Semina decorticata. Dub. Orge, Fr.; Gerstengraupen, Germ.; Orzo, Ital; Cebada, Span. Hordeum. Sex. Syst. Triandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Graminaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx lateral, two-valved, one-flowered, three-fold. Willd. Several species of Hordeum are cultivated in different parts of the world. The most common are the II. vulgare, and H. distichon, both of which have been introduced into the United States. 1. Hordeum vulgare. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 472; Loudon's Encyc. of Plants, p. 73. The culm or stalk of common barley is from two to four feet in height, fistular, and furnished with alternate, sheathing, lanceolate, roughish, and pointed leaves. The flowers are all perfect, and arranged in a close terminal spike, the axis of which is dentate, and on each tooth supports three sessile flowers. The calyx or outer chaff has two valves. The corolla or inner chaff is also composed of two valves, of which the exterior is larger than the other, and terminates in a long, rough, serrated awn or beard. The seeds are arranged in four rows. 2. //. distichon. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 473; Loudon's Encyc. of Plants, p. 73. This species is distinguished by its flat spike or ear, which on each flat side has a double row of imperfect or male florets without beards, and on each edge, a single row of bearded perfect or hermaphrodite florets. The seeds therefore are in two rows, as indicated by the specific name of the plant. The original country of the cultivated barley is unknown. The plant has been found growing wild in Sicily, and various parts of the interior of Asia; but it may have been introduced into these places. II. vulgare is said by Pursh to grow in some parts of the United States, apparently in a wild state. The seeds are used in various forms. 1. In their natural state they are oval, oblong, pointed at one end, obtuse at the other, marked with a longitudinal furrow, of a yellowish colour exter- nally, white within, having a faint odour when in mass, and a mild sweetish taste. They contain, according to Proust, in 100 parts, 32 of starch, 3 of gluten, 5 of sugar, 4 of gum, 1 of yellow resin, and 55 of hordein, a ^principle closely analogous to lignin. Berzelius suggests that hordein may be an inti- mate mixture of vegetable fibre with gluten and starch, which are very diffi- cultly separable as they exist in this grain. Einhoff found in 100 parts 67-18 of starch, 521 of uncrystallizable sugar, 4-62 of gum, 3-52 of gluten, 1-15 of albumen, 0-24 of phosphate of lime, and 7-29 of vegetable fibre; the re- mainder being water and loss. 2. Malt consists of the seeds made to germinate by warmth and moisture, and then baked so as to deprive them of vitality. By this process the sugar, starch, and gum are increased at the expense of the hordein, as shown by the analysis of Proust, who found in 100 parts of malt, 56 of starch, 1 of gluten, 15 of sugar, 15 of gum, 1 of yellow resin, and only 12 of hordein. Berzelius attributes the diminution of the hordein to the separation, during germination, of the gluten or starch from the fibrous matter with which he supposes them to be associated in that substance. It is in the form of malt that barley is so largely consumed in the manufacture of malt liquors. An interesting substance, called diastase, was discovered by MM. Payen and Persoz in the seeds of barley, oats, and wheat, and in the potato. It is found, however, only after these have undergone germination, of which pro- 374 Hordeum.—Humulus. PART I. cess it appears to be a product. Germinated barley seldom contains it in larger proportion than two parts in a thousand. It is obtained by bruising freshly germinated barley, adding about half its weight of water, expressing strongly, treating the viscid liquid thus obtained with sufficient alcohol to de- stroy its viscidity, then separating the coagulated albumen, and adding a fresh portion of alcohol, which precipitates the diastase in an impure state. To render it pure, it must be redissolved as often as three times in water, and precipitated by alcohol. It is solid, white, tasteless, soluble in water and weak alcohol, but insoluble in the latter fluid in a concentrated state. Though without action upon gum and sugar, it has the extraordinary property, when mixed, in the proportion of only one part to 2000, with starch suspended in water, and maintained at a temperature of about 160°, of converting that principle into dextrine and the sugar of grapes. The whole of the starch undergoes this change, with the exception of the teguments of the granules, amounting to about 4 parts in 1000. It is now ascertained that the change which barley undergoes during germination, and which takes place in the process of malting, is of a similar character. 3. Hulled barley is merely the grain deprived of its husk, which, according to Einhoff, amounts to 18-75 parts in the hundred. 4. Barley meal is formed by grinding the seeds, previously deprived of their husk. It has a grayish-white colour, and contains, according to Four- croy and Vauquelin, an oleaginous substance, sugar, starch, azotized matter, acetic acid, phosphate of lime and magnesia, silica, and iron. It may be made into a coarse, heavy, hard bread, which in some countries is much used for food. 5. Pearl barley—hordeum perlatum—is the seed deprived of all its invest- ments, and afterwards rounded a^d polished in a mill. It is in small round or oval grains, having the remains of the longitudinal furrow of the seeds, and of a pearly whiteness. It is wholly destitute of hordein, and abounds in starch, with some gluten, sugar, and gum. This is the proper officinal form of barley, and is kept in the shops almost to the exclusion of the others. Medical Properties. Barley is one of the mildest and least irritating of farinaceous substances; and, though not medically used in its solid state, forms by decoction with water a drink admirably adapted to febrile and inflammatory complaints, and much employed from the times of Hippocrates and Galen to the present. Pearl barley is the form usually preferred for the preparation of the decoction, though the hulled grain is sometimes used, and malt affords a liquor more demulcent and nutritious, and therefore better adapted to cases of disease which require a supporting treatment. (See Decoctum Hordei.) The decoction of malt may be prepared by boiling from two to four ounces in a quart of water and straining the liquor. When hops are added, the decoc- tion takes the name of wort, and acquires tonic properties, which render it useful in debilitated conditions of the system, especially those which attend the suppurative process. Off. Prep. Decoctum Hordei, U.S., Lond., Dub.; Decoctum Hordei Com- positum, Lond., Ed., Dub. "W. HUMULUS. U.S. Hops. "The strobiles of Humulus Lupulus." U. S. Off. Syn, LUPULUS. Humulus Lupulus. Strobili exsiccati. Lond.; LU- PULUS. Catkin of Humulus Lupulus. Ed.; HUMULUS LUPULUS. Strobili siccati. Dub. Houblon, Fr.; Hopfen, Germ,; Luppolo, Ital.; Lupulo, HombjeciRo, Span. PART I. Humulus. 375 Humulus. Sex. Syst. Dicecia Pentandria.—Nat. Ord. Urticacese. Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx five-leaved. Corolla none. Female. Calyx one- leafed, obliquely spreading, entire. Corolla none. Styles two. Seed one, within a leafy calyx. Willd. Humulus Lupidus. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 769; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. iii. 163. The root of the hop is perennial, and sends up numerous annual angular, rough, flexible stems, which twine around neighbouring objects in a spiral direction, from left to right, and climb to a great height. The leaves are opposite and stand upon long footstalks. The smaller are sometimes cor- date ; the larger have three or five lobes; all are serrate, of a deep green colour on the upper surface, and, together with the petioles, extremely rough, with minute prickles. At the base of the footstalks are two or four smooth, ovate, reflexed stipules. The flowers are numerous, axillary, and furnished with bractes. The male flowers are yellowish-white, and arranged in panicles; the female, which grow on a separate plant, are pale green, and disposed in soli- tary, peduncled aments, composed of membranous scales, ovate, acute, and tubular at the base. Each scale bears near its base, on its inner surface, two flowers, consisting of a roundish compressed germ, and two styles, with long filiform stigmas. The aments are converted into ovate membranous cones or strobiles, the scales of which contain each at their base two small seeds, sur- rounded by a yellow, granular, resinous powder. The hop is a native of North America and Europe. It is occasionally found growing wild in the Eastern States, and, according to Mr. Nuttall, is abundant on the banks of the Mississippi and Missouri. In parts of New Eng- land and New York it is extensively cultivated, and most of the hops consumed in the United States are supplied by those districts. The part of the plant used, as well in the preparation of malt liquors as in medicine, is the fruit or strobiles. These when fully ripe are picked from the plant, dried by artificial heat, packed in bales, and sent into the market under the name of hops. They consist of numerous thin, translucent, veined, leaf-like scales, which are of a pale greenish-yellow colour, and contain near the base two small, round, black seeds. Though brittle when quite dry, they are pulverized with great difficulty. Their odour is strong, peculiar, somewhat narcotic, and fragrant; their taste very bitter, aromatic, and slightly astringent. Their aroma, bitterness, and astringency are imparted to water by decoction; but the first-mentioned property is dissipated by long boiling. The most active part of hops is a substance secreted by the scales, and in the dried fruit existing upon their surface in the form of a powder, composed of very small granules. This substance was called lupidin by the late Dr. A. W. Ives, of New York, by whom its properties were first investigated and made generally known; though it appears to have been previously noticed by Sir J. E. Smith, of England, and M. Planche, of France. It enters into the officinal catalogue of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The scales themselves, however, are not destitute of virtues, and contain, as shown by MM. Payen and Chevallier, the same active principles as the powder upon their surface, though in smaller proportion. Lupulina. Lupidin. U. S. This is obtained separate by rubbing or threshing and sifting the strobiles, of which it constitutes from one-sixth to one-tenth by weight. It is in the state of a yellowish powder, mixed with minute particles of the scales, from which it cannot be entirely freed when procured by a mechanical process. It has the peculiar flavour of hops, and appeared to MM. Lebaillif and Raspail, when examined by the microscope, to consist of globules filled with a yellow matter, resembling in this respect the pollen of vegetables. It is inflammable, and when moderately heated becomes somewhat adhesive. MM. Chevallier and Payen obtained from 200 parts, 105 of resin, and 25 of a peculiar bitter principle, besides volatile oil, 376 Humulus. PART I. gum, traces of fixed oil, a small quantity of an azotized substance, and various salts. Dr. Ives found in 120 grains, 5 of tannin, 10 of extractive, 11 of bitter principle, 12 of wax, 36 of resin, and 46 of lignin. The virtues of the powder probably reside in the volatile oil and bitter principle, and are readily imparted to alcohol. By boiling in water the bitterness is extracted, but the aroma is partially driven off. The volatile oil, which may be obtained by distillation with water, is yellowish, of the odour of hops, of an acrid taste, and lighter than water. It is said to have narcotic properties. The bitter principle, which is called lupulite or lupuline, may be procured by treating with alcohol the aqueous extract of lupulin previously mixed with a little lime, evaporating the tincture thus formed, treating the resulting extract with water, evaporating the solution, and washing the residue with ether. In a state of purity it is yellowish or orange-yellow, inodorous at common temperatures, but of the smell of hops when heated, of the peculiar bitter taste of hops, slightly soluble in water which takes up five per cent, of its weight, readily soluble in alcohol, almost insoluble in ether, neither acid nor alkaline in its reaction, and without nitrogen in its composition. It is scarcely affected by the weak acids or alkaline solutions, or by the metallic salts. It is probably the tonic principle of the medicine. Medical Properties and Uses. Hops are tonic and moderately, narcotic, and have been highly recommended in diseases of general or local debility, associated with morbid vigilance, or other nervous derangement. They have some tendency to produce sleep and relieve pain, and may be used for these purposes in cases where opiates, from their tendency to constipate, or other cause, are inadmissible. Diuretic properties have also been ascribed to them, but are by no means very obvious. The complaints in which they have been found most useful are dyspepsia, and the nervous tremors, wakefulness, and delirium of drunkards. Dr. Maton found the extract advantageous in allay- ing the pain of articular rheumatism. The medicine may be given in substance, infusion, tincture, or extract. From three to twenty grains are mentioned as the dose of the powder; but the quantity is too small to produce any decided effect; and this mode of administration is in fact scarcely ever resorted to. An infusion prepared from half an ounce of hops and a pint of boiling water, may be given in the dose of two fluidounces three or four times a day. The extract and tincture are officinal. (See Extraetum Humuli Lupuli and Tinctura Humuli.) A pillow of hops has been found useful in allaying restlessness and producing sleep, in cases of nervous derangement. They should be moistened with some spirituous liquor, previously to being placed under the head of the patient, in order to prevent their rustling noise. Fomentations with hops, and cataplasms made by mixing them with some emollient adhesive substance, are often beneficial in local pains and tumefactions. An ointment of the powder with lard is recommended by Mr. Freake as an application to cancer- ous sores, the pain of which it has relieved when other means have failed. All the effects of the preparations of hops may be obtained with greater certainty and convenience by the use of lupulin. The dose of this in sub- stance is from six to twelve grains, given in the form of pills, which may be made by simply rubbing the powder in a warm mortar till it acquires the consistence of a ductile mass, and then moulding it into the proper shape. A tincture is directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. (See Tinctura Lupulinfe.) Lupulin may be incorporated with poultices, or formed into an ointment with lard, and used externally for the same purposes as the hops themselves. Off Prep. Extraetum Humuli Lupuli, Dub., Lond., Ed,; Infusum Hu- muli, U S., Lond.; Tinctura Humuli, U. S., Dub., Lond.; Tinctura Lupu- linae, U. S., Ed. \\r PART I. Hydrargyrum. 377 HYDRARGYRUM. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Mercury. Quicksilver; Mereurius, Lat.; Mercure, Vif argent, Fr.; Quecksilber, Germ.; Mercu- rio, Ital; Azogue, Span, and Port. This metal is found pure, combined with sulphur, united with silver, and in the form of protochloride (native calomel); but, of all its combinations, the most abundant is the bisulphuret, or native cinnabar. Its most important mines are found at Almaden in Spain, at Idria in Carniola, in the Duchy of Deux-ponts, at Durasno in Mexico, near Azogue in New Granada, and near Huancavelica in Peru. A rich mine of cinnabar was discovered in 1844 in Upper California, about midway between San Francisco and Monterey; but the working of it only commenced in 1848, when it proved very productive, although the apparatus employed was extremely defective. (Silliman's Journ,, Sept. 184S.) Mercury also occurs in the Philippine Islands and China. The most ancient and productive mine is that of Almaden. Extraction, Nearly all the mercury consumed in medicine and the arts is obtained from the bisulphuret, or native cinnabar. It is extracted by two principal processes. According to one process, the mineral is picked, pounded, and mixed with lime. The mixture is then introduced into cast iron retorts, which are placed in rows, one above the other, in an oblong furnace, and connected with earthenware receivers, one-third full of water. Heat being applied, the lime combines with the sulphur, so as to form sulphuret of cal- cium and sulphate of lime; while the mercury distils over, and is condensed in the receivers. The other process is practised at Almaden in Spain. Here a square furnace is employed, the floor of which is pierced with many holes, for the passage of the flame from the fireplace underneath. In the upper and lateral part of the furnace, holes are made, which communicate with several rows of aludels, which terminate in a small chamber that serves both as con- denser and receiver. The mineral, having been picked by hand and pulver- ized, is kneaded with clay, and formed into small masses, which are placed on the floor of the furnace. The heat being applied, the sulphur undergoes com- bustion, while the mercury, being volatilized, passes through the aludels to be condensed in the chamber. This process economizes fuel, but is wasteful of the mercury. Commercial History. Mercury is imported into this country generally in cylindrical wrought-iron bottles, called flasks, each containing 76£ pounds, and comes principally from the Atlantic ports of Spain, particularly Cadiz. A portion also is received from the Austrian port of Trieste, from which it generally comes tied up in whole skins of white leather, forming bags, each containing 31 pounds, and four of which are usually packed together with straw in a rough flattened keg. In both Spain and Austria, the produce of the quicksilver mines is a government monopoly. In Spain all the metal is brought from the mines to Seville, whence, after paying an export duty, it is carried by small vessels down the river Guadalquiver to Cadiz and Gibraltar, which are the chief places of its depot for foreign commerce. The quantity imported into the United States varies in different years. The greater part received is exported again, principally to Mexico, Chili, and China. Its chief consumption is in the extraction of silver and gold from their ores, and in the preparation of vermilion. In the United States, it is consumed for making thermometers and barometers, for silvering looking-glasses, and for preparing various pharmaceutical compounds. Of late the home consumption has in- 378 Hydrargyrum. PART I. creased, in consequence of its employment in the mining operations of the gold region of the Southern States. Properties. Mercury is a very brilliant liquid, of a silver-white colour, and without taste or smell. When perfectly pure it undergoes no alteration by the action of air or water, but in its ordinary state suffers a slight tarnish. When heated to near the boiling point, it gradually combines with oxygen, and becomes converted into deutoxide; but at the temperature of ebullition it parts with the oxygen which it had absorbed, and is reduced again to the metallic state. Its sp. gr. is 13-5, and its equivalent number 202. Liquid at ordinary temperatures, it freezes at 39° below zero, and boils at 662°. When frozen it forms a malleable solid resembling lead. It is a good con- ductor of caloric, and its specific heat is small. It is not attacked by muriatic acid, nor by cold sulphuric acid; but boiling sulphuric acid, or cold nitric acid dissolves it, generating a sulphate or nitrate of the deutoxide, with the extrication, in the former case, of sulphurous acid, in the latter, of nitric oxide becoming nitrous acid red fumes. Its combinations are numerous, and several of them constitute important medicines. It forms two oxides, two sulphurets, two chlorides, three iodides, and one cyanuret, all of which, excepting the protosulphuret and sesquiodide, are officinal, and will be noticed elsewhere under separate heads. Both the oxides are capable of uniting with acids so as to form salts, of which the nitrate, sulphate, bisulphate, and acetate of the deutoxide are officinal, or enter into officinal combinations. Mercury, as it occurs in commerce, is generally sufficiently pure for phar- maceutical purposes. Occasionally it contains foreign metals, such as lead, bismuth, and tin. Mr. Brande informs us that, in examining large quantities of this metal in the London market, he found it only in one instance inten- tionally adulterated. When impure, the metal has a dull appearance, easily tarnishes, is deficient in due fluidity and mobility, as shown by its not forming perfect globules, is not totally dissipated by heat, and, when shaken in a glass bottle, coats its sides with a pellicle, or, if very impure, deposits a black pow- der. If agitated with strong sulphuric acid, the adulterating metals become oxidized, and in this manner the mercury may in part be purified. Lead is detected by shaking the suspected metal with equal parts of acetic acid and water, and then testing the acid by sulphate of soda, or iodide of potassium. The former will produce a white, the latter a yellow precipitate, if lead be present. Bismuth is discovered by dropping a nitric solution of the mercury, prepared without heat, into distilled water, when the subnitrate of bismuth will precipitate. The solubility of the metal in nitric acid shows that tin is not present; and if sulphuretted hydrogen does not act upon muriatic acid previously boiled upon the metal, the absence of the usual contaminating metals is shown. Mercury may be purified, according to Berzelius, by digesting it with a small portion of weak nitric acid, or with a solution of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate); whereby all the ordinary contaminating metals will be removed. M. Ulex recommends its purification by triturating, for ten mi- nutes, a pound of the metal with an ounce of the solution of sesquichloride of iron (sp. gr. 1-48), diluted with an equal measure of water. The mercury is thus divided to a very great extent, and the contaminating metals are sepa- rated as chlorides; the sesquichloride of iron being, in the meantime reduced to protochloride. After decanting the iron solution, and washing with water, the mercury is dried by a gentle heat, and subjected to trituration, when the greater portion of it runs together. Mercury, however, is usually purified by distillation; and the Dublin College has given directions for conducting the process. PART I. Hydrargyrum. 379 Medical Properties. Mercury, in its uncombined state, is deemed inert; but in a state of combination, it acts as a peculiar and universal stimulant. When exhibited in a state of minute division, as it exists in several prepara- tions, it produces its peculiar effects; but this does not prove that the uncom- bined metal is active, but only that the condition of minute division is favourable to its entering into combination in the stomach. Its combinations exhibit certain general medical properties and effects, which belong to the whole as a class; while each individual preparation is characterized by some peculiarity in its operation. Our business, in the present place, is to consider generally the physiological action of mercury, and the principles by which its adminis- tration should be regulated; while its effects, as modified in its different com- binations, will be more properly noticed under the head of each preparation individually. Of the modus operandi of mercury we know nothing, except that it pro- bably acts through the medium of the circulation, and that it possesses a pe- culiar alterative power over the vital functions, which enables it in many cases to subvert diseased actions by substituting its own in their stead. This alter- ative power is sometimes exerted, without being attended with any other vital phenomenon than the removal of disease; while at other times it is attended with certain obvious effects, indicative of the agency of a potent stimulus. In the latter case, its operation is marked by a quickened circulation, by a frequent, jerking pulse, by an increased activity imparted to all the secretory functions, particularly those of the salivary glands and the liver, by an exal- tation of nervous sensibility, and, in short, by a general excitation of the organic actions of the system. When mercury acts insensibly as an alterative, there is not the least ap- parent disturbance of the circulation; but when it operates decidedly and ob- viously, it is very prone to let the brunt of its action fall upon the salivary glands, causing, in many instances, an immoderate flow of saliva, and consti- tuting the condition denominated ptyalism or salivation. Under these cir- cumstances, to the alterative effects of the mineral are added those of depletion and revulsion. In the saliva discharged as a consequence of its action, mer- cury has been detected by chemical tests. (Journ. de Pharm., xxiii. 625.) Occasionally its depletory action is exhibited in an increased secretion of urine, or an immoderate flow of the bile; and, where ptyalism cannot be induced, and either of these secretions becomes considerably augmented, the circum- stance may be held as equally conclusive of the constitutional impression of the mercury, as if the mouth had been affected. Mercury has been found in the urine of those under the influence of corrosive sublimate, by M. Audouard. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., vii. 235.) It has, indeed, been detected in most of the solids and fluids of the body. Mercury has been used in almost all diseases, but too often empirically, and without the guidance of any recognised therapeutic principle. Never- theless, its efficacy in certain classes of diseases is universally acknowledged. In functional derangement of the digestive organs, mercurials in minute doses often exert a salutary operation, subverting the morbid action, and that too by their insensible alterative effect, without affecting the mouth. In these cases no decided disturbance of the vital functions takes place; but the alvine discharges, if clay-coloured, are generally restored to their natural hue, a cer- tain proof that the remedy is stimulating the liver, and promoting the secre- tion of the bile. Indeed, there is no fact better established in medicine than that of the influence of the mercurial preparations over the hepatic system; and, whether the liver be torpid and obstructed as in jaundice, or pouring out a redundancy of morbid bile as in mekena, its judicious use seems equally 380 Hydrargyrum. PART I. efficacious* in unloading the viscus, and restoring its secretion to a healthy state. In the acute and chronic hepatitis of India it is considered almost a specific; but here its use must be generally preceded by bleeding, and carried to the extent of exciting ptyalism. In chronic inflammation of the mucous and serous membranes, the alterative effects of mercury are sometimes attended with much benefit. In many of these cases effusion has taken place; and under these circumstances the mercury often proves useful, by promoting the absorption of the effused fluid, as well as by removing the chronic inflamma- tion on which the effusion depends. Hence it is that this metal is often given with advantage in chronic forms of meningitis, bronchitis, pleuritis, pneumonia, dysentery, rheumatism, &c, and in hydrocephalus, hydro thorax, ascites, and general dropsy. Mercury may also be advantageously resorted to in certain states of febrile disease. In some forms of the remittent fever of our own country, a particu- lar stage of its course is marked by a dry tongue, torpor of the bowels, scanty urine, and an arid state of the surface. Here depletion by the lancet or leeches is often inadmissible, and the measure most to be relied on is the ju- dicious employment of mercury. It acts in such cases by increasing the secretions and stimulating the exhalent capillaries, and, perhaps, by produc- ing a new impression, incompatible with the disease. In syphilitic affections, mercury, until of late years, has been held to be an indispensable specific. Of its mode of action in these affections we know nothing, except that it operates by substituting its own peculiar impression for that of the disease. Without entering upon the question of the necessity or non-necessity of mercury in venereal complaints, as out of place in this work, we are free to admit that the discussion which has grown out of it has shown that this remedy has sometimes been unnecessarily resorted to in affec- tions resembling syphilis, though of a different character; and that the dis- ease in question ought to be treated less empirically, and more on the general principles of combating morbid action occurring in other parts. Mercury exerts a peculiar control over the morbid effects of lead; and hence, in colica pictonum, it is accounted by some writers to act almost as a specific. For inducing the specific effects of mercury on the constitution, blue pill or calomel is generally resorted to. In order to produce what we have called the insensible alterative effects of the metal, a grain or two of blue pill may be given in the twenty-four hours, or from a sixth to a fourth of a grain of calomel; or if a gentle ptyalism be our object, from three to five grains of the former, or a grain of the latter, two or three times a day. Where the bowels are peculiarly irritable, it is often necessary to introduce the metal by means of frictions with mercurial ointment; and, where a speedy effect is desired, the internal and external use of the remedy may be simultaneously resorted to. The first observable effects of mercury in inducing ptyalism are a coppery taste in the mouth, a slight soreness of the gums, and an unpleasant sensa- tion in the sockets of the teeth, when the jaws are firmly closed. Shortly afterwards the gums begin to swell, a line of whitish matter is seen along their edges, and the breath is infected with a peculiar and very disagreeable smell, called the mercurial fetor. The saliva at the same time begins to flow; and, if the affection proceeds, the gums, tongue, throat, and face are much swollen; ulcerations attack the lining membrane of the mouth and fauces; the jaws become excessively painful; the tongue is coated with a thick whitish fur; and the saliva flows in streams from the mouth. It occasionally happens that the affection thus induced in the mouth proceeds to a dangerous extent, inducing extensive ulceration, gangrene, and even hemorrhage. The best remedies are the various astringent and detergent gargles, used weak at PART I. Hydrargyrum. 381 first, as the parts are extremely tender. In cases attended with swelling and protrusion of the tongue, the wash is best applied by-injection, by means of a large syringe. We have found lead-water among the best local applications in these cases; and dilute solutions of chlorinated soda or of chlorinated lime, while they correct the fetor, will be found to exert a curative influence on the ulcerated surfaces. While the system is under the action of mercury, the blood is more watery, less charged with albumen, fibrin, and red globules, and loaded with a fetid fatty matter. (Dr. S. Wright, quoted by Christison.) When drawn from a vein, it exhibits the same appearance as in inflammation. In the foregoing observations we have described the ordinary effects of mercury; but occasionally, in peculiar constitutions, its operation is quite different, being productive of a dangerous disturbance of the vital functions. The late Mr. Pearson has given a detailed account of this occasional pecu- liarity in the operation of mercury, in his work on the venereal disease. The symptoms which characterize it are a small frequent pulse, anxiety about the praecordia, pale and contracted countenance, great nervous agitation, and alarming general debility. Their appearance is the signal for discontinuing the mercury; as a further perseverance with it might be attended with fatal consequences. Mercury is also productive of a peculiar eruption of the skin, which will be found described by systematic writers under the various names of hydrargyria, eczema mercuricde, and lepra mercurialis. Those who work in mercury, and are therefore exposed to its vapours, such as water-gilders, looking-glass silverers, and quicksilver miners, are injured seriously in their health, and not unfrequently affected with shaking palsy, attended with vertigo and other cerebral disorders. Mercury is sometimes given in the metallic state, in the quantity of a pound or two in obstructions of the bowels, to act by its weight: but the practice is of doubtful advantage. _ Mercury in solution is detected with great delicacy by the use of Smith- son's battery, which consists of a plate of tin, lined with a plate of gold, in the form of a spiral. When immersed in a mercurial solution, this galvanic combination causes the precipitation of the mercury on the gold, which con- sequently contracts a white stain. In order to be sure that the stain is caused by mercury, the metal is volatilized in a small tube, so as to obtain a charac- teristic globule. MM. Danger and Flandin have improved on Smithson's process. (See Chem. Gaz., No. 61, p. 191.) Pharmaceutical Preparations. The following is a tabular view of all the officinal preparations of this metal. Mercury is officinal:— I. In the metallic state. Hydrargyrum, U. S., Lond,, Ed., Dub. Hydrargyrum Purificatum, Dub. Emplastrum Hydrargyri, U. S., Lond., Ed, Emplastrum Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro, Lond., Dub.; Em- plastrum Ammoniaci et Hydrargyri, Ed. Hydrargyrum cum Creta, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Hydrargyrum cum Magnesia, Dub. Pilulae Hydrargyri, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Anglice, Blue Pill. Unguentum Hydrargyri, U S., Ed., Dub.; Unguentum Hy- drargyri Fortius, Lond,; Anglice, Mercurial ointment. Unguentum Hydrargyri Mitius, Lond,, Dub. Ceratum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond. Linimentum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond. 382 Hydrargyrum. part I. II. Protoxidized. (By the action of solution of potassa on calomel,) Hydrargyri Oxidum Nigrum, U. S.; Hydrargyri Oxydum Nigrum, Dub. (By the action of lime-water on calomel.) Hydrargyri Oxydum, Lond. III. Deutoxidized. (By the action of heat and air.) Hydrargyri Oxydum Rubrum, Dub.; Anglice, Red precipitate per se; Calcined mercury. (By the action of nitric acid.) Hydrargyri Oxidum Rubrum, U S., Ed.; Hydrargyri Nitrico- Oxydum, Lond.; Hydrargyri Oxydum Nitricum, Dub.; Anglice, Red precipitate. Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxidi Rubri, U. S.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitrico-Oxydi, Lond.; Unguentum Oxidi Hydrargyri, Ed.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxydi Ni- trici, Dub. (Obtained by precipitation.) Hydrargyri Binoxydum, Lond. IV. Sulphuretted. Hydrargyri Sulphuretum Nigrum, U. S., Dub.; Hydrargyri Sulphuretum cum Sulphure, Lond.; Anglice, Ethiops mineral. Hydrargyri Sulphuretum Rubrum, U. S., Dub.; Hydrargyri Bisulphuretum, Lond.; Cinnabaris, Ed,; Anglice, Cin- nabar. V. As a protochloride. ( Obtained by sublimation.) Hydrargyri Chloridum Mite, U. S.; Hydrargyri Chloridum, Lond.; Calomelas, Ed.; Calomelas Sublimatum, Dub.; Anglice, Calomel, Pilulae Calomelanos Compositae, Ed., Dub.; Pilulae Hydrar- gyri Chloridi Compositae, Lond. Pilulae Calomelanos et Opii, Ed. Pilulae Catharticae Compositae, U. S. Pilulae Hydrargyri Chloridi Mitis, U. S. (Obtained by precipitation.) Calomelas praecipitatum, Dub. VI. AS A BICHLORIDE. Hydrargyri Chloridum Corrosivum, U. S-; Hydrargyri Bichlo- ridum, Lond.; Sublimatus Corrosivus, Ed.; Hydrargyri Murias Corrosivum, Dub.; Anglice, Corrosive sublimate. Liquor Hydrargyri Bichloridi, Lond, Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum, U. S.; Hydrargyri Ammonio- Chloridum, Lond.; Hydrargyri Precipitatum Album, Ed.; Hydrargyri Submurias Ammoniatum, Dub.; An- glice, White precipitate. Unguentum Hydrargyri Ammoniati, U. S.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Ammonio-Chloridi, Lond.; Unguentum Pre- cipitati Albi, Ed.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Submuriatis Ammoniati, Dub. PART I. Hyoseyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen. 383 VII. Combined with iodine. Hydrargyri Iodidum, U. S., Lond. Pilulae Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond. Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond. Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum, U. S.; Hydrargyri Biniodidum, Lond., Ed. Unguentum Hydrargyri Biniodidi, Lond. VIII. Combined with cyanogen. Hydrargyri Cyanuretum, U. S., Dub.; Hydrargyri Bieyanidum, Lond. IX. Oxidized and combined with acids. Hydrargyri Acetas, Dub. Hydrargyri Persulphas, Dub. Hydrargyri Sulphas Flavus, U. S.; Hydrargyri Oxydum Sul- phuricum, Dub.; Anglice, Turpeth mineral. Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis, U. S., Lond; Unguentum Citrinum, Ed.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis, vel Unguentum Citrinum, Dub.; Anglice, Citrine ointment. B. HYOSCYAMI FOLIA. U.S.,Lond. Henbane Leaves. "The leaves of Hyoscyamus niger." U. S. "Hyoscyamus niger. Folia." Lond. Off. Syn. HYOSCYAMUS. Leaves of Hyoscyamus niger. Ed,; HYOS- CYAMUS NIGER. Folia. Dub. HYOSCYAMI SEMEN. U. S. Henbane Seed. "The seeds of Hyoscyamus niger." U. S. Off. Syn. HYOSCYAMI SEMINA. Hyoscyamus niger. Semina. Lond. Jusquiame noire, Fr.; Schwarzes Bilsenkraut, Germ.; Giusquiamo nero, Ital; Beleno, Span. Hyoscyamus. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Solanaceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla funnel-form, obtuse. Stamens inclined. Capsules covered with a lid, two-celled. Willd. Hyoscyamus niger. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1010; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 204, t. 76; Bigelow, Am. Med, Bot. i. 161; Carson, Illust. of Med, Bot., ii. 19, pi. 66. Henbane is usually a biennial plant, with a long, tapering, whitish, fleshy, somewhat branching root, bearing considerable resemblance to that of parsley, for which it has been eaten by mistake. The stem is erect, round, branching, from one to three feet in height, and thickly furnished with leaves. These are large, oblong, ovate, deeply sinuated, with pointed segments, undu- lated, soft to the touch, and at their base embrace the stem. The upper leaves are generally entire. Both the stem and leaves are hairy, viscid, and of a sea-green colour. The flowers form long, one-sided leafy spikes, which ter- minate the branches, and hang downwards. They are composed of a calyx with five pointed divisions, a funnel-shaped corolla, with five unequal, obtuse segments at the border, five stamens inserted into the tube of the corolla, and a pistil with a blunt, round stigma. Their colour is an obscure yellow, beau- 384 Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen. part I. tifully variegated with purple veins. The fruit is a globular two-celled capsule, covered with a lid, invested with the persistent calyx, and containing nume- rous small seeds, which are discharged by the horizontal separation of the lid. The whole plant has a rank offensive smell. The H. niger seems to be susceptible of considerable diversity of character, giving rise to varieties which have by some been considered as distinct species. Thus, the plant is sometimes annual, the stem simple, the leaves more deeply incised and less hairy than in the common variety, and the flowers yellow without the purple streaks. It has not been determined whether any differ- ence of medical properties is connected with these diversities of character. The plant is found in the northern and eastern sections of the United States, occupying waste grounds in the vicinity of the older settlements, particularly graveyards, old gardens, and the foundations of ruined houses. It grows in great abundance in the neighbourhood of Detroit, and we have seen a specimen brought from the ruins of Ticonderoga. It is rare, however, in this country, of which it is not a native, having been introduced from Europe. In Great Britain, France, Germany, and other parts of Europe, it grows abundantly along the roads, around villages, amidst rubbish, and in uncultivated places. It flowers in June and July. The H. albus, so named from the whiteness of its flowers, is used in France indiscriminately with the former species, which it resembles exactly in medi- cinal properties. All parts of the Hyoscyamus niger are possessed of activity. The leaves are the part usually employed, but both these and the seeds are recognised in the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias. Much of the efficacy of henbane de- pends upon the time at which it is gathered. The leaves should be collected soon after the plant has flowered. In the biennial plant, those of the second year are asserted by Dr. Houlton to be greatly preferable to those of the first. The latter, he informs us, are less clammy and fetid, yield less extractive matter, and are medicinally much less efficient. As the plant is sometimes destroyed by the severe winters in England, no leaves of the second year's growth are obtainable, and the market is on these occasions supplied with the medicine of inferior quality. This is, perhaps, one of the causes of its great inequality of strength and uncertainty of operation. The root also is said to be much more poisonous in the second year than the first. Properties. The recent leaves have, when bruised, a strong, disagreeable, narcotic odour, somewhat like that of tobacco. Their taste is mucilaginous and very slightly acrid. When dried, they have little smell or taste. Thrown upon the fire they burn with a crackling noise, as if they contained a nitrate, and at the same time emit a strong odour. Their virtues are completely ex- tracted by diluted alcohol. The watery infusion is of a pale yellow colour, insipid, with the narcotic odour of the plant. The leaves have been analyzed by Lindbergsen, who obtained from them a narcotic principle. The seeds are very small, roundish, compressed, somewhat kidney-shaped, a little wrinkled, of a gray or yellowish-gray colour, of the odour of the plant, and an oleaginous bitterish taste. Analyzed by Brandes, they yielded 24-2 per cent, of fixed oil, 1-4 of a solid fatty substance, traces of sugar, 1-2 of gum, 2-4 of bassorin, 1-5 of starch, 3.4 of a substance soluble in water, insoluble in alcohol, and precipitated by infusion of galls (phyteumacolla, Brandes), 4-5 of albumen soluble or coagulated, 26-0 of vegetable fibre, 24-1 of water, and 9-7 of saline matters, including an alkaline principle called hyoscyamin or hyoscyamia, com- bined with malic acid. But the process employed by Brandes for separating this principle, has not succeeded in other hands; and it was doubtful whether the substance obtained by that experimentalist was really what he supposed it part I. Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen. 385 to be. Geiger and Hesse were the first to demonstrate the existence of an organic alkali in hyoscyamus. Its extraction from the plant is somewhat diffi- cult, in consequence of its strong tendency to undergo a change by the contact of alkaline solutions, which render it very soluble in water. The following is the process of the last-mentioned chemists. The seeds of the plant are mace- rated in alcohol; the tincture thus obtained is evaporated by a very gentle heat, decolorized by repeated additions of lime and sulphuric acid, with filtra- tion after each addition, and then still further concentrated by evaporation; an excess of powdered carbonate of soda is added, and the precipitate produced is separated, as speedily as possible, from the alkaline carbonate by expressing and treating it with absolute alcohol, while the mother waters are at the same time treated with ether; the alcoholic and ethereal liquors are united, again treated with lime, filtered, decolorized with animal charcoal, and evaporated by a very gentle heat. If the hyoscyamia now deposited should still be coloured, it will be necessary to combine it anew with an acid, and to treat as before, in order to obtain it quite pure. The product is very small. Hyoscyamia crystallizes in colourless, transparent, silky needles, which are without odour, of an acrid disagreeable taste, slightly soluble in water, very soluble in alcohol and ether, and volatilizable with little change if care- fully distilled. It is quickly altered by contact with water and an alkali, and when heated with potassa or soda is completely decomposed, with the disen- gagement of ammonia, It neutralizes the acids, forming with them crystal- lizable salts. The infusion of galls precipitates it from its aqueous solution. Both the alkali and its salts are very poisonous; and the smallest quantity, introduced into the eye, produces a dilatationtof the pupil, which continues for a long time. Henbane leaves yield, by destructive distillation, a very poisonous empy- reumatic oil. Medical Properties and Uses. Hyoscyamus ranks among the narcotics. In moderate quantities it gently accelerates the circulation, increases the general warmth, occasions a sense of heat in the throat, and after a short period induces sleep. This action is sometimes attended with vertigo, pain in the head, and dilated pupils; and the medicine occasionally acts as a diaphoretic or diuretic, and even produces a pustular eruption. It does not constipate like opium, but, on the contrary, often proves laxative. In over doses it powerfully irritates the brain and alimentary canal, causing dilatation of the pupil, disordered vision, loss of speech, delirium or stupor, convulsions, paralysis, pain in the bowels, diarrhoea, great arterial prostration, petechiae, and other alarming symptoms, which sometimes end in death. Dissection exhibits marks of inflammation of the stomach and bowels. The poisonous effects are to be counteracted in the same manner as those of opium. Acid drinks, such as lemon-juice and vinegar, are recommended after the evacua- tion of the stomach. Numerous instances might be adduced from authors to prove the deleterious influence of all parts of the H. niger, when taken in large quantities. The seeds are said to be most powerful. Upon inferior animals its effects are not always the same. While it proves fatal to birds and dogs, the leaves are eaten with entire impunity by horses, cows, sheep, goats, and swine. It is not impossible that injury has in some cases resulted from the use of milk, derived from cows or goats which had been feeding on henbane. The remedial operation of hyoscyamus is anodyne and soporific. The medicine was known to the ancients, and was employed by some of the ear- lier modern practitioners; but had fallen into disuse, and was almost forgot- ten, when Baron Stbrck again introduced it into notice. By this celebrated 25 386 Hyoscyami Folia.—Hyoscyami Semen. part i. physician and some of his successors it was prescribed in numerous diseases, and, if we may credit their testimony, with the happiest effects; but subse- quent experience of its operation has been such as very much to narrow the extent of its application. It is at present used almost exclusively to relieve pain, procure sleep, or quiet irregular nervous action; and is not supposed to exercise any specific curative influence over particular diseases. Even for the purposes which it is calculated to answer, it is infinitely inferior to opium or its preparations; and is generally resorted to only in cases in which the latter remedy is from peculiar circumstances deemed inadmissible. Hyoscy- amus has one great advantage over opium in certain cases, that it has no tendency to produce constipation. The diseases to which it is applicable it would be useless to enumerate, as there are few complaints in which circum- stances might not be such as to call for its employment. Neuralgic and spasmodic affections, rheumatism, gout, hysteria, and various pectoral dis- eases, as catarrh, pertussis, asthma, phthisis, &c, are among those in which it is most frequently prescribed. It is also much used in connexion with griping purgative medicines, the disagreeable effects of which it is thought to counteract. The Edinburgh Pills of colocynth and henbane are formed upon this principle. In Europe, where the fresh leaves are readily obtained, it is often applied externally in the shape of lotion, cataplasm, or fomentation, to allay pain and irritation, in scrofulous or cancerous ulcers, scirrhous, he- morrhoidal, or other painful tumours, gouty and rheumatic swellings, and nervous headache. The smoke of the leaves or seeds has also been used in toothache; but the practice is deemed hazardous. The effect of henbane in dilating the pupil, when applied to the conjunctiva, has already been mentioned. For this purpose it is used by European oculists, previously to the operation for cataract. An infusion of the leaves, or a solution of the extract, is drop- ped into the eye. The effect is usually greatest at the end of four hours from the time of application, and in twelve hours ceases entirely. Vision is not impaired during its continuance. Reisinger recommends a solution of hyos- cyamia in the proportion of one grain to twenty-four of water, of which one drop is to be applied to the eye. Henbane may be given in substance, extract, or tincture. The dose of the powdered leaves is from five to ten grains; that of the seeds somewhat smaller. The common extract, or inspissated juice of the fresh leaves (Ex- traetum Hyoscyami, U. S.), is exceedingly variable and precarious in its operation, being sometimes active, sometimes almost inert. The usual dose is two or three grains, repeated and gradually increased till the desired effect is obtained. Cullen rarely procured the anodyne operation of the medicine till he had carried the dose to eight, ten, or even fifteen or twenty grains. Collin pushed it to thirty-six grains; and Professor Fouquier, who experi- mented largely with hyoscyamus in the Hdpital de la Charite, gave two hun- dred and fifty grains of the extract during twenty-four hours, without any specific or curative impression. (Richard, Elem. Hist. Nat. Me"d.) The alco- holic extract prepared from the recently dried leaves (Extraetum Hyoscyami Alcoholicum, U. S.) is said to be more certain and effectual. The dose of this to begin with is one or two grains, which may be increased gradually to twenty or even thirty grains. The dose of the tincture is one or two flui- drachms. A good plan in administering any of the preparations of hyoscy- amus is to repeat the dose every hour or two till its influence is felt. Off. Prep. Extraetum Hyoscyami, U. S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.; Extraetum Hyoscyami Alcoholicum, U.S.; Tinctura Hyoscyami, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. PART I. Ichthyocolla. 387 ICHTHYOCOLLA. U.S. Isinglass. "The swimming bladder of Acipenser Huso, and other species of Acipen- ser." U.S. Fish-glue; Ichthyocolle, colle de poisson, Fr.; Hausenblase, Fischleim, Germ.; Colla di pesce, Ital; Cola de pescado, Span. Isinglass is a gelatinous substance, prepared chiefly from the sounds or swimming bladders of fishes, especially those of different species of sturgeon. Though no longer retained by any of the British Colleges in their officinal catalogues, it still has a place in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, and being universally kept in the shops, requires at least a brief notice in the present work. In most fishes there is a membranous bag, placed in the anterior part of the abdomen, communicating frequently, though not always, by means of a duct, with the oesophagus or stomach, and containing usually a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen gases in various proportions. From the supposition that it was intended by its expansion or contraction to enable the fish to rise or sink in the water, it has been denominated sivimming bladder. It is of dif- ferent shape in different fishes, and consists of three coats, of which the two interior are thin and delicate, the outer tough and of a silvery whiteness. The Acipenser Huso, or beluga of the Russians, is particularly designated by the Pharmacopoeia as the species of sturgeon from which isinglass is pro- cured ; but three others, the A.Ruthenus, or sterlet, A. Sturio, or common sturgeon, and A. stellatus, or starred sturgeon, also furnish large quantities to commerce. All these fish inhabit the interior waters of Russia, especially the Wolga, and other streams which empty into the Caspian Sea. Immense quantities are annually taken and consumed as food by the Russians. The air-bags are removed from the fish, and, having been split open and washed in water in order to separate the blood, fat, and adhering extraneous mem- branes, are spread out, and when sufficiently stiffened are formed into cylin- drical rolls, the ends of which are brought together and secured by pegs. The shape given to the roll is that of a staple, or more accurately that of a lyre, which it firmly retains when dried. Thus prepared it is known in commerce by the name of staple isinglass, and is distinguished into the long and short staple. Sometimes the membranes are dried in a flat state, or simply folded, and then receive the name of leaf or book isinglass. The scraps or fragments of these varieties, with various other parts of the fish, are boiled in water, which dissolves the gelatin, and upon evaporation leaves it in a solid state. This is called cake isinglass, from the shape which it is made to assume. It is sometimes, however, in globular masses. Of these varieties, the long staple is said to be the best; but the finest book isinglass is not sur- passed by any brought to this country. It is remarkable for its beautiful iridescence by transmitted light. One hundred grains of this isinglass dis- solve in ten ounces of water, forming a tremulous jelly when cold, and yield but two grains of membranous insoluble residuum. That in cakes is brownish, of an unpleasant odour, and employed only in the arts. Inferior kinds, with the same commercial titles, are said to be prepared from the peritoneum and intestines of the fish. An inferior Russian product, known in English com- merce by the name of Samovey isinglass, is procured, according to Pereira, from the Silurus Glanis. It comes, like the better kind, in the shape of leaf book, and short staple. (Am. J. of Pharm., xviii. 54.) 388 Ichthyocolla. part i. Isinglass little inferior to the Russian is made in Iceland from the sounds of the cod and ling. Considerable quantities of isinglass are manufactured in New England from the intestines of the cod—Morrhua Americana (Storer, Report on Fishes of Mass., 1839)—and of some of its allied fishes. This sort is in the form of thin ribbons several feet in length, and from an inch and a half to two inches in width. One hundred grains dissolve almost entirely in water, leaving but two grains of insoluble membrane, and form a tremulous jelly when cold with eight ounces of water. It is, therefore, as pure and nearly as strong a gelatin as the Russian isinglass, but retains a fishy taste and odour, which render it unfit for culinary or medicinal purposes. We receive from Brazil the air-bladders of a large fish, prepared by drying them in their distended state. They are oblong, tapering and pointed at one end, bifid with the remains of their pneumatic duct at the other, and of a firm consistence. Isinglass of a good quality is also made in New York, from the sounds of the weak fish—Otolithus regalis of Cuvier (Storer, Rep. on Fishes of Mass., p. 33)—and perhaps of other fishes caught in the neighbourhood. The sounds are dried whole, or merely split open, and vary much in size and texture, weighing from a drachm up to an ounce. An article called " refined or transparent isinglass," is made by dissolving the New England isinglass in hot water, and spreading the solution to dry on oiled muslin. It is in very thin transparent plates, and is an excellent glue, but retains a strong fishy odour. A preparation called Cooper's gelatin has been introduced as a substitute for isinglass in making jellies. It appears to be the dried froth of a solution of pure bone glue. Most of the above facts, in relation to American isinglass, were derived from Mr. D. B. Smith. (See Journ. of the Phil, Col. of Pharm., iii. 17 and 92.) Isinglass is sometimes kept in the shops cut into fine shreds, and is thus more easily acted on by boiling water. In its purest form it is whitish, semi-transparent, of a shining, pearly ap- pearance, and destitute of smell and taste. The inferior kinds are yellowish and more opaque. In cold water it softens, swells up, and becomes opalescent. Boiling water entirely dissolves it, with the exception of a minute proportion of impurities, amounting, according to Mr. Hatchet, to less than two parts in the hundred. The solution on cooling assumes the form of a jelly, which consists of pure gelatin and water. Isinglass is in fact the purest form of gelatin with which we are acquainted, and may be used whenever this prin- ciple is required as a test. It is insoluble in alcohol, but is dissolved readily by most of the diluted acids, and by solutions of the alkalies. It has a strong affinity for tannin, with which it forms an insoluble compound. Boiled with concentrated sulphuric acid, it is converted into a peculiar saccharine matter, called glycocoll, or sugar of gelatin. Its aqueous solution speedily putrefies. Medical Properties and Uses. Isinglass has no peculiar medical properties. It may be given internally, in the form of jelly, as a highly nutritious article of diet; but it has no advantages over the jelly prepared from calves-feet. Three drachms impart sufficient consistency to a pint of water. It is employed in the arts for clarifying liquors, and imparting lustre to various woven fabrics. Added in small quantities to vegetable jellies, it gives them a tremulous ap- pearance, which they want when unmixed. As a test of tannin it is used in solution, in the proportion of a drachm to ten fluidounces of distilled water. It forms the basis of the English court-plaster. "W". PART I. Inula. 389 INULA. U.S. Secondary, Lond. Elecampane. "The root of Inula Helenium.'" U. S. "Inula Helenium. Radix." Lond. Off. Syn. INULA HELENIUM. Radix. Dub. Aunee, Fr.; Alantwurzel, Germ.; Enula campana, Ital, Span. Inula. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua. — Nat. Ord. Compositae-Aste- roideae, De Cand. Asteraceae, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Receptacle naked. Seed-down simple. Anthers ending in two bristles at the base. Willd. Inula Helenium. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 2089; Woodv. Med, Bot. p. 64, t. 26. Elecampane has a perennial root, and an annual stem, which is round, furrowed, villous, leafy, from three to six feet high, and branched near the top. The leaves are large, ovate, serrate, crowded with reticular veins, smooth and deep green upon the upper surface, downy on the under, and furnished with a fleshy midrib. Those which spring directly from the root are petiolate, those of the stem sessile and embracing. The flowers are large, of a golden- yellow colour, and stand singly at the ends of the stem and branches. The calyx exhibits several rows of imbricated ovate scales. The florets of the ray are numerous, spreading, linear, and tridentate at the apex. The seeds are striated, quadrangular, and furnished with a simple somewhat chaffy pappus. This large and handsome plant is a native of Europe, where it is also cul- tivated for medical use. It has been introduced into our gardens, and has become naturalized in some parts of the country, growing in low meadows, and on the roadsides, from New England to Pennsylvania. It flowers in July and August. The roots, which are the officinal part, should be dug up in autumn, and in the second year of their growth. When older they are apt to be stringy and woody. The fresh root of elecampane is very thick and branched, having whitish cylindrical ramifications, which are furnished with thread-like fibres. It is externally brown, internally whitish and fleshy; and the transverse sections present radiating lines. The dried root, as found in the shops, is usually in longitudinal or transverse slices, and of a grayish colour internally. The smell is slightly camphorous, and, especially in the dried root, agreeably aro- matic. The taste, at first glutinous and said to resemble that of rancid soap, becomes, upon chewing, warm, aromatic, and bitter. Its medical virtues are extracted by alcohol and water, the former becoming most strongly impreg- nated with its bitterness and pungency. A peculiar principle, resembling starch, was discovered in elecampane by Valentine Rose, of Berlin, who named it alantin; but the title inulin, proposed by Dr. Thomson, has been generally adopted. It differs from starch in being deposited unchanged from its solution in boiling water when the liquor cools, and in giving a yellowish instead of a blue colour with iodine. It has been found in the roots of several other plants. Besides this principle, elecampane contains, according to John, a white, con- crete substance, called helenin, intermediate in its properties between the essential oils and camphor, and separable by distillation with water; a bitter extractive, soluble in water and alcohol; a soft, acrid, bitter resin, having an aromatic odour when heated; gum; albumen; lignin; traces of volatile oil; a little wax; and various saline substances. Medical Properties and Uses. Elecampane is tonic and gently stimulant, and has been supposed to possess diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, and em- menagogue properties. By the ancients it was much employed, especially in the complaints peculiar to females; and it is still occasionally resorted to in 390 Inula.—Iodinum. PART I. cases of retained or suppressed menstruation. In this country it is chiefly used in chronic diseases of the lungs, and is sometimes beneficial when the affection of the chest is attended with weakness of the digestive organs, or with general debility. From a belief in its deobstruent and diuretic virtues, it was formerly prescribed in chronic engorgements of the abdominal viscera, and the dropsy to which they so often give rise. It has also been highly recommended both as an internal and external remedy in tetter, psora, and other diseases of the skin. The usual modes of administration are in powder and decoction. The dose of the former is from a scruple to a drachm. The decoction may be prepared by boiling half an ounce of the root in a pint of water, and given in the dose of one or two fluidounces. Off. Prep. Confectio Piperis Nigri, Lond., Dub. W. IODINUM. U.S. Iodine. Off Syn. IODINIUM. Lond., Dub.; IODINEUM. Ed. lode, Fr.; loci, Germ.; Iodina, Ital, Span. Iodine is an elementary non-metallic body, discovered in 1812 by Courtois, a soda manufacturer of Paris. Some years after its discovery, its therapeutic powers were tried; and these having been found valuable, it is now recognised as a standard remedy. Natural State and Preparation. Iodine exists in certain marine vegeta- bles, particularly the fuci or common sea-weeds; in the animal kingdom, in the sponge, the oyster, various polypi, and cod-liver oil; and, in the mineral kingdom, in sea-water in minute quantity, in certain salt springs, united with silver in a rare Mexican mineral, and in a zinc ore of Silesia, It was first discovered in the United States in the water of the Congress Spring, at Sara- toga, by Dr. William Usher; and afterwards in the same water by Dr. J. H. Steel. (See p. 114.) It was also detected in the Kenhawa saline waters, by the late Professor Emmet; and it exists in the bittern of the salt-works of western Pennsylvania, in the amount of about eight grains to the gallon. In sea-weeds, the iodine probably exists in the state of iodide of sodium. In both England and France, sea-weeds are burned for the sake of their ashes; the product being a dark-coloured fused mass called kelp. This substance con- tains, besides carbonate of soda and iodide of sodium, more or less common salt, chloride of potassium, sulphate of soda, &c. The deep-sea fuci contain the most iodine; and, when these are burned at a low temperature for fuel, as is the case in the island of Guernsey, their ashes furnish more iodine than ordinary kelp. (Graham.) The Fucus palmatus of Linnaeus (Rhodymenia palmata, Greville) is particularly rich in iodine. Preparation.. It is from kelp that iodine is obtained, and that procured in Great Britain is exclusively manufactured in Glasgow. The kelp, which on an average contains a 224th part of iodine, is lixiviated in water, in which about half dissolves. The solution is concentrated to a pellicle, and allowed to cool, whereby all the salts, except the iodide of sodium, are almost com- pletely separated, they being less soluble than the iodide. The remaining liquor, which is dense and dark-coloured, is rendered sour by sulphuric acid, whereby carbonic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen and sulphurous acid are evolved, and sulphur is deposited. The liquor is now introduced into a leaden still, and distilled with a portion of deutoxide of manganese into a series of glass receivers, inserted into one another, in which the iodine is condensed. In this process the iodide of sodium is decomposed, and the iodine evolved; and part I. Iodinum. 391 the sulphuric acid, deutoxide of manganese, and sodium unite, so as to form the sulphate of protoxide of manganese and sulphate of soda, Properties. Iodine is a soft, friable, opaque substance, in the form of crys- talline scales, having a bluish-black colour and metallic lustre. It possesses a strong and peculiar odour, somewhat resembling that of chlorine, and a hot acrid taste. Applied to the skin, it produces an evanescent yellow stain. Its sp. gr. is a little less than 5. It is a volatile substance, and evaporates even at common temperatures, provided it be in a moist state. When heated it evaporates more rapidly, and when the temperature reaches 225°, it fuses, and rises in a rich purple vapour, a property which suggested its name. Its vapour has the sp. gr. of 8-7, and is the heaviest aeriform substance known. If inhaled mixed with air, it excites cough and irritates the nostrils. When it comes in contact with cool surfaces, it condenses in brilliant steel-gray crystals. Iodine is soluble in 7000 times its weight of water, and in a much smaller quantity of alcohol or ether. Its solution in water has no taste, a feeble odour, and a light brown colour; in alcohol or ether, a nearly black hue. Its solubility in water is very much increased by the addition of certain salts, as the chloride of sodium, nitrate of ammonia, or iodide of potassium. In chemical habitudes it resembles chlorine, but its affinities are weaker. Its equivalent number is 126-3. It combines with most of the non-metallic, and nearly all the metallic elements, forming the class of compounds called iodides. Some of these are officinal, as the iodides of iron, mercury, lead, potassium, and sulphur. It forms with oxygen one oxide, oxide of iodine, and three acids, the iodous, iodic, and hyperiodic acids, and with hydrogen, a gaseous acid, analogous in properties and constitution to the muriatic, called hydriodic acid, Iodine, in most cases, may be recognised by its characteristic purple vapour; but where this cannot be made evident, it is detected unerringly by starch, which produces with it a deep blue colour. This test was discovered by Colin and Gaultier de Claubry, and is so delicate, that it will indicate the presence of iodine in 450,000 times its weight of water. In order that the test may succeed, the iodine must be free and the solutions cold. To render it free when it happens to be in combination, a little nitric acid must be added to the solution suspected to contain it. Adulterations. Iodine is said to be occasionally adulterated with mineral coal, charcoal, plumbago, and black oxide of manganese; but neither Dr. Pereira nor Dr. Christison has found any of these substances in samples of iodine which they have examined. They are easily detected by their fixed nature, while pure iodine is wholly vaporizable, or by their insolubility ia alcohol. The present high price of iodine (1849) has given rise to its more frequent adulteration. Herberger found native sulphuret of antimony in one sample, and artificial graphite in another; and Righini has detected as much as 25 per cent, of chloride of calcium. An impurity which is almost always present in commercial iodine is water. Several years ago Dr. Christison called attention to this fact, and, until within a recent period, he had not met with any British iodine which did not contain from fifteen to twenty per cent, of moisture. If considerable, it is easily detected by the iodine adher- ing to the inside of the bottle. The Edinburgh College has given a test which detects all impurity beyond two per cent. It is founded upon the fact that pure iodine, diffused in water, forms a colourless solution of iodide of calcium and iodate of lime with a certain proportion of quicklime. Accord- ingly, an amount of quicklime is directed which is not quite sufficient to form a colourless solution with iodine, containing only two per cent, of impurity; and, hence, if the sample contain more impurity, the lime is competent to produce a solution without colour. With this explanation, the Edinburgh 392 Iodinum. PART I. directions for applying the test will be understood. "Thirty-nine grains [of iodine] with nine grains of quicklime and three ounces of water, when heated short of ebullition, slowly form a perfect solution, which is yellowish or brownish if the iodine be pure, but colourless if there be above two per cent. of water or other impurity." The Edinburgh College, in view of the almost uniform presence of water in commercial iodine, and of its consequent unfitness "for making pharma- ceutical preparations of uniform strength," directs it to " be dried by being placed in a shallow basin of earthenware, in a small confined space of air, with ten or twelve times its weight of fresh-burnt lime, till it scarcely adheres to the inside of a dry bottle." Medical Properties and Uses. Iodine was first employed as a medicine in 1820, for the cure of goitre, by Dr. Coindet, Senior, of Geneva. It operates as a general excitant of the vital actions, but particularly of the absorbent and glandular systems. Its special effects are varied by its degree of concen- tration, state of combination, dose, &c.; and hence, under different circum- stances of the remedy and of the system, it is deemed capable of acting as a corrosive, irritant, desiccant, tonic, diuretic, diaphoretic, and emmenagogue. It probably acts by passing into the circulation; at least it has been proved by Dr. A. Buchanan, of Glasgow, that it enters into a number of the secre- tions, particularly the urine and saliva, not, as he believes, in an uncombined state, but in that of hydriodic acid. Cantu detected it not only in the urine and saliva, but also in the sweat, milk, and blood, and always as hydriodic acid or an iodide. Its tonic operation is evinced by its strengthening the digestive organs, and increasing the appetite, which are the most constant effects of its use. Salivation is occasionally produced by it, and sometimes soreness of mouth only. In some cases, pustular eruptions and coryza have been produced; effects most apt to occur when the remedy is given in the form of iodide of potassium. When taken in an overdose it acts as an irri- tant poison. In doses of two drachms, administered to dogs, it produced irritation of the stomach, and death in seven days; and the stomach on dis- section was found studded with numerous little ulcers of a yellow colour. In the dose of from four to six grains in man, it produces a sense of constriction in the throat, sickness and pain at the stomach, and at length vomiting and colic. These facts demonstrate the activity of iodine, and show the necessity of caution in its exhibition. Even when given in medicinal doses, especially if these be rather large, it sometimes produces dangerous symptoms; such as restlessness, palpitation, a sense of burning along the gullet, excessive thirst, acute pain in the stomach, vomiting and purging, violent cramps, rapid and extreme emaciation, and frequent pulse. The condition of the system, in which the poisonous effects of iodine are developed, is called iodism. Though this condition may be produced by incautious doses of the medicine, too long continued, still it must be admitted that it sometimes arises, under other cir- cumstances, from causes not well explained. On the other hand, large doses have been given for a long time with perfect impunity. This variable opera- tion of iodine may in some measure be accounted for by the variable condition of the stomach, and by the more or less amylaceous character of the food; starch having the power of uniting with iodine and rendering it mild. Upon the appearance of the first symptoms of fever or general nervous disturbance, indicating the approach of iodism, the remedy should be instantly laid aside. Dr. Lugol, of Paris, who has used iodine more methodically than any other practitioner, has never observed these alarming effects to arise from the re- medy, given in the small doses and in the state of dilution in which he is in the habit of prescribing it, He has not found it to cause emaciation, haemo- PART I. Iodinum. 393 ptysis, pulmonary tubercles, or other bad effects. On the contrary, many of his patients gained flesh and improved in general health. Notwithstanding this testimony, we have indubitable evidence that rapid emaciation is occasionally produced by iodine; and a long course of the remedy has in some instances occasioned absorption of the mammae. The wasting of the testicles, under similar circumstances, is comparatively rare. Dr. R. Coates, of this city, reports a case in the Medical Examiner, of the complete absorption of the female breast from the use of iodine; but the mammae re- covered their original developement after the lapse of a year. Iodine has been principally employed in diseases of the absorbent and glandular systems. In ascites it has been used with success by Dr. Baron. It is said not to act efficaciously while the abdomen is tense, and the absorb- ents consequently compressed, but operates after this condition is removed by tapping. Dr. Bardsley recommends it in that form of ascites which is connected with diseased liver. Dr. Seguin, a French physician, praises its effects, when given in the form of tincture, in obstinate intermittents which have resisted quinia. It has been used successfully by some British practi- tioners in ovarian tumours, but failed in the hands of others. In glandular enlargements and morbid growths, its use has proved more efficacious than, perhaps, in any other class of diseases. Dr. Coindet discovered its extraor- dinary power in promoting the absorption of the thyroid gland in bronchocele; and it has been used with more or less success in enlargements of the liver, spleen, mammae, testes, and uterus. When used in bronchocele, its good effects are commonly shown in three weeks, but often not until the treatment has been continued for a longer time. In induration and enlargement of the liver, where mercury has failed or is inadmissible, iodine forms our best re- source. In chronic diseases of the uterus, attended with induration and en- largement, and in hard tumours of the cervix, and indurated puckerings of the edges of the os tincae, iodine has occasionally effected a cure, administered internally, and rubbed into the cervix in the form of ointment for ten or twelve minutes every night. The emmenagogue power of iodine has been noticed by several practitioners; and Dr. Lugol mentions instances, among his scrofulous patients, in which it cured obstructed and painful menstruation. It has been recommended in gleet, and also in gonorrhoea and leucorrhcea, after the inflammatory symptoms have subsided. In pseudo-syphilis and cachexy arising from the abuse of mercury, it is one of our best remedies; but to the treatment of these cases iodide of potassium is considered to be best suited. In chronic rheumatism it is a favourite remedy with some, par- ticularly in the form of iodide of potassium; and by Gendrin it has been em- ployed in the acute forms of gout, with the effect, as he supposed, of cutting short the fits. Dr. Manson, in his work on the medical effects of iodine, pub- lished in 1825, has recorded cases of its efficacy in several nervous diseases, such as chorea and paralysis. In various scaly eruptions, the internal and external use of the preparations of iodine is very much relied on. It is in scrofulous diseases that the most interesting results have been ob- tained by the use of iodine. Dr. Coindet first directed public attention to its effects in scrofula, and Dr. Manson reported a number of cases of this disease in the form of enlarged glands, ulcers, and ophthalmia, occurring in his prac- tice between 1*21 and 1824, in a large proportion of which the disease was either cured or meliorated, and the general health much improved. But we are indebted to Dr. Lugol for the most extended and valuable researches in relation to the use of iodine in the different forms of scrofula. This physician began his trials with the remedy in the hospital Saint Louis in 1827, and made known his results in three memoirs published in 1829, 1830, and 1831. 394 Iodinum. part i. These memoirs give the detail of a success which would stagger belief, were not the results substantiated by committees of distinguished physicians of the French Royal Academy of Sciences. The scrofulous affections in which Dr. Lugol succeeded by the administration of iodine were glandular tubercles, especially of the neck, ophthalmia, ozaena, noli me tangere (dartre rongeante scrophuleuse), and fistulous and carious ulcers. He also obtained favourable results in some cases of scrofulous syphilis by the use of the iodide of mercury. In connexion with Dr. Lugol's results in scrofulous affections, it may be proper to mention that Dr. Manson derived benefit from the use of iodine in white swelling, hip-joint disease, and distortions of the spine, diseases generally admitted to be more or less dependent on the scrofulous taint. Iodine is employed both internally and externally. Internally it is some- times used in the form of tincture; but Dr. Lugol objects to this preparation on account of its unequal strength, and of its being liable to have the iodine precipitated by water; and, when swallowed with the solid iodine diffused through it, injurious irritation of the stomach is apt to be produced. It has been found, however, by Guibourt that the latter objection to the tincture applies in its full force, only when it is freshly prepared; for, when kept, it be- comes less and less preci pi table by water, in consequence of the formation of hydriodic acid at the expense of the alcohol. (See Tinctura Iodine Com- posita.) Dr. Lugol prefers to the tincture a mixed solution of iodine and iodide of potassium in distilled water. He employs three strengths, namely, three-fourths of a grain, one grain, and a grain and a quarter of iodine to half a pint of distilled water; the quantity of iodide of potassium in each solution being double that of the iodine. These solutions are permanent, perfectly transparent, and of an orange colour. The London College has imitated this combination in an officinal formula. (See Liquor Potassii Iodidi Composi- tus.) The mode of administration, employed by Dr. Lugol for his solutions, is to give two-thirds of the weakest solution, or half a grain of iodine daily for the first fortnight; the weakest solution entire for the second and third fortnight; the medium solution during the fourth and fifth fortnight; and lastly, in some cases, the strongest solution for the remainder of the treatment. In the majority ef cases, however, he had not occasion to resort to the strong- est solution. He gives half the daily quantity in the morning fasting, and the other half, an hour before dinner; each portion being slightly sweetened at the moment of taking it. For the convenience of making the weak iodine solution, or of administering the remedy by drops, Dr. Lugol prepares a con- centrated solution, consisting of a scruple of iodine and two scruples of iodide of potassium dissolved in seven fluidrachms of water.* Of this solution the dose is six drops twice a day, given in the morning fasting, and an hour be- fore dinner, in a glass of sweetened water, gradually increasing weekly by two drops at a time, until the dose reaches thirty or thirty-six drops. For chil- dren under seven years, the dose is two drops twice a day, gradually increased to five. This solution was made officinal in the last edition of the United States Pharmacopceia. (See Liquor Iodini Compositus.) It will be observed that these doses are considerably smaller than those usually employed by Dr. Coindet. The external treatment by iodine may be divided into local and general. By its use in this way it does not merely create a topical effect on the skin; but by its absorption produces its peculiar constitutional impression. Dr. Lugol has given a number of formulae for preparations for the local use of * In the original it is seven ounces; but from the context of the author, this is evidently a misprint for seven drachms. PART I. Iodinum. 395 iodine, a short account of which may be usefully inserted here. His iodine ointment varies in strength from six to twelve grains of iodine, mixed with from two to four scruples of iodide of potassium, to the ounce of lard. (See Unguentum Iodini Compositum.) It has a mahogany colour, and is employed in frictions to scrofulous tumours, and as a dressing to scrofulous ulcers. The ointment of prof iodide of mercury which he recommends, consists of from one to two scruples of the mercurial iodide to an ounce of lard. (See Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi.) Its proper colour is canary yellow; but occasionally it has a decided greenish tint, derived from the presence of protoxide of mer- cury, or an orange colour, when it contains the biniodide. This ointment, which has the advantage of producing very little pain, is used by Dr. Lugol in noli me tangere, and in scrofulous ulcers which have a syphilitic aspect. The ointment of biniodide of mercury, which is much more powerful, has also been used with apparent advantage in similar cases. (See Unguentum Hydrar- gyri Biniodidi.) Dr. Lugol's iodine lotion consists of from two to four grains of iodine to a pint of distilled water, the solution being rendered complete by the addition of double the quantity of iodide of potassium. This is used by injection, principally in scrofulous ophthalmia, ozaena, and fistulous ulcers. His rubefacient solution is formed by dissolving half an ounce of iodine and an ounce of iodide of potassium in six fluidounces of distilled water. This is useful for exciting scrofulous ulcers, for touching the eyelids, and as an appli- cation to recent scrofulous cicatrices, to render them smooth and less promi- nent. A certain quantity of the rubefacient solution added to warm water, makes a convenient local bath for the arms, legs, feet, or hands; and, mixed with linseed meal, or some similar substance, it forms a cataplasm, useful in particular cases, especially where the object is to promote the falling off of scabs. The only remaining preparation for local use is what Dr. Lugol calls iodine caustic. It consists of iodine and iodide of potassium, each an ounce, dissolved in two ounces of distilled water, and is used to stimulate or destroy soft and fungous granulations. Its employment in this way has been attended with decidedly good effects in noli me tangere. The external application of iodine, when general, consists in the use of iodine baths, a mode of applying the remedy which originated with Dr. Lugol. This mode is considered very valuable by this physician, on account of the great extent of the skin, which furnishes the means of introducing a con- siderable quantity of iodine into the circulation without deranging the digestive functions, an object of great importance, where the medicine disagrees with the stomach. The iodine bath for adults, according to the formula of Dr. Lugol, should contain from two to four drachms of iodine, with double that quantity of iodide of potassium, dissolved in water, in a xvooden bath tub, the proportion of the water being about a gallon for every three grains of iodine employed. The quantity of ingredients for the baths of children is one-third as much as for adults, but dissolved in about the same proportional quantity of water. The quantity of iodine and iodide for a bath being determined on, it is best to dissolve them in a small quantity of water, (half a pint for example,) before they are added to the water of the bath; as this mode of proceeding facilitates their thorough diffusion. In the composition of these baths, the iodide of potassium is used by Dr. Lugol merely to promote the solubility of the iodine, and not as a medicinal agent; as, upon trial, a bath containing the iodide alone proved nearly inert. The iodine baths, which may be directed three or four times a week, usu- ally produce a slight rubefacient effect; but, occasionally, a stronger impres- sion, causing the epidermis to peel off, particularly of the arms and legs. The skin at the same time contracts a deep yellow tinge, which usually disappears in the interval between the baths. 396 Iodinum. PART I. Iodine has been used as a local application in erysipelas and chilblains. In these cases the tincture is recommended, brushed over and a little beyond the seat of inflammation, by means of a camel's hair pencil. The efficacy of the remedy in the former disease has been confirmed in two cases by Dr. Robert Burns, of Frankford, Pa. (Med. Exam., iv. 709.) We have tried it in one case with the effect of apparently cutting short the disease; but its application produced very severe pain, and we regretted that we had used the tincture undiluted. In cutaneous scrofula, the tincture has been found beneficial by Dr. Pereira, applied in the same way, having the effect of drying up the dis- charge and promoting cicatrization. The same topical application has been found useful in various scaly cutaneous diseases, such as lepra, psoriasis, &c. Sir Charles Scudamore, Sir James Murray, and Dr. Corrigan have recom- mended the inhalation of iodine vapour in phthisis. The plan of Sir Charles is to inhale from a glass inhaler for ten minutes, two or three times a day, a small portion of a solution of ioduretted iodide of potassium, mixed with a saturated tincture of conium. The ioduretted solution is made by dissolving six grains, each, of iodine and iodide of potassium, in five ounces and three- quarters of distilled water and a quarter of an ounce of alcohol. The dose for each inhalation is from half a drachm to a drachm of the iodine solution, gra- dually increased, with half a drachm of the tincture, added to a portion of water of the temperature of 120°, nearly sufficient to half fill the inhaler. Since the publication of Dr. Lugol's memoirs, detailing his success with iodine in the treatment of scrofulous affections, his practice has been imitated and extended by several practitioners, and generally with encouraging results. Dr. Bermond, of Bordeaux, has succeeded with the iodine treatment in en- larged testicle from a venereal cause, scrofulous ophthalmia of six years' duration, and scrofulous ulcers and abscesses of the cervical and submaxillary glands. In numerous other cases of scrofula under his care, the iodine treat- ment proved beneficial; though, before its commencement, the cases under- went no improvement. The only peculiarity in Dr. Bermond's treatment, was that, in some cases, he associated opiate preparations with the iodine. In the case of ophthalmia which he treated, the collyrium employed consisted of tincture of iodine thirty drops, laudanum thirty-six drops, to four fluidounces of distilled water. When the local application of the iodine created much pain or rubefaction, he found advantage from combining extract of opium with it. A plaster which proved efficacious as an application to an enlarged paro- tid, in one of his cases, consisted of lead plaster (diachylon) and iodide of potassium, each, four parts; iodine and extract of opium, each, three parts. In confirmation of Dr. Bermond's views, M. Lemasson, one of the house pupils of the hospital St. Louis, has published a number of cases, proving the efficacy of a combination of iodine and opium in the local treatment of scrofu- lous ulcerations. He concludes from his experience that the union of opiate preparations with iodine imparts to the latter, in many cases, new and valuable powers. One of the combinations which he employed consisted of fifteen grains of iodine, a drachm of iodide of potassium, and tiro drachms of Rous- seau's laudanum, made up into an ointment with two ounces of fresh lard. The protiodide and biniodide of mercury, besides being used in the form of ointment as already mentioned are employed internally, especially in the treatment of scrofulous syphilis. They are both recognised as officinal in the different Pharmacopoeias. (See Hydrargyri Iodidum, and Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum.) The results obtained by Dr. Lugol and others in the treatment of scrofu- lous diseases by the iodine preparations are so diversified, as to leave no doubt of their superiority over all other remedies in these affections. A considerable part I. Iodinum. 397 number of practitioners in the United States have employed them in the same diseases with encouraging success; but, at the same time, there has been a number of failures. To judge fairly, however, of Dr. Lugol's results, it is not sufficient for our practitioners to give iodine; but they should use it in the peculiar manner, and with the observance of all the rules, which are so fully laid down in the published memoirs of that physician. Reasoning on the subject, we can readily conceive that a dilute aqueous solution of iodine may act differently from the tincture; and that a therapeutical agent may be intro- duced gradually and imperceptibly into the current of the circulation in one form of administration, and thus be capable of producing important alterative effects; while in another, it may create irritation and even ulceration of the stomach without being absorbed, and thus prove mischievous. A case in point is furnished by mineral waters, which, though generally containing a minute proportion of saline matter, often produce remedial effects which can- not be obtained by their constituents given in larger doses. The views here presented are supported and extended by the observations and experiments of Dr. A. Buchanan, of Glasgow, who contends that iodine is divested of its irritant qualities in certain states of combination, in which it may be given in large doses without risk, and with the effect of pervading nearly all the secretions, and, under certain circumstances, even the blood. The combinations which he prefers, enumerated in the order of their relative efficacy, are iodide of starch, hydriodic acid, and iodide of potassium, the first and last of which he supposes to act as hydriodic acid, the iodine in them being, agreeably to his view, converted into that acid in the stomach and bowels. (See Potassil Iodidum in Part II., and hydriodic acid and iodide of starch in the Appendix.) Another form of combination, recommended by M. Marchal (de Calvi), is a solution of iodine in 15 parts of fresh almond oil, incorporated with an almond emulsion. Of this a portion is given, containing one grain of iodine as the minimum dose. Prepared in this manner the iodine, it is said, may be given in much larger doses, than when administered in the ordinary way. In cases of poisoning by iodine, the stomach must be first evacuated, and afterwards drinks administered, containing an amylaceous substance, such as flour, starch, or arrow-root. The following is a list of all the officinal preparations of iodine, contained in the United States and British Pharmacopoeias. Iodine is officinal:— I. In solution in alcohol. Tinctura Iodini, U. S.; Tinctura Iodinei, Ed.; Iodinii Tinctura, Dub. II. In solution in alcohol with iodide of potassium. Tinctura Iodini Composita, U. S.; Tinctura Iodinii Composita, Lond. III. In the form of ointment. Unguentum Iodini, U. S.; Unguentum Iodinii, Dub. IV. In the form of ointment with iodide of potassium. Unguentum Iodini Compositum, U. S. ; Unguentum Iodinii Com- positum, Lond.; Unguentum Iodinei, Ed. V. In solution in water with iodide of potassium. Liquor Iodini Compositus, U. S.; Iodinei Liquor Compositus, Ed. Liquor Potassii Iodidi Compositus, Lond. 398 Iodinum.—Ipecacuanha. part i. VI. Combined with sulphur. Sulphuris Iodidum, U. S. VII. In saline combination. Ferri Iodidum, U. S., Lond., Ed. Ferri Iodidi Syrupus, Ed. Liquor Ferri Iodidi, U. S. Hydrargyri Iodidum, U. S., Lond, Pilulae Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond. Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond. Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum, U. S.; Hydrargyri Biniodidum, Lond., Ed. Unguentum Hydrargyri Biniodidi, Lond. Plumbi Iodidum, Lond., Ed. Unguentum Plumbi Iodidi, Lond. Potassii Iodidum, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Potassae Hydriodas, Dub. Unguentum Potassae Hydriodatis, Dub. B. IPECACUANHA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Ipecacuanha. "The root of Cephaelis Ipecacuanha." U.S., Ed. "Cephaelis Ipecacu- anha. Radix." Lond. Off. Syn. CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA. Radix. Dub. Ipecacuanha, Fr.; Brechwurzel, Ipecacuanha, Germ.; Ipecacuana, Ital, Span. The term ipecacuanha, derived from the language of the aborigines of Brazil, has been applied to various emetic roots of South American origin. The British Colleges and our national Pharmacopoeia recognise only that of the Cephaelis Ipecacuanha; and no other is known by the name in the shops of this country. Our chief attention wifl, therefore, be confined to this root, and the plant which yields it; but as others are employed in South America, are occasionally exported, and may possibly reach our markets mingled with the genuine drug, we shall, in a note, give a succinct account of those which have attracted most notice. The botanical character of the plant which yields genuine ipecacuanha was long unknown. Pison and Marcgrav, who were the first to treat of this medi- cine, in their work on the natural history of Brazil, published at Amsterdam, A.D. 1648, describe in general terms two plants; one producing a whitish root, distinguished by the name of white ipecacuanha, the other, a brown root which answers in their description precisely to the officinal drug. But their account was not sufficiently definite to enable botanists to decide upon the character of the plants; and much uncertainty existed on the subject. The medicine was generally thought to be derived from a species of Viola, which Linnaeus designated by the title of V. Ipecacuanha. Opinion afterwards turned in favour of a plant sent to Linnaeus by the celebrated Mutis from New Granada, as affording the ipecacuanha of that country and of Peru. This was described in the Supplcmentum of the younger Linnaeus, A.D. 1781, under the name of Psychotria emetica, and was long erroneously considered as the source of the true ipecacuanha. Dr. Gomez, of Lisbon, was the first who accurately described and figured the genuine plant, which he had seen in Brazil, and specimens of which he took with him to Portugal; but Brotero, professor of botany at Coimbra, with whom he had left specimens, having drawn up a description, and had it inserted with a figure in the Linnaean PART I. Ipecacuanha. 399 Transactions, without acknowledgment, enjoyed for a time the credit due to his fellow countryman. In the paper of Brotero the plant is named Calli- cocca Ipecacuanha; but the term Callicocca, having been applied by Schre- ber, without sufficient reason, to a genus previously established and named, has been universally abandoned by botanists for the Cephaelis of Swartz; though this, also, it appears, is a usurpation upon the previous rights of Aublet. Cephaelis. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.-—Nat. Ord. Rubiaceaa, Juss. Cinchonaceae, Lindley. Gen, Ch. Flowers in an involucred head. Corolla tubular. Stigma two- parted. Berry two-seeded. Receptable chaffy. Willd. Cephaelis Ipecacuanha. Richard, Hist. Ipecac, p. 21, t. i.; Martius, Spec. Mat. Med, Brazil, p. 4, t. i.; Curtis''s Bot. Mag. N S. vol. xvii. pi. 4063, A.D. 1844.— Callicocca Ipecacuanha. Brotero, Linn. Trans, vi. 137. This is a small shrubby plant, with a root from four to six inches long, about as thick as a goose-quill, marked with annular rugae, simple or somewhat branch- ed, descending obliquely into the ground, and here and there sending forth slender fibrils. The stem is two or three feet long; but, being partly under ground, and often procumbent at the base, usually rises less than a foot in height. It is slender; in the lower portion leafless, smooth, brown or ash- coloured, and knotted, with radicles frequently proceeding from the knots; near the summit, pubescent, green, and furnished with leaves seldom exceed- ing six in number. These are opposite, petiolate, oblong obovate, acute, entire, from three to four inches long, from one to two broad, obscurely green and somewhat rough on their upper surface, pale, downy, and veined on the under. At the base of each pair of leaves are deciduous stipules, embracing the stem, membranous at their base, and separated above into numerous bris- tle-like divisions. The flowers are very small, white, and collected to the number of eight, twelve, or more, each accompanied with a green braete, into a semi-globular head, supported upon a round, solitary, axillary footstalk, and embraced by a monophyllous involucre deeply divided into four, sometimes five or six obovate pointed segments. The fruit is an ovate, obtuse berry, which is at first purple, but becomes almost black when ripe, and contains two small plano-convex seeds. The plant is a native of Brazil, flourishing in moist, thick, and shady woods, and abounding most within the limits of the eighth and twentieth degrees of south latitude. According to Humboldt, it grows also in New Granada. It flowers in January and February, and ripens its fruit in May. The root is usually collected during the period of flowering, though equally good at other seasons. By this practice the plant is speedily extirpated in places where it is most eagerly sought. Were the seeds allowed to ripen, it would propagate itself rapidly and thus maintain a constant supply. The root is collected chiefly by the Indians, who prepare it by separating it from the stem, clean- ing it, and hanging it up in bundles to dry in the sun. The Brazilian mer- chants carry on a very brisk trade in this drug. The chief places of export are Rio Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco. It is brought to the United States in large bags or bales. Genuine ipecacuanha is in pieces two or three lines in thickness, variously bent and contorted, simple or branched, consisting of an interior slender, light straw-coloured, ligneous cord, with a thick cortical covering, which presents on its surface a succession of circular, unequal, prominent rings or rugae, sepa- rated by very narrow fissures frequently extending nearly down to the central fibre. This appearance of the surface has given rise to the term annele or annulated, by which the true ipecacuanha is designated in the French works on Pharmacy. The cortical part is hard, horny, and semi-transparent, breaks 400 Ipecacuanha. PART I. with a resinous fracture, and easily separates from the tougher ligneous fibre, which possesses the medicinal virtues of the root in a much inferior degree. Attached to the root is frequently a smoother and more slender portion, which is the base of the stem, and should be separated before pulverization. Pereira has met, in the English market, with distinct bales composed of these frag- ments of stems, with occasionally portions of the root attached. Much stress has been laid in works on the materia medica upon the colour of the external surface of the ipecacuanha root, and diversity in this respect has even led to the formation of distinct varieties. Thus, the epidermis is sometimes deep brown or even blackish, sometimes reddish-brown or reddish-gray, and some- times light-gray or ash-coloured. Hence the distinction into brown, red, and gray ipecacuanha. But these are all derived from the same plant, are essen- tially the same in properties and composition, and probably differ only in consequence of difference in age, or place of growth, or mode of desiccation. The colours in fact are often so intermingled, that it would be impossible to decide in which variety a particular specimen should be placed. The brown is the most abundant in the packages which reach our market. The red, be- sides the colour of its epidermis, presents a rosy tint when broken, and is said to be somewhat more bitter than the preceding variety. The gray is much lighter coloured externally, usually rather larger, with less prominent rings and wider fissures, and is still more decidedly bitter. We have seen, in this market, bales of gray ipecacuanha, with very imperfectly developed rings, which were said to have come from Caraccas. At present, however, this is very rare, if to be found at all. When the bark in either variety is opaque, with a dull amylaceous aspect, the root is less active as a medicine. As the woody part is nearly inert, and much more difficult of pulverization than the cortical, it often happens that, when a particular parcel of the root is pow- dered, %the portion which remains last in the mortar possesses scarcely any emetic power; and care should be taken to provide against any defect from this cause. The colour of the powder is a light grayish-fawn. Ipecacuanha has little smell in the aggregate state, but when powdered has a peculiar nauseous odour, which in some persons excites violent sneezing, in others dyspnoea resembling an attack of asthma. The taste is bitter, acrid, and very nauseous. Water and alcohol extract its virtues, which are injured by decoction. Its emetic property resides in a peculiar alkaline principle called emetin, or more properly emetia, discovered by Pelletier in the year 1817. The cortical portion of the brown ipecacuanha, analyzed by this che- mist under the erroneous name of Psychotria emetica, yielded in the hundred parts, 16 of an impure salt of emetia, which was at first considered the pure emetic principle, 2 of an odorous fatty matter, 6 of wax, 10 of gum, 42 of starch, 20 of lignin, with 4 parts loss. The woody fibre was found to contain only 1-15 per cent, of the impure emetia. M. A. Richard obtained, from the cortical part, the same proportion of emetia as found by Pelletier, but detected some principles not noticed by that chemist, among which were traces of gallic acid. The bark of the red ipecacuanha was found by Pelletier to contain but fourteen per cent, of the impure emetia. The gray variety has not been analyzed. One hundred parts of good ipecacuanha contain about 80 of cor- tical and 20 of ligneous matter. Emetia when perfectly pure is whitish, inodorous, slightly bitter, pulveru- lent, unalterable in the air, very fusible, sparingly soluble in cold water and ether, more soluble in hot water, and very soluble in alcohol; is not reddened by nitric acid; forms crystallizable salts with the mineral acids and acetic acid; is precipitated by gallic and tannic acids from its solutions; and contains ni- trogen among its ingredients. It is, however, very difficult to procure it in PART I. Ipecacuanha. 401 this state of purity, and the proportion afforded by the root is exceedingly Bniall. As originally obtained it was very impure, probably in the condition of a salt, and in this state is directed by the French Codex. Impure emetia is in transparent scales of a brownish-red colour, almost inodorous, of a bit- terish acrid taste, deliquescent, very soluble in water and alcohol, insoluble in ether, precipitated from its solutions by gallic acid and the acetates of lead, but not by tartar emetic or the salts of iron. The Codex directs it to be pre- pared by evaporating a filtered aqueous solution of an alcoholic extract of ipecacuanha. According to the original method, it was obtained by treating powdered ipecacuanha with ether to remove the fatty matter, exhausting the residue with alcohol, evaporating the alcoholic solution to dryness, and sub- jecting the extract to the action of cold water, which dissolves the emetia with some free acid, and leaves the wax and other matters. To separate the acid, the watery solution is treated with carbonate of magnesia, filtered, and then evaporated. If pure emetia is required, magnesia is used instead of the car- bonate. The salt is thus decomposed, and the organic alkali, being insoluble, is precipitated with the excess of the earth. The precipitate is washed with cold water, and digested in alcohol, which dissolves the emetia; the alcoholic solution is then evaporated, the residue redissolved in a dilute acid, and the alkali again precipitated by a salifiable base. To deprive it of colour it is necessary to employ animal charcoal. Berzelius has obtained emetia by treating tlfc powdered root with very dilute sulphuric acid, precipitating with magnesia, and treating the precipitate in the manner above directed. Pure emetia has at least three times the strength of the impure.* * Non-officinal Ipf.cacuanhas.—When ipecacuanha began to be popular in Europe, the roots of several other plants were imported and confounded with the genuine, and the name came at length to be applied to almost all emetic roots derived from America. Several of these are still occasionally met with, and retain the name originally applied to them. The two most worthy of notice are the ipecacuanha of New Grenada and Peru, and the white ipecacuanha of Brazil. On each of these we shall offer a few remarks. 1. Peruvian Ipecacuanha. Striated Ipecacuanha. Hack Ipecacuanha.—This is the root of the Psychotria emetica, formerly supposed to produce the genuine Brazilian ipecacuanha. The plant, like the Cephaelis, belongs to the class and orsler Pentandria Monogynia, and to the natural order Rubiaceae of Jussieu. A description of it sent by Mutis was published by Linnaeus the younger in his supplement. It has since been described in the Plant. JEquin. of Humb. and Bonpl.; and has been figured by A. Richard in his History of the Ipecacuanhas, and by Hayne in the eighth volume of his Medical Botany published at Berlin. It is a small shrub, with a stem twelve or eighteen inches high, simple, erect, round, slightly pubescent, and furnished with opposite, oblong lanceolate, pointed leaves, narrowed at their base into a short petiole, and accompanied with pointed stipules. The flowers are small, white,, and supported in small clusters towards the end of an axillary peduncle. The plant flourishes in Peru and New Grenada, and was seen by Humboldt and Bonpland growing in abundance near the river Magdalena. The dried root is said to be exported from Carthagena. It is cylindrical, somewhat thicker than the root of the Cephaelis, usually simple, but sometimes branched, not much contorted, wrinkled longitudinally, presenting here and there deep circular intersections, but without the annular rugfe of the true ipecacuanha. The longitudinal direction of the wrinkles has given origin to the name of striated ipe- cacuanha, by which it is known in French pharmacy. It consists of an internal woody cord, and an external cortical portion ; but the former is usually larger in proportion to the latter than in the rootof the Cephaelis. The bark is soft and easily cut with a knife, and when broken exhibits a brown slightly resinous fracture. The epidermis is of a dull reddish-gray colour, which darkens with age and exposure, and ultimately becomes almost black. Hence the root has sometimes been called black ipecacuanha. The ligne- ous portion is yellowish, and perforated with numeious small holes visible by the micro: scope. The Peruvian ipecacuanha is nearly inodorous, and has a flat taste, neither bitter nor acrid. Out of 100 parts Pelletier obtained 9 of impure emetia, 12 of fatty matter, 402 Ipecacuanha. part I. Medical Properties and Uses. Ipecacuanha is in large doses emetic, in smaller, diaphoretic and expectorant, and in still smaller, stimulant to the sto- mach, exciting appetite and facilitating digestion. In quantities not quite suffi- cient to vomit, it produces nausea, and frequently acts upon the bowels. As an emetic it is mild but tolerably certain in its operation, and, being usually thrown from the stomach by one or two efforts, is less apt to produce dan- gerous effects when taken in an overdose than some other substances of the 6ame class. It is also recommended by the absence of corrosive and narcotic properties. It was employed as an emetic by the natives of Brazil, when that country was first settled by the Portuguese; but, though described in the work of Pison, it was not known in Europe till the year 1672, and did not come into use till some years afterwards. John Helvetius, grandfather of the celebrated author of that name, having been associated with a merchant who had im- ported a large quantity of ipecacuanha into Paris, employed it as a secret remedy, and with so much success in dysentery and other bowel affections, that general attention was attracted to it; and the fortunate physician received with an abundance of starch, besides gum and lignin. The dose as an emetic, is from two scruples to a drachm. 2. White Ipecacuanha. Amylaceous Ipecacuanha. Undulated Ipecacuanha.—This variety was noticed in the work of Pison; but the vegetable which produced it was not satisfac- torily ascertained till a recent date. Gomez, indeed, in the memoir which he published at Lisbon, A. D. 1801, gave a figure and description of the plant: but the memoir was not generally known, and botanists remained uncertain upon the subject. By the travels of M. Saint Hilaire and Dr. Martius in Brazil, more precise information has been obtained; and the white ipecacuanha is now confidently referred to different species of Richard- sonia, the Richardia of Linnaeus. The R. scabra, or R. Braziliensis of Gomez, and the R. emetica are particularly indicated by Martius. For the root usually called white ipeca- cuanha, Guibourt has proposed the name of undulated ipecacuanha, derived from the pe- culiar character of the surface, which presents indentations or concavities on one side, corresponding with prominences or convexities on the other, so as to give a wavy ap- pearance to the root. It differs little in size from the genuine; is of a whitish-gray colour externally; and when broken presents a dull white farinaceous fracture, offering by the light of the sun shining points, which are nothing more than small grains of fecula. Like the other varieties it has a woody centre. It is inodorous and insipid, and contains, according to Pelletier, a very large proportion of starch, with only six per cent. of impure emetia, and two of fatty matter. Richard found only 35 parts of emetia in the hundred. It is said to be sometimes mixed with the genuine ipecacuanha; but we have discovered none in the bales which we have examined. According to Martius, different species of Ionidium (Viola, Linn.) produce also what is called white ipecacuanha. The roots of all the species of Ionidium possess emetic or purgative properties, and some of them have been reported to be equal to the genuine ipecacuanha. The root of the I. Ipecacuanha is described by Guibourt as being six or seven inches long, as thick as a quill, somewhat tortuous, and exhibiting at the points of flexion semicircular fissures, which give it some resemblance to the root of the Cephaelis. It is often bifurcated at both extremities, and terminates at top in a great number of small ligneous stalks. It is wrinkled longitudinally, and of a light yellowish-gray colour. The bark is thin, and the interior ligneous portion very thick. The root has little taste or smell. According to Pelletier, it contains in 100 parts 5 of an emetic substance, 35 of gum, 1 of azotized matter, and 37 of lignin. (Hist, Abreg. des Drogues Simples, i. 514.) The root of a species of Ionidium growing in Quito has attracted some attention as a remedy in elephantiasis, under the South American name of cuichunchulli. The plant, being considered an undescribed species by Dr. Bancroft, was named by him I Marcucci • but Sir W. Hooker found the specimen, received from Dr. Bancroft, to be identical with the /. parviflorum of Ventenat. Lindley thinks a specimen he received under the same name from Quito, to be the I. microphyllum of Humboldt. If useful in elephantiasis it is so probably by its emeto purgative action. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., vii. 186.)* * See a paper on ipecacuanha by R. E. Griffith. M. D.. in the Journ. of the Phil. Col of Pharm., vol. 3 p. 181. for a more extended account of the roots which have been used under the name of ipecacuanha. PART I. Ipecacuanha. 403 from Louis XIV a large sum of money and public honours, on the sole con- dition that he should make the remedy public. From this period it has maintained its standing among the most*useful articles of the materia medica. As an emetic it is peculiarly adapted by its mildness and efficiency to all cases in which the object is merely to evacuate the stomach, or a gentle impression only is desired; and, in most other cases in which emetics are indicated, it may be advantageously combined with the more energetic medi- cines, the action of which it renders safer by insuring their discharge. It is especially useful where narcotic poisons have been swallowed ; as, under these circumstances, it may be given in almost indefinite doses, with little compara- tive risk of injury to the patient. In dysentery it has been supposed to exercise peculiar powers; but is at present less used than formerly in doses sufficient to excite vomiting. As a nauseating remedy it is used in asthma, hooping cough, and the hemorrhages; as a diaphoretic, combined with opium, in a wide circle of diseases. (See Pulvis Ipecacuanhas et Opii.) Its expecto- rant properties render it beneficial in catarrhal and other pulmonary affec- tions. It has been given also, with supposed advantage, in very minute doses, in dyspeptic cases, and in chronic disease of the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane. Ipecacuanha is most conveniently administered as an emetic in the form of powder suspended in water. The dose is about twenty grains, repeated if necessary at intervals of twenty minutes till it operates. In some individuals much smaller quantities prove emetic, and we know one person who is gene- rally vomited by the fraction of a grain. The operation of the medicine may be facilitated, and rendered milder, by copious draughts of warm water, or warm chamomile tea. An infusion in boiling water, in the proportion of two drachms of the powder to six fluidounces of menstruum, may be given in the dose of a fluidounce repeated as in the former case. With a view to the pro- duction of nausea, the dose in substance may be two grains, repeated more or less frequently according to circumstances. As a diaphoretic it may be given in the quantity of a grain; as an alterative, in diseases of the stomach and bowels, of a quarter or half a grain two or three times a day. Emetia has been used on the continent of Europe as a substitute, but with no great advantage. Its operation on the stomach is apt to be more violent and continued than that of ipecacuanha itself; and, if given in over-doses, it may produce dangerous and even fatal consequences. From the experi- ments of Magendie, it appears to have a peculiar direction to the mucous membranes of the alimentary canal and the bronchial tubes. Ten grains of • the impure alkali, administered to dogs, were generally found to destroy life in twenty-four hours, and the mucous membranes mentioned were observed to be inflamed throughout their whole extent. The same result took place when emetia was injected into the veins, or absorbed from any part of the body. The dose of impure emetia is about a grain and a half, of the pure not more than half a grain, repeated at proper intervals till it vomits. In proportional doses, it may be applied to the other purposes for which ipecacu- anha is used. It will excite vomiting when applied to a blistered surface after the removal of the cuticle. Magendie found that dogs slept much after being vomited with emetia, and concluded that the medicine was narcotic; but other emetic medicines produce the same effect, which is to be ascribed rather to exhaustion than to any direct operation on the brain. Dr. Turnbull recommends the external use of ipecacuanha as a counter- irritant. An ointment made with one part of the powder, one of olive oil, and two of lard, rubbed once or twice a day for a few minutes upon the skin, produces a copious eruption, which continues out for many days, with- 404 Ipecacuanha.—Iris Florentina. part i. out pain or ulceration. (London Lancet, May, 1842.) It has, however, been found by others of little efficacy in the great majority of cases. Off. Prep. Pilulae Conii Compositae, Lond,; Pulvis Ipecacuanhae et Opii, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Ipecacuanhae, U.S., Ed.; Trochisci Ipecacuanhae, U S.; Trochisci Morphiae et Ipecacuanhae, Ed.; Vinum Ipecacuanhae, U. S., Lond., Ed,, Dub. W. IRIS FLORENTINA. U. S. Secondary. Florentine Orris. "The rhizoma of Iris Florentina." U. S. Iris de Florence, Fr.; Florentinische Violenwurzel, Germ.; Ireos, Ital; Lirio Floren- tina, Span. Iris. Sex. Syst. Triandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Iridaceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla six-parted; the alternate segment reflected. Stigmas petal-shaped. Willd. In all the species belonging to this genus, so far as examined, the roots are more or less acrid, and possessed of cathartic and emetic properties. In Europe, the /. fcetidissima, I. Florentina, I. Germanica, I. pseudo-acorus, and I. tuberosa have at various times been admitted into use. Of these the /. Florentina is the only one officinal in this country. Iris Florentina. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 226; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 776, t. 262. The root (rhizoma) of the Florentine Iris is perennial, horizontal, fleshy, fibrous, and covered with a brown epidermis. The leaves spring directly from the root, are sword-shaped, pointed, nerved, and shorter than the stem, which rises from the midst of them more than a foot in height, round, smooth, jointed, and bearing commonly two large white or bluish- white terminal flowers. The calyx is a spathe with two valves. The corolla divides into six segments or petals, of which three stand erect, and the re- maining three are bent backward, and bearded within at their base with yellow-tipped white hairs. The fruit is a three-celled capsule, containing numerous seeds. This plant is a native of Italy and other parts of the South of Europe. The root, which is the officinal portion, is dug up in spring, and prepared for the market by the removal of its cuticle and fibres. It is brought from Leghorn in large casks. Properties. Florentine orris is in pieces of various form and size, often branched, usually about as thick as the thumb, knotty, flattened, white, heavy, of a rouffh though not fibrous fracture, a pleasant odour resembling that of the violet, and a bitterish acrid taste. The acrimony is greater in the recent than in the dried root; but the peculiar smell is more decidedly developed in the latter. The pieces are brittle and easily powdered, and the powder is of a dirty white colour. Vogel obtained from Florentine orris, gum, a brown extractive, fecula, a bitter and acrid fixed oil or soft resin, a volatile crystallizable oil, and vegetable fibre. Medical Properties. This medicine is cathartic, and in large doses emetic, and was formerly employed to a considerable extent on the continent of Europe. It is said also to be diuretic, and to have proved useful in dropsies. At pre- sent it is highly valued for its pleasant odour. It is occasionally chewed to conceal an offensive breath, and enters into the composition of numerous tooth- powders. In the form of small round balls, about the size of a pea, it is much used by the French for maintaining the discharge from issues, a purpose to which it is adapted not only by its odour, but also by the slight degree of PART I. Iris Versicolor.—Jalapa. 405 acrimony which it retains in its dried state, and by the property of swelling very much by the absorption of moisture. W. IRIS VERSICOLOR. U.S. Secondary. Blue Flag. u The rhizoma of Iris versicolor." U. S. Iris. See IRIS FLORENTINA. Iris versicolor. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 233; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i. 155. This indigenous species of Iris has a perennial, fleshy, horizontal, fibrous root or rhizoma, and a stem two or three feet high, round on one side, acute on the other, and frequently branching. The leaves are sheathing at the base, sword-shaped, and striated. The flowers are from two to six in number, and are usually blue or purple, though varying much in colour. The capsule has three valves, is divided into three cells, and when mature is oblong, three-sided, with obtuse angles, and contains numerous flat seeds. The blue flag is found in all parts of the United States, flourishing in low wet places, in meadows, and on the borders of swamps, which it serves to adorn with its large and beautiful flowers. These make their appearance in June. The root is the medicinal portion. The flowers afford a fine blue in- fusion, which serves as a test of acids and alkalies. The recent root is without odour, and has a nauseous, acrid taste, which is imparted to water by decoction, and still more perfectly to alcohol. The acri- mony as well as medicinal activity is impaired by age. If cut when fresh into slices, dried at the temperature of about 100°, and then powdered and kept in bottles excluded from the air, the root retains its virtues unimpaired for a considerable time. (Andrews.) Blue flag possesses the cathartic, emetic, and diuretic properties common to most of the species of this genus. It is said by Mr. Bartram to be held in much esteem by the Southern Indians; and Dr. Bigelow informs us that he has found it efficacious as a purgative, though inconvenient from the dis- tressing nausea and prostration which it is apt to occasion. Dr. M. H. An- drews, of Michigan, has employed it very frequently as a cathartic, and found it, when combined with a grain of Cayenne pepper or two grains of ginger, not less easy and effectual in its operation than the ordinary more active cathartics, and preferable on account of its less disagreeable taste. (A^ Y. Journal of Med,,ix. 129.) Dr. Macbride, of Carolina, found it useful in dropsy. It is, however, very little employed by the profession at large, and is seldom if ever kept in the shops. It may be given in substance, decoction, or tincture. The dose of the dried root is from ten to twenty grains. W. JALAPA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. lalap. "The root of Ipomaea Jalapa (Coxe, Am. Journ. of Med. Sciences)." U. S. "Ipomaea Jalapa. Radix." Lond, "Root of Ipomaea Purga (Nees von Esen- beck)." Ed. "Convolvulus Jalapa. Radix." Dub. Jalap, Fr.; Jalappen-Wurzel, Germ.; Sciarappa, Ital; Jnlapa, Span. It is only within a few years that the precise botanical origin of jalap has been known. It was at first ascribed by Linnaeus to a Mirabilis, but after- wards to a new species of Convolvulus, to which he gave the name of C. Jalapa. The correctness of the .hatter reference was generally admitted; .and, as the 406 Jalapa. part i. Ipomaea macrorhiza of Michaux, growing in Florida and Georgia, was believed to be identical with the C. Jalapa of Linn., it was thought that this valuable drug, which had been obtained exclusively from Mexico, might be collected within the limits of the United States. But the error of this opinion was soon demonstrated; and botanists now universally concur in the belief, that jalap is the product of a plant first made known to the scientific world by Dr. John R. Coxe, of Philadelphia, and described by Mr. Nuttall under the name of Ipomaea Jalapa. When this Dispensatory was first published, opinion in relation to the botanical history of the drug was unsettled, and it was deemed proper to enter at some length into the consideration of the subject; but the subsequent general admission of the views then advocated renders an equal degree of minuteness now unnecessary. It is sufficient to state that Dr. Coxe received living roots of jalap from Mexico in the year 1827, and succeeded in producing a perfect flowering plant, of which a description, by Mr. Nuttall, was published in the Am. Journ. of Medical Sciences for January, 1830; that the same plant was afterwards cultivated in France and Germany from roots transmitted to those countries from the jalap region of Mexico; and that one of the authors of this work has produced, from roots obtained in the vici- nity of Xalapa, and sent to him by the late Dr. Marmaduke Burrough, then United States consul at Vera Cruz, luxuriant plants, which he was enabled to compare with others descended from the plant of Dr. Coxe, and found to be identical with them. In the United States, London, and Edinburgh Pharma- copoeias, this origin of jalap is now admitted; but the London College has quoted as authority for Ipomaea Jalapa an unpublished manuscript by Don, and the Edinburgh College has adopted Hayne's and Wenderoth's name of /. Purga, thus overlooking the prior claims of the American authorities. J. II. Balfour, in the number of Curtis's magazine for February 1847, states that the plant belongs to the genus Exogonium of Choisy, as defined in De Can- dolle's Prodromus, being distinguished from Ipomaea by its exserted stamens. Ipojvoea. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Convolvulaceae. Gen. Ch. Sepals five. Corolla campanulate. Stamens included. Style one. Stigma two-lobed; the lobes capitate. Ovary two-celled; cells two-seeded. Capsule two-celled. Lindley. Ipomaea Jalapa, Nuttall, Am. Journ. of Med, Sciences, v. 300; Carson, Illust. of Med, Bot, ii. 13, pi. 61.—Ipomaea Purga. Hayne, Darstel. und Beschreib..&c, xii. 33 and 34; Lindley, Flor. Med. 396.—Exogonium Purga. Balfour, Curtis s Bot. Mag., od ser., vol. iii. tab. 4280. The root of this plant is a roundish.somewhat pear-shaped tuber, externally blackish, internally white, with long fibres proceeding from its lower part, as well as from the upper root- stalks. A tuber produced by Dr. Coxe was, in its third year, between two and three inches in diameter. The stem is round, smooth, much disposed to twist, and rises to a considerable height upon neighbouring objects, about whicb it twines. The leaves are heart-shaped, entire, smooth, pointed, deeply sinuated at the base, prominently veined on their under surface, and supported upon long footstalks. The lower leaves are nearly hastate, or with diverging angular points. The flowers, which are large and of a lilac-purple colour, stand upon peduncles about as long as the petioles. Each peduncle supports two, or more rarely, three flowers. The calyx is without bractes, five-leaved, obtuse, with two of the divisions external. The corolla is funnel-form. The stamens are five in number, with oblong, white, somewhat exserted anthers. The stigma is simple and capitate. The above description is taken from that drawn up by Mr. Nuttall, and published in Dr. Coxe's paper in the American .Journal of the Medical Sciences. The jalap plant is a native of Mexico, and derived its name from the city PART I. Jalapa. 407 of Xalapa, in the state of Vera Cruz, in the neighbourhood of which it grows, at a height of about 6000 feet above the ocean. It might probably be culti- vated in the southern section of the United States. The drug is brought from the port of Vera Cruz in bags, containing usually between one hundred and two hundred pounds. Properties. The tuber comes either whole, or divided longitudinally into two parts, or in transverse circular slices. The entire tubers are irregularly roundish, or ovate and pointed, or pear-shaped, usually much smaller than the fist, and marked with circular or vertical incisions, made to facilitate their drying. The root is preferred in this state, as it is less apt to be defective, and is more easily distinguished from the adulterations than when sliced. A much larger proportion comes entire than formerly, indicating a greater scarcity of the older roots, which it is necessary to slice in order to dry them properly. The tuber is heavy, compact, hard, brittle, with a shining undu- lated fracture, exhibiting numerous resinous points, distinctly visible with the microscope. It is externally brown and wrinkled, internally of a grayish colour, diversified by concentric darker circles, in which the matter is denser and harder than in the intervening spaces. Jalap is always kept in the shops in the state of powder, which is of a yellowish-gray colour, and when inhaled irritates the nostrils and throat, and provokes sneezing and coughing. The odour of the root, when cut or broken, is heavy, sweetish, and rather nauseous; the taste is sweetish, somewhat acrid, and disagreeable. It yields its active properties partly to water, partly to alcohol, and completely to diluted alcohol. M. Cadet de Gassicourt obtained from 500 parts of jalap, 24 of water, 50 of resin, 220 of gummy extract, 12-5 of fecula, 12-5 of albumen, 145 of lignin, 16-3 of saline matters, 2-7 of silica, with a loss of 17 parts. The resin of jalap consists of two portions, one of which, amounting to seven parts out of ten, is hard and insoluble in ether, the other is soft and soluble in that men- struum. The hard resin is stated by G. A. Kaiser to have acid properties, and to be identical with the jalapin of Herberger and Buchner. He proposes to call it rhodeoretin. (Chem. Gaz., No. 53, from Liebig's Annalen.) The proportion of resin to the other ingredients of the root varies considerably in different specimens. According to Gerber, the root contains 7-8 per cent, of hard resin, 3-2 of soft resin, 179 of extractive, 145 of gummy extract, 8-2 of a colouring substance which becomes red under the influence of the alka- line carbonates, 19 of uncrystallizable sugar, 15-6 of gum mixed with some saline matters, 3-2 of bassorin, 3-9 of albumen, 6-0 of starch, 8-2 of lignin, with some water, and various salts. For the method of obtaining the resin of jalap pure, see Extraetum sive Resina Jalapse. Jalap is apt to be attacked by worms, which, however, are said to devour the amylaceous or softer parts, and to leave the resin; so that the worm-eaten drug is more powerfully purgative than that which is sound. Thus, out of 397 parts of the former, M. Henry obtained 72 parts of resin, while from an equal quantity of the latter he procured only 48 parts. Hence worm-eaten jalap should be employed for obtaining the resin, but should not be pulver- ized, as it would afford a powder of more than the proper strength. The drug is also liable to various adulterations, or fraudulent substitutions, which, however, can usually be detected without difficulty. Those which have at- tracted particular attention are mentioned in the note below.* Jalap should * Adulterations, §c. Jalap is said to be sometimes adulterated with bryony root; but no instance of the kind has come under our notice; and the two drugs are so widely different that the fraud would be instantly detected. (See Bryony in the Appendix.) It is probable, however, that the adulteration which has been considered as bryony root, is the uiechoacan, which in Europe is sometimes called American bryony, and was formerly 408 Jalapa. PART r. be rejected when it is light, of a whitish colour internally, of a dull fracture, spongy, or friable. Powders of calomel and jalap, taken on long voyages to erroneously supposed to be derived from a species of Bryonia. The mechoacan is a pro- duct of Mexico, which was taken to Europe even before the introduction of jalap. The plant which produces it has been conjectured to be the Ipomcea macrorhiza of Michaux, which is believed to grow in Mexico near Vera Cruz, as well as in our Southern States, and the root of which, when of full size, is said to weigh from fifty to sixty pounds, and, according to Dr. Baldwin, has little or no purgative power. But this origin is altogether uncertain. Mechoacan is in circular slices, or fragments of various shapes, white and farinaceous within, and, as found in European markets, generally destitute of bark, of which, however, portions of a yellowish colour sometimes continue to adhere. The larger pieces are sometimes marked with faint concentric striae; and, upon the exterior surface, when any portion of this remains, are brown spots and ligneous points left by the radicles which have been removed. (Guibourt.') Though tasteless when first taken into the mouth, it becomes after a time slightly acrid. It is very feebly purgative. We have seen flat circular pieces of root, mixed with jalap, altogether answering this description, except that the cortical portion still remained, between which and the amylaceous parenchyma there was a very evident line of division. A drug, formerly known in our markets as spurious jalap, sometimes comes mingled with the genuine, and has been imported, unmixed, in mistake for that root. It is pro- bably the same with that referred to by French writers as the product of a plant denomi- nated male jalap in Mexico, and named by M. Ledanois Convolvulus Orizabensis, from the city of Orizaba, in the neighbourhood of which it grows abundantly. In the shops of Paris the drug is called light jalap, and, in the last edition of Guibourt's Histoire des Drogues, is described under the title of fusiform jalap. A description of it was first pub- lished in this country by Mr. D. B. Smith, in a valuable paper upon the Ipomaea Jalapa, in the Am. Journ. of Pharm., vol. ii. p. 22. For an account of the plant, the reader is referred to the same Journal, vol. x. p. 224. The recent root is large, spindle-shaped, sometimes as much as twenty inches in length, branched at its lower extremity, of a yellow colour on its outer surface, and white and milky within. The drug, as described by Guibourt, is in circular pieces, two or three inches in diameter, or in longer and more slender sections. As we have seen it, the shape of the pieces is often such as to indicate that the root was sliced transversely, and each circular slice divided into quarters. The horizontal cut surface is dark from exposure, unequal from the greater shrinking in the drying process of some parts than others, and presents the extremities of numerous fibres, which are often concentrically arranged, and run in the longitudinal direction of the root. Internally the colour is whitish, and the texture, though much less compact than that of jalap, is sometimes almost ligneous. The taste is at first slight, but after a time becomes somewhat acrid and nauseous. The dried root of the Convolvulus Orizabensis, or male jalap, analyzed by M. Ledanois, yielded in 1000 parts, 80 of resin, 256 of gummy extract, 32 of fecula, 24 of albumen, and 580 of lignin. From experiments made with it in Paris, it appears to have cathartic properties similar to those of the true jalap, but to be con- siderably more feeble, requiring to be given in a dose of from thirty to sixty grains in order to operate effectively. The proportion of resin, which in both is the most active purgative principle, is considerably less in the male jalap, while that of lignin, which is wholly inert, is about double. {Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 16G; also Am. Journ. of Pharm., x. 223.) This resin, according to G. A. Kaiser, differs essentially from the true jalap resin, by consisting of only one principle, which is entirely soluble in ether. But both resins are distinguished from all others by being gradually dissolved in concentrated sul- phuric acid, and deposited again after some hours in a soft state. (Chem. Gaz., No. 53 from Liebig's Annaleni) A false jalap was a few years since brought into the United States, different from any- thing before seen in our market. It was said to have been imported from Mexico into New York in considerable quantities, and was offered for sale under the name of overgroum jalap. A specimen, brought to Philadelphia, and examined by a Committee of the Col- lege of Pharmacy, presented the following characters. It was in light, entire or vertically sliced tubers, of different form and magnitude, spindle-shaped, ovate, and kidney-form some as much as six inches long and three thick, others much smaller, externally some- what wrinkled, with broad flattish light-brown ridges and shallow darker furrows in- ternally grayish-white, with distant darker concentric circles, sometimes uniformly amy- laceous, of a dull rough fracture, a loose texture, a slight, peculiar, and sweetish odour and a feeble jalap-like taste. The powder was of a light-gray colour, and did not irritate the nostrils or throat during pulverization. The root differed from mechoacan by the part i. Jalapa. 409 southern climates, are said, when brought back, to have become consolidated, and so far chemically altered as plainly to exhibit globules of mercury. This change is ascribed by Schacht and Wackcnroder to a fungous growth in the powder. (Arch, der Pharm., xxxiv. 289.) Medical Properties and Uses. Jalap is an active cathartic, operating briskly and sometimes painfully upon the bowels, and producing copious watery stools. The aqueous extract purges moderately, without much griping, and is said to increase the flow of urine. The portion not taken up by water gripes severely. The watery extract obtained from jalap previously exhausted by rectified spirit, is said to have no cathartic effect, but to operate powerfully by urine. (Duncan.) The alcoholic extract, usually called resin of jalap, purges actively, and often produces severe griping. From these facts, it would appear that the virtues of this cathartic do not depend exclusively upon any one principle. Jalap was introduced into Europe in the latter part of the sixteenth, or beginning of the seventeenth century, and now ranks among the purgative medicines most extensively employed. It is applicable to most cases in which an active cathartic is required, and from its hydragogue powers is especially adapted to the treatment of dropsy. It is generally given in connexion with other medicines, which assist or qualify its operation. In dropsical complaints it is usually combined with the bitartrate of potassa; and the same mixture is much employed in the treatment of the hip disease, and scrofulous affections of other joints. With calomel it forms a cathartic com- pound, whicli has long been highly popular in the United States in bilious fever, and other complaints attended with congestion of the liver or portal circle. In overdoses it may produce dangerous hypercatharsis. It is said to purge when applied to a wound. The dose of jalap in powder is from fifteen to thirty grains; of the resin or alcoholic extract, which is much used on the continent of Europe, and is now directed by the Edinburgh College, from four to eight grains. The latter is usually given rubbed up with sugar, or in emulsion, by which its tendency to irritate painfully the mucous membrane of the bowels is thought to be in some measure obviated. The extract of the United States and London Phar- macopoeias is preferable to the alcoholic, as it more completely represents the jalap itself. The dose of calomel and jalap is ten grains of each, that of bi- tartrate of potassa and jalap, two drachms of the former and ten or fifteen grains of the latter. Off. Prep. Extraetum Jalapse, U S., Lond., Dub.; Extraetum sive Resina Jalapse, Ed.; Pulvis Jalapa? Compositus, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Jalapa?, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Senna? et Jalapa?, U S., Ed. W. absence of the marks of radical fibres, and from male jalap by the want of a fibrous structure. It yielded by analysis, in 100 parts, 3 of a soft and 4 of a hard and brittle resin, 17 of gummy extractive, 28 of starch and inulin, 10 of gum and albumen, 23*2 of lignin, and 148 of saccharine matter and salts of lime, including loss. In doses of from fifteen to twenty grains it produced no effect on the system, and cannot, there- fore, be used as jalap. A similar root was described by Guibourt in the Journal de Chimie Medicate, and afterwards in the London Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions (ii 331), by the name of rose scented jalap. It was taken to France from Mexico mixed with genuine jalap. It proved equally inefficacious as a purgative, and probably had the same origin. This spurious drug is probably the product of a Convolvulus or Ipo- maa. Sec a report by Messrs. Duhamel, Ellis, and Ecky, in the American Journal of Pharmacy, xiv. 289. 410 Juglans. part r. JUGLANS. U.S. Butternut. 11 The inner bark of the root of Juglans cinerea." U. S. Juglans. Sex. Syst. Moncecia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord. Juglandaceae. Gen. Ch. Male. Amentum imbricated. Calyx a scale. Corolla six-parted. Filaments four to eighteen. Female. Calyx four-cleft, superior. Corolla four- cleft. Styles two. Drupe coriaceous with a furrowed, nut. Willd. Several products of Juglans regia, or common European walnut, are used medicinally in Europe. The hull of the fruit has been employed as a vermi- fuge from the times of Hippocrates, and has been recommended in syphilis and old ulcers. The expressed oil of the fruit is deemed by some practitioners efficacious against the tape-worm, and is also used as a laxative injection. The leaves, long occasionally employed for various purposes both in regular and domestic practice, have recently been found by Professor Negrier, of Angers, in the highest degree efficacious in scrofula. He gave to children a teacupful of a pretty strong infusion, or six grains of the aqueous extract, or an equivalent dose of a syrup prepared from the extract, two, three, or four times a day; and at the same time applied a strong decoction to the ulcers, ' and as a collyrium when the eyes were diseased. No injury was ever expe- rienced from a long-continued use of the remedy. It appears to act as a moderately aromatic bitter and astringent. (Archives Gin., 3e sirie, x. 399 and xi. 41.) The leaves of our J. nigra, or common black walnut, or those of J. cinerea, which is the only officinal species, would probably answer as good a purpose. Juglans cinerea. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 450; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 115; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. ii. 42,pi, 86. — J. cathartica, Michaux, N. Am. Sylva. i. 160. This is an indigenous forest tree, known in different sections of the country by the various names of butternut, oil nut, and white walnut. In favourable situations it attains a great size, rising sometimes fifty feet in height, with a trunk three or four feet in diameter at the distance of five feet from the ground. The stem divides, at a small distance from the ground, into numerous nearly horizontal branches, which spread widely, and form a large tufted head, giving to the tree a peculiar aspect. The young branches are smooth and of a grayish colour, which has given origin to the specific name of the plant. The leaves are very long, and consist of seven or eight pairs of sessile leaflets, and a single petiolate leaflet at the extremity. These are two or three inches in length, oblong-lanceolate, rounded at the base, acuminate, finely serrate, and somewhat downy. The male and female flowers are distinct upon the same tree. The former are in large aments, four or five inches long, hanging down from the sides of the shoots of the preceding year's growth near their extremity. The fertile flowers are at the end of the shoots of the same spring. The germ is surmounted by two large, feathery, rose-coloured stigmas. The fruit is sometimes single, suspended by a thin pliable peduncle; sometimes several are attached to the sides and ex- tremity of the same peduncle. The drupe is oblong-oval, with a terminal projection, hairy, viscid, green in the immature state, but brown when ripe. It contains a hard, dark-coloured, oblong, pointed nut, with a rough deeply and irregularly furrowed surface. The kernel is thick, oily, and pleasant to the taste. The butternut grows in Upper and Lower Canada, and throughout the whole northern, eastern, and western sections of the United States. In the Middle States, the flowers appear in May, and the fruit ripens in September. PART I. Jug lans. —Juniper us. 411 The tree, if pierced immediately before the leaves unfold, yields a richly sac- charine juice, from which sugar may be obtained, nearly if not quite equal to that from the sugar maple. The wood, though neither strong nor compact, is useful for some purposes on account of its durability, and exemption from the attacks of worms. The fruit, when half-grown, is sometimes made into pickles, and, when ripe, affords in its kernel a grateful article of food. The bark is used for dyeing wool a dark-brown colour, though inferior for this purpose to that of the black walnut. It is said, when applied to the skin, to have a rubefacient effect. „ The inner bark is the medicinal portion, and that of the root, being considered most efficient, is directed by the national Phar- macopoeia. It should be collected in May or June. On the living tree, the inner bark when first uncovered is of a pure white, \?hich becomes immediately on exposure a beautiful lemon colour, and ulti- mately changes to deep brown. It has a fibrous texture, a feeble odour, and a peculiar, bitter, somewhat acrid taste. Its medical virtues are entirely ex- tracted by boiling water. Dr. Bigelow could detect no resin among its con- stituents ; and the presence of tannin was not evinced by the test of gelatin, though a brownish-black colour was produced by the sulphate of iron. Medical Properties and Uses. Butternut is a mild cathartic, operating without pain or irritation, and resembling rhubarb in the property of evacuat- ing without debilitating the alimentary canal. It was much employed during our revolutionary war by Dr. Hush and other physicians attached to the army, and was highly esteemed. It is especially applicable to cases of habitual cos- tiveness and other bowel affections, particularly dysentery, in which it has acquired considerable reputation. In connexion with calomel it becomes more active, and is sometimes used in our intermittent and remittent fevers, and other complaints attended with congestion of the abdominal viscera. It is given in the form of decoction or extract, never in substance. The extract is officinal, and is almost always preferred. The dose of it is from twenty to thirty grains as a purge, from five to ten grains as a laxative. Off. Prep. Extraetum Juglandis, U S. W. JUNIPERUS. U.S. luniper. " The fruit of Juniperus communis." U. S. Off. Syn. JUNIPERI CACUM1NA. JUNIPERI FRUCTUS. Juni- perus communis. Cacumina. Fructus. Land.; JUNIPERI CACUMINA. Tops of Juniperus communis. JUNIPERI FRUCTUS. Berries of Juni- perus communis. Ed.; JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS. Bacca?. Cacumina. Dub. Genevriercommun,Baiesde Genievre, Fr.; Gemeiner Wachholder, Wachholderbeeren, Germ.; Ginepro, Ital; Enebro, Bayas de enebro, Span. Juniperus. Sex. Syst. Dicecia Monadelphia.—Nat, Ord. Pinacea? or Coniferae. Gen. Ch. Male. Amentum ovate. Calyx a scale. Corolla none. Stamens three. Female. Calyx three-parted. Petals three. Styles three. Berry three-seeded, irregular, with the three tubercles of the calyx. Willd, Juniperus communis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 853 ; Woodv. Med.Bot. p. 13, t. 6. This is an erect evergreen shrub, usually small, but sometimes attain- ing a height of twelve or fifteen feet, with numerous very close branches. The leaves are narrow, longer than the fruit, entire, sharply pointed, channeled, of a deep green colour, somewhat glaucous on their upper surface, spreading, and attached to the stem or branches in threes, in a verticillate manner. The 412 Juniperus. PART I. flowers are dioecious, and disposed in small, ovate, axillary, senile, solitary aments. The fruit is formed of the fleshy coalescing scales of the ament, and contains three angular seeds. The common juniper is a native of Europe; but has been introduced into this country, in some parts of which it has become naturalized. It is not uncommon in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. The plant described in Bigelow's American .Medical Botany under the title of J. communis, and very common in certain parts of New England, deserves, perhaps, to be considered a distinct species. It is a trailing shrub, seldom more than two or three feet in height, spreading in all directions, throwing out roots from its branches, and forming beds which are often many rods in circumference. The name of J. depressa has been proposed for it. The common juniper flowers in May; but does not ripen its fruit till late in the following year. All parts of tfie plant contain a volatile oil, which imparts to them a peculiar flavour. The wood has a slight aromatic odour, and was formerly used for fumigation. A terebinthinate juice exudes from the tree and hardens on the bark. This has been erroneously considered as identical with sandarach. The peasantry in the South of France prepare a sort of tar, which they call "hnile cle cade," from the interior reddish wood of the trunk and branches by a distillation per descensum. It is a brownish thick liquid, of a strong tar-like smell, and is used internally in worms, aad externally in scabies and various scaly eruptions. (Ann. de Thirap., 1847, p. 65.) The fruit and tops of juniper are the only officinal parts. The berries, as the fruit is commonly called, are sometimes collected in this country, and parcels are occasionally brought to the Philadelphia market from New Jersey. But, though equal to the European in appearance, they are inferior in strength, and are not much used. The best come from the South of Europe, particularly from Trieste and the Italian ports. They are glo- bular; more or less shriveled; about as large as a pea; marked with three furrows at the summit, and with tubercles from the persistent calyx at the base; covered with a glaucous bloom, beneath which they are of a shining blackish-purple colour; and containing a brownish-yellow pulp, and three an- gular seeds. They have an agreeable somewhat aromatic odour, and a sweetish, warm, bitterish, slightly terebinthinate taste. These properties, as well as their medical virtues, they owe chiefly to an essential oil, which may be sepa- rated by distillation. (See Oleum Juniperi.) The other ingredients, accord- ing to Trommsdorff, are resin, sugar, gum, wax, lignin, water, and various saline substances. The proportion of these ingredients varies according to the greater or less maturity of the berries. The volatile oil is most abundant in those which have attained their full growth and are still green, or in those which are on the point of ripening. In the latter, Trommsdorff found one per cent, of the oil. In those which are perfectly ripe it has been partly changed into resin, and in those quite black, completely so. The berries im- part their virtues to water and alcohol. They are very largely consumed in the preparation of gin. The tops of Juniper are directed by the London and Dublin Colleges. Their odour is balsamic, their taste resinous and bitterish ; and they possess similar virtues with the berries. Medical Properties and Uses. Juniper berries are gently stimulant and diuretic, imparting to the urine the smell of violets, and producing occasion- ally, when very largely taken, disagreeable irritation in the urinary passages. They are chiefly used as an adjuvant to more powerful diuretics in dropsical complaints; but have been recommended also in scorbutic and cutaneous dis- eases, catarrh of the bladder, and atonic conditions of the alimentary canal and uterus. They may be given in substance triturated with sugar, in the PART I. Juniperus.—Juniperus Virginiana. 413 dose of one or two drachms repeated three or four times a day. But the infusion is a more convenient form. It is prepared by macerating an ounce of the bruised berries in a pint of boiling water, the whole of which may be taken in the course of twenty-four hours. Extracts are prepared from the ber- ries, both bruised and unbruised, and given in the dose of one or two drachms; but, in consequence of the evaporation of the essential oil, they are probably not stronger than the berries in substance. Off. Prep. Decoctum Scoparii Compositum, Lond., Ed.; Oleum Juniperi, XI. S., Loud., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Juniperi Compositus, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. JUNIPERUS VIRGINIANA. U.S. Secondary. Red Cedar. " The tops of Juniperus Virginiana." U S. Juniperus. See JUNIPERUS. Juniperus Virginiana. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 853; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. iii. 49; Michaux, N Am. Sylv. iii. 221. This species of juniper, known commonly by the name of red cedar, is an evergreen tree of slow growth, seldom attaining a very large size, though sometimes rising forty or fifty feet in height, with a stem twelve or thirteen inches in diameter. It has numerous very close branches, which, in the young tree, spread out horizontally near the ground; but, as the tree advances, the lower branches slowly decay, leaving the trunk irregular with knots and crevices. The leaves are very small, fleshy, ovate, concave, pointed, glandular on their outer surface, either ternate or in pairs, and closely imbricated. Those of the young shoots are often much longer, and spreading. The leaves closely invest the extreme twigs, increasing with their growth, till ultimately lost in the encroachments of the bark. "The barren flowers are in oblong aments, formed by peltate scales with the anthers concealed within them. The fertile flowers have a proper perianth, which coalesces with the germ, and forms a small, roundish berry, with two or three seeds, covered on its outer surface with a bright blue powder." (Bigelow.) The red cedar grows in all latitudes of the United States, from that of Burlington, in Vermont, to the Gulf of Mexico; but is most abundant and most vigorous in the southern section. The interior wood is of a reddish colour, and highly valuable on account of its great durability. Small excres- cences which are sometimes found on the branches of the tree, are popularly used as an anthelmintic, under the name of cedar apples, in the dose of from ten to twenty grains three times a day. The tops or leaves only are officinal. They have a peculiar not unpleasant odour, and a strong, bitterish, some- what pungent taste. These properties reside chiefly in an essential oil, and are readily imparted to alcohol. The leaves, analyzed by Mr. Wm. J. Jenks, were found to contain volatile oil, gum, tannic acid, albumen, bitter extractive, resin, chlorophylle, fixed oil, lime, and lignin. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 235.) They bear a close resemblance to the leaves of Juniperus Sabina, from which they can be certainly distinguished only by the difference of odour. Medical Properties and Uses. The resemblance of red cedar to savine is said also to extend to their medical properties; the former being considered, like the latter, stimulant, emmenagogue, diuretic, and, under certain cir- cumstances, diaphoretic. It is, however, much less energetic; and, though advantage may, as has been asserted, have accrued from its use in amenor- rhoca, chronic rheumatism, and dropsy, it has not acquired the confidence of the profession generally. Externally applied it acts as an irritant; and an 414 Juniperus Virginiana.—Kino. part i. ointment, prepared by boiling the fresh leaves for a short time in twice their weight of lard, with the addition of a little wax, is employed as a substitute for savine cerate in maintaining a purulent discharge from blistered surfaces. Sometimes the dried leaves in powder are mixed with six times their weight of resin cerate, and used for a similar purpose. But neither of these pre- parations is as effectual as the analogous preparation of savine. W. KINO. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Kino. "An extract obtained from an uncertain plant." U.S. "Pterocarpus erinaceus. Extraetum." Lond. "Concrete exudation of Pterocarpus erina- eeus, and of other undetermined genera and species." Ed, Kino, Fr., Germ., Ital; Qui no, Span. The term kino was originally applied to a vegetable extract or inspissated juice, taken to London from the western coast of Africa, and introduced to the notice of the profession by Dr. Fothergill. Vegetable products obtained from various other parts of the world, resembling kino in their appearance and properties, afterwards received the same name; and much confusion and uncertainty have existed, and in some degree still exist, in relation to the botanical and commercial history of the drug. We shall first give an account of the general properties which at present entitle a medicine to the name of kino, and shall then treat of the several varieties. General Properties. Kino, as found in the shops, is usually in small, irregular, angular, shining fragments, seldom so large as a pea, of a dark reddish-brown or blackish colour, very brittle, easily pulverizable, and afford- ing a reddish powder, much lighter coloured than the drug in its aggregate state. If in larger masses, it may be reduced without difficulty into these minute fragments. It is without odour, and has a bitterish, highly astrin- gent taste, with a somewhat sweetish after-taste. It burns with little flame, and does not soften with heat. It imparts its virtues and a deep-red colour to water and alcohol. Cold water forms with it a clear infusion. Boiling water dissolves it more largely; and the saturated decoction becomes turbid on cooling, and deposits a reddish sediment. The tincture is not disturbed by water. When long kept it often gelatinizes, and loses its astringency. (See Tinctura Kino.) Kino consists chiefly of a modification of tannic acid or tannin, with extractive, gum, and sometimes probably a little resin; but we need a careful analysis of the different well-ascertained varieties. The aqueous solution of kino is precipitated by gelatin, the soluble salts of iron, silver, lead, and antimony, the bichloride of mercury, and the sulphuric, nitric, and muriatic acids. The precipitate with iron is of an olive or greenish- black colour. The alkalies favour the solubility of kino in water, but essen- tially change its nature, and destroy its astringency. 1. East India Kino. This is the variety at present probably most used, and most highly esteemed. Its origin was long unknown. Recently, it has been ascertained, by the united researches of Drs. Pereira, Royle, Wight, and others, to be the product of Pterocarpus Marsupium, a lofty tree, grow- ing upon the mountains of the Malabar coast of Hindostan. Kino is the juice of the tree, extracted through longitudinal incisions in the bark, and afterwards dried in the sun. Upon drying it breaks into small fragments, and is put into wooden boxes for exportation. It is collected near Tellicherry, and exported from Bombay. (Royle's Mat. Med. and Therap.) It is some- times imported into this country directly from the East Indies, but more commonly from London. It comes from the East in boxes. PART I. Kino. 415 East India kino is in small, angular, glistening fragments, of a uniform consistence, appearing as if formed by the breaking down of larger masses. The larger fragments are opaque and nearly black; but minute splinters are sometimes translucent, and of a deep garnet redness when viewed by trans- mitted light. This variety of kino is very brittle, readily breaking between the fingers, and easily pulverized, affording a dark reddish powder, a portion of which, resulting from the mutual attrition of the fragments, is often found interspersed among them. When chewed, it softens in the mouth, adheres somewhat to the teeth, and tinges the saliva of a blood-red colour. In odour, taste, and chemical relations, it corresponds with the account already given of kino in general. It was analyzed by Vauquelin, and found to contain 75 per cent, of tannin and peculiar extractive, 24 of red gum, and 1 of insoluble matter. Pereira states that it has been shown by A. W. Buchner to contain catechuin, or catechuic acid. (See Catechu, p. 194.) 2. West India or Jamaica Kino. This is believed to be the product of the Coccoloba uvifcra, or sea-side grape, a tree twenty feet or more in height, bearing beautiful broad shining leaves, and large bunches of purple berries, to which it owes its vernacular name. It grows in the West Indies and neighbouring parts of the continent. The kino is said to be obtained by evaporating a decoction of the wood and bark, which are very astringent. Many years since, a thick reddish-brown liquid was imported into Philadel- phia from the West Indies, which, when dried by exposure to the air in shal- low vessels or by beat, afforded an extract having all the properties of kino, for which it was sold by the druggists. This has been long exhausted; but, a few years since, a considerable quantity of West India kino was brought into this market, which probably still enters into the consumption of the coun- try. It was contained in large gourds, into which it was evidently poured while in a liquid or semi-liquid state, and then allowed to harden. We have specimens of this kino in our possession. When taken from the gourd, it breaks into fragments of various sizes, upon an average about as large as a hazelnut, and having some tendency to the rectangular form. The consistence of these fragments is uniform, their sur- face smooth and shining, and their colour a dark reddish-brown, approaching to black. They are, however, not so glistening, nor so black as the East India kino. In mass they are quite opaque, but in thin splinters are trans- lucent and of a ruby redness. They are readily broken by the fingers into smaller fragments, are easily pulverized, and yield a dull reddish powder, con- siderably lighter-coloured than that of the former variety. The West India kino is without odour, and has a very astringent bitterish taste, with a scarcely observable sweetish after-taste. It adheres to the teeth when chewed, though rather less than the East India variety, and colours the saliva red. The solu- bility of Jamaica kino was very carefully examined, at our request, by Dr. Robert Bridges, of this city, who found that cold water dissolved 89 per cent., and ordi- nary officinal alcohol 94 per cent. The portion dissolved by alcohol and not by water was probably of a resinous nature; as it appeared to be viscid, and very much impeded the filtration of the watery solution. Guibourt, who states that Jamaica kino is but slightly dissolved by cold water, must have operated on a different product, According to Bostock, it contains 41 per cent, of tannin. 3. South American Kino.— Caracas Kino. In 1839, when the fourth edition of this Dispensatory was published, an astringent extract had recently been introduced into our market, derived, as we were informed, from Caracas, and known by that name to the druggists. Since that period it has come much more into use, and now constitutes a considerable portion of the eon- sumption of the country. It is probably the same as that described by Gui- bourt, in the last edition of his History of Drugs, as the kino of Columbia. 416 Kino. PART I. As imported, this variety of kino is in large masses, some weighing several pounds, covered with thin leaves, or exhibiting marks of leaves upon their unbroken surface, externally very dark, and internally of a deep reddish-brown or dark port-wine colour. It is opaque in the mass, but translucent in thin splinters, very brittle, and of a fracture always shining, but in some masses wholly rough and irregular, in others rough only in the interior, while the outer portion, for an inch or two in depth, breaks with a rather smooth and uniform surface like that of the West India kino. This outer portion is easily broken into fine angular fragments, while the interior crumbles quite irregu- larly. Some of the masses are very impure, containing pieces of bark, wood, leaves, &c.; others are more homogeneous, and almost free from impurities. The masses are broken up by means of a mill so as to resemble East India kino, from which, however, this variety differs in being more irregular, less sharply angular, more powdery, and less black. On comparing the finer and more angular portions of the masses with the West India kino, we were strongly struck with their resemblance; and in fact could discover no differ- ence between the two varieties either in colour, lustre, taste, the colour of the powder, or other sensible property. South American kino was found by Dr. Bridges to yield 93-5 per cent, to cold water, and 93 per cent, to alcohol; so that, while it has almost the same solubility as Jamaica kino in alcohol, it is somewhat more soluble in cold water. -The aqueous solution, in this case, was not embarrassed by the adhesive matter which impeded the filtration in the former variety; and the want of a minute proportion of resinous matter in the South American kino is the only difference we have discovered between the two drugs. It is not improbable that they are derived from the same plant; and there is no difficulty in supposing that this may be the Coccoloba uvifera, as that tree grows as well upon the continent as in the islands. 4. African Kino. The original kino employed by Dr. Fothergill was known to be the produce of a tree growing in Senegal, and upon the banks of the Gambia, on the western coast of Africa; but the precise character of the tree was not ascertained, until a specimen, sent home by Mungo Park during his last journey, enabled the English botanists to decide that it was the Pterocarpus erinaceus of Lamarck and Poiret. The London College accordingly refers kino to this plant; but in so doing has overlooked the fact that not one of the varieties now used is brought from Africa. The importa- tion of African kino has long ceased, and the most experienced pharmacologist cannot speak with certainty of having seen a specimen. That described by Guibourt has turned out to be the Bulea gum;* and the description in the first edition of Christison's Dispensatory evidently applies to the common East India * Butea gum is die concrete juice of the Bulea frondosa or Dhak-tree of Hindostan. The juice flows from natural fissures, and from wounds made in the bark of the tree, and quickly hardens. It is in small elongated tears, or irregular angular masses, less in size than a grain of barley, apparently black and opaque, but translucent and of a ruby- red colour when examined in small fragments by transmitted light. Many of the tears have small portions of bark adhering to them. They are very brittle, and readily pul- verizable, yielding a reddish powder. They are very astringent to the taste, do not adhere to the teeth when chewed, and tinge the saliva red. The relations of this product to water, alcohol, and other chemical reagents are nearly the same as those of ordinary kino. When freed from impurities, consisting of from 15 to 25 per cent, of wood, bark, sand, &c, it contains, according to .Mr. E. Solly, 73-26 per cent, of tannin, 505 of soluble extractive, and 21-67 of gum and other soluble substances. It is used in the arts in India, and might undoubtedly be employed as kino in medicine. It is, how- ever, very seldom imported into England, and never, at present, into thte country. Dr. Pereira found a quantity in an old drug store in London, and sent a portion to Guibourt, from which that writer drew up his description of African kino. It is possible that the kino which formerly reached us, full of small pieces of wood, bark, &c, may have been the Butea gum. PART I. Kino. 417 kino. A specimen given to Dr. A. T. Thomson as African kino, ami described in his Dispensatory, is certainly not the drug spoken of by Fothergill, but rather resembles the Butea gum. As described by Fothergill, the African kino, for which he proposed the name of gummi rubrum astringens Gambinense, was in lumps of about the size of those of gum Senegal or dragon's blood, and so similar in appearance to the latter that a good judge might easily be deceived. These lumps were hard, brittle, opaque, and almost black; but minute fragments were reddish and transparent like garnet. The drug was inodorous, of a strongly astrin- gent and sweetish taste, and soluble in water to the extent of about five or six parts out of seven, forming a deep red astringent infusion. There can be little doubt that this variety of kino is a concrete juice, which exudes either spon- taneously or from wounds in the bark, and hardens in the air. (See Med. Obs. and Inq., i. 358.) 5. Botany Bay kino. This is the concrete juice of the Eucalyptus resini- fera, or brown gum tree of New Holland, a lofty tree, belonging to the class and order Icosandria Monogynia, and the natural order Myrtacese. When the bark is wounded the juice flows very freely, and hardens in the air. Ac- cording to Mr. White, a single tree is capable of furnishing five hundred pounds of kino in one year. (White's Voyage.) Duncan states that specimens of the juice have reached Great Britain in the fluid form, and that when he first examined kino in 1802, it was common, and was the finest kind in com- merce. According to information received by Dr. Thomson, its importation into Great Britain must have ceased soon after that period (Thomson's Dis- pensatory, 1826, p. 50G); but Dr. Pereira speaks of it as imported in boxes, and has himself met with a parcel of it from Van Diemen's Land. Ainslie informs us that he has met with it in the markets of Hindostan. Parcels may occasionally reach this country; but by such complicated routes that their origin is unknown. The specimen examined by Pereira was in irregular masses, many of them in the form of tears as large as those of Senegal gum. " The purer pieces were vitreous, almost black in the mass, but transparent and of a beautiful ruby-red in small and thin fragments. Some of the pieces, however, were opaque and dull, from the intermixture of wood and other impurities." This variety of kino is brittle, with a resinous unequal fracture, and yields a red- dish-brown powder. It is infusible, without odour, of an astringent taste fol- lowed by sweetness, and when long chewed adheres to the teeth. (Dunca7i.) It swells up and becomes gelatinous with cold water, yielding a red solution, which gives precipitates with lime-water, gelatin, and sesquichloride of iron, but not with alcohol or tartar emetic. With rectified spirit it also becomes gelatinous, and forms a red tincture which is not precipitated by water. (Pereira.) White states that only one-sixth of this kino is soluble in water; Guibourt found it wholly soluble with the exception of foreign matters; and Dr. Thomson informs us that water at 60° dissolves more than one-half. These gentlemen must have experimented with different substances. Accord- ing to Dr. Duncan, alcohol dissolves the whole except impurities; and the tincture, with a certain proportion of water, lets fall a copious red precipitate, but with a large proportion only becomes slightly turbid. It is said that catechu, broken into small fragments, has sometimes been sold as kino. Fortunately little injury can result from the substitution, as the medical virtues of the two extracts are very nearly the same. Medical Properties and Uses. Kino is powerfully astringent, and in this country is much used for the suppression of morbid discharges. In diarrhoea not attended with febrile excitement or inflammation, it is often an excellent 27 418 Kino.—Krameria. PART I. adjunct to opium and the absorbent medicines, and is a favourite addition to the chalk mixture. It is also used in chronic dysentery when astringents are admissible; in leucorrhcea and diabetes; and in passive hemorrhages, particu- larly that from the uterus. It was formerly used in intermittent fever, but has given way to more efficient remedies. It may be given in powder, infusion, or dissolved in diluted alcohol. The dose of the powder is from ten to thirty grains. The infusion, which is a very convenient form of administration, may be made by pouring eight fluidounces of boiling water on two drachms of the extract, and straining when cool. Aromatics may be added, if deemed advisable. The dose is a fluidounce. The proportion of alcohol in a dose of the tincture renders it frequently an unsuitable preparation. Locally applied, kino is often productive of benefit. Its infusion is useful as an injection in leucorrhoea and obstinate gonorrhoea, and thrown up the nostrils we have found it very efficacious in suppressing hemorrhage from the Schneiderian membrane. A case of obstinate hemorrhage from a wound in the palate, after resisting various means, yielded to the application of pow- dered kino, which was spread thickly on lint, and pressed against the wound by the tongue. The powder is also a very useful application to indolent and flabby ulcers. Off Prep. Electuarium Catechu, Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Aluminis Compositus, Ed.; Pulvis Kino Comp., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Kino, Lond., Ed., Dub. W. KRAMERIA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Rhatany. 11 The root of Krameria triandra." U. S., Ed. " Krameria triandra. Radix" Lond. Off. Syn. RHATANIA. KRAMERIA TRIANDRA. Radix et extraet- um. Dub. Ratanhie, Fr.; Ratanhiawurzel, Germ ; Ratania, Ital, Span. Krameria. Sex. Syst. Tetrandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord, Polygaleae, De Cand. Krameriaceae, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Calyx none. Corolla four-petalled; the superior nectary three- parted, and inferior two-leaved. Berry dry, echinated, one-seeded. Willd. Krameria triandra. Ruiz and Pavon, Flor. Peruv. i. 61. The rhatany plant is a shrub, having a long, much branched, and spreading root, of a blackish-red colour; with a round, procumbent, very dark-coloured stem, divided into numerous branches, of which the younger are leafy and thickly covered with soft hairs, giving them a white, silky appearance. The leaves are few, sessile, oblong-ovate, pointed, entire, presenting on both surfaces the same silky whiteness with the young branches, on the sides of which they are placed. The flowers are lake-coloured, and stand singly on short peduncles at the axils of the upper leaves. There are only three stamens. The nectary consists of four leaflets, of which the two upper are spatulate, the lower roundish and much shorter: it does not correspond with the generic character of Will- denow, which was drawn from the Krameria Ixina. The fruit is globular, of the size of a pea, surrounded by stiff reddish-brown prickles, and furnished with one or two seeds. This species of Krameria is a native of Peru, growing in dry argillaceous and sandy places, and abundant about the city of Huanuco. It flowers at all seasons, but is in the height of its bloom in October and November. The root is dug up after the rains. Tschudi states that most of the rhatany now part I. Krameria. 419 exported is obtained in the Southern provinces of Peru, particularly in Arica and Islay. (Trav. in Peru, Am. ed., p. 214.) The K. Ixiua, growing in Hayti, and in Cumana on the South American continent, is said to afford a root closely analogous in appearance and proper- ties to that of the Peruvian species; but the latter only is officinal. The name rhatany is said to express, in the language of the Peruvian In- dians, the creeping character of the plant. We receive rhatany in pieces of various shapes and dimensions, some being simple, some more or less branched, the largest as much as an inch in thick- ness, being derived from the main body of the root, the smallest not thicker than a small quill, consisting of the minute ramifications. The pieces are often nearly cylindrical, and as much as two or three feet in length. Some- times many of the radicles are united in a common head, which is short, and from half an inch to two inches or more in diameter. The roots are composed of a dark reddish-brown, slightly fibrous, easily separable bark, and a central woody portion, less coloured, but still reddish or reddish-yellow. The root is without smell, but has a bitter, very astringent, slightly sweetish taste, which is connected with its medical virtues, and is much stronger in the eortical than the ligneous part. The smallest pieces are therefore preferable, as they con- tain the largest proportion of the bark. The powder is of a reddish colour. The virtues of the root are extracted by water and alcohol, to which it imparts a deep reddish-brown colour. From the researches of Vogel, Gmelin, Peschier, and Trommsdorff, it appears to contain tannin, lignin, and minute quantities of gum, starch, saccharine matter, and an acid which Peschier considered as peculiar, and named hrameric acid. The tannin is in three states; 1st, in that of purity, in which it is without colour; 2d, that of apotheme, in which it has lost its astringency, and been rendered insoluble by the action of the air, and 3d, that of extractive, which is a soluble combination of tannin and its apotheme, and is the substance which imparts to the infusion and tincture of rhatany their characteristic reddish-brown colour. (Soubeiran, Journ. de Pharm., xix. 596.) The proportion of red astringent matter obtained by Vogel was 40 per cent. The mineral acids and most of the metallic salts throw down precipitates with the infusion, decoction, and tincture of rhatany, and are incompatible in prescription. Cold water, by means of displacement or percolation, extracts all the astrin- gency of rhatany, forming a clear deep-red infusion, which, upon careful eva- poration, yields an almost perfectly soluble extract. The root yields its virtues also to boiling water by maceration; but the resulting infusion becomes turbid upon cooling, in consequence of the deposition of apotheme taken up by the water when heated. By boiling with water a still larger proportion of the apotheme is dissolved, and a considerable quantity of the pure tannin becomes insoluble in cold water, and medicinally inert, either by combining with the starch which is also dissolved, or by conversion into apotheme through the agency of the atmosphere. The decoction is, therefore, an ineligible prepara- tion, and the extract resulting from ite evaporation, though greater in weight than that from the cold infusion, contains much less soluble and active matter. Alcohol dissolves a larger proportion of the root than water, but this excess is owing to the solution of apotheme; and the alcoholic extract contains little if any more of the astringent principle than that prepared by cold water, while it is encumbered with much inert matter. (See Extraetum Kramerite.) Medical Properties and Uses. Rhatany is gently tonic and powerfully astringent; and may be advantageously given in chronic diarrhoea, passive hemorrhages, especially menorrhagia, some forms of leucorrhoea, and in all those cases in which kino and catechu are beneficial. It has long been used in Peru as a remedy in bowel complaints, as a corroborant in cases of enfeebled 420 Krameria.—Lacmus.—Lactuca Elongata. part I. stomach, and as a local application to spongy gums. Ruiz, one of the authors of the Peruvian Flora, first made it known in Europe. It was not till after the year 1816 that it began to come into general use. In this country it is now extensively employed. It has the advantage over the astringent extracts imported, that, being brought in the state of the root, it is free from adulte- ration, and may be prescribed with confidence. The dose of the powder is from twenty to thirty grains; but in this form the root is little used. The infusion or decoction is more convenient, and is usually preferred. The proportions are an ounce of the bruised or powdered root to a pint of water, and the dose one or two fluidounces. The extract, tincture, and syrup are officinal preparations; and may be given, the first in the dose of fifteen or twenty grains, the second in that of two or three flui- drachms, and the third in that of half a fluidounce for an adult. In the form of infusion, tincture, and extract, rhatany has been highly recommended as a local remedy in fissure of the anus, prolapsus ani, and leucorrhcea. (See a paper by Drs. Johnston and Biddle, in the Medical Examiner, iv. 293.) Off. Prep. Extraetum Krameriae, U. S., Ed.; Infusum Krameriae, U. S., Lond.; Tinctura Krameriae, U. S. W. LACMUS. Lond,, Ed. Litmus. " Roccella tinctoria. Thallusprseparatus." Lond, "A peculiar colouring matter from Roccella tinctoria." Ed. Off. Syn. LITMUS. Roccella tinctoria. Dub. Turnso), Archil, Orchill; Tournesol, Fr.; Lakmus, Germ.; Oricello, Ital; Orcbilla, Span. Various species of lichens afford, when macerated with alkaline liquors, a purple colouring matter much esteemed in dyeing. That most used at present is the cudbear, prepared from the Lichen tartareus, which grows on limestone rocks in the North of Europe. The orchill or litmus is a similar dye-stuff, pre- pared from the Roccella tinctoria of Acharius, a lichen which grows on mari- time rocks, and is especially abundant in the Canary and Cape Verde Islands. Litmus is prepared by coarsely powdering the lichen, and macerating and fermenting it in close wooden vessels, for several weeks, with urine and either potash or soda. The colouring matter is thus evolved, and the prepared mass is taken out, dried, and cut into small squares for use. Litmus, as thus prepared, is in friable, violet-coloured, finely granular pieces, from a quarter of an inch to an inch in diameter, scattered over with white saline points. It has an alkaline smell, tinges the saliva of a deep blue, and is somewhat pungent and saline to the taste. It is much used as one of the most delicate tests of uncombined acids, which change its blue colour to red; and of alkalies, which restore the original hue. The most con- venient mode of preparing litmus for use as a test, is to stain paper with it. For this purpose the watery infusion, made with one part of powdered litmus and four of water, is applied by means- of a brush to white unsized paper. The sheets, when dried, must be kept in close vessels in the dark. D. B. S. LACTUCA ELONGATA. U.S. Secondary. Wild Lettuce. " The herb of Lactuca elongata." U. S. Lactuca. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia iEqualis.—Nat. Ord. Compositae Cicho- raceae, De Cand. Cichoraceae, Lindley. part I. Lactuca Elongata.—Lactuca Virosa. 421 Gen. Ch. Receptacle naked. Calyx imbricated, cylindrical, with a mem- branous margin. Pappus simple, stipitate. Seed smooth. Willd. Lactuca elongata. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1525. This indigenous species of lettuce is biennial, with a stem from three to six feet in height, and leaves of which the lower are runcinate, entire, and clasping, the lowest toothed, and the highest lanceolate. They are all smooth on their under surface. The flowers are in corymbose panicles, small, and of a pale yellow colour. The stem and leaves yield, when wounded, a milky juice in which the virtues of the plant reside. The wild lettuce grows in all latitudes of the United States, from Canada to the Carolinas. It is found in woods, along roads, and in fer- tile soils, and flowers in June and July, It was introduced into the secondary list of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia as a substitute for the Lactuca virosa of Europe, which it is said to resemble some- what in medical properties. Dr. Bigelow was informed by physicians who had employed it, that it acts as an anodyne, and promotes the secretion from the skin and kidneys. It is seldom used in regular practice. According to M. Aubergier, who experimented with different species of Lactuca, in order to ascertain from which of them lactucarium might be most advantageously ob- tained, the milky juice of L. elongata is of a flat and sweetish taste without bitterness, contains much mannite, but no bitter principle, and is destitute of narcotic properties. (Annuaire de Thirap., 1843, p. 18.) An extract, prepared by expressing and inspissating the juice of the fresh plant, may be given in doses of from five to fifteen grains. (Bigelow.) W. LACTUCA VIROSA. Folia. Dub. Strong-scented Lettuce. Laitue vireuse, Fr.; Gift.-Lattig, Germ.; Lattuga salvatica, Ital. Lactuca. See LACTUCA ELONGATA. Lactuca virosa. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1526; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 75, t. 31. The strong-scented lettuce is biennial, with a stem from two to four feet high, erect, prickly near the base, above smooth and divided into branches. The lower leaves are large, oblong obovate, undivided, toothed, commonly prickly on the under side of the midrib, sessile, and horizontal; the upper are smaller, clasping, and often lobed; the bractes are cordate and pointed. The flowers are numerous, of a sulphur-yellow colour, and disposed in a panicle. The plant is lactescent, and has a strong disagreeable smell like-that of opium, and a bitterish acrid taste. The inspissated expressed juice is the part usually employed in medicine. It should be prepared while the plant is in flower; as the milky fluid, upon which its virtues depend, is then most abundant. Mr. Duncan, of Edinburgh, has prepared lactucarium from this species, which is said to yield it in greater quantity, and of better quality than the garden let- tuce. Mr. Schutz, of Germany, obtained only 17 grains of lactucarium, on the average, from a single plant of the garden lettuce, while a plant of the L. virosa yielded 56 grains. The strong-scented lettuce is a native of Europe. Medical Properties and Uses. The extract or inspissated juice is a seda- tive narcotic, said also to be gently laxative, powerfully diuretic, and somewhat diaphoretic. It is employed in Europe, particularly in Germany, in the treat- ment of dropsy, and is especially recommended in cases attended with visceral obstruction. It is usually, however, combined with squill, digitalis, or some other diuretic; and it is not easy to decide how much of the effect is justly ascribable to the lettuce. The medicine is never used in this country. The dose is eight or ten grains, which may be gradually increased to a scruple or more. Lactuca Scariola, another European species, possesses similar proper- ties, and is used for the same purposes. W. 422 Lactuca.—Lactucarium. part I. LACTUCA. Lond. Lettuce. " Lactuca sativa." Lond. Off. Syn. LACTUCA SATIVA. Herba. Dub. Laitue, Fr.; Garten Lnttig, Germ.: Lattuga, Ital; Lechuga, Span. Lactuca. See LACTUCA ELONGATA. LACTUCARIUM. U. S., Lond., Ed. Lactucarium. 11 The inspissated juice of Lactuca sativa." U. S. " Lactuca sativa. Suc- cus spissatus." Lond. "Inspissated juice of Lactuca virosa and sativa; Lettuce- opium." Ed. Lactuca sativa. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1523. The garden lettuce is an an- nual plant. The stem, which rises above two feet in height, is erect, round, simple below, and branching in its upper part. The lower leaves are obovate, rounded at the end, and undulating; the upper are smaller, sessile, cordate, and toothed; both are shining, and of a yellowish-green colour. The flowers are pale yellow, small, and disposed in an irregular terminal corymb. Before the flower-stem begins to shoot, the plant contains a bland, pellucid juice, has little taste or smell, and is much used as a salad for the table; but during the period of inflorescence it abounds in a peculiar milky juice, which readily escapes from incisions in the stem, and has been found to possess decided medicinal as well as sensible properties. A similar juice is produced by other species of lettuce, and has in fact given origin to the name of the genus. This juice is more abundant in the wild than in the cultivated plants. That of L. sativa, inspissated by exposure to the air, has been adopted as officinal in the U. S., Lond., and Ed. Pharmacopoeias, under the name of Lactucarium. The Edin- burgh College admit also L. virosa as a source of the medicine. In the edition of the London Pharmacopoeia of 1836, lettuce has been omitted from the Materia Medica; but we have retained it here; as an extract of lettuce is directed among the Preparations. The original native country of the garden lettuce is unknown. The plant has been cultivated from time immemorial, and is now employed in all parts of the civilized world. It flourishes equally in hot and temperate latitudes. Some botanists suppose that L. virosa of the old continent is the parent of all the varieties of the cultivated plant. The milky juice undergoes little alteration, if confined in closely stopped bottles from which the air is excluded. But, when exposed to the air, it concretes, and assumes a brownish colour somewhat like that of opium. Mr. Young, of Edinburgh, recommends the following mode of collecting it. When the stem is about a foot high, the top is cut off, and the juice which exudes, being absorbed by cotton or a piece of sponge, is pressed out into a cup or other small vessel, and exposed till it concretes. In order to obtain all the juice which the plant is capable of affording, it is necessary to cut off five or six successive slices of the stem at short intervals, and to repeat the process two or three times a day. The juice may also be collected by the finger as it flows from the incisions. A plan proposed by Mr. Probart, of London, is to collect the milky juice on pieces of woven cotton about half a yard square, to throw these when fully charged into a vessel containing a small quantity of water, and allow the water part i. Lactuca.—Lactucarium. 423 thus impregnated to evaporate in shallow dishes at the ordinary atmospheric temperature. The lactucarium is left in the form of an extract. Another method of extracting the virtues of the lettuce has been recom- mended by Mr. Probart. When the plant begins to assume a yellow hue, the white juice concretes in the bark of the stem, and in the old leaves, which become very bitter. These parts being separated, are macerated for twenty- four hours in water, then boiled for two hours; and the clear decoction, after having been allowed to drain off through a sieve without pressure, is evapo- rated in shallow vessels by simple exposure. The resulting extract, accord- ing to Mr. Probart, has half the strength of lactucarium, and may be obtained at one-sixth of the cost. The London College direct an extract to be prepared by inspissating the expressed juice of the leaves; but this must be exceedingly uncertain, from the variable quantity of the milky juice contained in the plant; and as the young leaves, which contain little or none of it, are often employed, the pre- paration is liable to be quite inert. It has been asserted that the thridace of Dr. Francois is the inspissated milky juice of lettuce, and therefore identical with lactucarium ; and a state- ment to this effect was made in some former editions of this work, upon what was deemed sufficient authority. In an article, however, in the Journal de Pharmacie for December, 1836, it is asserted that thridace strongly attracts moisture from the air, is without narcotic odour, and, instead of being bitter like lactucarium, has a saline and extractive taste. It is, therefore, in all probability, the inspissated expressed juice, and, indeed, is directed as such in the last French Codex, the leaves being rejected, and the stalks alone, near the flowering period, being subjected to pressure. M. Aubergier, of Clermont, in a treatise presented to the French Academy of Sciences in November, 1842, states that lactucarium, identical with that of the garden lettuce, is yielded by several other species of Lactuca, and can be abundantly and cheaply procured from the Lactuca altissima, which is a large plant, with a stem more than nine feet high, and an inch and a half in diameter. (Annuaire de Thdrap., 1843, p. 18.) Lactucarium is in small irregular lumps, of a reddish-brown colour exter- nally, and of a narcotic odour and bitter taste. As prepared near Edinburgh it is commonly in roundish, compact, and rather hard masses, weighing several ounces. (Christison.) In colour, taste, and smell, it bears considerable re- semblance to opium, and has sometimes been called lettuce opium. It does not attract moisture from the air. It yields nearly half its weight to water, with which it forms a deep-brown infusion. From its resemblance in sensi- ble properties and therapeutical effects to opium, it was conjectured to con- tain morphia, or some analogous principle; but this conjecture has not yet been realized. Buchner, Aubergier, and Walz, claim severally to have discovered the active principle, which has been named lactucin; but the substance ob- tained by these different chemists is not exactly identical in properties, and the lactucin of Walz and Aubergier is considered by M. Lenoir as owing its bitterness to impurities, separated from which, it is without taste, and inert. It is at least doubtful whether the constituent upon which the medical vir- tues of lactucarium depend has yet been isolated. We give in a note below the results of various analyses of this medicine. They all relate to the lactu- carium obtained from the Lactuca virosa.* * Buchner published experiments on lactucarium in 1 832 ; but, as the results obtained by him are not essentially different from those subsequently obtained, it is not necessary to give them in detail. The principle, named by him lactucin, is bitter, soluble in water, more soluble in alcohol, less so in ether, without alkaline reaction though precipitated by tannic acid, destitute of nitrogen, capable of forming with acids very soluble bitter 424 Lactuca. —Lactucarium. PART I. Medical Properties and Uses. That lettuce possesses soporific properties, is a fact which was known to the ancients; but Dr. J. Ii. Coxe, of Philadel- phia, enjoys the credit of having first proposed the employment of its inspis- combinations. and not easily obtained perfectly white and crystallized. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., vii. 74, from Buchner's Repertorium, xiv.) Dr. Walz, in an inaugural thesis published at Heidelberg, in 1839, gives the following constituents of lactucarium from L. virosa; viz., a peculiar principle denominated lactu- cin, volatile oil, a fatty matter easily dissolved by ether, and another of difficult solubility in that fluid, a reddish-yellow tasteless resin, a greerrish-yellow acrid resin, common sugar, uncrystallizable sugar, gum, pectic acid, a brown humus-like acid, a brown basic sub- stance, albumen, oxalic, citric, malic, and nitric acids, potassa, lime, and magnesia. Lac- tucin, as obtained by Walz, is in yellow crystalline needles, inodorous, of a strong and durable bitter taste, easily fusible, soluble in from 60 to 80 parts of cold water, freely soluble in alcohol, less so in ether, soluble in very dilute acids, and without either alkaline or acid reaction. (Annal der Pharm., xxxii. 97.) It was obtained by treating lactucarium with alcohol acidulated with one-fifteenth of concentrated vinegar, adding an equal volume of water, precipitating by subacetate of lead, separating the excess of lead by sulphuretted hydrogen, filtering, evaporating by a gentle heat, treating the residuum by ether, and allowing the ethereal solution to evaporate spontaneously. M. Aubergier, in a memoir presented to the French Academy of Seiences in 1842, gives the following as the result of his experiments : 1. a bitter crystallizable substance (lactucin) soluble in alcohol and boiling water, scarcely soluble in cold water, insoluble in ether, without alkaline reaction, and supposed to be the active principle, 2. mannite, 3. aspara- mide, 4. a crystallizable substance having the property of colouring green the sesquisalts of iron, 5. an electro-negative resin, combined with potassa, 6. a neuter resin, 7. ulmate of potassa, 8. cerin, myricin, pectin, and albumen, 9. oxalate, malate, nitrate, and sulphate of potassa, chloride of potassium, phosphate of lime and magnesia, oxides of iron and manganese, and silica. The bitter principle above referred to separates from its solution in boiling water upon cooling, in pearly scales. By the reaction of alkalies it loses its bitterness, which is not restored by acids. The lactescence of the fresh juice of lettuce is owing to a mixture of wax and resin, and not to caoutchouc as previously supposed. (Annuaire de Therap., 1843, p. 19 ) The bitter principle of Aubergier differs from that of Dr. Walz in being less soluble in cold water, and insoluble in ether. M. Lenoir con- siders the lactucin of these two chemists as impure, and denies that it is the active prin- ciple, which, he thinks, is probably an organic alkali. He obtained the lactucin pure by treating the lactucarium of L. virosa with boiling alcohol, and filterinf while hot. It was deposited on the cooling of the liquid, and afterwards purified by frequent crystalli- zation from alcohol, and treatment with animal charcoal. Thus obtained, it was with- out taste or smell, and without effect upon the system. It was nearly insoluble in water, but readily dissolved by alcohol, ether, and the volatile and fixed oils. He proposed to name it lactucone, leaving the former name for the active principle when isolated. (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys., Feb., 1847 ) According to Walz, the lactucone of Lenoir is only the fatty matter discovered by himself. Thieine could not divide this into the two kinds no- ticed by Walz as differing in their solubility in ether, and, considering it as a peculiar substance, proposes for it the name of lactucerin. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., through Chem. Gaz., from Arch, der Pharm.) The most recent analysis of lactucarium is by Ludwig. That chemist found in 100 parts 48-03 of substances insoluble in water, and 51-37 of those soluble in water. Of the insoluble matter 42-64 parts were of lactucerin or lactucone, which he obtained by first exhausting lactucarium with water, then treating the insoluble residue several times with hot alcohol of 0-833, allowing the alcoholic solution to evaporate slowly, washing the yellowish substance thus procured with water, and purifying it by re solution in al- cohol, and crystallization. Thus obtained it is in snow-white aggregated granules, dis- solves in strong hot alcohol which deposits it on cooling, is readily soluble in ether but insoluble in water, becomes transparent and tenacious when moderately heated in a platinum dish, melts completely at a higher heat with the escape of white odorous vapours, is incapable of saponification by caustic potassa and is therefore not properly a fat, and in alcoholic solution faintly reddens litmus paper. It consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (C40H34O5). Besides this principle there were 3-99 parts of wax, and 2 00 of lignin, and of a substance which swelled in ammonia, and was insoluble in water alcohol and ether. Of the 51-37 parts soluble in water, 698 were of albumen, 1-75 of lactucerin held in solution by other substances, 2708 of bitter extract soluble in water and in alcohol, and 14-96 of watery extract insoluble in alcohol of 0830. The former of these extracts was found to contain a peculiar acid substance called hctucic acid% and the lactucin of Au- PART I. Lauri Baecse.—Lauri Folia. 425 sated milky juice as a medicine. From experiments with a tincture prepared from lactucarium, Dr. Coxe obtained the same results as usually follow the administration of common laudanum. Dr. Duncan, senior, of Edinburgh, afterwards paid particular attention to the subject, and, in his treatise on pul- monary consumption, recommended lactucarium as a substitute for opium, the anodyne properties of which it possesses, without being followed by the same injurious effects. In consequence of this recommendation, the medicine came into extensive use, and was adopted as officinal in several of the Phar- macopoeias. Dr. Franqois, a French physician, also investigated the medicinal properties of the inspissated juice of lettuce. According to that author, it is sedative, diminishing the rapidity of the circulation, and consequently the temperature of the body, without producing that disturbance of the functions which often follows the use of opium. The general inference which may be drawn from the recorded experience in relation to lactucarium is, that it has, in a much inferior degree, the anodyne and calming properties of opium, with- out its disposition to excite the circulation, to produce headache and obstinate constipation, and to derange the digestive organs. In this country the medi- cine is occasionally employed to allay cough, and quiet nervous irritation. It may be given in all cases in which, while opium is indicated in reference to its anodyne or soothing influence, it cannot he administered from idiosyncrasy of the patient. It is, however, a very uncertain medicine. The dose of lactucarium is from five to fifteen or twenty grains. An alcoholic extract would be a good preparation. It may be given in the dose of from two to five grains. Water distilled from lettuce (eau de laitue) is used in France as a mild sedative, in the quantity of from two to four ounces. The fresh leaves boiled in water are sometimes employed in the shape of cataplasm. It is said that in Egypt a mild oil is derived from the seeds, fit for culinary use. Off. Prep. Of Lactucarium. Tinctura Lactucarii, Ed.; Trochisci Lactu- carii, Ed.— Of Lactuca. Extraetum Lactucae, Lond. W. LAURI BACCvE. LAURI FOLIA. Lond. Berries and Leaves of the Bay Tree. "Laurus nobilis. Baccse. Folia." Land. Off. Syn. LAURUS NOBILIS. Folia. Baccse. Dub. bergier. To obtain these principles, 80 parts of lactucarium, in fine powder, were tritu- rated with 80 of pure cold diluted sulphuric acid, and then mixed with 400 parts of al- cohol of 0-851 ; the liquor was filtered, shaken with hydrate of lime till it yielded no precipitate with baryta-water or oxalate of potassa, then decolorized with pure animal charcoal and evaporated; the brown tenacious mass thus obtained (alcoholic extract) was treated with boiling water, whjch left behind a viscid substance; the aqueous solu- tion was treated with animal charcoal, and on being evaporated yielded a mixture of lactucic acid and lactucin; these were separated by dissolving the mixture in boiling water, which on cooling deposited the latter in white crystalline scales, and gave up the former upon subsequent evaporation. Lactucic. acid is of difficult crystallization, light- yellow, strongly bitter, without sour taste, of an acid reaction, and readily soluble in alco- hol and water. It has as much claim as any other discovered substance to be considered the active principle of lactucarium. Lactucin, purified by animal charcoal, is in white pearly scales, the solution of which exhibits no reaction with subacetate or acetate of lead, or solution of iodine. It is dissolved without change of colour by concentrated sul- phuric acid. Besides the above ingredients, Ludwig found also in lactucarium a substance resembling mannite,oxalic acid, another organic acid not well determined, a soft resin,potassa, mag7iesia,and oxide of iron. Distilled with diluted sulphuric acid, it gave an acid product smelling like lactucarium, which, saturated with carbonate of lime, and again distilled with bisulphate of potassa, yielded an acid fluid having the odour of valerian. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt., June, 1847, p. 438. from Arch, der Pharm., ii. 1 and 129. See also Am. Journ. of Pharm., xx. 57.)—Note to eighth edition. 426 Lauri Baecse.—Lauri Folia.—Lauro-cerasus. part I. Laurier, Fr.; Lorbeer, Germ.; Allorg, Ital; Laurel, Span. Laurus. Sex. Syst. Enneandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lauracece. Gen. Ch. Flowers dioecious or hermaphrodite, involucrated. Calyx four- parted ; segments equal, deciduous. Fertile stamens twelve in three rows; the outer alternate with the segments of the calyx; all with two glands in the middle or above it. Anthers oblong, two-celled, all looking inwards. Fertile flowers with two to four castrated males surrounding the ovary. Stigma capitate. Fruit succulent, seated in the irregular base of the calyx. Umbels axillary, stalked. (Lindley, Flor. Med., 340.) Laurus nobilis. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 479; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 678, t. 235. This species of laurel is an evergreen tree, attaining in its native climate the height of twenty or thirty feet. Its leaves are alternate, on short petioles, oval lanceolate, entire, sometimes wavy, veined, of a firm texture, smooth, shining, deep green upon their upper surface, paler beneath. The flowers are dioecious, of a yellowish-white colour, and placed in small clusters of three or four together upon a common peduncle in the axils of the leaves. The corolla is divided into four oval segments. The fruit is an oval berry, of the size of a small cherry, and when ripe of a dark purple, nearly black colour. The bay tree, so famous among the ancients, is a native of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Its leaves and fruit, and an oil expressed from the latter, are the officinal parts. The leaves have a fragrant odour, especially when bruised, and a bitter, aromatic, somewhat astringent taste. They yield by distillation a greenish- yellow volatile oil, upon which their properties chiefly depend. Water dis- tilled from them has their peculiar odour. The berries when dried are black and wrinkled, and contain two oval, fatty seeds within a thin, friable envelope; or they may be considered as drupes, with a kernel divisible into two lobes. They have the same aromatic odour and taste as the leaves, but are more pungent. Besides an essential oil, they contain also a fixed oil, which may be separated by expression or decoction. The expressed oil, which is obtained from the fresh fruit, is concrete, of a greenish colour, and retains a portion of the volatile oil, which renders it agreeably aromatic. Lard, impregnated with the odorous principle of the berries, and coloured green, is said to.be often substituted for the genuine expressed oil. Medical Properties and Uses. The leaves, berries, and oil of the bay tree possess exciting and narcotic properties; but at present are never used inter- nally as medicines, and in this country are scarcely employed in any manner. Their chief use is to communicate a pleasant odour to external stimulant remedies. Dr. A. T. Thomson says that he has found an infusion of the berries useful in impetigo. Off. Prep. Confectio Rutae, Lond. W. LAURO-CERASUS. Ed. + Cherry-laurel. "Leaves of JPrunus lauro-cerasus." Ed. Off. Syn. PRUNUS LAURO-CERASUS. Folia. Dub. Laurier cerise. Fr.; KirscIilorbeer, Germ.; Lauro ceraso, Ital Cerasus. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Monogynia.—Al.it. Ord. Amyo-dalea?. Gen. Ch. Differing from Prunus only in its fruit being destitute of bloom, with the stone round instead of acute, and the leaves when in bud folded flat, not rolled up. (Lindley, Flor. Med., 23"2.) Cerasus Lauro-cerasus, De Cand. Prodrom. ii. 540. — Prunus Lauro- cerasus. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 988; Woodv. Med. Bot.,^. 513, t. 185.— PART I. Lauro-cerasus.—Lavandula. 427 This is a small evergreeen tree, rising fifteen or twenty feet in height, with long spreading branches, which, as well as the trunk, are covered with a smooth blackish bark. The leaves, which stand alternately on short strong footstalks, are oval oblong, from five to seven inches in length, acute, finely toothed, firm, coriaceous, smooth, beautifully green and shining, with oblique nerves, and yellowish glands at the base. The flowers are small, white, strongly odorous, and disposed in simple axillary racemes. The fruit con- sists of oval drupes, very similar to small black cherries, both in their shape and internal structure. The cherry-laurel is a native of Asia Minor, but has been introduced into Europe, throughout which it is cultivated, both for medical use and for the beauty of its shining evergreen foliage. Almost all parts of it are more or less impregnated with the odour supposed to indicate the presence of hydro- cyanic acid. The leaves only are officinal. In their recent and entire state they have scarcely any smell; but, when bruised, they emit the characteristic odour of the plant in a high degree. Their taste is somewhat astringent and strongly bitter, with the flavour of the peach kernel. By drying they lose their odour, but retain their bitterness. They yield a peculiar volatile oil and hydrocyanic acid by distillation with water, which they strongly impregnate with their flavour. The oil resembles that of bitter almonds, for which it is said to be sometimes sold in Europe, where it is employed to flavour liquors and various culinary preparations; but, as it is highly poisonous, danger may result from its careless use. It has not been determined how far the mode of production of this oil resembles that of bitter almonds (see Amygdala Amara); but chemists have not suc- ceeded in obtaining amygdalin from the leaves; and that the oil exists already formed, to a certain extent, in the fresh leaves, is rendered probable by the fact, stated by AVinkler, that they yield it in considerable quantity when dis- tilled without water. (Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 195.) The fresh leaves are used to flavour milk, cream, &c.; and more safely than the oil; though they also are poisonous when too largely employed. Medical Properties and Uses. The leaves of the cherry-laurel possess properties similar to those of hydrocyanic acid; and the water distilled from them is much employed in various parts of Europe for the same purposes as that active medicine. But it is deteriorated by age; and, therefore, as kept in the shops, must be of variable strength. Hence, while Hufeland directs only twenty drops for a dose every two hours, to be gradually increased to sixty drops, M. Fouquier has administered several ounces without effect. Another source of inequality of strength must be the variable quality of the leaves, according to the time they have been kept after separation from the tree, and probably also to their age and degree of developement. It is not, therefore, to be regretted, that the want of the plant in this country has pre- vented the introduction of the distilled water into our shops. Off. Prep. Aqua Lauro-cerasi, Ed., Dub. W. LAVANDULA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Lavender. "The flowers of Lavandula vera." U.S. "Lavandula Spica. Flores." Lond. "The flowering heads of Lavandula vera." Ed. Off. Syn. LAVANDULA SPICA. Flores. Dub. Lavande, Fr.; Lavandelblumen, Germ.; Lavandola, Ital; Espliego, alhucema, Span. Lavandula. Sex. Syst. Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiacege or Labiatse. 428 Lavandula.—Limon.—Limonis Cortex. part i. Gen. Ch. Calyx ovate, somewhat toothed, supported by a bracte. Corolla resupine. Stamens within the tube. Willd. Lavandula vera. De Cand. Flor. Fr. Sup. p. 398.—L. Spica. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 60; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 321, t. 114.—The Lavandula Spica of Linnaeus includes two distinct species, which were considered by him merely as varieties of the same plant, but have been separated by subsequent bota- nists. Of these, the officinal plant, the narrow-leaved variety of Linnaeus, has been denominated by De Candolle L. vera, while the broad-leaved variety still retains the title of L. Spica. The latter is scarcely cultivated in Great Britain or the United States. The common lavender is a small shrub, usually rising not more than two or three feet, but sometimes attaining an elevation of six feet. The stem is woody below, and covered with a brown bark; above, is divided into nume- rous, slender, straight, herbaceous, pubescent, quadrangular branches, fur- nished with opposite, sessile, narrow, nearly linear, entire, and green or glaucous leaves. The flowers are small, blue, and disposed in interrupted whorls around the young shoots, forming terminal cylindrical spikes. Each whorl is accompanied with two bractes. The corolla is tubular and labiate, with the lower lip divided into three segments, the upper larger and bifid. The filaments are within the tube. The plant is a native of Southern Europe, and covers vast tracts of dry and barren land in Spain, Italy, and the South of France. It is cultivated abun- dantly in our gardens, and in this country flowers in August. All parts of it are endowed with aromatic properties; but the flowers only are officinal. The spikes should be cut when they begin to bloom. < Lavender flowers have a strong fragrant odour, and an aromatic, warm, bitterish taste. They retain their fragrance long after drying. Alcohol ex- tracts their virtues; and a volatile oil upon which their odour depends rises with that liquid in distillation. The oil may be procured separate by distilling the flowers with water. (See Oleum Lavandulae.) Hagen obtained from a pound of the fresh flowers from half a drachm to two drachms of the oil. Medical Properties and Uses. Lavender is an aromatic stimulant and tonic, esteemed useful in certain conditions of nervous debility, but seldom given in its crude state. The products obtained by its distillation are much used in perfumery, and as adjuvants to other medicines, which they render at the same time more acceptable to the palate, and cordial to the stomach. Off. Prep. Oleum Lavandulae, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Asari Com- positus, Dub.; Spiritus Lavandulae, U S., Loud., Ed., Dub. W. LIMON. U.S. Lemons. "The fruit of Citrus Limonum (De Candolle)." U. S. Off- Syn- LIMONES. Citrus Limonum. Fructus. LIMONUM SUCCUS. Sueeus. Lond.; LIMONES. Fruit of Citrus medica and Citrus Limonum• Lemons and Limes. Ed.; LIMONES. CITRUS MEDICA. Fructus sue- eus. Dub. LIMONIS CORTEX. U.S. Lemon Peel "The outer rind of the fruit of Citrus Limonum." U. S. Of Syn. LIMONUM CORTEX. Fructus cortex exterior. Lond.; Rind PART I. Limon.—Limonis Cortex. 429 of the fruit of Citrus medica. Ed.; CITRUS MEDICA. Fructus tunica exterior. Dub. Lirnons, Citrons, Fr.; Limonen, Citronen, Germ.; Lirnoni, Ital; Limones, Span. For some general remarks on the genus Citrus, see Aurantii Cortex. Citrus medica. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1420; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 582, t. 189. This tree closely resembles in its general aspect the C. Aurantium before described. The leaves, however, are larger, slightly indented at the edges, and stand upon footstalks which are destitute of the winged appendages that characterize the other species. The flowers, moreover, have a purplish tinge on their outer surface, and the fruit is entirely different in appearance from the orange. There are several varieties of Citrus medica, which some botanists consider entitled to the rank of species, but which are scarcely distinguishable, except by the character of their fruit. Those particularly deserving of notice are the citron, lemon, and lime. 1. In the citron, C. medica of Risso, the fruit is very large, sometimes six inches in length, ovoidal with a double rind, of which the outer layer is yellowish, thin, unequal, rug- ged, with innumerable vesicles filled with essential oil; the inner is white, very thick, and spongy. It is divided in the interior into nine or ten cells, filled with oblong vesicles, which contain an acid juice precisely like that of the lemon, and used for the same purposes. The rind is applied to the pre- paration of conserves, to which it is adapted by its thickness. This fruit is called cedrat by the French. 2. The lemon—C. medica, variety limon of Linnaeus—the Citrus Limonium of Risso—is smaller than the preceding variety, with a smoother and thinner rind, a pointed nipple-shaped summit, and a very juicy and acid pulp. In other respects it bears a close resemblance to the citron, to which, however, it is usually preferred in consequence of the greater abundance of its juice. 3. The lime is still smaller than the lemon, with a smoother and thinner rind, oval, rounded at the extremities, of a pale- yellow or greenish-yellow colour, and abounding in a very acid juice, which renders it highly useful for all the purposes to which the lemon is applied. It is the product of the variety C. acris of Miller. The Citrus medica, like the orange-tree, is a native of Asia. It was intro- duced into Europe from Persia or Media, was first cultivated in Greece, after- wards in Italy, so early as the second century, and has now spread over the whole civilized world, being raised by artificial heat, where the climate is too cold to admit of its exposure with safety during winter to the open air. We are supplied with lemons and limes chiefly from the West Indies and the Mediterranean. Though the former of these fruits only is directed by the United States Pharmacopoeia, both kinds are employed indiscriminately for most medicinal purposes; and the lime affords a juice at least equal in proportional quantity, and in acidity, to that obtained from the lemon. Properties. The exterior rind of the lemon has a fragrant odour, and a warm, aromatic, bitter taste, somewhat similar to that of the orange, though less agreeable. It contains a bitter principle, and yields, by expression or distillation, an essential oil which is much used for its flavour. Both this and the rind itself are recognised as officinal in all the Pharmacopoeias. (See Oleum Limonis.) Lemon-peel yields its virtues to water, wine, and alcohol. But the juice is the part for which this fruit is most esteemed. It is sharply acid, with a peculiar grateful flavour, and consists chiefly of citric acid, muci- lage, and extractive, dissolved in water. As lemons cannot always be obtained, the juice is often kept in a separate state ; but, from its liability to spontaneous decomposition, it speedily becomes unfit for medical use ; and, though various means have been resorted to for its preservation, it can never be made to re- tain for any length of time its original flavour unaltered. The best medicinal substitute for lemon-juice is a solution of crystallized citric acid in water, in 430 Limon.—Limonis Cortex.—Li num. part i. the proportion of about an ounce to the pint, with the addition of a little oil of lemons.* One of the most effectual methods of preserving the juice is to allow it to stand for a short time after expression till a coagulable matter separates, then to filter, and introduce it into glass bottles, with a stratum of almond oil or other sweet oil upon its surface. It will keep still better, if the bottles containing the filtered juice be suffered, before being closed, to stand for fifteen minutes in a vessel of boiling water. Another mode is to add one- tenth of alcohol, and to filter. The juice may also be preserved by concen- trating it either by evaporation with a gentle heat, or by exposure to a freezing temperature, which congeals the watery portion, and leaves the acid much stronger than before. When wanted for use it may be diluted to the former strength ; but, though the acid properties are retained, the flavour of the juice is found to have been deteriorated. Lemon syrup is another form in which the juice is preserved. Medical Properties and Uses. The rind of the lemon is sometimes used to qualify the taste and increase the power of stomachic infusions and tinctures. The juice is refrigerant, and properly diluted forms a refreshing and agreeable beverage in febrile and inflammatory affections. It may be given with sweet- ened water in the shape of lemonade, or may be added to the mildly nutritive drinks, such as gum-water, barley-water, &c, usually administered in fevers. It is also much employed in the formation of those diaphoretic preparations known by the names of neutral mixture and effervescing draught. (See Liquor Potassae Citratls.) One of the most beneficial applications of lemon-juice is to the prevention and cure of scurvy, for which it may be considered almost a specific. For this purpose, ships destined for long voyages should always be provided with a supply of the concentrated juice, or of crystallized citric acid with the oil of lemons. Lemon-juice is sometimes prescribed in connexion with opium and Peruvian bark, the effects of which it is thought in some in- stances to modify favourably, by substituting the citrate of their respective alkalies for the native salts. It has been used with advantage as a local ap- plication in pruritus of the scrotum, and in uterine hemorrhage after delivery. Off. Prep. Of the rind, Infusum Aurantii Compositum, Zone?., Ed., Dub.; Infusum Gentianae Comp., Lond., Dub.; Spiritus Ammoniae Aromaticus, U. S., Lond.;—0£ the juice, Acidum Citricum, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Potassae Citratis, U S.; Syrupus Limonis, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. LINUM U.S. Flaxseed. " The seeds of Linum usitatissimum." U S. Off. Syn. LINI SEMINA. Linum usitatissimum. Semina. Land.; LINI SEMINA. Seeds of Linum usitatissimum. LINI FARINA. Meal of the seeds deprived of their fixed oil by expression. Ed. LINUM USITATIS- SIMUM. Semina. Dub. Linseed; Grains de lin, Fr.; Leinsame, Germ; Semi di lino, Ital: Linaza, Span. Linum. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Pentagynia.—Nat. Ord. Linacese. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-leaved. Petals five. Capsule five-valved, ten-celled. Seeds solitary. Willd. Linum usitatissimum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1533 ; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 565, t. 202. Common flax is an annual plant with an erect, slender, round stem, about two feet in height, branching at top, and, like all other parts of * Nine drachms and a half dissolved in a pint of water, form a solution of the average strength of lime-juice; but, where precision is not requisite, the proportion mentioned in the text is most convenient. PART I. Linum. 431 the plant, entirely smooth. The leaves are small, lanceolate, acute, entire, of a pale-green colour, sessile, and scattered alternately over the stem and branches. The flowers are terminal.and of a delicate blue colour. The calyx is persistent, and composed of five ovate, sharp-pointed, three-nerved leaflets, which are membranous on their border. The petals are five, obovate, striated, minutely scolloped at their extremities, and spread into funnel-shaped blos- soms. The filaments are also five, united at the base; and the germ, which is ovate, supports five slender styles, terminating in obtuse stigmas. The fruit is a globular capsule, about the size of a small pea, having the persistent calyx at the base, crowned with a sharp spine, and containing ten seeds in distinct cells. This highly valuable plant, now almost everywhere cultivated, is said by some to have been originally derived from Egypt, by others from the great ele- vated plain of central Asia. It flowers in June and July, and ripens its seeds in August. The seeds, and an oil expressed from them, are officinal. The seeds are oval, oblong, flattened on the sides with, acute edges, some- what pointed at one end, about a line in length, smooth, glossy, of a brown colour externally, and yellowish-white within. They are inodorous, and have an oily mucilaginous taste. Meyer found in them fixed oil, wax, resin, ex- tractive, tannin, gum, azotized mucilage, starch, albumen, gluten, and various salts. Their investing coat or husk abounds in a peculiar gummy matter or mucilage, which is readily imparted to hot water, forming a thick viscid fluid, which lets fall white flakes upon the addition of alcohol, and affords a copious dense precipitate with subacetate of lead. By Berzelius the term mucilage is applied to a proximate vegetable principle, distinguished from gum by being insoluble in cold, and but slightly soluble in boiling water, in which it swells up and forms a mucilaginous, viscid body, which loses its water when placed upon filtering paper, or other porous substance, and contracts like starch in the gelatinous state. The name, however, is unfortunate; as it is generally applied to the solution of gum, and must inevitably lead to con- fusion. Nor is it strictly a distinct proximate principle; as it embraces a number of different bodies, such as bassorin, cerasin, &c. According to Guerin, the mucilage of flaxseed, obtained at a temperature of from 120° to 140°, and evaporated to dryness, by means of a salt water bath, contains in 100 parts, 52-70 of a principle soluble in cold water, 29-89 of a principle insoluble in that liquid, and 10-30 of water, and yields 741 per cent, of ashes. The soluble part he believes to be arabin or pure gum; the insoluble he found not to afford mucic acid with the nitric, and therefore to differ from both bassorin and cerasin. There was also a small proportion of azotized matter which he did not isolate. (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys., xlix. 263.) Vauquelin found among its consti- tuents free acetic acid, silica, and various salts of potassa and lime. The interior part of the seed, or nucleus, is rich in a peculiar oil, which is separated by expression, and very extensively employed in the arts. (See Oleum Lini.) The ground seeds are kept in the shops under the name of flaxseed meal. This is of a dark gray colour, highly oleaginous, and when mixed with hot water forms a soft adhesive mass, which is much employed for luting by practical chemists. The cake which remains after the expres- sion of the oil, usually called oil-cake, still retains the mucilaginous matter of the envelope, and affords a highly nutritious food for cattle. This is the Lini Farina of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. Flaxseed is sometimes accidentally or fraudulently mixed with other seeds, especially of plants which grow among the flax. We have seen a parcel con- taining a considerable proportion of the seeds of an indigenous species of garlic. M'dical Properties and Uses. Flaxseed is demulcent and emollient. The mucilage obtained by infusing the entire seeds in Loiling water, in the pro- 432 Linum Catharticum.—Liriodendron. part I. portion of half an ounce to the pint, is much and very advantageously em- ployed in catarrh, dysentery, nephritic and calculous complaints, strangury, and other inflammatory affections of the mucous membrane of the lungs, intestines, and urinary passages. By decoction water extracts also a portion of the oleaginous matter, which renders the mucilage less fit for administra- tion by the mouth, but superior as a laxative enema. The meal mixed with hot water forms an excellent emollient poultice. Off. Prep. Cataplasma Conii, Loud.; Cataplasma Lini, Lond.; Cataplasma Sinapis, Lond., Dub.; Infusum Lini, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Oleum Lini, Dub., Ed.; Pulvis pro Cataplasmate, Dub. W. LINUM CATHARTICUM. Ed. Purging Flax. "Herb of Linum catharticum." Ed. Lin cathartique, Fr.; Purgirflacks, Germ.; Lino purgativo, Ital; Cantilagua, Span. Linum. See LINUM. Linum catharticum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1541; Smith, Flor. Brit. 344. This is an annual plant, about six or eight inches high, having erect, slender stems, dichotomous near the summit, furnished with opposite, obovate lanceo- late, entire leaves, and bearing minute white flowers, the petals of which are obovate and acute. It is a native of Europe, and not found in the United States, where it is never employed as a medicine. The whole plant is very bitter and somewhat acrid, and imparts its virtues to water, which acquires a yellow colour. It appears to owe its activity to a peculiar drastic principle, which has received the name of linin, and which is afforded most largely by the plant after the flower has fallen. (Pharm. Central Blatt, 1844, p. 110.) Purging flax formerly enjoyed some reputation in Europe as a gentle cathartic, but has fallen into disuse. A drachm of the powder, or an infusion containing the virtues of two or three drachms of the herb, may be taken for a dose. W. LIRIODENDRON. U.S. Secondary. Tulip-tree Bark. "The bark of Liriodendron tulipifera." U S. Liriodendron. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord. Magno- liacese. Gen. Ch. Calyx three-leaved. Petals six. Samarse sublanceolate, one or two-seeded, imbricated in a cone. Nuttall. Liriodendron tulipifera,. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1254 ; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 107; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 92. This noble tree is, both from its magnitude and beauty, the boast of American landscape. Rising on an erect, straight, cylindrical stem, which is often of nearly equal thickness for the distance of forty feet, it attains, in favourable situations, an elevation seldom less than fifty and sometimes more than one hundred feet, with a diameter of trunk varying from eighteen inches to three feet; and individuals are occa- sionally met with which greatly exceed these dimensions. The branches, though not very numerous, are thrown out in a somewhat regular order and give the tree a symmetrical aspect. The bark is of a brown or grayish-brown colour, except in the young branches, on which it is bluish or of a reddish tinge. The leaves, which stand on long footstalks, are alternate, somewhat fleshy, smooth, of a beautiful shining green colour, and divided into three PART I. Liriodendron. 433 lobes, of which the upper one is truncated and horizontally notched at its summit, so as to present a two-lobed appearance, and the two lower are rounded at the base and usually pointed. In the larger leaves, the lateral lobes have each a tooth-like projection at some distance below their apex. This peculiar form of the leaf serves to distinguish the tree from all others inhabiting the American forests. On isolated trees the flowers are very numerous. They are large, beautifully variegated with different colours, among which yellow predominates, and in their general appearance bear some resemblance to the tulip, which has given a name to the species. Each flower stands on a distinct terminal peduncle. The calyx is double, the outer being two leaved and deciduous, the inner consisting of three large, oval, concave leaves, of a pale green colour. The corolla is composed of six, seven, or more, obtuse, concave petals. The stamens are numerous, with short fila- ments, and long linear anthers. Trie pistils are collected into the form of a cone, the upper part of which is covered with minute stigmas. The fruit consists of numerous long, narrow scales, attached to a common axis, imbri- cated in a conical form, and containing each two seeds, one or both of which are often abortive. The tulip-tree extends from New England to the borders of Florida, but is most abundant and attains the greatest magnitude in the Middle and Western States. It delights in a rich strong soil, and luxuriates in the exhaustless fertility of the banks of the Ohio and its tributary streams. Throughout the United States it is known by the inappropriate name of poplar, for which that of tulip-tree is beginning to be substituted. When in full bloom, about the middle of May, it presents, in its profusion of flowers, its rich, shining, luxuriant foliage, its elevated stature, and elegant outline, one of the most magnificent objects which the vegetable kingdom affords. The interior or heart wood, which is yellowish, of a fine grain, and compact without being heavy, is much employed in the making of furniture, carriages, door-panels, and for other useful purposes. It is recommended by its property of resisting the influence of atmospheric moisture and the attacks of worms. The bark is the officinal portion. It is taken for use indiscriminately from the root, trunk, and branches, though that derived from the root is thought to be most active. Deprived of the epidermis, it is of a yellowish-white colour, the bark of the root being somewhat darker than that of the stem or branches. It is very light and brittle, of a feeble, but heavy and rather disagreeable odour, which is stronger in the fresh bark, and of a bitter, pungent, and aromatic taste. These properties are weakened by age, and we have found specimens of the bark which have been long kept in the shops, almost insipid. The peculiar properties of liriodendron appear to reside in a volatile principle, which par- tially escapes during decoction. The late Professor Emmet, of the University of Virginia, believed that he had isolated this principle, and gave it the name of liriodcndriu. As described by Professor Emmet, it is, in the pure state, solid, white, crystallizable, brittle, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether, fusible ..at 180°, volatilizable and partly decomposed at 270°, of a slightly aromatic odour, and a bitter, warm, pungent taste. It is incapable of uniting with alkalies, which precipitate it from the infusion or decoction of the bark by combining with the matter which renders it soluble in the water. Neither does it unite with acids. Water precipitates it from its alcoholic solution. It is obtained by macerating the root in alcohol, boiling the tinc- ture with magnesia till it assumes an olive-green colour, then filtering, con- centrating by distillation till the liquid becomes turbid, and finally precipitating the liriodendrin by the addition of cold water. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iii. 5.) The virtues of the bark are extracted by water and alcohol, but are injured by long boiling. 2S 434 Lobelia. PART I. Medical Properties. Liriodendron is a stimulant tonic, with diaphoretic properties. It has been used as a substitute for Peruvian bark in intermit- tent fevers, and has proved serviceable in chronic rheumatism, dyspepsia, and other complaints in which a gently stimulant and tonic impression is desira- ble. The dose of the bark in powder is from half a drachm to two drachms. The infusion and decoction are also used, but are less efficient. They may be prepared in the proportion of an ounce of the bark to a pint of water, and given in the quantity of one or two fluidounces. The close of the saturated tincture is a fluidrachm. W. LOBELIA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Lobelia. "Lobelia inflata." U S., Lond. "Herb of Lobelia inflata." Ed. Lobelia. Sex. Syst. Pcntandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lobeliaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla irregular, five-parted, cleft on the upper side nearly to the base. Anthers united into a tube. Stigma two-lobed. Capsule inferior or semi-superior, two or three-celled, two-valved at the apex. Torrey. Lobelia inflata. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 946; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i. 177; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 181; Carson, Illust. of Med, Bot. i. 60, pi. 51. This species of Lobelia, commonly called Indian tobacco, is an annual or biennial indigenous plant, usually a foot or more in height, with a fibrous root, and a solitary, erect, angular, very hairy stem, much branched about midway, but rising considerably above the summits of the highest branches. The leaves are scattered, sessile, oval, acute, serrate, and hairy. The flowers are nume- rous, small, disposed in leafy terminal racemes, and supported on short axil- lary footstalks. The segments of the calyx are linear and pointed. The corolla, which is of a delicate blue colour, has a labiate border, with the upper lip divided into two, the lower into three segments. The united anthers are curved, and enclose the stigma. The fruit is an oval, striated, inflated capsule, crowned with the persistent calyx, and containing, in two cells, numerous very small, brown seeds. The Lobelia inflata is a very common weed, growing on the road-sides, and in neglected fields, throughout the United States. Its flowers begin to appear towards the end of July, and continue to expand in succession till the occur- rence of frost. All parts of it are possessed of medicinal activity; but, accord- ing to Dr. Eberle, the root and inflated capsules are most powerful. The plant should be collected in August or September, when the capsules are numerous, and should be carefully dried. It may be kept whole, or in the state of powder. As found in the shops, it is often in oblong compressed cakes, prepared by the Shakers. Dried lobelia has a slight irritating odour, and when chewed, though at first without much taste, soon produces a burning acrid impression upon the posterior parts of the tongue and palate, very closely resembling that occa- sioned by tobacco, and attended, in like manner, with a flow of saliva and a nauseating effect upon the stomach. The powder is of a greenish colour. The plant yields its active properties readily to water and alcohol. Water distilled from it, according to Mr. Procter, has the odour of the plant, without its acrimony. Mr. Procter found the plant to contain an odorous volatile principle, probably volatile oil; a peculiar alkaline principle named lobelina; a peculiar acid, first noticed as distinct by Pereira, called lobelic acid; besides gum, resin, chlorophylle, fixed oil, lignin, salts of lime and potassa, and oxide of iron. The seeds contain at least twice as much of lobelina; in proportion, part I. Lobelia. 435 as the whole plant, which yielded only one part in five hundred. They con- tain also thirty per cent, of a nearly colourless fixed oil, having the drying property in an extraordinary degree. Lobelina was obtained by Mr. Procter from the seeds by the following process. The seeds were treated with alcohol acidulated with acetic acid, until deprived of their acrimony, and the tincture was evaporated; the resulting extract was triturated with magnesia and water, and, after repeated agitation for several hours, the liquor, holding lobelina in solution, was filtered; this was then shaken repeatedly with ether until de- prived of acrimony; and the ethereal solution, having been decanted, was allowed to evaporate spontaneously. The residue, which had a reddish-brown colour, and the consistence of honey, was deprived of colouring matter by dissolving it in water, adding a slight excess of sulphuric acid, boiling with animal charcoal, saturating with magnesia, filtering, agitating with ether until this fluid had deprived the water of acrimony, and finally decanting, and allowing the ether to evaporate. Thus obtained, lobelina is a yellowish liquid, lighter than water, of a somewhat aromatic odour, and a very acrid durable taste. It is soluble in water, but much more copiously in alcohol and ether, and the latter fluid readily removes it from its aqueous solution. It has a decided alkaline reaction, and- forms soluble and crystallizable salts with sul- phuric, nitric, and muriatic acids> and a very soluble but not crystallizable salt with acetic acid. It forms an insoluble compound with tannic acid, which instantly precipitates it from its solution. By a boiling heat it is entirely decomposed, losing all its acrimony; but, when combined with acids, it may be subjected to ebullition with water without change. Mr. Procter introduced a grain of it diluted with water into the stomach of a cat, which became immediately prostrate, remained for an hour nearly motionless, with dilated pupils, and had not recovered wholly from the prostrating influence of the poison at the end of fifteen hours. It did not occasion vomiting or purging. There can be little doubt that il is the narcotic principle of lobelia. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 105, and xiii. 1.) The late Dr. S. Colhoun, of Phila- delphia, was the first to announce the existence of a peculiar active principle in lobelia, capable of forming salts with the acids; but he did not obtain it in an isolated state. An important inference from the effects of heat upon lobe- lina is, that, in any of the preparations of lobelia, the plant should never be heated in connexion with a salifiable base. Medical Properties and Uses. Lobelia is emetic, and like other medicines of the same class is occasionally cathartic, and in small doses diaphoretic and expectorant. It is also possessed of narcotic properties. The leaves or cap- sules, chewed for a short time, occasion giddiness, headache, general tremors, and ultimately nausea and vomiting. When swallowed in the full dose, the medicine produces speedy and severe vomiting, attended with continued and distressing nausea, copious sweating, and great general relaxation. Its effects in doses too large, or too frequently repeated, are extreme prostration, great anxiety and distress, and ultimately death preceded by convulsions. Fatal results have been experienced from its empirical use. These are more apt to occur when the poison, as sometimes happens, is not rejected by vomiting. In its operation upon the system, therefore, as well as in its sensible properties, lobelia bears a close resemblance to tobacco. It is among the medicines which were employed by the aborigines of this country; and was long in the hands of empirics before it was introduced into regular practice. The Rev. Dr. Cutler, of Massachusetts, first attracted to it the attention of the profession. As an emetic it is too powerful, and too distressing as wTell as hazardous in its operation for ordinary use. The disease in which it has proved most useful is spasmodic asthma, the paroxysms of which it often greatly mitigates, and sometimes wholly relieves, even when not given in doses sufficiently large to 436 Lobelia.—Lupulina.—Lycopus. part i. produce vomiting. It was from the relief obtained from an attack of this complaint in his own person, that Dr. Cutler was induced to recommend the medicine. It has also been used in catarrh, croup, pertussis, and other laryn- geal and pectoral affections; and we have seen it apparently advantageous in some of these complaints, especially in severe croup, and in chronic bronchitis with dyspnoea; but it should■ always be used with caution. Administered by injection it produces ths same distressing sickness of stomach, profuse perspi- ration, and universal relaxation, as result from a similar use of tobacco. Dr. Eberle administered a strong decoction of it successfully by the rectum, as a substitute for this narcotic in a case of strangulated hernia. It has been em- ployed effectually, in small doses repeated so as to sustain a slight nausea, for producing relaxation of the os uteri. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., xvii. 248.) It may be given in substance, tincture, or infusion. The dose of the powder as an emetic is from five to twenty grains, to be repeated if necessary. The tincture is most frequently administered. The full dose of this preparation for an adult is half a fluidounce, though in asthmatic cases it is better admi- nistered in the quantity of one or two fluidrachms, repeated every two or three hours till its effects are experienced. Two other species of Lobelia have attracted some attention from medical writers. The L. cardinalis or cardinal flower, distinguished for its showy red flowers, is supposed to possess anthelmintic properties;, but is seldom or never used. The L. syphilitica is said to have been used by the Indians in the cure of the venereal disease, but has upon trial been found wholly ineffi- cacious in that complaint. It is emetic and cathartic, and appears also to possess diuretic properties, whence it has been conjectured that it might have proved serviceable in gonorrhoea. Dr. Chapman states that it has been em- ployed, as he has been informed, by some practitioners of the western country in dropsy, and not without success. The root is the part used. Both these species of Lobelia are indigenous. For a more detailed account of them the reader is referred to Dr. W. P. C. Barton's Medical Botany. Off. Prep. Tinctura Lobeliae, U S., Ed.; Tinct. Lobelias iEtherea, Ed, W. LUPULINA. U.S. Lupulin. " The powder attached to the strobiles of Humulus Lupulus." U. S. Lupulina is described under HUMULUS, p. 374. LYCOPUS. U.S. Secondary. Bugle-weed. "The herb of Lycopus Virginicus." U. S. Lycopus. Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiacese or La- biatae. Gen. Ch. Calyx tubular, five-cleft, or five-toothed. Corolla tubular, four- lobed, nearly equal; the upper segment broader, and emarginate. Stamens distant. Seeds four, naked, refuse. Nuttall, Lycopus Virginicus. Michaux, Flor. Boreal, Americ. i. 14 • Rafincsque Med. Flor. vol. ii. The buglc-iceed is an indigenous herb, with a perennial creeping root, which sends up an erect, nearly simple, obtusely quadrangular stem, from twelve to eighteen inches high, and furnished with opposite sessile leaves. These are broad lanceolate, attenuated and entire at both extremities part I. Lycopus.—Lythrum Salicaria. 437 remotely serrate in the middle, somewhat rough, purplish, and beset with glandular dots on their under surface. The flowers are minute, in small axil- lary whorls, with two small subulate bractes to each flower, and a white corolla. The seeds are longer,than the calyx, which is spineless. This plant grows in shady and wet places throughout the greater part of the United States. Its flowering period is August. The whole herb is used. It has a peculiar odour, and a nauseous slightly bitter taste, and imparts these properties, as well as its medical virtues, to boiling water. The L. Europseus is said to be frequently collected and sold for the L. Virginicus. The former may be distinguished by its acutely quadrangular stem, its narrow lanceolate leaves of which the lower are somewhat pinnatifid, its more crowded flowers, and the acute segments of its calyx, armed with short spines. It has been employed in Europe as a substitute for quinia. (Raukiug's Abstract, vii. 190.) Medical Properties and Uses. According to Dr. A. W. Ives, the bugle- weed is a very mild narcotic. It is said also to be astringent. It was intro- duced into notice by Drs. Pendleton and Rogers, of New York, who obtained favourable effects from its use in incipient phthisis and hemorrhage from the lungs. (N Y. Med,, and Phys. Journ., i. 179.) In these complaints it is useful by diminishing the frequency of the pulse, quieting irritation, and allaying cough. The use of it has been extended with advantage to the hemorrhages generally. (Transact, of Am. Med. Assoc, i. 347.) It is most conveniently employed in the form of infusion, which may be prepared by macerating an ounce of the herb in a pint of boiling water. From half a pint to a pint may be taken in the course of the day. W. LYTHRUM SALICARIA. Herba. Dub. Loosestrife. Purple Willow-Herb. Salicaire, Fr.; Rother Weiderich, Germ.; Salicaria, Ital. Lythrum. Sex. Syst. Dodecandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord, Lythraceae. Gen, Ch. Calyx twelve-toothed. Petals six, inserted into the calyx. Cap- sule two-celled, many-seeded. Willd. Lythrum Salicaria. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 865. Loosestrife is an elegant perennial plant, two or three feet high, with an erect, quadrangular or hexa- gonal, downy, herbaceous stem, bearing opposite, ternate, sessile, lanceolate leaves, cordate at the base, and downy on the under surface and at the margin. The flowers are axillary, forming a leafy verticillate spike. The calyx is red, with unequal segments, the petals purple and undulate, the fruit a small elliptical capsule. The plant grows wild in all parts of Europe, and is found in New England and Canada. It prefers meadows, swamps, and the banks of streams, which it adorns in July and August with its showy purple flowers. The whole herbaceous part is medicinal, and is dried for use. In this state it is inodorous, and has an herbaceous somewhat astringent taste. It renders boiling water very mucilaginous, and its decoction is black- ened by the sulphate of iron. Medical Properties and Uses. Loosestrife is demulcent and astringent, and may be advantageously given in diarrhoea and chronic dysentery after due preparation by evacuating treatment. It has long been used in Ireland in these complaints, and is said to be a popular remedy in Sweden. The dose of the powdered herb is about a drachm two or three times a day. A decoction of the root, prepared by boiling an ounce- in a pint of water, may be given in the dose of two fluidounces. W. 438 Magnesise Carbonas. PART i. MAGNESLE CARBONAS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Carbonate of Magnesia. Magnesia ajba, Lot.; Carbonate de magnesie, Fr.; Kohlensaure Magnesia, Germ.; Carbonato di magnesia, Ital; Carbonato de magnesia, Span. Carbonate of magnesia sometimes though rarely occurs as a native mineral. That which is sold in the shops is prepared on a large scale by the manufac- turer, and the article-is, therefore, very properly placed in the list of Materia Medica of the United States Pharmacopceia. The British Colleges still retain it among the preparations, and the London and Edinburgh Colleges direct it to be prepared by decomposing the sulphate of magnesia with carbonate of soda; and the Dublin College, by decomposing the same salt with carbonate of potassa. The London College dissolves four pounds eight ounces of car- bonate of soda, and four pounds of sulphate of magnesia, separately, in two gallons (Imp. meets.) of distilled water; then mixes the solutions, boils for fifteen minutes, constantly stirring with a spatula; and lastly, pours off the liquor, washes the precipitated powder with boiling distilled water, and dries it. The Edinburgh formula is substantially the same. The directions differ only in using water, instead of distilled water, and in collecting the precipitate on a filter of calico or linen. The Dublin College dissolves twenty-five parts of sulphate of magnesia and fourteen parts of carbonate of potassa, each in two hundred parts of boiling water, mixes the solutions, boils, filters, and washes the precipitate well with boiling water. The carbonate of potassa is not as advantageously used as the carbonate of soda for the preparation of carbonate of magnesia. It is difficult to separate the last portions of sulphate of potassa from the precipitate, and the carbonate of potassa usually contains silica, which is thrown down with the magnesia. The consequence is that, when prepared with that salt, the carbonate of mag- nesia is liable to be gritty to the touch and to have a saline taste. The fol- lowing is said to be the method pursued by some of the best manufacturers. To a saturated solution of one hundred parts of sulphate of magnesia, a solu- tion of one hundred and twenty-five parts of crystallized carbonate of soda is gradually added, the solutions being constantly stirred. The mixture is then heated to ebullition, to complete the precipitation of the magnesia, which is afterwards washed with tepid and finally with cold water, until the washings no longer give a precipitate with the barytic salts. When it is sufficiently washed, the carbonate is allowed to drain for one or two days on laro-e linen filters, and is then placed in wooden moulds with a porous bottom of brick or gypsum, and subjected to pressure in order to give it the square and compact form into which it is usually wrought. The density of carbonate of magnesia is said to depend upon the strength of the solutions from which it is first precipitated, and its fineness and softness to the touch, upon the use of carbonate of soda in its preparation. The principal part of the carbonate of magnesia used in this country is imported from Scotland. In the New England States it is prepared from the bittern of salt works, which consists chiefly of sulphate of magnesia and chloride of magnesium; and it is manufactured in Baltimore from the sul- phate of magnesia prepared in that city. The Scotch magnesia is generally put up in cases of one hundred and twenty pounds each, the American in boxes containing fifty pounds. We have spoken of the impurities which carbonate of magnesia prepared by the officinal process is apt to contain. When made from the bittern of PART I. Magnesise Carbonas. 439 salt works, it is contaminated with carbonate of lime, salts of that earth being contained in sea water; and when it is prepared from magnesite, or from magnesian schist, iron is almost always present. The only way in which these impurities can be avoided, is to prepare pure sulphate of magnesia by repeated Qrystallization, and to use a pure carbonate of soda. It is also necessary that the water with which the precipitate is washed should be free from earthy salts, which would be decomposed and contaminate the magnesia. Properties. Carbonate of magnesia is inodorous, nearly insipid, perfectly white, smooth to the touch, and nearly insoluble in water, requiring 2493 parts of cold, and 9000 parts of hot water for solution. It is decomposed by a strong heat, by all the acids, by potassa, soda, lime, baryta, and strontia, and by acidulous and metallic salts. Two kinds of carbonate of magnesia are distinguished, the light and the heavy. The light carbonate is the kind manufactured in Scotland. The heary, according to Dr. Pereira, may be manufactured as follows:—"Add one volume of a cold saturated solution of carbonate of soda to a boiling mix- ture of one volume of a saturated solution of sulphate of magnesia, and three volumes of water. Boil until effervescence has ceased, constantly stirring with a spatula. Then dilute with boiling water, set aside, pour off the super- natant liquor, and wash the precipitate with hot water on a linen cloth : after- wards dry it by heat in an iron pot." A solution in carbonic acid water, prepared by passing carbonic acid gas into a reservoir containing the carbonate of magnesia suspended in water, has been introduced into use as a cathartic and antacid. Dinneford's mag- nesia is a solution of this nature. According to Dr. Christison's analysis, it con- tains only nine grains of carbonate in the fluidounce, though it is alleged to contain twice that quantity. Its taste is more disagreeable than that of the undissolved carbonate. Adulterations and Tests. Carbonate of magnesia may contain an alkaline carbonate, or an alkaline sulphate, or both, from insufficient washing; also chloride of sodium, alumina, and carbonate of lime. If water boiled on it changes turmeric, an alkaline carbonate is indicated. If chloride of barium produces a precipitate in the water, the presence of a sulphate or carbonate, or both, is shown; and if nitrate of silver produces the same effect, a chloride is indicated. When dissolved in an excess of muriatic acid, an excess of am- monia will throw down alumina, which is scarcely ever absent in minute quantity; and oxalate of ammonia, afterwards added to the filtered muriatic solution, will throw down lime as oxalate of lime, if that earth be present. Composition. According to Berzelius, the carbonate of magnesia of the shops (magnesia alba) is a combination of three equivalents of carbonate of magnesia with one of hydrate of magnesia. Each eq. of carbonate contains an eq. of water, and the composition of the salt may be thus stated:—three equivalents of carbonate (acid 66, magnesia 60, water 27)=153 + one equivalent of hydrate (magnesia 20 water 9) = 29 = 182. This theoretic composition agrees nearly with the analysis of Berzelius, who fixes it at 44-75 magnesia, 35-77 acid, and 19-48 water. According to Phillips, whose analysis agrees with that more recently made by George Fownes, four equivalents of the carbonate are combined with one of the bihydrate, and four of water. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iii. 480.) The composition of this salt varies with the mode of preparation. Thus Bucholz, by decomposing the sulphate of magnesia with 170 per cent, of car- bonate of soda, and using only cold water throughout, obtained a very light, spongy, somewhat coherent carbonate of magnesia, containing 32 acid, 33 base, 440 Magnesise Carbonas.—Magnesiae Sulphas. part I. and 35 water. By using 120 per cent, of the carbonate, and boiling the water for fifteen minutes, he obtained a heavy granular precipitate, containing 35 acid, 42 base, and 28 water. Medical Properties and Uses. Carbonate of magnesia is antacid, and, by combining with acid in the stomach, becomes generally cathartic^ When it undergoes no change in the alimentary canal, it produces no purgative effect. Under these circumstances, it may usually be made to operate by following it with draughts of lemonade. It is useful in all cases which require a laxa- tive antacid;, and, though apt to produce flatulence in consequence of the ex- trication of its carbonic acid in the stomach and bowels, and therefore in ordinary cases inferior to calcined magnesia, it sometimes operates favourably, in consequence of this very property, in sick stomach attended with acidity. Carbonate of magnesia is also an excellent antilithic in those cases in which uric acid is secreted in too great abundance. The dose is from half a drachm to two drachms, which may be given suspended in water or milk. In order that it may be accurately diffused through water, it should be previously rubbed down with simple syrup or ginger syrup.* Carbonate of magnesia is a useful agent for diffusing camphor and the volatile oils through water, in preparing several of the medicated waters. (See Aquse Medicatee.) Off. Prep. Hydrargyrum cum Magnesia, Dub.; Magnesia, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. ; Magnesiae Sulphas Purum, Dub. ; Mistura Camphorae cum Mag- nesia, Ed.; Trochisci Magnesiae, Ed. D. B. S. MAGNESLE SULPHAS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Sulphate of Magnesia. Epsom salt; Sulfate de magnesie, Fr.; Schwefelsaure Magnesia, Germ.; Solfato di magnesia, Ital; Sulfato de magnesia, Span. Sulphate of magnesia is one of the constituents of sea-water, and of some saline springs. It also occurs native, either crystallized in long, slender, pris- matic, adhering crystals, or as an efflorescence on certain rocks and soils, which contain magnesia and a sulphate or sulphuret. In the United States it is found abundantly in the great caverns, so numerous to the west of the Alleghany mountains. In one of those caves, near Corydon in Indiana, it forms a stratum on the bottom several inches deep; or appears in masses sometimes weighing ten pounds; or is disseminated in the earth of the cavern, one bushel of which yields from four to twenty-five pounds of this sulphate. It also appears on the walls of the cavern, and, if it be removed, acicular crys- tals again appear in a few weeks. (Oleaccland.) Sulphate of magnesia was originally procured by evaporating the waters of some saline springs at Epsom in England. Dr. Grew prepared it in this manner in 1675. It was afterwards discovered that the brine remaining after the crystallization of common salt from sea-water, furnished by careful evapo- ration precisely the same salt; and, as this was a much cheaper product, it superseded the former. This residual brine or bittern consists of sulphate of magnesia, and the chlorides of magnesium and calcium. As the sulphate of magnesia crystallizes first, it may with proper care be obtained nearly pure, * Dalbi/s Carminative consists of carbonate of magnesia Q ij, oil of peppermint try, oil of nutmeg Tnjj, oil of aniseed TThhj, tincture of castor ni,xxx, tincture of assafetida n\,xv, tincture of opium Tl\,v, spirit of pennyroyal Tt\,xv, compound tincture of cardamom TThxxx, peppermint water f3ij. PART I. Magnesix Sulphas. 441 although most frequently the salt prepared in this way is deliquescent from being contaminated with the chloride of magnesium. It may be purified from this mixture by washing the crystals with its own saturated solution. It was from this source that the greater part of the Epsom salt of commerce was long obtained in Europe. The salt works of New England supplied our own markets with an impure and deliquescent sulphate. With the improve- ments of chemistry, other and better processes have latterly been adopted. In the neighbourhood of Genoa and Nice, sulphate of magnesia is prepared in large quantities from a schistose rock, which contains magnesia and sulphuret of iron. The mineral is roasted and exposed in heaps for some months to the combined action of air and water. It is then lixiviated, the sulphate of iron decomposed by lime-water, and the salt is obtained pure by repeated solution and crystallization. William Henry of Manchester, whose calcined magnesia has become famous throughout the world, took out a patent for a mode of preparing magnesia and its salts from the double carbonate of magnesia and lime—the dolomite of mineralogists. His process was to drive off the carbonic acid by heat, and to convert the remaining earths into hydrates. He treated these with a suffi- cient quantity of muriatic acid to dissolve out the lime, and then converted the magnesia into a sulphate either by sulphuric acid or sulphate of iron. This salt is extensively manufactured ai Baltimore from the siliceous hydrate of magnesia, or magnesite. This mineral occurs in veins in the serpentine and other magnesian rocks which abound in the neighbourhood of that city, and in the southern counties of Pennsylvania. The advantage which it pos- sesses over the dolomite, in the preparation of this salt, is the almost entire absence of lime, owing to which circumstance there is little or no waste, of acid, and the operation is much simplified. The mineral is reduced to a fine powder, and saturated with sulphuric acid. The mass is then dried and cal- cined at a red heat, in order to convert the sulphate of iron, which may be present, into red oxide. It is then dissolved in water, and sulphuret of lime added to separate any remaining portion of iron. The salt is crystallized and dissolved a third time, in order to purify it. The sulphate prepared at the Baltimore works by this process is generally very pure and clean, although it sometimes contains sulphate of iron. Properties, dec. Sulphate of magnesia is a colourless transparent salt, with- out smell, and of a bitter, nauseous, saline taste. It crystallizes in quadran- gular prisms, terminating in a four-sided pyramid or in a dihedral summit. It usually occurs in small acicular crystals. It slowly effloresces in the air. At 32° of Fahrenheit, 100 parts of water dissolve 25-76 parts of the anhy- drous salt, and for every increased degree of heat 0-8597 parts additional are taken up. The crystals contain 51-22 per cent, of water of crystallization, and dissolve in their own weight of water at 60°, and in three-fourths of their weight of boiling water. They melt in their water of crystallization, and at a high temperature fuse into an enamel. (Berzelius.) This salt consists of one equivalent of acid = 40, one of base = 20, and seven of water = 63; and its combining number is 123. Sulphajrvof magnesia is completely decomposed by potassa, soda, and their carbonates; by lime, baryta, and strontia, and their soluble salts. Ammonia partially decomposes it, and forms with the remaining salt a double sulphate. The bicarbonates of potassa and soda do not decompose the sulphate of mag- nesia, except by the aid of heat. Sulphate of magnesia is liable to contain iron and chloride of magnesium, the former of which may be detected by ferrocyanuret of potassium, and the latter by its rendering the salt moist. If the addition of sulphuric acid pro- 442 Magnesix Sulphas.—Magnolia. part I. duce no extrication of muriatic acid gas, the fact proves the absence of all chlorides. One hundred grains of an aqueous solution of the salt should yield, when completely decomposed by a boiling solution of carbonate of soda, thirty-four grains of dry carbonate of magnesia. If the dry precipitate be less, the specimen tested is not all sulphate of magnesia, and probably con- tains sulphate of soda. Medical Properties and Uses. Sulphate of magnesia is a mild and safe cathartic, operating with little pain or nausea, and producing watery stools. It is more acceptable to the stomach than most medicines of its class, and will often be retained when others are rejected. Like many of the other neutral salts it is refrigerant, and may be made to act as a diuretic, by keeping the skin cool, and walking about after it has been taken. It is well adapted to the treatment of fevers and inflammatory affections, especially after a previous thorough evacuation of the bowels by a more energetic cathartic. It is also useful in colic and obstinate constipation, and may be employed in most cases which require the use of a cathartic, without being attended with debility or relaxation of the stomach and bowels. The medium dose is an ounce; but advantage often results from its administration in divided doses frequently repeated. It is often given in combination with other medicines, especially with senna, the griping effect of which it tends to obviate. The pleasantest form for administering the salt, and tiiat in which it usually agrees best with the stomach, is a solution in carbonic acid water with lemon syrup. By Dr. Henry, of Dublin, it is highly recommended in connexion with sulphuric acid. To seven ounces of a saturated aqueous solution of the salt he adds an ounce of the diluted sulphuric acid of the Pharmacopoeias, and gives a tablespoonful of the mixture for a dose, in a wineglassful of water.* Off. Prep. Enema Catharticum, Ed., Dub.; Magnesiae Carbonas, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Salinus Compositus, Ed., Dub. D. B. S. MAGNOLIA. U. S. Secondary. Magnolia. " The bark of Magnolia glauca, Magnolia acuminata, and Magnolia tripe- tala." U.S. Magnolia. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord, Magnoliaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx three-leaved. Petals six or more. Cojmdes two-valved, one-seeded, imbricated in a cone. Seeds berried, pendulous. Bigelow. The medicinal properties which have rendered the bark of the Magnolia officinal, are common to most, if not all of the species composing this splendid genus. Among the numerous trees which adorn the American landscape, these are most conspicuous for the beautiful richness of their foliage, and the magnificence as well as delicious odour of their flowers; and the M. grandi- fldra of the Southern States rivals in magnitude the largest inhabitants of our forests. The Pharmacopoeia designates the M. glauca, M. acuminata, and M. tripctala, each of which we shall briefly describe. 1. Magnolia glauca. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1256; Bigelow, A^^Med. Bot. ii. 67; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 77; Michaux, N Am, Sylv. ii. 8. This species of Magnolia, which in the Northern States is often nothing more than a shrub, sometimes attains in the South the height of forty feet. The leaves are scat- * It is said that a solution of an ounce of the salt in about a pint of water, boiled for three minutes with a grain and a half of tannic acid, or with two or three drachms of roasted coffee, is entirely deprived of bitterness. The liquid prepared with coffee should be strained, and may be sweetened with sugar. (Combes, Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xii. 110.) part i. Magnolia. 443 tered, petiolate, oval, obtuse, entire, glabrous, thick, opaque, yellowish-green on their upper surface, and of a beautiful pale glaucous colour beneath. The flowers are large, terminal, solitary, cream-coloured, strongly and gratefully odorous, often scenting the air to a considerable distance. The calyx is com- posed of three leaves; the petals, from eight to fourteen in number, are obovate, obtuse, concave, and contracted at the base; the stamens are very numerous, and inserted on a conical receptacle; the germs are collected into a cone, and each is surmounted by a linear recurved style. The fruit is conical, about an inch in length, consisting of numerous imbricated cells, each containing a single scarlet seed. This escapes through a longitudinal opening in the cell, but remains for some time suspended from the cone by a slender thread to which it is attached. The M. glauca extends along the seaboard of the United States, from Cape Ann, in Massachusetts, to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. It is abundant in the Middle and Southern States, usually growing in swamps and morasses; and is seldom met with in the interior of the country west of the mountains. It begins to flower in May, June, or July, according to the latitude. It is known by the name of magnolia simply in the Northern and Middle States, by that of white bay or sweet bay in the South, and is occasionally called swamp sassafras, beaver tree, &c. 2. M. acuminata. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1257; Michaux, N Am, Sylv. ii. 12. This species is much larger than the preceding, often growing to the height of seventy or eighty feet. The leaves are six or seven inches long, by three or four in breadth, oval, acuminate, and pubescent on their under sur- face. The flowers are five or six inches in diameter, bluish or cream-coloured, slightly odorous, with obovate rather obtuse petals from six to nine in number. Mingled with the splendid foliage, they give a magnificent aspect to the tree when large and in full bloom. The tree grows in the mountainous regions in the interior of the United States, extending along the Alleghanies from the state of New York to their termination in Georgia, and seldom existing in the low country far either to the east or the west of this range. Wherever it is found, it is called cucumber tree, from the resemblance of its fruit in shape and size to this product of the gardens. 3. M. tripetala. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1258; Michaux, N Am. Sylv. ii. 18. This is a small tree, sometimes though rarely reaching an elevation of thirty feet, and almost always having an inclined trunk. It is remarkable for the size of its leaves and flowers. The former are eighteen or twenty inches long by seven or eight in breadth, thin, obovate, somewhat wedge-shaped, entire, acute at both extremities, pubescent when young, and often disposed in rays at the extremity of the shoots, displaying a surface thirty inches in diameter. Hence has arisen the name of umbrella tree, by which this species is distinguished. The flowers are terminal, seven or eight inches in diameter, white, with from five to twelve oval acute petals, of which the three outer are reflexed. This species extends from the northern parts of New York to the southern limits of the United States. It is found only in situations which are shady, with a strong, deep, and fertile soil. It is common in some of the islands of the Susquehanna, and still more so in the Southern and South-west- ern States. (Michaux.) The bark and fruit of all the species of Magnolia are possessed of similar medicinal properties; but the bark only is officinal; and that of the root is thought to be most efficient. It has an aromatic odour, and a bitter, pungent, spicy taste. The aromatic property, which resides in a volatile principle, is diminished by desiccation, and entirely lost when the bark is long kept. The bitterness, however, remains. The bark is destitute of astringency. The bark 444 Magnolia.—Malva. PART I. of the Magnolia grandiflora, examined by Dr. Stephen Procter, was found to contain volatile oil, resin, and a principle analogous to the liriodendrin of Professor Emmet. (Am. Journ, of Pharm., xiv. 95.) It is probable that the bark of the other species contains similar ingredients. Medical Properties and Uses. 3Iagnolia is a gently stimulant aromatic tonic and diaphoretic, useful in chronic rheumatism, and capable, if freely given, of arresting the paroxysms of intermittent fever. It has been used advan- tageously in these complaints, and in remittents, especially of a typhoid cha- racter. The dose of the recently dried bark in powder is from half a drachm to a drachm, frequently repeated. The infusion may also be used, but is less efficient. Diluted alcohol extracts all the virtues of the medicine; and a tinc- ture, made by macerating the fresh bark or fruit in brandy, is a popular remedy in chronic rheumatism. W. MALVA. Lond., Ed, Common Mallow. " Malva sylvestris." Lond, " Herb of Malva sylvestris." Ed. Mauve sauvage, Fr.; Waldmalve, Germ.; Malva, Ital, Span. Malva. Sex. Syst, Monadelphia Polyandria.—Nat. Ord. Malvaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx double, the exterior three-leaved. Capsules very many, one-seeded. Willd. Malta sylrestris. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 787; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 554, t. 197. This is a perennial, herbaceous plant, with a round, hairy, branching, usually erect stem, from one to three feet high, bearing alternate, petiolate, cordate, roughish leaves, which are divided into five or seven crenate lobes, and on the upper part of the stem are almost palmate. The flowers are large, purplish, and placed from three to five together at the axils of the leaves, upon long slender peduncles, which, as well as the petioles, are pubescent. The petals are five, inversely cordate, and three times as long as the calyx. The capsules are disposed compactly in a circular form. This species of mallow is a native of Europe, where it grows abundantly on waste grounds and by the way sides, flowering from May to August. It is sometimes cultivated in our gardens. Other species, indigenous or natu- ralized in this country, are possessed of the same properties, which are in fact common to the whole genus. The M. rot und if alia is one of the most common, and may be substituted for the M. sylvestris. The herb and flowers, which are the officinal parts, have a weak, herbaceous, slimy taste, without odour. They abound in mucilage, which they readily impart to water; and the solution is precipitated by acetate of lead. The infusion and tincture of the flowers are blue, and serve as a test of acids and alkalies, being reddened by the former, and rendered green by the latter. The roots and seeds are also mucilaginous. Medical Properties and Uses. Common mallow is emollient and demulcent. The infusion and decoction are sometimes employed in catarrhal, dysenteric, and nephritic complaints; and are applicable to all other cases which call for the use of mucilaginous Hquids. They are also used as an emollient injec- tion ; and the fresh plant forms a good suppurative or relaxing cataplasm in external inflammation. It was formerly among the culinary herbs. Off. Prep. Decoctum Malvse Compositum, Lond. W. PART I. Manganesii Oxidum. 445 MANGANESII OXIDUM. Ed. Oxide of Manganese. Off. S>/n. MANGANESII BLNOXYDUM. Lond.; MANGANESII OXVDUM. Dub. Manganese, Peroxide of manganese, Deutoxide of manganese, Black oxide of manga- nese, Pyrolusite; Oxide noir de manganese, Fr,; Braunstein, Germ.; Manganese, Ital, Span. Black oxide of manganese is the deutoxide or binoxide of a peculiar metal properly called manganese; though this name is commonly applied to the oxide itself. Metallic manganese was discovered by Scheele and Gahn in 1774, and is obtained from the native black oxide by intense ignition with charcoal. It is hard, brittle, granular, and of a grayish-white colour. It oxidizes readily by the action of the air, first tarnishing, then assuming a yel- lowish or violet colour, and finally becoming converted into a black powder. Its sp. gr. is 8, melting point 160° of Wedgwood, and equivalent number 27-7. With oxygen it forms five combinations, three regular oxides and two acids. The protoxide is of a light green colour, and is the oxide present in the salts of manganese. The sesquioxide is black or dark brown, and the deutoxide black. The two acids are formed by the action of potassa on the deutoxide, and are called manganic and hypermangan ic acids. Assuming one eq. of man- ganese in each of these combinations, the protoxide contains one, the sesqui- oxide one and a half, the deutoxide two, manganic acid three, and hyper- manganic acid three and a half equivalents of oxygen.* (Berzelius.) Besides these, there exists a double oxide, of a brownish-red colour, called the red oxide, consisting of one eq. of protoxide and one of sesquioxide, and invari- ably formed when any one of the other oxides of manganese is exposed to a white heat; and a native oxide, called Varvicite, composed of two eqs. of deutoxide, and one of sesquioxide. Metallic manganese is an occasional con- stituent of organic matter. It was detected in minute quantity in bones by Fourcroy and Vauquelin, and is often present in the ashes of plants. In the mineral kingdom, it occurs sometimes as a sulphuret, rarely as a phosphate, but very abundantly as the black or deutoxide. It is this latter mineral which constitutes the officinal oxide. Properties. Deutoxide of manganese, as it occurs in nature, is very variable in its appearance. Its sp. gr. varies from 4-7 to 4-9. It is found sometimes in brilliant needle-shaped crystals, often in compact masses having the metallic lus- tre, but far more frequently in the form of a dull earthy-looking substance of a black or brown colour. It is purest when crystallized. As it occurs in commerce it is usually in the form of powder, of a black colour, insoluble in water, and containing as impurities more or less oxidized iron, carbonate of lime, sulphate of baryta, and earthy matter. Iron, which is rarely absent, is detected by the production of a greenish or blue tint on the addition of ferrocyanuret of potassium. When exposed to a red heat it yields half an equivalent of oxygen, and is reduced to the state of sesquioxide. Hence its use in obtain- ing that gas. When dried, and afterwards heated to whiteness, good samples lose twelve per cent, of oxygen. (Lond. Pharm.) It is distinguished from the sulphuret of antimony by its infusibility, and by its causing the evolution of chlorine on being heated with muriatic acid. When of a brown colour, it is not of good quality. Its composition has been given above. But few mines of deutoxide of manganese exist, though the metal itself is * In order to avoid fractional equivalents, the sesquioxide is generally stated to consist of two eqs. of metal and three of oxygen, and the hypermanganic acid, of two eqs. of metal and seven of oxygen. 446 Manganesii Oxidum.—Manna. part i. very generally diffused throughout the mineral kingdom. It occurs most abundantly in Bohemia, Saxony, the Hartz, France, and Great Britain. In the United States no mines have been opened, except in Vermont, from which state an inferior brown ferruginous manganese is supplied through Boston. Besides this source of supply, the mineral is received from Nova Scotia, France, Germany, England, and occasionally Scotland. It comes packed in casks or barrels, generally in lumps and coarse powder, just as it is dug out of the mines; though occasionally it is received from England ready pulver- ized. It is a good rule to buy it unpowdered, as its quality can be better judged of in that state. A dark shining crystalline appearance may be taken as an indication of good quality. The Nova Scotia manganese is better than the Vermont; but that received from Germany and England is the best, and commands the highest price. The Scotch manganese is also of good quality. Medical Properties and Uses. The physiological effects of the preparations of manganese are^but imperfectly known. Manganic acid, given to a rabbit, seemed to increase the urine. C. Gr. Gmelin found the sulphate of the protoxide to produce an extraordinary secretion of bile when exhibited to the inferior animals, and its effects as a cholagogue have been observed in man. According to Dr. Thomson, of Glasgow, it resembles sulphate of soda both in taste and effect. The dose as a purgative is one or two drachms, dissolved in half a pint of water. The black oxide is deemed a tonic by some experimenters. When slowly introduced into the system, as happens to those engaged in grinding the mineral, it acts, according to Dr. Coupar, of Glasgow, as a cumulative poison, inducing a disease which first shows itself by a stag- gering gait, and ends in paraplegia. It has been used in syphilis, chlorosis, scurvy, and various skin diseases, especially itch and porrigo. The dose is from three to twenty grains, three times a day, given in the form of pill. For external use, the ointment is made of one or two drachms of the oxide to an ounce of lard. Black oxide of manganese is used in the arts for obtaining chlorine for the purpose of bleaching, to give a black glazing to pottery, and for freeing glass from the colour which it derives from the sesquioxide of iron. According to Berzelius, a few pounds of it added to each cask of water intended for sea- voyages, will preserve it sweet. In the laboratory, it is employed to obtain oxygen and chlorine, and to form the salts of manganese. In pharmacy it is used, in conjunction with sulphuric acid, for liberating chlorine from common salt, and iodine from iodide of sodium, contained in kelp. See Aqua Chlorinii, Dub., Calx Chlorinata, Lond., Liquor Sodae Chlorinatae, Lond., and Iodi- num, U S. B. MANNA. U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Manna. "The concrete juice of Ornus Europaea." U. S. "Ornus Europaea. Succus coneretus." Lond. "Sweet concrete exudation, probably from several species of Fraxinus and Ornus." Ed. Manne, Fr.; Manna, Germ, Ital; Mana, Span. Manna is not the product of one plant exclusively. Besides the Ornus Europaea indicated by the Pharmacopoeias, it is ^aid to be obtained also from several other trees, belonging to the genera Ornus and Fraxinus, among which the 0. rotuudifolia, F. excelsior, and F. parviflora have been particu- larly designated. Burkhardt states that a species of manna, which exudes from the tamarisk of the North of Africa (Tamarix Gallica, Ehrenberg), is used by the Bedouin Arabs of the neighbourhood of Mount Sinai with their part t. Manna. 447 food. This substance, however, according to Mitscherlich, contains no man- nite, but consists wholly of mucilaginous sugar. The manna used in India is said to be the product of Hedysarum Alhagioi Linn., Alhagi Maurorum of De Candolle, a thorny shrub which grows abundantly in the deserts of Persia and Arabia. It is, however, much inferior to that obtained from the Ornus. A substance closely resembling manna is procured by exudation from a spe- cies of Eucalyptus, called E. mannifera, growing in New South Wales. The substance known in France by the name of Brianeon Manna, is an exudation from the common European larch—Larix Europsea or Pinus Larix—and differs chemically from ordinary manna in containing no mannite. A sub- stance resembling manna, of a sweet, slightly bitter, and terebinthinate taste, and actively purgative, exudes from incisions in the Pinus Lambertiana, of Southern Oregon, and is used by the inhabitants. (Nar. of U S. Expl. Expcd., v. 232.) Oknus. Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Oleaceae. Gen, Ch. Calyx very small, four-cleft. Corolla divided to the base into linear segments. Pericarp a winged key not dehiscing. Lindley. This genus was separated by Persoon from the Fraxinus of Linnaeus, and is now admitted by the best botanists. Ornus Europaea. Persoon, Synops. i. 9; Lindley, Flor. Med. 547; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot., ii. 8, pi. 61.—Fraxinus Ornus. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1104; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 589, t. 209. The flowering ash is a tree of moderate height, usually from twenty to twenty-five feet, very branching, with opposite, petiolate, pinnate leaves, composed of three or four pairs of leaflets, and an odd one at the end. The leaflets are oval, acuminate, obtusely serrate, about an inch and a half in length, smooth, of a bright green colour, and supported on short footstalks. The flowers are white, and usually expand with the leaves. They grow in close panicles at the extremities of the young branches, and have a very short calyx with four teeth, and four linear lanceolate petals.* Both this species of Ornus and the 0. rotundifolia are natives of Sicily, Calabria, and Apulia; and both contribute to supply the manna of commerce. The former is cultivated in Sicily, yields manna after the eighth year, and con- tinues to yield it for ten or twelve years, when it is cut clown, and young sprouts allowed to grow up from the root. (Stettner, Archiv. der Pharm. liii. 194.) During the hot months, the juice exudes spontaneously from the bark, and concretes upon its surface; but, as the exudation is slow, it is customary to facilitate the process by making deep longitudinal incisions on one side of the trunk. In the following season these are repeated on the other side, and thus alternately for thirty or forty years, during which the trees are said to yield manna. Straw or clean chips are frequently placed so as to receive the juice, which concretes upon them. The manna varies in its character accord- ing to the mode of collection and nature of the season, and the period of the year in which the exudation takes place. That procured in-Sicily is said to be the best. Three varieties are distinguishable in commerce. 1. The purest is that usually known by the name of flake manna, called also manna cannulata. It exudes spontaneously, or by incisions, during the hottest and dryest weather in July and August. According to Stettner, it is furnished by the upper incisions upon the trunk; while the lower inci- sions yield the inferior varieties. It is in irregular, unequal pieces, often several inches long, resembling stalactites, rough, light, porous, brittle, whitish or yellowish-white, and frequently concave on tbe surface by which they were * A syrup prepared from the inner bark of this tree has been employed, in Europe, by Dr. Dovergie. with supposed advantage, in chronic eczema and impetigo. The bark con- tains much tannin, and a mucilaginous principle, which renders diluted alcohol a better menstruum than boiling water. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., ix. 317.) 448 Manna. PART I. attached to the trunk, and which is often soiled by impurities, sometimes by adherent fragments of the bark. When broken, these pieces exhibit a crys- talline or granular structure. This variety is sometimes in small fragments, generally less than an inch in length. 2. Common manna—marine en sorte of French pharmacy—is next in quality, and is collected in September and the beginning of October, when the heat of the weather has begun to moderate. The juice does not now con- crete so readily, and a portion, falling on the ground at the root of the tree, becomes more or less mixed with impurities, and forms imperfectly solid masses, which require to be further dried in the sun. The common manna consists of whitish or yellowish fragments similar to the pieces of flake manna, but much smaller, mixed with a soft, viscid, uncrystallized brownish matter, identical with that which constitutes the following variety. 3. Fat manna is collected in the latter part of October and November, when the weather is cooler and rains more common. The juice, is now still less disposed to concrete, and flowing down the trunk is received in a small excavation at its base. As found in commerce it is in the form of a soft, vis- cous mass, containing few crystalline fragments, of a brown or yellowish- brown colour, and full of impurities. Manna may be found in the shops of every grade, from the most impure of the third variety to the purest of the first; but the worst kind is not often imported into this country. Attempts have sometimes been made to counterfeit it; but the facility of detection renders frauds of this kind unprofitable, and they are not often prac- tised. Baume describes a method in which common manna is purified so as to resemble flake manna. It consists in dissolving common manna in a little water, allowing the liquid to settle, decanting it in order to separate the im- purities, then inspissating it so that it will congeal on cooling, and immersing threads in the inspissated liquid several times successively in the manner practised by candle-makers. It may be still further purified by the use of animal charcoal. Thus prepared it contains less mannite than flake manna, and less of the nauseous principle; but is said not to operate less effectively as a laxative. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 45.) Properties. Manna has a slight, peculiar odour, and a sweet taste, which in the impure kinds is also very nauseous, but in the finest flake manna, scarcely so much so as to be disagreeable. It melts with heat, and takes fire, burning with a blue flame. When pure it is soluble in three parts of cold, and in its own weight of boiling water. From a boiling saturated aqueous solution, it separates in partially crystalline masses. Alcohol also dissolves it, and, if saturated by means of heat, deposits upon cooling a large propor- tion of the manna in a beautifully crystalline form. Analyzed by Fourcroy and Vauquelin, manna was found to consist of, 1. a peculiar crystallizable sweet principle, called mannite, which constitutes seventy-five per cent.; 2. true sugar; 3. a yellow nauseous matter, upon which the purgative property is thought chiefly to depend; and 4. a small quantity of mucilage. Leucht- weiss obtained from 105 parts of manna 11-6 of water, 0-4 of insoluble matter, 9-1 of sugar, 42-6 of mannite, 40-0 of a mixture of mucilaginous matter containing mannite, with resin, an organic acid, and a nitrogenous sub- stance, and 1-3 of ashes. (Ann. der Chem. und Pharm,, liii. 124.) It is owing to the presence of true sugar that manna is capable of fermenting. Mannite is white, inodorous, crystallizable in semi-transparent needles, of a sweetish taste, soluble in five parts of cold water, scarcely soluble in cold alcohol, but readily dissolved by that liquid when hot, and deposited when it cools. Unlike sugar, it is incapable of undergoing the vinous fermentation. It may be obtained by boiling manna in alcohol, allowing the solution to cool, PART I. Manna.—Maranta. 449 and redissolving the crystalline precipitate. Pure mannite is now deposited. This principle has been found in numerous vegetables. It is said to be gently laxative, in the dose of one or two ounces.* Manna, when long kept, acquires a deeper colour, softens, and ferments. That which is dryest resists this change the longest. It is said, when re- cently gathered, to be less purgative than it afterwards becomes. Medical Properties and Uses. Manna is a gentle laxative, usually operat- ing mildly, but in some cases producing flatulence and pain. Though pecu- liarly adapted to children and pregnant women, it may be given with advan- tage in ordinary cases of piles from constipation, unattended with dyspeptic symptoms. It is usually, however, prescribed with other purgatives, particu- larly senna, rhubarb, magnesia, and the neutral salts, the taste of which it conceals, while it adds to the purgative effect. The dose for an adult is from one to two ounces; for children, from one to four drachms. It is usually given dissolved in water or some aromatic infusion; but the best flake manna may be administered in substance. Off.Prep. Confectio Cassiae, Lond., Dub.; Enema Catharticum, Dub.; Syrupus Sennae, Lond. W. MARANTA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Arrow-root. " The fecula of the rhizoma of Maranta arundinacea." U. S. " Maranta arundinacea. Phizomatis Fxeula," Lond. "Fecula of the tubers of Maranta arundinacea and Maranta indica." Ed, Arrow-root, Fr.; Amerikanisches Stilrkmehl, Arrowmehl, Germ. Maranta. Sex. Syst, Monandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Marantaceaa. Gen. Ch. Anther attached to the petal-like filament. Style petal-shaped. Stigma three-sided. Flowers panicled. Loudon's Encyc. Maranta arundinacea. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 13; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot., ii. 53, pi. 97. The root (rhizoma) of this plant is perennial, tuberous, fleshy, horizontal, nearly cylindrical, scaly, from six inches to a foot or more in length, and furnished with numerous long white fibres. It sends forth several tuberous, jointed, curved, white, scaly stoles, the points of which sometimes rise above the ground, and become new plants. The stems, of which several proceed from the same root, are annual, slender, branched, jointed, leafy, and about three feet in height. The leaves are ovate lanceo- late, about four inches long, alternate, and supported solitarily at the joints of the stem upon long, sheathing footstalks. The flowers are in a long, loose, spreading, terminal panicle, at each ramification of which is a solitary linear bracte. The calyx consists of three small lanceolate leaves. The corolla is white and monopetalous, with a tube longer than the calyx, and a double border, of which the three outermost segments are smallest, and the two inner obovate, and slightly emarginate. The arrow-root plant is a native of the West Indies, where it is largely cultivated. It is cultivated also in our Southern States, especially in Georgia, * G. Ruspini prepares mannite more economically from common manna, by first melt- ing six pounds over the fire with three pounds of water previously beaten with the white of an egg, boiling for a few minutes, straining through flannel, and allowing the liquid to solidify by cooling; then adding an equal weight of cold water, expressing, dis- solving the residue in boiling water with animal charcoal, filtering the liquid boiling hot, and, lastly, evaporating to a pellicle. The mannite separates, upon cooling, in beautiful truncated quadrangular prisms, perfectly white, and transparent. (/. de Pharm., 3e ser.,x. 117.) 29 w 450 Maranta. part I. where considerable quantities of very good arrow-root are now prepared. The plant is easily propagated by cuttings of the root. In the West Indies, the fecula, so well known by the name of arrow-root, is prepared in the following manner. The roots are dug up when a year old, washed, and then beaten into a pulp, which is thrown into water, and agitated so as to separate the amyla- ceous from the fibrous portion. The fibres are removed by the hand, and the starch remains suspended in the water, to which it gives a milky colour. This milky fluid is strained through coarse linen, and allowed to stand that the fecula may subside, which is then washed with a fresh portion of water, and afterwards dried in the sun. We obtain the officinal arrow-root from the West Indies, and the Southern Atlantic States. That from the Bermudas has in general been most highly esteemed. Other plants contribute to furnish the arrow-root of commerce. Lindley states that it is procured in the West Indies from the Maranta Allouya and AT. nobilis, besides the M. arundinacea, Under the name of M. Indica, Tussac describes a distinct species which he says was originally brought from the East Indies, and is now cultivated in Jamaica. This, however, is gene- rally considered as a mere variety of the M. arundinacea, from which it differs chiefly in having leaves more elongated at the point, and smooth on both sides. Very fine arrow-root is obtained in the East Indies from the root of the Cur- cuma angustifolia, of Roxburgh, which is cultivated in Travancore. But the product is lighter than the Maranta arrow-root, and does not so quickly make a jelly. Ainslie states that the 31. arundinacea has been introduced from the West Indies into Ceylon, where good arrow-root is prepared from it. A fecula, closely resembling that of the Maranta, is said by Guibourt to be prepared in the West Indies from the root of the cassava plant, Jatropha Manihot; and it is not improbable that a variety of arrow-root brought to this country from Brazil has a similar origin. In fact, it often contains small lumps, as large as a pin's head, identical with tapioca, which is a product of the J. Manihot. A variety of arrow-root has been imported from the Sand- wich Islands. It was supposed to be procured from the root of the Tacca pinnatifida, which grows abundantly in Tahiti and other islands of the South Pacific; but Mr. Nuttall, during his visit to the Sandwich Islands, found that it was the product of another species of Tacca, which he has described under the name of Tacca oceanica, (Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 305.) It is said that a similar product is obtained from the tacca pinnatifida, growing in the East India province of Arracan. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., vi. 383.) Arrow- root has been brought into the market from Florida, prepared in the neigh- bourhood of St. Augustine from the root of Zamia integrifolia, by a process similar to that employed in the preparation of the fecula of the Maranta. (Dr. Joseph Carson, Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 22.) Attempts have been made to substitute finely prepared potato starch for arrow-root; and there is no doubt that, medically considered, it is quite equal; but patients complain of an un- pleasant taste of the potato which it is apt to retain. Arrow-root is in the form of a light white powder, or of small pulverulent masses, without smell or taste. It has a firm feel when pressed between the fingers, and produces a faint crackling sound when rubbed. It is a pure starch, corresponding in chemical properties with that of wheat and the potato. It is very apt to be musty, and should then be rejected. The odour and taste are the best criteria of its purity. It should be perfectly free from smell and unpleasant flavour. Mr. Procter has rendered musty arrow-root quite sweet and fit for use by washing it thoroughly with two successive portions of cold water, and then drying it upon frames of muslin in a warm place. (Am. Journ, of Pharm., xiii. 188.) Arrow-root is said to be sometimes adulterated with common starch, and that of the potato. These may be detected by the aid 4 part I. Maranta.—Marmor. 451 of the microscope. Muriatic acid has been proposed as a test of their pre- sence. A mixture o'f equal parts of that acid and of water, rubbed with about half its weight of potato or wheat starch, very quickly forms so thick a mucilage that the mortar in which the trituration is effected may be raised by the pestle; while the same result does not take place with rice flour or arrow-root under 25 or 30 minutes. So small a proportion as from four to six per cent, of the impurity may, it is asserted, be detected in this way. (Journ. de Pharm,, 3e str., ii. 246.) As the microscope affords the best means of distinguishing the different varieties of fecula sold as arrow-root, or used for its adulteration, it is proper to indicate the form of their granules as exhibited by this instrument. Those of the proper officinal or Maranta arrow-root are rarely oblong, somewhat ovate-oblong, or irregularly convex, with very fine rings, a circular hilum which cracks in a linear or stellate manner, and small mammillary processes occasionally projecting from them. (Pereira.) The largest are the 750th of an inch, but many not more than the 2000th of an inch long; and their breadth is generally two-thirds of their length. (Christison.) The granules of the East India arrow-root are, according to Pereira, of unequal size, ovate or oblong-ovate, flattened, and often furnished with a very short neck or nipple like projection. The rings are numerous, close, and very fine; and the hilum, which is situated at the narrow extremity, is circular, small, and indistinct. The microscopic appearance of the tapioca fecula will be de- scribed under the head of Tapioca, to which the reader is referred. The Tacca fecula from the South Sea Islands, examined by Pereira, consisted of circular, muller-shaped, or polyhedral granules, with few and not very dis- tinct rings, and a small, circular hilum, which cracked in a linear or stellate manner. The Florida arrow-root was found by Dr. Carson to consist of granules, forming the half, the third, or the quarter of a solid sphere. The potato starch granules are of various shape and size, but generally ovate or elliptical, and from the 7000th to the 300th of an inch in length, the largest being inferior in size only to the largest of the canna starch or tousdes-mois. (See Canna.) They are strongly marked with concentric rings, and have a circular hilum, from which usually proceed the cracks observable in some of the larger grains. (Pereira.) Medical Properties and Uses. Arrow-root is nutritious and demulcent, affording a light, very mild, and easily digested article of diet, well adapted for the sick and convalescent, and peculiarly suited, from its demulcent pro- perties, toAowel complaints and diseases of the urinary passages. It is much used as food for infants after weaning, or when the mother's milk is insuffi- cient. It is prepared by dissolving it in hot water, with which it forms a pearly gelatinous solution, and, if in sufficient quantity, a jelly-like mass on cooling. A tablespoonful will communicate sufficient consistence to a pint of water. It should first be formed into a paste with a little cold water, and the boiling water then gradually added with brisk agitation. The prepara- tion may be rendered more palatable by lemon-juice and sugar, or in low forms of disease by wine and spices, if not contra-indicated. For children, arrow-root is usually prepared with milk. Off. Prep. Trochisci Ipecacuanhae, U. S. W. MARMOR. U. S., Lond., Ed. Marble. "White granular carbonate of lime." U.S. "Carbonas calcis (dura)." Land. " Massive crystalline carbonate of lime." Ed. 452 Marmor.—Marrubium. PART I. Off. Syn. CALCIS CARBONAS. MARMOR ALBUM. Dub. White marble; Marbre, Fr.; Marmor, Germ.; Marmo, Ital; Marmol, Span. Marble is used for obtaining carbonic acid, and for making several officinal preparations. For the former purpose, common marble is sufficiently pure; but for the latter, the purer varieties must be selected. The officinal marble is .a white granular substance, having a specific gravity varying from 2-7 to 2-8. It is brittle, pulverizable, and insoluble in water. It is wholly dissolved in dilute muriatic acid with effervescence. If magnesia be present, the neutral muriatic solution will be precipitated by ammonia; and if baryta or strontia be an impurity, a similar effect will be produced by a solution of sulphate of lime. When marble is exposed to a full red heat, it loses about 44 per cent, of carbonic acid, and is converted into lime. (See Calx.) In composition it agrees with chalk. The purest kind of marble is that of Carrara, sometimes called statuary marble; but it is not necessary that this kind should be obtained for phar- maceutic operations. Marble, sufficiently pure for these purposes, is found in various parts of the United States. It is necessary, however, to reject the dolomitic marbles, which contain a considerable proportion of magnesia. Marble is used by the Edinburgh College, merely to get rid of excess of acid by saturating it, in the processes for preparing muriate of morphia, and the sulphates of potassa and soda. Off. Prep. Aqua Acidi Carbonici, U S.; Calcis Murias, Ed.; Calx, Ed.; Liquor Calcii Chloridi, U. S.; Potassae Bicarbonas, U S., Dub.; Sodas Bicarbonas, U. S., Ed., Dub. B. MARRUBIUM. U S. Secondary, Lond. Horehound. " The herb of Marrubium vulgare." U. S. " Marrubium vulgare." Lond. Off. Syn. MARRUBIUM VULGARE. Dub. Marrube blanc, Fr.; Weisser Andorn, Germ.; Marrubio, Ital, Span. Marrubium. Sex. Syst Didynamia G-ymnospermia.—Nat. Ord. Lami- aceae or Labiatae. Gen. Ch. Calyx salver-shaped, rigid, ten-streaked. Corolla with the upper lip bifid, linear, and straight. Marrubium vulgare. Willd, Sp. Plant, iii. Ill; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 332, t. 118. White horehound has a perennial fibrous root, and numerous annual stems, which are quadrangular, erect, very downy, and from twelve tff eighteen inches high. The leaves are roundish ovate, dentate or deeply serrate, wrinkled, veined, hoary on the under surface, and supported in pairs upon strong footstalks. The flowers are white, and in crowded axillary whorls. The calyx is tubular, and divided at the margin into ten narrow segments, which are hooked at the end. The corolla is also tubular, with a labiate margin, of which the upper lip is bifid, the under reflected and three-cleft, with the middle segment broad and slightly scolloped. The seeds are four, and lie in the-bottom of the calyx. This plant is a native of Europe, but has been naturalized in this country, where it grows on the roadsides, and flowers in July and August. It is cultivated in our gardens. The herb has a strong rather agreeable odour, which is diminished by dry- ing, and is lost by keeping. Its taste is bitter and durable. The bitterness is extracted by water and alcohol. It contains a volatile oil, bitter extractive, resin, tannin, and lignin. Medical Properties and Uses. Horehound is tonic, in large doses laxative, PART I. Mastiehe. 453 and may be so given as to increase the secretion from the skin, and occasion- ally from the kidneys. It was formerly considered a valuable deobstruent, and recommended in chronic hepatitis, jaundice, menstrual obstructions, phthisis, and various cachectic affections. By its gently tonic powers it may undoubtedly have proved advantageous in some of these complaints; but it exerts no specific influence over any; and has now passed almost entirely from the hands of physicians into domestic use. It is employed chiefly in catarrh, and other chronic affections of the lungs attended with cough and copious expectoration. The infusion made in the proportion of an ounce of the herb to a pint of boiling water may be given in wineglassful doses. The dose of the powder is from thirty grains to a drachm. The medicine is also much used in the shape of syrup and candy. W. MASTICHE. Lond., Ed., Dub. Mastich. " Pistacia Lentiscus. Pesina." Lond., Dub. " Concrete resinous exudation of Pistacia Lentiscus." Ed, Mastic, Fr.; Mastix, Germ.; Mastice, Ital; Almastiga, Span.; Sakes, Turk.; Arah, Arab. Pistacia. Sex. Syst. Dicecia Pentandria.—Nat. Ord, Anacardiaceae. Gen, Ch. Male. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla none. Female. Calyx three- cleft. Corolla none. Styles three. Drupe, one-seeded. Willd. Pistacia Lentiscus. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 753; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 26, t. 11. The lentis/c is a shrub or small tree, seldom rising more than twelve feet in height, much branched towards the top, and furnished with petiolate, abruptly pinnate leaves. The leaflets are from eight to twelve in number, usually alter- nate, with the exception of the two upper which are opposite. They are ovate lanceolate, entire, obtuse, often mucronate, and sessile upon the common foot- stalk, which is winged, or furnished with a narrow foliaceous expansion on each side. The flowers are dioecious, and very small. The male are in an axillary ament; the female are arranged alternately upon a common peduncle, which is also axillary. This tree is a native of the countries which border upon the Mediterranean; but does not yield mastich in all places. The island of Scio in the Grecian Archipelago is the place whence the drug is chiefly obtained. Incisions are made in the trunk and principal branches, from which the juice slowly exudes, and either hardens in tears upon the bark, or drops on the ground, where it is sometimes received upon cloths, sometimes upon the bare earth, and con- cretes in irregular masses. The tears are most esteemed. They are of various sizes, oval or roundish, often compressed, smooth, semi-transparent, of a pale yellow colour, of a shining fracture, friable, and usually covered with a whitish powder, occasioned by their friction against each other. The masses are com- posed of yellowish tears agglutinated together, with others of a darker colour and less translucent, and often fragments of wood, bark, or earthy matter in- termingled. Mastich is nearly inodorous, unless rubbed or heated, when it becomes fra- grant. Its taste is weak but agreeably terebinthinate, and, after long chewing, very slightly acrid. It is at first friable under the teeth, but soon becomes soft and ductile, and acquires a white opaque appearance. Its sp.gr. is 1-074. It is fusible and inflammable by heat. Alcohol dissolves about four-fifths of it, leaving a viscid substance which becomes brittle when dried, and for which the name of masticin has been proposed. This substance, though not dis- solved by alcohol, softens and swells up in it, as gluten does in water. Ac- 454 Mastiehe.—Ma triearia. part i. cording to Berzelius, it possesses the same general properties as copal, and should be considered as a variety of resin. Mastich is wholly soluble in ether and in oil of turpentine, scarcely soluble in the fixed oils, and insoluble in water. It consists chiefly of resin, with masticin, and a minute proportion of volatile oil, which can scarcely be said to have been obtained in a separate state, though it imparts flavour to alcohol and water distilled from the mastich, especially when this has been previously triturated with an equal weight of carbonate of potassa. Mastich is occasionally adulterated with olibanum, sandarach, and other resinous bodies; and, in seasons of scarcity, with sea-salt. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., vii. 35.) Medical Properties and Uses. Mastich was formerly thought to possess properties analogous to those of the turpentines, and was used in debility of the stomach, haemoptysis from ulceration, leucorrhcea, chronic diarrhoea, &c.; but its virtues were overrated; and it is at present scarcely ever given inter- nally. It is sometimes employed to fill the cavities of carious teeth, for which purpose it is well fitted by its softness. Great quantities of it are consumed in Turkey, where it is habitually chewed by the women, under the impression that it sweetens the breath, and preserves the gums and teeth. Dissolved in alcohol or oil of turpentine, it forms a brilliant varnish. The following mode of applying it to carious teeth is highly recommended. Dissolve four parts of mastich in one part of sulphuric ether, in a bottle well stopped. With the solution thus formed, which is of a yellow colour and oily consistence, saturate a small piece of cotton of the size of the carious cavity, and, having well cleansed and dried the cavity, introduce the cotton, without painful pressure, so as to fill it exactly. The ether is soon evaporated, and the resin, remaining soft and adhesive, attaches itself to the diseased surface of the tooth, which it protects from the action of the air, and of the food taken into the mouth. (Journ, de Pharm., xx. 597.) Off. Prep. Tinctura Ammoniae Composita, Lond. W. MATRICARIA. U.S. Secondary. German Chamomile. " The flowers of Matricaria Chamomilla. U S. Matricaria. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua. — Nat. Ord. Compositae- Senecionideae, De Cand, Asteraceae, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Calyx flat, imbricate, with scales having scarious margins. Re- ceptacle naked, terete. Pappus none. Matricaria Chamomilla. Linn. Sp. 1256. This is an annual plant, with a branching stem a foot or two in height, bearing alternate leaves about two inches long, the lower ones tripinnate, the upper bipinnate or simply pinnate, and all of them very green, and nearly or quite smooth. The leaflets are linear and very small. The flowers appear singly at the ends of the stem and branches. They are about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, with the ray spreading. The scales of the calyx are obtuse, green in the middle, and whitish, membranous, and translucent at the margin. The ray florets are white, at first spreading, and ultimately reflected. The disk is of a deep yel- low colour, at first flat, but in the end convex, and even somewhat conical. The plant is a native of Europe, and is occasionally cultivated in our gar- dens. All parts of it are active; but the flowers only are officinal. These shrink in drying, so that they are scarcely half as large as in their recent state. Those found in our shops are imported from Germany. PART I. Matricaria.—Mel. 455 The dried flowers of the Matricaria are considerably smaller than common chamomile, and exhibit a larger proportion of the disk florets compared with those of the ray. They have a strong, peculiar, rather unpleasant odour, and a disagreeable bitter taste. Their active constituents are volatile oil and bitter extractive, which are readily extracted by water and alcohol. The oil, which is obtained by distillation with water, is thick, somewhat tenacious, of a dark- blue colour becoming brown by age, and almost opaque in mass. Medical Properties and Uses. Matricaria is a mild tonic, very similar to chamomile in medical properties, and, like it, capable, in large doses, of pro- ducing an emetic effect. It is esteemed also in Europe antispasmodic and anthelmintic. It is much employed in Germany; but in this country scarcely at all, unless by some German practitioners. It may be given for the same purposes and in the same manner as chamomile. W. MEL. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Honey. " A liquid prepared from flowers by Apis mellifica." U. S. " Apis mel- lifica. Humor e fioribus decerptus, et ab ape paratus." Lond. "Saccharine secretion of Apis mellifica." Ed. Miel, Fr.; Honig,.Germ.; Miele, Ital.; Mie], Span. Naturalists have not yet determined whether honey is a secretion of the bee, Apis mellifica, or whether it exists already formed in plants. It is cer- tain that the nectaries of flowers contain a saccharine matter, which is extracted by the insect, and the fact is well known that the flavour and character of honey are very much affected by the nature of the plants which predominate in the vicinity of the hive; so much so, that when these plants are poisonous, the fluid sometimes partakes of their noxious qualities. Still, it probably un- dergoes some change in the organs of the bee; as the saccharine matter of the nectaries, so far as it has been possible to examine it, wants some of the characteristic properties of honey. The finest honey is that which is allowed to drain from the comb. If ob- tained from hives that have never swarmed, it is called virgin honey. An inferior kind is procured by submitting the comb to pressure; and, if heat be employed previous to expression, the product is still more impure. Much honey is collected in different parts of the United States; but that with which the shops of cities on the seaboard are supplied, is derived chiefly from Cuba. In the recent state honey is fluid; but, on being kept, it forms a crystalline deposit, and is ultimately converted into a soft granular mass. In the shops it is found of every consistence, from that of a viscid liquid like thin syrup or oil, to that of lard or soft suet. Its colour is sometimes white, but usu- ally yellowish, and occasionally of a brown or reddish tinge. It has a peculiar agreeable odour, varying somewhat with the flowers from which it was col- lected, and a very sweet feebly aromatic taste, which is followed by a slight prickling or sense of acrimony in the fauces. Its specific gravity is about 1-333. (Duncan.) Cold water dissolves it readily, alcohol with less facility. It contains crystallizable sugar analogous to that of grapes, uncrystallizable sugar, an aromatic principle, an acid, wax, and, according to Guibourt, a little mannite. The crystalline sugar may be obtained by treating granular honey with a small quantity of alcohol, which when expressed takes along with it the other ingredients, leaving the crystals nearly untouched. The same end may be attained by melting the honey, saturating its acid with 456 Mel.—Melissa. PART I. carbonate of lime, filtering the liquid, then setting it aside to crystallize, and washing the crystals with alcohol. Inferior honey usually contains a larger proportion of uncrystallizable sugar and vegetable acid. Diluted with water, honey undergoes the vinous fermentation; and, treated with nitric acid, is con- verted into oxalic acid. In warm weather, honey, if not very pure, sometimes ferments, acquiring a pungent taste, and a deeper colour. Starch is said to be occasionally added to the inferior kinds to give them a white appearance. The adulteration may be detected by dilution with water, which dissolves the honey and leaves the starch at the bottom of the vessel. The nature of the deposit may be tested by the tincture of iodine. Water is said to be sometimes added to honey to increase its bulk. Its presence may be suspected from the greater thinness of the liquid, and its want of disposition to crystallize. Medical Properties and Uses. Honey possesses the same medical pro- perties with sugar, but is more disposed to run off by the bowels, and to occasion griping pain. Though largely consumed as an article of food, it is seldom employed medicinally, except as the vehicle of more active substances. Its taste and demulcent qualities render it a useful addition to gargles, and it is sometimes employed as an application to foul ulcers, and in the form of enema. Off. Prep. Confectio Piperis Nigri, Lond., Ed,, Dub.; Confectio Rutae, Lond,, Dub.; Linimentum iEruginis, Lond,; Mel Boracis, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mel Despumatum, U.S., Dub.; Mel Rosae, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Oxymel, Lond., Dub.; Oxymel Colchici, Dub.; Oxymel Cupri Subacetatis, Dub.; Oxymel Scillae, U. S., Lond., Dub. W. MELISSA. U.S. Secondary, Ed. Balm. "The leaves of Melissa officinalis." U.S. "Herb of Melissa officinalis." Ed. Off. Syn. MELISSA OFFICINALIS. Herba. Dub. Melisse, Fr.; Garten-Melisse, Germ.; Melissa, Ital.; Torongil, Span. Melissa. Sex. Syst. Didynamia Gyinnospermia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceae or Labiatae. Gen. Ch. Calyx dry, nearly flat above; with the upper lip sub-fastigiate. Corolla, upper lip somewhat arched, bifid; lower lip with the middle lobe cordate. Willd. Melissa officinalis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 146; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 334, t. 119. Balm has a perennial root, which sends up annually several erect, quadrangular stems, usually branched towards the base, and a foot or two in height. The leaves are opposite, ovate or cordate, deeply serrate, pubescent; the lower on long foot stalks, the uppermost nearly sessile. The flowers are white or yellowish, upon short peduncles, and in axillary whorls, surrounding only half the stem. The calyx is tubular, pentangular, and bilabiate, with the upper lip tridentate and flattened, the lower cut into two pointed teeth. The corolla is also tubular and bilabiate, the upper lip less convex and notched, the lower three-cleft. The plant is a native of the South of Europe. It has been introduced into this country, where it is cultivated in gardens, and grows wild along the fences of our roads and lanes. For medical use the herb should be cut before the appearance of the flowers, which begin to expand in July. In the fresh state, it has a fragrant odour, very similar to that of lemons; but is nearly inodorous when dried. The taste is somewhat austere, and PART I. Mentha Piperita. 457 slightly aromatic. The herb contains a minute proportion of a yellowish or reddish-yellow essential oil, which has its peculiar flavour in a very high de- gree. It contains also tannin, bitter extractive, and gum. Medical Properties and Uses. Balm scarcely produces any remedial opera- tion upon the system. The quantity of oil which it contains is not more than sufficient to communicate a pleasant flavour to the infusion, which forms an excellent drink in febrile complaints, and when taken warm tends to promote the operation of diaphoretic medicines. W. MENTHA PIPERITA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Peppermint. "The herb of Mentha piperita." U S., Ed, "Mentha piperita." Lond. Menthe poivree, Fr.; PfefTermunze, Germ.; Menta piperita, Ital; Pimenta piperita, Span. Mentha. Sex. Syst. Didynamia Gymnospermia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceae or Labiatae. Gen. Ch. Corolla nearly equal, four-cleft; the broader segment emarginate. Stamens upright, distant. Willd. Mentha piperita. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 79; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 336, t, 120 ; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot., ii. 16, pi. 63. Peppermint is a perennial herbaceous plant, with a creeping root, and quadrangular, channeled, purplish, somewhat hairy stems, which are branched towards the top, and about two feet in height. The leaves are opposite, petiolate, ovate, serrate, pointed, smoother on the upper than the under surface, and of a dark green colour, which is paler beneath. The flowers are small, purple, and disposed in ter- minal obtuse spikes, which are interrupted below. The calyx is tubular, fur- rowed, and five-toothed; the corolla is also tubular, with its border divided into four segments, of which the uppermost is broadest, and notched at its apex. The anthers are concealed within the tube of the corolla; the style projects beyond it, and terminates in a bifid stigma. The four-cleft germ is converted into four seeds, which are lodged in the calyx. This species of mint is a native of Great Britain, whence it has been con- veyed to the continent of Europe and to this country. In some parts of the United States, especially in New England, the western part of New York, Ohio, and New Jersey, it is largely cultivated for the sake of its volatile oil. We occasionally find it growing wild along the fences of our villages. The cultivators of this herb have observed that, in order to maintain its flavour in perfection, it is necessary to transplant the roots every three years. It should be cut for medical use in dry weather, about the period of the expansion of the flowers. These appear in August. The herb, both in the recent and dried state, has a peculiar, penetrating, grateful odour. The taste is aromatic, warm, pungent, glowing, camphorous, bitterish, and attended with a sensation of coolness when air is admitted into the mouth. These properties depend on a volatile oil, which abounds in the herb, and may be separated by distillation with water. (See Oleum Menthse Piperitas.) The leaves are said to contain a little tannic acid. The virtues of the herb are imparted to water, and more readily to alcohol. Medical Properties and Uses. Peppermint is a very grateful aromatic stimulant, much used for all the purposes to which medicines of this class are applied. To allay nausea, to relieve spasmodic pains of the stomach and bowels, to expel flatus, to cover the taste or qualify the nauseating or griping effects of other medicines, are among the most common of these purposes. 458 Mentha Pulegium.—Mentha Viridis. part I. The fresh herb, bruised and applied over the epigastrium, often allays sick stomach, and is especially useful in the cholera of children. The medicine may be given in infusion; but the volatile oil, either alone, or in some state of preparation, is almost always preferred. Off. Prep. Aqua Mentha? Piperitae, Lond, Ed., Dub.; Oleum Menthae Piperitae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Menthae, Ed. AV. MENTHA PULEGIUM. Lond., Dub. European Pennyroyal. "Mentha Pulegium." Lond. Off. Syn. PULEGIUM. Herb of Mentha Pulegium. Ed. Menthe-pouliot, Pouliot, Fr.; Poleymtinze, Germ.; Puleggio, Ital; Poleo, Span. Mentha. See MENTHA PIPERITA. Mentha Pulegium. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 82; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 342, t. 122. This species of mint is distinguished by its roundish prostrate stems, its ovate obtuse somewhat crenate leaves, and its verticillate flowers. It is a native of Europe, and neither cultivated nor employed in this country. Our native pennyroyal belongs to a different genus. (See Hedeoma Pulegioides.) The Pulegium possesses similar properties, and is employed for the same pur- poses with the other mints. Off. Prep. Aqua Menthae Pulegii, Lond,, Ed,, Dub.; Oleum Menthae Pulegii, Lond., Ed., Dub. W. MENTHA VIRIDIS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Spearmint. "The herb of Mentha viridis." U S., Ed. "Mentha viridis." Lond. Menthe a epi, Fr.; Grune Miinze, Germ.; Menta Romana, Ital; Yerba buena puntia- guda, Span. Mentha. See MENTHA PIPERITA. Mentha viridis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 76; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p. 338,1.121. Spearmint, sometimes called simply mint, differs from the 31. piperita chiefly in having sessile, or nearly sessile, lanceolate, naked leaves; elongated, inter- rupted, panicled spikes; setaceous bractes; and stamens longer than the tube of the corolla. Like the two preceding species, it is a native of Europe. In this country it is cultivated in gardens for domestic use, and in some places more largely for the sake of its oil. It also grows wild in low grounds in parts of the country which have been long settled. Its flowering season is August. According to Thomson, it should be cut in very dry weather, and, if intended for medical use, just as the flowers appear; if for obtaining the oil, after they have expanded. The odour of spearmint is strong and aromatic, the taste warm and slightly bitter, less pungent than that of peppermint, but considered by some as more agreeable. These properties are retained for some time by the dried plant. They depend on a volatile oil, which rises on distillation with water, and is imparted to alcohol and water by maceration. (See Oleum Menthse Viridis.) 3Iedical Properties. The virtues and applications of this plant are the same with those of peppermint. Off. Prep. Aqua Menthae Viridis, Lond., Dub.; Infusum Menthae Com- positum, Dub.; Oleum Menthae Viridis, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. PART I. Menyanthes. 459 MENYANTHES. Lond., Ed. Buckbean. " Menyanthes trifoliata." Lond. " Leaves of Menyanthes trifoliafa." Ed. Off. Syn. MENYANTHES TRIFOLIATA. Folia. Dub. Bog-bean ; Menyanthe, Trefle d'eau, Fr.; Bitterklee, Germ.; Trifogolio fibrino, Ital.; Trifolio palustre, Span. Menyanthes. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Gentiana- ceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla hirsute. Stigma bifid. Capsule one-celled. Willd. Menyanthes trifoliata. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 811; Bigelow, Am. 3Ied. Bot. iii. 55. The buckbean or marsh trefoil has a perennial, long, round, jointed, .horizontal, branching, dark-coloured root or rhizoma, about as thick as the finger, and sending out numerous fibres from its under surface. The leaves are ternate, and stand upon long stalks, which proceed from the end of the root, and are furnished at their base with sheathing stipules. The leaflets are obovate, obtuse, entire or bluntly denticulate, very smooth, beautifully green on their upper surface, and paler beneath. The scape or flower stalk is erect, round, smooth, from six to twelve inches high, longer than the leaves, and terminated by a conical raceme of whitish somewhat rose-coloured flowers. The calyx is five-parted; the corolla funnel-shaped, with a short tube, and a five-cleft, revolute border, covered on the upper side with numerous long, fleshy fibres. The anthers are red and sagittate; the germ ovate, supporting a slen- der style longer than the stamens, and terminating in a bifid stigma. The fruit is an ovate, two-valved, one-celled capsule, containing numerous seeds. This beautiful plant is a native both of Europe and North America, grow- ing in boggy and marshy places which are always moist, and occasionally over- flowed with water. It prevails, in the United States, from the northern boundary to Virginia. In this country the flowers appear in May, in Eng- land not till June or July. All parts of it are medicinal. The leaves are directed by the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges, the whole plant by the Lon- don College. The taste of buckbean is intensely bitter and somewhat nauseous, the odour of the leaves faint and disagreeable. The virtues of the plant depend on a bitter principle, denominated menyanthin, which may be obtained sufficiently pure for use by treating the spirituous extract of the plant with hydrated oxide of lead, removing the lead by hydrosulphuric acid, filtering and evaporating the liquor, exhausting the residue with alcohol, and again evaporating with a gentle heat. It has a pure bitter taste, is soluble in alcohol and water, but not in pure ether, and possesses neither acid nor alkaline properties. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, A.D. 1843, p. 24.) Medical Properties and Uses. With the ordinary properties of the bitter tonics, menyanthes unites a cathartic power, and in large doses is apt to vomit. It was formerly held in high estimation in Europe as a remedy in numerous complaints, among which were intermittents, rheumatism, scrofula, scurvy, dropsy, jaundice, and various cachectic and cutaneous affections. In most of these complaints it was administered under a vague impression of its altera- tive powers. It is scarcely ever employed in this country; but, as it is a na- tive plant, capable of useful application in cases where a combined tonic and purgative effect is demanded, it is desirable that our country practitioners should be aware of its properties, and prepared to take, ad vantage of them should occasion offer. The dose of the powdered leaves or root as a tonic is from twenty to thirty 460 Mezereum. PART I. grains; of an infusion, prepared with half an ounce to a pint of boiling water, from one to two fluidounces; and of the extract ten or fifteen grains, to be repeated three or four times a day. A drachm of the powder, or a gill of the strong decoction generally purges, and often 03casions vomiting. W. MEZEREUM. U.S., Lond. Mezereon. " The bark of Daphne Mezereum and Daphne Gnidium." U. S. " Daphne Mezereum. Pad ids Cortex." Lond. Off. Syn. MEZEREON. Root-bark of Daphne Mezereon. Ed.; MEZE- REON. DAPHNE MEZEREUM. Cortex. Dub. Bois gentil, Fr. ; Kellerhals, Germ. ; Mezereo, Ital.; Mecereon, Span. • Daphne. Sex. Syst. Octandria Monogynia.—Nat. Orel,K Thymelaceae. Gen, Ch. Calyx none. Corolla four-cleft, withering, enclosing the stamens. Drupe one-seeded. Willd. All the species of Daphne are possessed of active properties; but two only are officinal—the D. 31ezereum and D. Gnidium—the former of which is recognised in the British Pharmacopoeias, the latter in the French Codex, and both in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States. 1. Daphne 3Iezereum. AVilld. Sp. Plant, ii. 415; Woodv. Md. Bot. p. 717, t. 245; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot, ii. 26, pi. 72. This is a very hardy shrub, three or four feet high, with a branching stem, and a smooth dark-gray bark, which is very easily separable from the wood. The leaves spring from the ends of the branches, are deciduous, sessile, obovate lanceo- late, entire, smooth, of a pale green colour, somewhat glaucous beneath, and about two inches long. They are preceded by the flowers, which appear very early in spring, and sometimes bloom even amidst the snow. These are of a pale rose colour, highly fragrant, and disposed in clusters, each consisting of two or three flowers, forming together a kind of spike at the upper part of the stem and branches. At the base of each cluster are deciduous floral leaves. The fruit is oval, shining, fleshy, of a bright red colour, and contains a single round seed. Another variety produces white flowers and yellow fruit. This species of Daphne is a native of Great Britain and the neighbouring continent, in the northern parts of which it is particularly abundant. It is cultivated in Europe both for medicinal purposes, and as an ornamental plant, and is occasionally found in our own gardens. It flowers in February, March, or April, according to the greater or less mildness of the climate. 2. D. Gnidium. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 420. In this species, called garou or sain-bois by the French, the leaves are linear lanceolate, acute, entire, smooth, and irregularly but closely set upon the branches. The flowers are white, downy, odoriferous, and disposed in terminal panicled racemes. The fruit is globular, dry, at first green, but ultimately black. The D. Gnidium grows in dry uncultivated places in the South of Europe, and flowers in June. In France its bark is used indiscriminately with that of the former species. Besides the officinal species above described, the D. Laurcola, or spurge laurel, is said to furnish a portion of the mezereon of commerce; but its pro- duct is inferior in aerimony, and consequently in medicinal activity. The bark of the root was the part directed by the former U. S. Pharmaco- poeia, as it now is by the British Colleges; and it is said to be exclusively employed in Great.Britain. But the mezereon with which our markets are now supplied is evidently the bark of the stem; and the present Pharmaco- poeia, therefore, very properly directs the bark, without designating the part PART I. Mezereum. 461 from which it must be taken. The British writers state that the bark of the root is the most active. The berries and leaves of the plant are also possessed of active properties; and the former have sometimes proved fatal to children who have been attracted by their beautiful colour. Pallas states that they are used as a purgative by the Russian peasants, and that thirty berries are required to produce this effect. The French authors observe that fifteen are sufficient to kill a Frenchman. Mezereon is brought to us chiefly from Germany. Properties. Mezereon, as it comes to us, is usually in strips, from two to four feet long and an incb or less in breadth, sometimes flat, sometimes par- tially rolled, and always folded in bundles, or wrapped in the shape of balls. It is covered externally with a grayish or reddish-brown wrinkled epidermis, very thin and easily separable from the bark. Beneath the epidermis is a soft greenish tissue. The inner bark is tough, pliable, fibrous, striated, and of a whitish colour. When fresh it has a nauseous smell, but in the dry state is nearly inodorous. Its taste is at first sweetish, but afterwards highly acrid and even corrosive. It yields its virtues to water by decoction. Vauquelin ascertained the presence of a peculiar principle in the bark of the D. Alpina. This has subsequently been discovered in other species, and has received the name of daphnin. Gmelin and Bar found it in the bark of the D. 3Iezereum, associated with wax, an acrid resin, a yellow colouring matter, a reddish-brown extractive matter, an uncrystallizable and fermentable sugar, a gummy matter containing azote, ligneous fibre, malic acid, and several malates. Daphnin is in prismatic crystals grouped together, colourless, transparent, brilliant, slight- ly soluble in cold water, very soluble in boiling water, ether, and alcohol, without odour, and of a bitter, somewhat austere taste. It is obtained by treating the alcoholic extract of the bark with water, decanting the solution, precipitating with subacetate of lead, filtering, decomposing the excess of the subacetate by sulphuretted hydrogen, again filtering, evaporating to dryness, submitting the residue to the action of anhydrous alcohol, and evaporating the alcoholic solution to the point of crystallization. Though daphnin is pro- bably not inactive, it is not the principle upon which the virtues of mezereon chiefly depend. Vauquelin thinks that in the recent plant these reside in an essential oil, which by time and exposure is changed into a resin, without losing its activity. The acrid resin observed by Gmelin and Bar is probably the characteristic principle to which the bark owes its vesicating properties. It is obtained separate by boiling mezereon in alcohol, allowing the liquor to cool in order that it may deposit some wax which it has taken up, then dis- tilling off the alcohol, and treating the residue with water, which leaves the resin. This is of a dark green, almost black colour, hard and brittle, and of an exceedingly acrid and permanent taste. In the isolated state it is slightly soluble in water, and much more so when combined with the other principles of the bark. It appears, however, not to be a pure proximate principle, but rather a resinoid combination of an acrid vesicating fixed oil with another sub- stance. The acrid principle of mezereon is partially given off by decoction with water, as proved by the irritating character of the vapour when inhaled; but none of it appears to escape when the bark is boiled with alcohol. (Squire, Pharmaceutical Transactions, i. 395.) Medical Properties and Uses. The recent bark applied to the skin produces inflammation followed by vesication, and has been popularly used as an epis- pastic from time immemorial in some of the southern countries of Europe. The dried bark, though less active, is possessed of a similar property, and is occasionally employed in France by regular practitioners for the purpose of forming issues, in cases which do not admit of the use of Spanish flies. A 462 Mezereum.—Monarda. part i. small square piece of the bark, moistened with vinegar, is applied to the skin, and renewed twice a day till a blister is formed, and occasionally afterwards in order to maintain the discharge. It is slow in its operation, generally re- quiring from twenty-four to forty-eight hours to vesicate. An irritant oint- ment is prepared from mezereon, which answers for application to blistered surfaces in order to maintain the discharge, and may be applied advantageously to obstinate, ill-conditioned, indolent ulcers. (See Unguentum Mezerei.) The alcoholic extract of mezereon has also been employed to communicate irritant properties to issue peas. Internally administered, mezereon is a stimulant capable of being directed to the skin or kidneys, and in large doses apt to excite purging, nausea, and vomiting. In overdoses it produces all the fatal effects of the acrid poisons, and a case of apparently severe narcotic effects has been recorded. (Am. Journ. of 3Ied, Sci., xxi. 518.) It had at one time much reputation as a remedy in the secondary stages of the venereal disease, and still enters as an ingredient into the officinal compound decoction of sarsaparilla. It has also been thought to act favourably as an alterative in scrofulous affections, chronic rheumatism, and obstinate diseases of the skin. For this purpose it is usually adminis- * tered in decoction. (See Decoctum 31ezerei.) Dr. Withering cured a case of difficult swallowing, arising from paralysis, by directing the patient to chew frequently small pieces of the root. The affection, which had continued three years, was removed in a month. The dose of the bark in substance may be stated at ten grains, though it is seldom used in this way. Off. Prep. Decoctum Mezerei, Ed., Dub.; Decoctum Sarsaparillae Compo- situm, U Sy Lond., Ed., Dub.; Unguentum Mezerei, U. S. W. MONARDA. U.S. Horsemint. " The herb of Monarda punctata." U. S. Monarda. Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceae or La- biatae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-toothed, cylindric, striate. Corolla ringent, with a long cylindric tube; upper Up linear, nearly straight and entire, involving the fila- ments; lower lip reflected, broader, three-lobed, the middle lobe longer. Nut- tall, 3Ionarda punctata. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 126; Am. Med. Recorder, vol. ii. p. 496. This is an indigenous perennial or biennial plant, with herbaceous, obtusely angled, downy, whitish, branching stems, which rise one or two feet in height, and are furnished with oblong lanceolate, remotely serrate, smooth, punctate leaves. The flowers are yellow, spotted with red or brown, and are disposed in numerous whorls, provided with lanceolate^ coloured bractes, longer than the whorl. The horsemint grows in light gravelly or sandy soils from New Jersey to Louisiana, and flowers from June to September. The whole herb is employed. It has an aromatic smell, and a warm, pungent, bitterish taste; and abounds in a volatile oil, which may be separated by distillation with water. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Horsemint is stimulant and carminative ; but is seldom used in regular practice. In the state of infusion it is occa- sionally employed in families as a remedy for flatulent colic and sick stomach, and for other purposes to which the aromatic herbs are applied. It was in- troduced into the primary catalogue of the United States Pharmacopoeia on account of the volatile oil which it affords. (See Oleum 3Ionardse.) Off.Prep. Oleum Monardae, U.S. W. PART I. Mora.—Moschus. 463 MORA. Lond. Mulberries. "Morus nigra. Fructus" Lond. Off. Syn. MORUS NIGRA. Baccae, Dub. Mures, Fr.; Schwarze Maulbeeren, Germ.; Morone, Ital; Moras, Span. Morus. Sex. Syst. Moncecia Tetrandria.—Nat. Ord. Urticaeeae. Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx four-parted. Corolla none. Female. Calyx four- leaved. Corolla none. Styles two. Calyx berried. Seed one. Willd, Moms nigra. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 36; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 712, t. 243. This species of mulberry is distinguished by its cordate ovate, or lobed, un- equally toothed, and scabrous leaves. It is a tree of middle size, supposed to have been brought originally from Persia into Italy, and thence spread over Europe and America. Its leaves afford food for the silk-worm; and the bark of the root, which is bitter and slightly acrid, has been employed as a vermi- fuge, especially in cases of the tape-worm, in the dose of two drachms infused in eight ounces of boiling water. But the fruit is the only portion directed by the Colleges. This is oblong oval, of a dark reddish-purple almost black colour, and con- sists of numerous minute berries united together and attached to a common receptacle, each containing a single seed, the succulent envelope of which is formed by the calyx. It is inodorous, has a sweet, mucilaginous, acidulous taste, and abounds in a deep-red juice. The sourish taste is owing, according to Hermbstadt, to the presence of tartaric acid. Medical Properties and Uses. Mulberries are refreshing and laxative, and serve to prepare a grateful drink well adapted to febrile cases. A syrup is made from them, and used as a pleasant addition to gargles in inflammation of the throat. They are, however, more used as food than medicine. Our native mulberry, the fruit of the 31. rubra, is quite equal to that of the im- ported species. The 31. alba, originally from China, and now extensively cultivated as a source of food for the silk-worm, bears a white fruit, which is sweeter and less grateful than the others. Off. Prep. Syrupus Mori, Lond. W. MOSCHUS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Musk "A peculiar concrete substance obtained from Moschus moschiferus." U S. "Moschus moschiferus. Humor in folliculo praeputii secretus." Lond, "In- spissated secretion in the follicles of the prepuce of Moschus moschiferus." Ed. Muse, Fr.; Bisam, Germ.; Muschio, Ital; Almizcle, Span. Moschus. Class Mammalia. Order Pecora. Gen, Ch. Horns none. Fore teeth eight in the lower jaw. Tusks one on each side in the upper jaw, projecting out of the mouth. 3Ioschus moschiferus. Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. 172; lees's Cyclopaedia. This animal bears a close resemblance to the deer in shape and size. It is usually less than three feet in length, with haunches considerably more elevated than the shoulders. From its upper jaw two tusks project downwards out of the mouth, each about two inches long, curved backwards, and serving to extract the roots which are used as food by the animal. The ears are long and nar- row, and the tail very short. The fleece, which consists of strong, elastic, undulated hairs, varies in colour with the season, the age of the animal, and 464 Moschus. PART I. perhaps the place which it inhabits. The general colour is a deep iron-gray. The individual hairs are whitish near the root, and fawn-coloured or blackish towards the tip. The musk is contained in an oval, hairy, projecting sac, found only in the male, situated between the umbilicus and the prepuce, from two to three inches long, and from one to two broad, communicating exter- nally by a small hairy orifice at its anterior part, and marked posteriorly by a groove or furrow which corresponds with the opening of the prepuce. It is lined internally by a smooth membrane, which is thrown into a number of irregular folds forming incomplete partitions. In the vigorous adult animal, the sac sometimes contains six drachms of musk; but in the old seldom more than two drachms, and none in the young. The musk is secreted by the lining membrane, and in the living animal forms a consistent mass, which, on the outside, is compact, and marked with the folds of the membrane, but is less firm towards the centre, where there is sometimes a vacant space. As first secreted it is probably in the liquid state, and a portion is occasionally forced out by the animal, to which it communicates its odour. The musk deer inhabits the vast mountainous regions of central Asia, extending from India to Siberia, and from the country of the Turcomans to China. It is an active and timid animal, springing from rock to rock with surprising agility, and frequenting the snowy recesses, and most inaccessible crags of the mountains. Concealing itself during the day, it chooses the night for roaming in search of food; and, though said to be abundant in its native regions, is taken with difficulty. It is hunted for its hide, as well as for the musk. As soon as the animal is killed, the sac is cut off, and dried with its contents; and in this state is sent into the market. Musk varies in quality with the country inhabited by the animal. That procured from the mountains on the southern borders of Siberia, and brought into the market through Russia, is comparatively feeble. The best is im- ported from China, and is said to be the product of Tonquin. A variety intermediate between these is procured in the Himalaya Mountains and Thi- bet, and sent to Calcutta. We derive our chief supply from Canton, though portions are occasionally brought hither from Europe. Two varieties are distinguished in the market, the Chinese and Russian. Both come in sacs, convex and hairy on one side, flat and destitute of hair on the other. The hairs are brownish-yellow, grayish, or whitish, stiff and short, and arranged concentrically around the orifice of the sac. The Chinese, which is the most highly valued, is in bags of a rounder shape, covered with brown- ish-yellow or reddish-brown hairs, and containing at most a drachm and a half of large-grained, dark, strong-scented musk, having an ammoniacal odour. The Russian, which is contained in longer and larger bags, is small grained, of a clear yellowish-brown colour, of a weaker and more fetid odour, with less smell of ammonia. Properties. Musk is in grains or lumps concreted together, soft and unc- tuous to the touch, and of a reddish-brown or ferruginous colour, resembling that of dried blood. Some hairs of the pod are generally mixed with it. The odour is strong, penetrating, and so powerfully diffusive, that one part of musk communicates its smell to more than 3000 parts of inodorous pow- der. (Fee.) In some delicate individuals it produces headache and other dis- agreeable symptoms, and has even given rise to convulsions. The taste is bitter, disagreeable, and somewhat acrid. The colour of the powder is reddish- brown. Musk is inflammable, burning with a white flame, and leaving a light spongy charcoal. It yields, upon analysis, a great'number of proximate prin- ciples. Guibourt and Blondeau obtained water, ammonia, stearin, olein, cho- lesterin, an oily acid combined with ammonia, volatile oil, muriate of ammonia, PART r. Moschus. 465 chlorides of potassium and calcium, an uncertain acid combined with ammonia, potassa and lime, gelatin, albumen, fibrin, a highly carbonaceous matter solu- ble in water, a soluble calcareous salt with a combustible acid, carbonate and phosphate of lime, hair, and sand. (Annal. de Chim, et de Phys., ix. 327.) Besides these principles, Geiger and Reinman found a peculiar bitter resin, osmazome, and a peculiar substance in part combined with ammonia. Ac- cording to Guibourt and Blondeau, it contains 47 per cent, of volatile matter, thought by some to be chiefly ammonia, by others to be a compound of am- monia and volatile oil. Theimann obtained only from 10 to 15 per cent. But the quantity of volatile as well as of soluble matter varies exceedingly in different specimens. Thus, Theimann found from 80 to 90 per cent, of matter soluble in water, Buchner, only 54-5 per cent., and other chemists interme- diate proportions. The proportion soluble in alcohol, as ascertained by different experimenters, varies from 25 to 62 per cent. Sulphuric ether is a good solvent. The watery infusion has a yellowish-brown colour, a bitterish taste, a strong smell of musk, and an acid reaction. The alcoholic tincture is trans- parent, and of a reddish-brown colour, with the peculiar odour of the medicine. The action of potassa upon musk is accompanied with the extrication of am- monia, and an increase of its peculiar odour. By the influence of heat and moisture long continued, ammonia is developed, which acts upon the fatty matter, producing a substance resembling adipocire, but, according to Gui- bourt, without diminishing the activity of the medicinal principles. The correctness, however, of this opinion, is perhaps questionable; and it is advisable to preserve the musk as much as possible unaltered. When kept in glass bottles, in a situation neither moist nor very dry, it remains for a great length of time without material change. The odour of musk is very much diminished by mixing it with emulsion or syrup of bitter almonds, or cherry-laurel water. From the experiments of Wimmer, it appears that musk loses its odour when rubbed with kermes mineral, or golden sulphur of antimony, and reacquires it on the addition of a little solution of ammonia to the mixture. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, A. D. 1843, p. 406.) Adulterations. The price of this medicine is so high, and the sources of supply so limited, as to offer strong temptations to adulteration; and it is said that little of the genuine unmixed musk is to be found in the market. The sophistication commences with the Chinese, and is completed in Europe and this country. A common practice in the East is to open the sac, and to sup- ply the place of the musk with an adulterated mixture. Sometimes the scro- tum of the animal is filled with this mixture, and not unfrequently the sacs are manufactured out of the skin. Dried blood, from its resemblance in ap- pearance to musk, is among the most common adulterations; but, besides this, sand, lead, iron-filings, hair, animal membrane, tobacco, the dung of birds, wax, benzoin, storax, asphaltum, and other substances are introduced. These are mixed with a portion of musk, the powerful odour of which is diffused through the mass, and renders the discovery of the fraud sometimes difficult. It is said that the Chinese sometimes mix the musk of Tonquin with that of Siberia. The bags containing the drug should have the characters before described as belonging to the natural sac, and should present no evidence of having been opened. The slit is sometimes carefully sewed up, sometimes glued together. The former condition may be discovered by close inspection, the latter by immersion in hot water. When the bag is made from any other portion of the skin, the difference may be detected, according to Mr. Neligan, by a microscope which magnifies 300 diameters. The genuine hairs appear furnished with innumerable cells, which are wanting in the spurious. ( Chem. Gaz., Feb. 1846, p. 79.) Musk which burns with difficulty, which has a 30 466 Moschus.—Moxa. part i. feeble odour, and a colour either pale or entirely black, which feels gritty to the finger, is very moist, or contains obvious impurities, should be rejected. It is asserted that the Russian musk is never adulterated before leaving Russia. Medical Properties and Uses. Musk is stimulant and antispasmodic, in- creasing the vigour of the circulation, and exalting the nervous energy, with- out producing, either as an immediate or secondary effect, any considerable derangement of the purely cerebral functions. Its medical uses are such as may be inferred from its general operation. In almost all spasmodic diseases, so far as mere relaxation of spasm is desirable, it is more or less efficacious; but peculiar advantages may be expected from it in those cases in which a prostrate condition of the system, attended with great nervous agitation, or irregular muscular action, calls for the united influence of a highly diffusible stimulant and powerful antispasmodic. Such are very low cases of typhous disease, accompanied with subsultus tehdinuin, tremors, and singultus. Such also are many instances of gout in the stomach, and other spasmodic affections of that organ. In very obstinate hiccough we have found it more effectual than any other remedy; and have seen great advantage from its use in those alarming and dangerous convulsions of infants which have their origin in spasm of the intestines. It is said to have done much good, combined with opium, and administered in very large doses, in tetanus. Epilepsy, hysteria, asthma, pertussis, palpitations, cholera, and colic, are among the numerous spasmodic affections in which circumstances may render the employment of musk desirable. The chief obstacles to its general use are its very high price, and the great uncertainty as regards the degree of its purity. Musk was un- known to the ancients. Aetius was the first writer who noticed it as a medi- cine. It was introduced into Europe through the Arabians, from whose lan- guage its name was derived. It may be given in the form of pill or emulsion. The medium dose is ten grains, to be repeated every two or three hours. In the cases of children it may be given with great advantage in the form of enema. The tincture, which is an officinal preparation, is sometimes prescribed. Off. Prep. Mistura Moschi, Lond.; Tinctura Moschi, Dub. W. MOXA. Dub. Moxa. "Artemisia Chinensis et A. Indica, Folia." Dub. The term moxa is employed to designate small masses of combustible mat- ter, intended, by being burnt slowly in contact with the skin, to produce an eschar. They are of various forms, and made of different materials. The Chi- nese moxa is in small cones from eight to twelve lines in height, and is pre- pared from the leaves of one or more species of Artemisia. The A. Chinensis and A. Indica are indicated by the Dublin College; but Lindley states that it is the A. 3Ioxa of De Candolle which is employed. According to some authors, the part used is the down which covers the leaves and stems • but others, with greater probability, assert that it is a fine lanuginous substance, prepared from the leaves by beating them in a mortar. A coarser and a finer product are obtained, the former of which is used for tinder, the latter worked up into moxa. A similar moxa has been made in France by a similar pro- cess, from the leaves of the A. vulgaris. Various substitutes have been proposed for the Chinese moxa, all composed of some light, porous, soft, inflammable substance, which burns slowly, and thus allows the heat to be regulated according to the effect desired. Linen PART I. Moxa. 467 rolled into a cylinder, cotton formed into the same shape and enclosed in a piece of linen, cords of cotton in small masses of various shapes, and even common spunk made from the agaric of the oak, have been employed by dif- ferent persons with the desired effect. But all these bodies are subject to the inconvenience of requiring to be constantly blown upon, in order that their combustion may be sustained. To remedy this defect, cotton impregnated with nitre has been recommend- ed; and the moxa usually employed is prepared from that substance.' It is important that the impregnation should be uniform; as otherwise different parts of the cylinder, burning with different degrees of rapidity, would pro- duce unequal effects upon the skin. The following process is recommended. One pound of cotton is introduced into a vessel containing two ounces of nitre dissolved in half a gallon of water, and a moderate heat applied, till all the liquid is evaporated. The cotton when perfectly dry is formed into thin, narrow sheets, which are rolled round a central cord of linen, so as to form a cylinder from half an inch to an inch in diameter, and several inches long. This is enclosed in a covering of silk or linen sewed firmly around it; and, when used, may be cut by a razor into transverse slices a few lines in length. By leaving a hole in the centre of the cylinder, the combustion will be ren- dered more vigorous, and a deeper eschar produced. The pith of the Illianthus annuus, or common sun-flower, has been pro- posed by M. Percy for the preparation of moxa, for which it is well adapted by the nitre which it contains, and which enables it to burn without insuffla- tion. The stem, when perfectly mature, is cut into transverse sections about half an inch in thickness, which must be carefully dried, and kept in a per- fectly dry place. They have this advantage, that, in consequence of the re- tention of the cortical portion, they may be held with impunity, while burning, between the fingers of the operator. They are, however, frequently defective in consequence of an insufficiency of nitre in the pith, or of the unequal inflammability of different parts of it. M. Robinet has perfected the preparation of moxa, by combining the ad- vantages of the two kinds last described. He rolls cotton round a small central cylinder of pith, and envelopes the whole in a piece of muslin, which is more or less firmly applied, according to the degree of compactness required. The cylinders thus made burn without assistance, uniformly, and with a rapidity proportionate to their firmness. Dr. Jacobson, of Copenhagen, has proposed, as a substitute for the ordinary forms of moxa, small cylinders formed out of strips of paper imbued with a solution of chromate of potassa; and cotton, impregnated with the solution of chlorate of potassa instead of nitre, is said to answer an excellent purpose. (Journ. de Pharm., xix, 608.) Small cylinders made out of strips of coarse muslin imbued with the same solution are also employed. M. Guepratt pro- poses paper or cotton dipped into the solution of subacetate of lead, and after- wards dried. (Med. Exam., N. S., iii. 455, from London Lancet.) Lime in the act of slaking has been employed by Dr. Osborne for the pur- poses of moxa. A portion of powdered quicklime, half an inch in thickness, and of suitable lateral dimensions, is applied to the skin, and confined by some convenient arrangement. A few drops of water are then added, and a degree of heat is soon evolved sufficient for a caustic effect, if the lime be allowed to remain as long as the heat continues. This may be increased or diminished by increasing or diminishing the quantity of lime employed. The eschar formed is somewhat more than double the extent of the base of the moxa. (Dublin Journ,, Jan., 1842.) Jlcdical Use. Cauterization by fire, in the treatment of disease, has been 468 Moxa.—Mucuna. PART I. commonly practised among savage and half civilized nations from the earliest periods of history, and has not been unknown as a remedy in the most polished communities. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks were acquainted with the use of moxa; and in China, Japan, and other countries of Asia, it appears to have been employed from time immemorial. From these countries the early Portuguese navigators introduced it into Europe; and the term moxa is said to have been derived from their language, though supposed by some to be of Chinese origin. The true Chinese name is said to be Mew. (Percy and Laurent.) Some years since, the remedy became very popular in France, and attracted some attention in this country. It acts on the principle of re- vulsion; relieving deep-seated inflammation, and local irritation whether vas- cular or nervous, by inviting the current of excitement to the skin. In some cases it may also operate advantageously by the propagation of a stimulant impression to neighbouring parts. The celebrated Larrey was among those who contributed most to bring this remedy into repute. The diseases in which it was recommended by this author were amaurosis, loss of taste, deafness, paralytic affections of the mus- cular system, asthma, chronic catarrh and pleurisy, phthisis, chronic engorge- ment of the liver and spleen, rachitis, diseased spine, coxalgia, and other forms of scrofulous and rheumatic inflammation of the joints. It has also been used advantageously in neuralgia, and is applicable to chronic complaints generally, in which powerful external revulsion is indicated. The parts of the body upon which, according to Larrey, it should not be applied, are the cranium when protected only by the skin and pericranium; the eyelids, nose, and ears; the skin over the larynx, trachea, and mammary glands, over superficial tendons, projecting points of bones, and articular pro- minences in which the capsular ligament might be involved; the anterior surface of the abdomen; and the genitals. As a general rule it should be applied as near as possible to the seat of the disease; and, in neuralgic or paralytic cases, at the origin or over the course of the nerves proceeding to the part affected. Some advise that the cylinder be attached to the skin by some adhesive liquid; but a more general practice is to retain it in the proper position by a pair of forceps or other instrument. Larrey recommends that the skin around it be covered with a piece of moist- ened lint,' having a hole in the centre to admit the base of the cylinder. The moxa should be set on fire at the summit, and the combustion sustained if necessary by the breath, the blow-pipe, or the bellows. The size of the cy- linder should vary, according to the effect desired, from half an inch to an inch or more in diameter, and from a few lines to an inch in height. Any degree of effect may be obtained, from a slight inflammation to the death of the skin, by regulating the time during which the moxa is allowed to burn. When a slough is required, it should be suffered to burn until consumed. The first sensation experienced is not disagreeable; but the operation becomes gradually more painful, and towards the close is for a short time very severe. AV. MUCUNA. U.S. Secondary. Cowhage. " The bristles of the pods of Mucuna pruriens." U S. " Mucuna pruriens. Leguminis Pubes." Loud. " Hairs from the pod of Mucuna prurient " Ed Off Syn. DOLICHOS PRURIENS. Pubes leguminis. Dub. Pois a gratter, Fr.; Kuhkriitze, Germ.; Dolico Scottante, Ital. part I. Mucuna. 469 Mucuna. Sex. Syst. Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceae or Legu- minosae. Gen. Ch. Calyx campanulate, bilabiate; the lower lip trifid, with acute segments, the middle one longest; the upper lip broader, entire, obtuse. CoroUa with the vexillum ascending, shorter than the wings and keel; the wings oblong, equal to the keel in length; the keel oblong, straight, acute. Stamens diadelphous, with five anthers oblong-linear, and five ovate, hirsute. Legume oblong, torose, bivalvular, with cellular partitions. Seeds roundish, surrounded circularly by a linear hilum, (De Candolle.) 3Iucvna pruriens. De Cand., Prodrom. ii. 405; Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 2bi.—Doliehos pruriens. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1041; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 422.—Stizolobium pruriens. Persoon. This is a perennial climbing plant, with an herbaceous branching stem, which twines round the trees in its vici- nity, and rises to a considerable height. The leaves are pinnately trifoliate, and stand on long footstalks, placed alternately on the stem at the distance of a foot from each other. The leaflets are acuminate, smooth on their upper surface, and hairy beneath. The lateral leaflets are oblique at the base, the middle one somewhat rhomboidal. The flowers, which resemble those of the ■pea in form, are large, of a red or purplish colour, usually placed in threes on short peduncles, and hang from the axils of the leaves in pendent spikes about a foot in length. The fruit is a coriaceous pod, shaped like the Italic letter f about four inches long, and covered with brown bristly hairs, which easily separate, and when handled stick in the fingers, producing an intense itching sensation. The plant is a native of the West Indies, and other parts of tro- pical America. It has been supposed to grow also in the East Indies; but the plant of that region is now considered a distinct species, and entitled Mucuna prurita. The part usually imported is the pod, of which the hairs are the officinal portion. 3Iedieal Properties and Uses. These spiculae are said to be possessed of powerful vermifuge properties, and are thought to act mechanically, by pene- trating the worms. That they do act in this manner is evinced as well by the result of direct experiment upon worms out of the body, as by the fact that neither the tincture nor decoction is in the slightest degree anthelmintic. Why the worms should be injured, and the mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels escape with impunity, is not satisfactorily explained. The medi- cine was first employed as a vermifuge by the inhabitants of the West Indies, and thence passed into British practice. The testimony in its favour is too strong to admit of any reasonable doubt as to its efficiency. It has been chiefly employed against the round worm; but all the different species which infest the alimentary canal have been expelled by its use. It is best administered mixed with some tenacious vehicle. The usual mode of preparing it is to dip the pods into syrup or molasses, and scrape ofifthe hairs with the liquid, which is in a proper state for administration when it has attained the consistency of thick honey. The dose of this preparation is a tablespoonful for an adult, a teaspoonful for a child three or four years old, to be given every morning for three days, and then followed by a brisk cathartic. The root of the M. pruriens (31. prurita) is said by Ainslie to be employed in the East Indies in the treatment of cholera; and both this part and the pods have been thought to possess diuretic properties. W. 470 Myristica.—Mtjristicse Adeps.—Macis. part I. MYRISTICA. U. S., Lond., Ed. ISutmeg. "The kernels of the fruit of Myristica moschata." U. S. "Myristica mos- chata. Nuclei." Lond. "Kernel of the fruit of Myristica officinalis." Ed. Off. Syn. NUX MOSCHATA. MYRISTICA MOSCHATA. Nu- cleus. Dub. Noix muscade, Fr.; Muskatnuss, Germ.; Noce moschata, Ital; Nuez moscada, Span. MYRISTICvE ADEPS. Ed. Concrete Oil of Nutmeg. " Concrete expressed oil from the kernel of the fruit of Myristica offici- nalis." Ed. MACIS. Dub. Mace. "Myristica moschata. Involucrum MACIS dictum." Dub. Macis, Fr.; Muskatbliithe, Germ.; Macis, Ital; Macias, Span. Myristica. Sex. Syst. Dioecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Myristicacea). Gen. Ch, Male. Calyx none. Corolla bell-shaped, trifid. Filament colum- nar. Anthers six or ten united. Female. Calyx none. Corolla bell-shaped, trifid, deciduous. Style none. Stigmas two. Drupe with a nut involved in an arillus with one seed. Willd. 31yristica moschata, Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 869; Woodv. 31ed. Bot. p. 698, t. 238.—31. officinalis. Linn. Suppl. 265; Lindley, Flor. Med. p. 21. The nutmeg tree is about thirty feet high, with numerous branches, and an aspect somewhat resembling that of the orange tree. The leaves stand alter- nately on short footstalks, are oblong oval, pointed, entire, undulated, obliquely nerved, bright green and somewhat glossy on their upper surface, whitish beneath, and of an aromatic taste. The flowers are male and female upon different trees. The former are disposed in axillary, peduncled, solitary clus- ters; the latter are single, solitary, and axillary; both are minute and of a pale yellowish colour. The fruit, which appears on the tree mingled with the flowers, is round or oval, of the size of a small peach, with a smooth surface, at first pale green, but yellow when ripe, and marked with a longitudinal furrow. The external covering, which is at first thick and fleshy, and abounds in an austere, astringent juice, afterwards becomes dry and coriaceous, and, separating into two valves from the apex, discloses a scarlet reticulated mem- brane or arillus, commonly called mace, closely investing a thin, brown, shining shell, which contains the kernel or nutmeg. Not less than eight varieties of this species are said by Crawford to be cultivated in the East Indies; but they have not been well defined. The 31yristica moschata is a native of the Moluccas and other neighbouring islands, and abounds especially in that small cluster distinguished by the name of Banda, whence the chief supplies of nutmegs have long been derived. The plant, however, is now cultivated in Sumatra, Java, Penang, and some other parts of the East Indies; and has been introduced into the Isle of France and Bourbon, the Frencb colony of Cayenne, and some of the West India islands. part I. Myristica.—Myristicse Adeps. 471 The tree is produced from the seed. It does not flower till the eighth or ninth year; after which it bears flowers and fruit together, without intermis- sion, and is said to continue bearing for seventy or eighty years. Little trouble is requisite in its cultivation. A branch of the female tree is grafted into all the young plants when about two years old, so as to insure their early fruit- fulness. In the Moluccas the tree yields three crops annually. The fruit is gathered by the hand, and the outside covering is rejected as useless. The mace is then carefully separated, so as to break it as little as possible, is flat- tened, and dried in the sun, and afterwards sprinkled with salt water, with the view of contributing to its preservation. Its fine red colour is much impaired by drying. The nuts are dried in the sun or by ovens, and exposed to smoke, till the kernel rattles in the shell. They are then broken open; and the ker- nels, having been removed and steeped for a short time in a mixture of lime and water, probably in order to preserve them from the attack of worms, are next cleaned, and packed in casks or chests for exportation. Nutmegs are brought to this country either directly from the East Indies, or indirectly through England and Holland. They are also occasionally im- ported in very small emantities from the West Indies. Properties. The nutmeg (nux moschata) is of a roundish or oval shape, obtuse at the extremities, marked with vermicular furrows of a grayish colour, hard, smooth to the touch, yielding readily to the knife or the grater, but not very pulverulent. When cut or broken it presents a yellowish surface, varied with reddish-brown, branching, irregular veins, which give to it a marbled appearance. These dark veins abound in oily matter, upon which the medicinal properties depend. The odour of nutmeg is delightfully fragrant, the taste warm, aromatic, and grateful. Its virtues are extracted by alcohol and ether. M. Bonastre obtained from 500 parts, 120 of a white insoluble oily substance (stearin), 38 of a coloured soluble oil (olein), 30 of volatile oil, 4 of acid, 12 of fecula, 6 of gum, 270 of lignin; and 20 parts were lost. (Journ. de Pharm., ix. 281.) The volatile oil is obtained by distillation with water. (See Oleum 3Iyristieee.) By pressure with heat an oily matter is procured from the kernels, which becomes solid on cooling, and is commonly though erroneously called oil of mace. It is said that nutmegs are often punctured and boiled in order to extract their essential oil, and the orifice afterwards closed so carefully as not to be discoverable unless by breaking the kernel. The fraud may be detected by their greater levity. They are also apt to be injured by worms, which, how- ever, attack preferably those parts which are least impregnated with the vola- tile oil. We are told that the Dutch heat them in a stove in order to deprive them of the power of germinating, and thus prevent the propagation of the tree. The small and round nutmegs are preferred to those which are large and oval. They should be rejected when very light, with a feeble taste and smell, worm eaten, musty, or marked with black veins. A kind of nutmeg is occasionally met with, ascribed by some to a variety of the 31. moschata, by others to a different species, which is distinguished from that just described by its much greater length, its elliptical shape, the absence of the dark brown veins, and its comparatively feeble odour, and dis- agreeable taste. It has been called male or wild nutmeg, the other being desig- nated as the female or cultivated nutmeg. The concrete or expressed oil of nutmeg (MYRISTICiE Adeps, Ed.), com- monly called oil of mace, is obtained by bruising nutmegs, exposing them in a bag to the vapour of water, and then compressing them strongly between heated plates. A liquid oil flows out, which becomes solid when it cools. Nutmegs are said to yield from ten to twelve per cent, of this oil. The best 472 Myristica.—Macis. PART I. is imported from the East Indies in stone jars. It is solid, soft, unctuous to the touch, of a yellowish or orange-yellow colour, more or less mottled, with the odour and taste of nutmeg. It is composed, according to Schrader, of 52-09 per cent, of a soft oily substance, yellowish or brownish, soluble in cold alcohol and ether; 43-75 of a white pulverulent, inodorous substance, insolu- ble in these liquids; and 4-16 of volatile oil. An inferior kind of expressed oil of nutmegs is prepared in Holland, and sometimes found in the shops. It is in hard, shining, square cakes, of a lighter colour than that from the East Indies, and with less smell and taste. It is supposed to be derived from nutmegs previously deprived of most of their volatile oil by distillation. An artificial preparation is sometimes sub- stituted for the genuine oil. It is made by mixing together various fatty matters, such as suet, palm oil, spermaceti, wax, &c, adding some colouring substance, and giving flavour to the mixture by the volatile oil of nutmeg. 3Iace (Macis, Dub.) is in the shape of a flat membrane irregularly slit, smooth, soft, flexible, of a-reddish or orange-yellow colour, and an odour and taste closely resembling those of nutmeg. It consists, according to M. Henry, of an essential oil in small quantity; a fixed oil, odorous, yellow, soluble in ether, insoluble in boiling alcohol; another fixed oil, odorous, red, soluble in alcohol and ether in every proportion; a peculiar gummy matter, analogous to amidin and gum, constituting one-third of the whole; and a small pro- portion of ligneous fibre. Mace yields a volatile oil by distillation, and a fixed oil by pressure. Neumann found the former heavier than water. The latter is less consistent than the fixed oil of nutmeg. Mace is inferior when it is brittle, less than usually divided, whitish or pale yellow, or with little taste and smell. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Nutmeg unites with the medicinal properties of the ordinary aromatics, considerable narcotic power. In the quantity of two or three drachms it has been known to produce stupor and delirium; and dan- gerous if not fatal consequences are said to have followed its free use in India. It is employed to cover the taste or correct the operation of other medicines, but more frequently as an agreeable addition to farinaceous articles of diet, and to various kinds of drink in cases of languid appetite and delicate sto- mach. It is usually given in substance, and is brought by grating to the state of a powder. 3Iace possesses properties essentially the same with those of nutmeg; and, like that medicine, has been known, when taken in excess, to produce alarming sensorial disturbance. (Gr. C. Watson, Prov. 3Ied, and Surg. Journ., Jan. 26, 1848.) It is, however, less used as a medicine. The dose of either is from five to twenty grains. As the virtues of nutmeg depend chiefly if not exclusively on the volatile oil, the latter may be substi- tuted, in the dose of two or three drops, whenever a liquid preparation is de- sirable. The expressed oil of nutmeg is occasionally used as a gentle external stimulant, and, though not admitted into the Materia Medica list of the London Pharmacopoeia, is an ingredient in the Emplastrum Picis of that work. The ancients were wholly unacquainted with the nutmeg; and Avicenna is said to be the first author by whom it is noticed. Off. Prep. Of Myristica. Acetum Opii, U. S.; Confectio Aromatica, Lond., Dub.; Electuarium Catechu, Ed.; Pulvis Aromaticus, U.S.; Pulvis Cretoe Compositus, Ed.; Spiritus Ammoniae Aromaticus, Dub.; Spiritus Armoraciae Comp., Loud., Dub.; Spiritus Lavandula) Comp., U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Myristica), U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Rhei Aromaticus, U S.; Trochisci Cretae, U S.} Ed.; Trochisci Magnesiae, U. S., Ed. W. PART I. Myroxylon. 473 MYROXYLON. U.S. Balsam of Peru. " The juice of Myroxylon Peruiferum." U. S. Off. Syn, BALSAMUM PERUVIANUM. Myroxylon Peruiferum. Balsamum.Liquidum. Lond,; BALSAMUM PERUVIANUM. Fluid balsamic exudation of Myrospermum Peruiferum. Ed.; MYROXYLUM PERUVIANUM. Balsamum. Dub. Baume de Perou, Fr.; Peruvianischer Balsam, Germ.; Balsamo del Peru, Ital.; Bal- samo negro. Span. Myroxylon. Sex, Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Leguminosas, De Cand. Amyridaceae, Lindley. Gen, Ch. Calyx bell-shaped, five-toothed. Petals five, the upper one larger than the others. Germen longer than the corolla. Legume with one seed only at the point. Willd. Myroxylon peruiferum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 546; Lambert's Illustra- tions, A. D. 1821, p. 97.-—Myrospermumperuiferum. De Cand. Prodrom. ii. 95; Carson, Illust. of 3Ied, Bot., i. 37, pi. 31. This is a tall and very beautiful tree, with a straight, smooth trunk, and branches nearly horizontal. The bark is of a gray colour, compact, heavy, and highly resinous; and has the aromatic flavour of the balsam. The leaves are alternate, and composed of two, three, four, and sometimes five pairs of leaflets, which are nearly opposite, ovate lanceo- late, with a lengthened but somewhat blunt and emarginate apex, entire, smooth and shining, hairy on the under surface, marked with numerous transparent points, and placed on short footstalks. Many leaves terminate unequally, consisting of five, seven, or nine leaflets. The common petioles are rather thick and hairy. The flowers are white or rose-coloured, and dis- posed in axillary racemes, longer than the leaves. The fruit is a pendulous, straw-coloured legume, club-shaped, somewhat curved, terminating in the curved style, and globular near the extremity, where there is a single cell, containing a crescent-shaped seed. The tree is a native of the warmer regions of South America, growing in various parts of Peru and New Granada, where it is called quinquino by the natives. The wood is employed in building, and is valuable for its durability. The bark and fruit are used to perfume apartments. The tree yields by in- cision a balsamic juice, which, when received in bottles, maybe preserved in ■ a liquid state for some years. This is called white liquid balsam. When this juice is deposited in mats or calabashes, it becomes concrete, and acquires the name of dry white balsam, thought by some to be identical with balsam of Tolu. By boiling the bark in water, a dark-coloured liquid is procured, which retains its fluid consistence, and is called black Peruvian balsam. According to Ruiz, from whose account the above details were derived, "there is no difference in these three balsams, excepting in the name, colour, and con- sistence." It is only the dark-coloured liquid that is known with us by the name of balsam of Peru, and to this the following remarks are confined. In stating that it is procured by boiling the bark in water, Ruiz does not speak from his own knowledge. A general opinion is, that it is prepared by decoction from the smaller branches. According to another, opinion, it is prepared by distillation per descensum, in the same manner as tar; but the absence of empyreumatic odour renders this very doubtful. As brought into the United States, it is usually in tin canisters, with a whitish scum upon its surface, and more or less deposit, which, however, is dissolved with the aid of heat. 474 Myroxylon.—Myrrha. PART I. In a communication by M. Guibourt to the Society of Pharmacy at Paris, it is stated, on the authority of M. Bazire, that a product, exactly resembling the dark-coloured Peruvian balsam of commerce, is collected largely in Gua- temala, and thence sent to Peru. It is obtained from a tree belonging to the genus 31yrospermum of Jacquin—3Iyroxylon of Linnaeus—but specifically different from the 31. Peruiferum. Prrjperties. Balsam of Peru is viscid like syrup or honey, of a dark red- dish-brown colour, a fragrant odour, and a warm bitterish taste, leaving when swallowed a burning or prickling sensation in the throat. Its sp. gr. is from 1-14 to 1-15. When exposed to flame it takes fire, diffusing a white smoke and a fragrant odour. Consisting chiefly of resin, essential oil, and benzoic acid, it is properly considered a balsam, though probably altered by heat. Alcohol in large proportion entirely dissolves it. Boiling water extracts the benzoic acid. From 1000 parts of the balsam, Stolze obtained 24 parts of a brown nearly insoluble resinous matter, 207 of resin readily soluble, 690 of oil, 64 of benzoic acid, 6 of extractive matter, and a small proportion of water. The oil he considers to be of a peculiar nature, differing from the volatile, the fixed, and the empyreumatic oils. Results of a different character were obtained by Fremy, who maintains that the acid contained in the balsam is cinnamic and not benzoic acid. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. This balsam is a warm, stimulating tonic and expectorant, and has been recommended in chronic catarrhs, certain forms of asthma, phthisis, and other pectoral complaints attended with debility. It has also been used in gonorrhoea, leucorrhcea, amenorrhoea, chronic rheuma- tism, and palsy. At present, however, it is -little employed by American physicians. As an external application it has been found beneficial in chronic indolent ulcers. The dose is half a fluidrachm. It is best administered diffused in water by means of sugar and the yolk of eggs or gum Arabic. Off. Prep. Tinctura Benzoini Composita, Ed. AY. MYRRHA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Myrrh. " The concrete juice of Balsamodendron Myrrha." U S. "Balsamodendron Myrrha. Gummi-resina." Lond. " Gummy resinous exudation of Balsamo- dendron Myrrha." Ed, Myrrhe, Fr., Germ.; Mirra, Ital, Span.; Murr, Arab.; Bowl, Hindobst. Though myrrh has been employed from the earliest periods of history, the plant which yields it has not been certainly known till a very recent date. The Amyris Katafoi Forskhal, seen by that traveller in Arabia, was supposed by him to be the myrrh tree, but without sufficient evidence. More recently Ehrenberg, a German traveller, met on the frontiers of Arabia Felix with a plant, from the bark of which'he collected a gum resin precisely similar to the myrrh of commerce. From specimens of the plant taken by Ehrenberg to Germany, Nees von Esenbeck referred it to the genus Balsamodendron of Kunth, and named it Balsamodendron 3Iyrrha. This genus was formed by Kunth from Amyris, and includes the Amyris Kataf of Forskhal, which may possibly also produce a variety of myrrh. The new genus differs from Amyris, chiefly in having the stamens beneath instead of upon the germ. It was not thought by De Candolle sufficiently distinct. Balsamodendron 3Iyrrha. Fee, Cours d'Hist. Nat. Pharm., i. 641; Car- son, Illust. of 31ed, Bot., i. 28, pi. 20. This is a small tree, with a stunted trunk, covered with a whitish-gray bark, and furnished with rough abortive part i. Myrrha. 475 branches terminating in spines. The leaves are ternate, consisting of obovate, blunt, smooth, obtusely denticulate leaflets, of which the two lateral are much smaller than that at the end. The fruit is oval lanceolate, pointed, longi- tudinally furrowed, of a brown colour, and surrounded at its base by the persistent calyx. The tree grows in Arabia Felix, in the neighbourhood of Gison, in dwarfish thickets, interspersed among the Acaciae and Euphorbiae. The juice exudes spontaneously, and concretes upon the bark. Formerly the best myrrh was brought from the shores of the Red Sea by way of Egypt and the Levant, and hence received the name of Turkey myrrh; while the inferior qualities were imported from the East Indies, and commonly called India myrrh. These titles have ceased to be applicable; as myrrh of all qualities is now brought from the East Indies, whither it is carried from Arabia and probably from Abyssinia. It is usually imported in chests con- taining between one and two hundred weight. Sometimes the different qualities are brought separate; but sometimes also more or less mingled. Only the best kind should be selected for medical use. Properties. Myrrh is in small irregular fragments or tears, or in larger masses, composed apparently of agglutinated portions differing somewhat in their shade of colour. The pieces are exceedingly irregular in shape and size, being sometimes not larger than a pea, and sometimes, though rarely, almost as large as the fist. They are often powdery upon the surface. When of good quality, myrrh is reddish-yellow or reddish-brown and translucent, of a strong peculiar somewhat fragrant odour, and a bitter aromatic taste. It is brittle and pulverizable, presenting, when broken, a shining surface, which in the larger masses is very irregular, and sometimes exhibits opaque whitish or yellowish veins. In powder it is of a light yellowish colour. Under the teeth it is at first friable, but soon softens and becomes adhesive. It is in- flammable, but does not burn vigorously, and is not fusible by heat. Its specific gravity is stated at 1-36. The inferior kind of myrrh, commonly called India myrrh, is in pieces much darker than those described, more opaque, less odorous, and often abounding with impurities. We have seen pieces of India myrrh enclosing large crystals of common salt, as if the juice might have fallen from the tree and concreted upon the ground, where this mineral abounds. Pieces of bdellium and other gummy or resinous substances of unknown origin are often mixed with it. Among these is a product which may be called false myrrh. It is in pieces of irregular form, of a dirty reddish- brown colour, a vitreous brownish-yellow fracture, semitransparent, of a faint odour of myrrh, and a bitter balsamic taste. It is best to purchase myrrh in mass; as in powder it is very liable to adulterations which are not easily detected. Myrrh is partially soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. Triturated with water it forms an opaque yellowish or whitish emulsion, which deposits the larger portion of the myrrh upon standing. Its alcoholic tincture is rendered opaque by the addition of water, but throws down no precipitate. According to Neumann, alcohol and water severally extract the whole of its odour and taste. By distillation a volatile oil rises, having the pecular flavour of myrrh, and leaving the residue in the retort simply bitter. The gum-resin is soluble in solutions of the alkalies, and when triturated with them in a crystalline state forms a tenacious liquid. Hence carbonate of potassa may be used to facilitate its suspension in water. Braconnot found 2-5 parts of volatile oil and 23 parts of a bitter resin, 46 of soluble, and 12 of insoluble gum in the hundred. (Ann. de Chim., lxvii. 52.) Pelletier obtained 34 per cent, of resin, with a small proportion of volatile oil, and 66 per cent, of gum. A more recent analysis by Ruickoldt gave in 100 parts 2-183 of volatile oil, 476 Myrrha.—Nux Vomica. part I. 44-760 of resin, 40-818 of gum or arabin, 1-475 of water, and 3-050 of carbonate of lime and magnesia, with some gypsum and peroxide of iron. The resin, which he calls myrrhin, is neuter, but acquires acid properties when kept for a short time in fusion. In the latter state M. Ruickoldt pro- posesto call it myrrhie acid, (Arehiv. der Pharm., xli. 1.) Myrrh which contains little volatile oil, according to MM. Bley and Diesel, always has an acid reaction, which they ascribe to the oxidation of the oil. They found formic acid in the myrrh. (Ibid, xliii. 304.) _ The same writers give as a test of myrrh the production of a transparent dirty-yellow liquid with nitric acid, while false myrrh affords a bright-yellow solution in the same fluid, and bdellium is not dissolved by it, but becomes whitish and opaque. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 228.) According to M. Righini, when powdered myrrh is rubbed for fifteen minutes with an equal weight of muriate of ammonia, and fifteen times its weight of water gradually added, if it dissolve quickly and entirely it may be considered pure. (Journ. de Chim. Mid., 1844, p. 33.) Medical Properties and Uses. Myrrh is a stimulant tonic, with some tendency to the lungs, and perhaps to the uterus. Hence it is employed as an expectorant and emmenagogue, in debilitated states of the system, in the absence of febrile excitement or acute inflammation. The complaints in which it is usually administered are chronic catarrh, phthisis pulmonalis, humoral asthma, other pectoral affections in which the secretion of mucus is abundant but not easily expectorated, chlorosis, amenorrhcea, and the various affections connected with this state of the uterine function. It is generally given combined with chalybeates or other tonics, and in amenorrhcea very frequently with aloes. It is used also as a local application to spongy gums, the aphthous sore mouth of children/and various kinds of unhealthy ulcers. The dose is from ten to thirty grains, and may be given in the form of powder or pill, or suspended in water, as in the famous antihectic mixture of Dr. Griffith, which has become officinal by the name of Mistura Ferri Composita. The watery infusion is also sometimes given, and an aqueous extract has been recommended as milder than myrrh in substance. The tincture is used chiefly as an external application. Off. Prep Decoctum Aloes Compositum, Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Mistura Ferri L,omp US., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Piluke Aloes et Myrrhae, U.S., Lond, H-' nt'! -Pli- Ass*foetid9e> Ed.; Pil. Ferri Comp., 'U S., Lond,, Did,; Id. Galbani Comp., U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pil. Rhei Comp., U.S., Lond,, Ed.; Tinctura .Myrrhae, U S., Lond, Ed., Dub. W. NUX VOMICA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Nux Vomica. "The seeds of Strychnos Nux vomica." U.S., Ed. "Strychnos nux vomica. Semina. Loud. Noix vomique, Fr.; Kruhenaugen, Breehntisse, Germ.,- Noce vomica, Ital ■ Nuez vo- mica, Span ' '' Strychnos. Sex. Syst, Pentandria Monogynia. — Nat. Ord. Apocynaceae. Gen. Lh, Corolla five-cleft. Berry one-celled, with a ligneous rind Wild Strychnos Nux vomica. Willd. Sp.Plant, i. 1052; Woodv. 3Ied Bot p 222, t. 79. This tree is of a moderate size, with numerous strong branches' covered with a smooth, dark-gray bark. The young branches are Ion*' flexuous, very smooth, dark-green, and furnished with oval roundish entire smooth, and shining leaves, having three or five ribs, and placed opposite to PART I. Nux Vomica. 477 each other on short footstalks. The flowers are small, white, funnel-shaped, and disposed in terminal corymbs. The fruit is a round berry, about as large as an orange, covered with a smooth, yellow or orange-coloured, hard, fragile rind, and containing numerous seeds embedded in a juicy pulp. The tree is a native of the East Indies, growing in Bengal, Malabar, on the coast of Coromandel, in Ceylon, in numerous islands of the Indian Archi- pelago, in Cochin-china, and other neighbouring countries. The wood and root are very bitter, and are employed in the East Indies for the cure of inter- mittents. The radices colubrinae and lignum colubrinum of the older writers, which have been long known in Europe as narcotic poisons, have been as- cribed to this species of Strychnos, under the impression that it is identical with'the S. Colubrina, to which Linnaeus refers them. They have been as- certained by Pelletier and Caventou to contain a large quantity of strychnia. The bark is said by Dr. O'Shaughnessy to answer exactly to the description given by authors of the false angustura, and, like that, to contain a large quantity of brucia. The identity of the two barks has been confirmed by Dr. Pereira, from a comparison of specimens. (See Angustura.) The only officinal portion of the plant is the seeds. These are circular, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and two lines in thickness, flat, or slightly convex on one side and concave on the other. They are thickly covered with fine, silky, shining, ash-coloured or yellowish-gray hairs, attached to a thin fragile coating, which closely invests the interior nucleus or kernel. This is very hard, horny, usually whitish and semitransparent, sometimes dark-coloured and opaque, and of very difficult pulverization. The powder is yellowish-gray, and has a faint sweetish odour. The seeds are destitute of odour, but have an acrid very bitter taste, which is much stronger in the kernel than in the investing membrane. They im- part their virtues to water, but more readily to diluted alcohol. Nux vomica has been analyzed by several chemists, but most accurately by Pelletier and Caventou, who discovered in it two alkaline principles, strychnia and brucia, united with a peculiar acid which they named igasuric. Its other constitu- ents are a yellow colouring matter, a concrete oil, gum, starch, bassorin, and a small quantity of wax. Strychnia and brucia are its active principles. Strychnia was discovered by Pelletier and Caventou, A. D. 1818, both in the nux vomica and bean of St. Ignatius, and received its name from the generic title of the plants (Strychnos), to which these two products belong. According to these chemists, it exists much more abundantly in the bean of St. Ignatius than in the nux vomica, the former yielding 1-2 per cent., the latter only 0.4 per cent, of the alkali. For an account of its properties and mode of preparation, see Strychnia, in the second part of this work. Brucia was discovered by Pelletier and Caventou, first in the bark called false angustura, in combination with gallic acid, and subsequently, associated with strychnia in the form of igasurates, in the nux vomica and bean of St. Ignatius. It is crystallizable; and its crystals are said to contain 18.41 per cent, of water. It is without smell, but of a permanent, harsh, very bitter taste; soluble in S50 parts of cold, and 500 of boiling water; very soluble in alcohol, whether hot or cold; but insoluble in ether and the fixed oils, and only slightly dissolved by the volatile oils. It is permanent in the air, but melts at a temperature a little above that of boiling water, and on cooling congeals into a mass resembling wax. It forms crystallizable salts with the acids. Concentrated nitric acid produces with brucia or its salts an intense crimson colour, which changes to yellow by heat, and upon the addition of protochloride of tin becomes violet. These effects are peculiar to brucia, and, if produced with strychnia, evince the presence of the former alkali. Accord- 478 Nux Vomica. PART I. ing to MM. Larocque and Thibierge, the chloride of gold produces, with solu- tions of the salts of brucia, precipitates at first milky, then coffee-coloured, and finally chocolate-brown. (Journ, de Chim. 31ed., Oct. 1842.) Brucia is analogous in its operation to strychnia, but possesses, according to M. Andral, only about one-twelfth of its strength, when the latter principle is. entirely pure. It is therefore seldom employed. It may be procured from false An- gustura bark, in a manner essentially the same with that in which strychnia is procured from nux vomica; with this difference, that the alcoholic ex- tract, obtained from the precipitate produced by lime or magnesia, should be treated with oxalic acid, and subsequently with a mixture of rectified al- cohol and ether, which takes up the colouring matter, leaving the oxalate of brucia. This is decomposed by magnesia, and the brucia is separated by alcohol, which, by spontaneous evaporation, yields it in the state of crystals. According to Dr. Fuss and Professor Erdmann, brucia is not a distinct alkali, but merely a compound of strychnia and resin. (Pereira''s 3Iateria 3Iedica.) 3Icdical Properties and Uses. Nux vomica is very peculiar in its operation upon the system. In very small doses, frequently repeated, it is tonic, and is said to be diuretic, and occasionally diaphoretic and laxative. When it is given in larger doses, so as to bring the system decidedly under its influence, its action appears to be directed chiefly to the nerve3 of motion, probably through the medium of the spinal marrow. Its operation is evinced at first by a feeling of weight and weakness, with tremblings in the limbs, and some rigidity on attempting motion. There seems to be a tendency to permanent involuntary muscular contraction, as in tetanus; but at the same time frequent starts or spasms occur, as from electric shocks. These spasms are at first brought on by some exciting cause, as by a slight blow or an attempt to move; but,.if the medicine is persevered in, they occur without extraneous agency, and are sometimes frequent and violent. In severe cases there is occasionally general rigidity of the muscles. A sense of heat in the stomach, constriction of the throat and abdomen, tightness of the chest, and retention of urine are fre- quently experienced, to a greater or less extent, according to the quantity of the medicine administered. It sometimes, also, produces pain in the head, vertigo, contracted pupil, and dimness of vision. Sensations analogous to those attending imperfect palsy, such as formication, tingling, &c, are expe- rienced in some cases upon the surface. The pulse is not materially affected, though sometimes slightly increased in frequency. In over-doses, the medi- cine is capable of producing fatal effects. Given to the inferior animals in fatal doses, it produces great anxiety, difficult and confined breathing, retching to vomit, universal tremors, spasmodic action of the muscles, and ultimately violent convulsions. Death is supposed to take place from a suspension of respiration, resulting from a spasmodic constriction of the muscles concerned in the process. Upon dissection, no traces of inflammatory action are observ- able, unless large quantities of the nux vomica have been swallowed, when the stomach appears inflamed. ■ A division of the spinal marrow near the occiput does not prevent the peculiar effects of the medicine, so that the in- tervention of the brain is not essential to its action. That it enters the circu- lation, and is brought into contact with the parts upon which it acts, is ren- dered evident by the experiments of Magendie and others. Nux vomica has long been employed in India, and was known as a me- dicine to the Arabian physicians. On the continent of Europe, it has at various times been recommended as an antidote to the plague, and as a remedy in intermittents, dyspepsia, pyrosis, gastrodynia, dysentery, colica pictonum, worms, mania, hypochondriasis, hysteria, rheumatism, and hydrophobia. It is said to have effectually cured obstinate spasmodic asthma. Its peculiar PART I. Nux Vomica. 479 influence upon the nerves of motion, to which the public attention was first called by Magendie, suggested to M. Fouquier, a French physician, the ap- plication of the remedy to paralytic affections; and his success was such as to induce him to communicate to the public the result of his experience. Others have subsequently employed it with variable success; but the experience in its favour so much predominates, that it may now be considered a standard re- medy in palsy. It is a singular fact attested by numerous witnesses, that its action is directed more especially to the paralytic part, exciting contraction in this before it is extended to other muscles. The medicine, however, should be administered with judgment, and never given in cases depending on inflam- mation or organic lesion of the brain or spinal marrow, until after the removal of the primary affection by bleeding or other depletory measures. It has been found more successful in general palsy and paraplegia than in hemiplegia, and has frequently effected cures in palsy of the bladder, incontinence of urine from paralysis of the sphincter, amaurosis, and other cases of partial palsy, and has been employed with asserted success in prolapsus ani and impotence. It has recently been recommended in neuralgia and in chorea. It is said to promote the action of purgative medicines, when added to them in small pro- portion. Nux vomica may be given in powder in the dose of five grains, repeated three or four times a day, and gradually increased till its effects are experi- enced. In this form, however, it is very uncertain; and fifty grains have been given with little or no effect. It is most readily reduced to powder by filing or grating, and the raspings may be rendered finer by first steaming them, then drying them by stove heat, and lastly rubbing them in a mortar.- The Edinburgh College direct that the seeds should be first well softened with steam, then sliced, dried, and ground in a coffee-mill. The alcoholic extract is more convenient and more certain in its operation. From half a grain to two grains may be given in the form of pill, repeated as above-mentioned, and gradually increased. (See Extraetum Nucis Vomicae.) The watery extract is comparatively feeble. Strychnia has recently been much used, and possesses the advantage of greater certainty and uniformity of action. Its effects are precisely similar. AYith the exception of prussic acid, it is perhaps, the most violent poison in the catalogue of medicines, and should, therefore, be administered with great caution. The dose is one-twelfth of a grain, repeated twice or three times a day, and gradually increased. Even the quantity mentioned sometimes pro- duces spasmodic symptoms, and these generally occur when the dose is aug- mented to half a grain three times a day. The system is not so soon habitu- ated to its impression as to that of the narcotics generally; so that, after its effects are experienced, it is unnecessary to go on increasing the dose. Strych- nia has been applied externally with advantage in amaurosis. It should be sprinkled upon a blistered surface near the temples, in the quantity of half a grain or a grain, morning and evening; and the quantity may be gradually augmented. The best form of administration is that of pill, in consequence of the excessive bitterness of the solution. Strychnia may, however, be given, dissolved in alcohol, or in water by the intervention of an acid. Brucia may be used for the same purposes with strychnia in the dose of one grain twice or three times a day. Dr. Bardsley found that the quantity of two grains, three or four times a day, was seldom exceeded without the occurrence of the characteristic effects of the medicine. Magendie has found this alkali very useful in small doses as a tonic. He employed for this pur- pose one-eighth of a grain frequently repeated. Off. Prep. Extraetum Nucis Vomicae, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Strychnia, U.S., Lond., Ed. W. 480 Olea.—Olea Fixa. PART I. OLEA. Oils. These are liquid or solid substances, characterized by an unctuous feel, inflammability, and the property of leaving a greasy stain upon paper. They are divided into two classes, the fixed and volatile, distinguished, as their names imply, by their different habitudes in relation to the vaporizing influ- ence of caloric. 1. OLEA FIXA. Fixed Oils. These are termed Olea expressa, expressed oils, in the Dublin Pharma- copoeia, in which alone they are designated as a class. The fixed oils, though existing in greater or less proportion in various parts of plants, are furnished for use exclusively by the fruit; and, as a general rule, are most abundant in the dicotyledonous seeds. They are obtained either by submitting the bruised seeds to pressure in hempen bags, or by boil- ing them in water, and skimming off the oil as it rises to the surface. When pressure is employed, it is customary to prepare the seeds for the press by exposing them to a moderate heat, so as to render the oil more liquid, and thus enable it to flow out more readily. The consistence of the fixed oils varies from that of tallow to perfect fluidity; but by far the greater part are liquid at ordinary temperatures. They are somewhat viscid, transparent, and usually of a yellowish colour, which disap- pears when they are treated with animal charcoal. When pure they have little taste or smell. They are lighter than water, varying in specific gravity from 0-913 to 0-936. (Berzelius.) They differ very much in their point of congelation, olive oil becoming solid a little above 32° F., while linseed oil remains fluid at 4° below zero. They are not volatilizable without decompo- sition. At about 600° they boil, and are converted into vapour, which, when condensed, is found to contain a large proportion of oleic and margaric acids, together with benzoic acid, another volatile acid, and an empyreumatic oil. Exposed to a red heat, in close vessels, they yield, among other products of the destructive distillation of vegetables, a large quantity of the combustible compounds of carbon and hydrogen. Heated in the open air they take fire, burning with a bright flame, and producing water and carbonic acid. When kept in air-tight vessels, they remain unchanged for a great length of time; but, exposed to the atmosphere, they attract oxygen, and ultimately become concrete. Some, in drying, lose their unctuous feel, and are converted into a transparent, yellowish, flexible solid. These are called drying oils. Others, especially such as contain mucilaginous impurities, become rancid, acquiring a sharp taste and unpleasant smell. This change is owing to the formation of an acid, from which the oil may be freed by boiling it for a short time with hydrate of magnesia and water. The fixed oils are insoluble in water but are miscible with that fluid by means of mucilage, forming mixtures which are called emulsions. They are in general very sparingly soluble in alcohol but readily dissolved by ether, which serves to separate them from other vegetable proximate principles. By the aid of heat they dissolve sulphur. and phosphorus. Chlorine and iodine are converted by them into muriatic and hydriodic acids, which, reacting upon the oils, increase their consistence, and ultimately render them as hard as wax. The stronger acids decom- pose them, giving rise, among other products, to the oleic and margaric acids. Boiled with diluted nitric acid, they are converted into malic and oxalic acids, besides other substances usually resulting from the action of this PART I. Olea Fixa. 481 acid upon vegetable matter. Several acids are dissolved by them without produc- ing any sensible change. They combine with salifiable bases; but at the mo- ment of combination undergo a change, by which they are converted into a peculiar substance called glycerin, and into the oleic and margaric acids, which unite with the base employed. The compounds of these acids with potassa and soda are called soaps. (See Sapo and Emplastrum Plumbi.) The fixed oils dissolve many of the vegetable alkalies, the volatile oils, resin, and other proximate principles of plants. They consist of two distinct substances, one of which is liquid at ordinary temperatures, and therefore called olein, the other solid, and called margarin. The more solid ingredient of the vegeta- ble oils was originally called stearin, the name applied to the analogous ingre- dient of the animal oils, with which it was supposed by Chevreul, the discoverer of this complex constitution of oleaginous substances, to be identical. It has, however, been found to be essentially different, yielding margaric acid in the process of saponification, while stearin yields stearic acid; and a new name has accordingly been conferred upon it. For the mode of separating the liquid from the solid principles of oils, as well as for an account of their distinctive properties, the reader is referred to the article Adeps. Margarin is distin- guished from stearin by its greater fusibility, and by its solubility in cold ether; and the two principles may be separated by the action of boiling ether, which dissolves both, but deposits the stearin upon cooling, while it retains the margarin and yields it by evaporation. These principles, however, are thought by Berzelius not to be absolutely identical in the different oils; as they have different points of congelation and liquefaction, according to the substance from which they are derived.* By the action of nitric acid or nitrous acid fumes, olein is converted into a deep-yellow butyraceous mass. If this be treated with warm alcohol, a deep orange-red oil is dissolved, and a peculiar fatty matter remains, called ela'idin. It is white, fusible at 97°, insoluble in water, sparingly soluble in alcohol, readily soluble in ether, and converted, in the process of saponification by the alkalies, into a peculiar acid, denominated elaidic acid, and into glycerin. (Kane's Chemistry.) The view now taken of the nature of olein, margarin, stearin, elaidin, and other similar fatty matters, is that they are compounds of the oleic, margaric, stearic, elaidic acids, &c, with glycerin; and in the process of saponification, the alkali takes the oily acid and sets glycerin free. The ultimate constituents of the fixed oils are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; the hydrogen being in much larger proportion than is necessary to form water with the oxygen. Those which are least fusible contain most carbon and least oxygen; and, according to De • Some interesting results in relation to the fixed oils were obtained by MM. Pe- louze and Boudet, and published in the Journal de Pharmacie, torn. xxiv. p. 385. Ac- cording to these chemists, the variable fusibility of the margarin and stearin of fixed oils, which has induced some chemists to believe that they are severally not entirely identical as obtained from different oils, is owing to the existence of definite combinations of mar- garin and stearin respectively with olein; and each of these principles, in a state of purity, is probably the same from whatever source derived, whether from vegetable or from animal oils. Thus they found the same margarin in palm oil and in human fat. But there appear to be two distinct kinds of olein, one existing in the drying oils, as lin- seed oil, the oil of poppies, &c, the other in the oils which are not drying, as in olive oil, almond oil. human fat, and lard. These two forms of olein are different in their solu- bility in different menstrua, and in the circumstances that one is drying and the other not so, that one remains liquid under the action of nitrous acid, while the other is con- verted by it into a solid substance called elaidin, and finally that the former contains much less hydrogen than the latter. Besides, the oleic acid formed in the process of saponification from these two kinds of olein is decidedly different, inasmuch as, in the one case, it is converted by nitrous acid into elaidic acid, and in the other is not thus changed. —JSotc to Fourth Edition. 31 482 Olea Fixa.—Olea Volatilia. PART I. Saussure, their solubility in alcohol is greater in proportion to their amount of oxygen. (Berzelius.) Some of them contain a very minute proportion of nitrogen. 2. OLEA VOLATILIA. Volatile Oils. These are sometimes called distilled oils, from the mode in which they are usually procured; sometimes essential oils, from the circumstance that they possess, in a concentrated state, the properties of the plants from which they are derived. In the Pharmacopoeias of the United States and London, the former title has been adopted; in that of Dublin, the latter; the Edinburgh College use the term volatile oils. They exist in all odoriferous vegetables, sometimes pervading the whole plant, sometimes confined to a single part; in some instances contained in distinct cellules, and preserved after desiccation, in others formed upon the surface as in many flowers, and exhaled as soon as they are formed. Occa- sionally two or more are found in different parts of the same plant. Thus the orange tree produces one volatile oil in its leaves, another in its flowers, and a third in the rind of its fruit. In a few instances, when existing in distinct cellules, they may be obtained by pressure, as from the rind of the lemon and orange; but they are generally procured by distillation with water. (See Olea Destillata.) Some volatile oils, as those of bitter almonds and mustard, are formed during the process of distillation, out of substances of a different nature pre-existing in the plant. The volatile oils are usually yellowish, but sometimes brown, red, green, or even blue, and occasionally colourless. They have a strong odour, resembling that of the plants from which they were procured, though generally less agree- able. Their taste is hot and pungent, and, when they are diluted, is often gratefully aromatic. The greater number are lighter than water; some are heavier; and their sp. gr. varies from 0-847 to 1-17. They partially rise in vapour at ordinary temperatures, diffusing their peculiar odour, and are com- pletely volatilized by heat. Their boiling point is various, generally as high as 320° F., and sometimes higher; but most of them rise readily with the vapour of boiling water. When distilled alone, they almost always undergo partial decomposition. They differ also in their point of congelation. A few are solid at ordinary temperatures, several become so at 32° F., and many remain liquid considerably below this point. Heated in the open air, the volatile oils take fire, and burn with a bright flame attended with much smoke. Exposed at ordinary temperatures, they absorb oxygen, assume a deeper colour, become thicker and less odorous, and are ultimately converted into resin. This change takes place most rapidly under the influence of light. Before the alteration is complete, the remaining portion of oil may be recovered by distillation. Some of them, instead of resin, form well-characterized acids by combination with oxygen. The volatile oils are very slightly soluble in water. Agitated with this fluid they render it milky; but separate upon standing, leaving the water im- pregnated with their odour and taste. This impregnation is more complete when water is distilled with the oils, or from the plants containing them. Trituration with magnesia or its carbonate renders them much more soluble, probably in consequence of their minute division. The intervention of sugar also greatly increases their solubility, and affords a convenient method of pre- paring them for internal use. Most of them are very soluble in alcohol, and in a degree proportionate to its freedom from water. The oils which contain no oxygen are scarcely soluble in diluted alcohol, and, according to De Saus- PART I. Olea Volatilia. 483 sure, their solubility generally in this liquid is proportionate to the quantity of oxygen which they contain. They are readily dissolved by ether. The volatile oils dissolve sulphur and phosphorus with the aid of heat, and deposit them on cooling. By long boiling with sulphur they form brown, unctuous, fetid substances, formerly called balsams of sulphur. They absorb chlorine, which converts them into resin, and then combines with the resin. Iodine produces a similar effect. They are decomposed by the strong mineral acids, and unite with several of those from the vegetable kingdom. AVhen treated with a caustic alkali, they are converted into resin, which unites with the alkali to form a kind of soap. Several of the metallic oxides, and various salts which easily part with oxygen, convert them into resin. The volatile oils dissolve many of the proximate principles of plants and animals, such as the fixed oils and fats, resins, camphor, and several of the vegetable alkalies. The volatile, like the fixed oils, consist of distinct principles, which are congealed at different temperatures, and may be separated by compressing the frozen oil between folds of bibulous paper. The solid matter remains within the folds; and the fluid is absorbed by the paper, from which it may be separated by distillation with water. The name of stearoptene has been proposed for the former, that of eleoptene for the latter. The solid crystalline substances deposited by certain volatile oils upon standing, usually considered as camphor, are examples of stearoptene. Some of these are isomeric with the oils in which they are formed, others are oxides. Some oils, under the influence of water, deposit crystalline bodies which appear to be hydrates of the respective oils. The ultimate constituents of the volatile oils are usually carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Some, as the oils of turpentine and copaiba, in their purest state, contain only carbon and hydrogen. Several have nitrogen in their com- position; and the oils of horse-radish and mustard contain sulphur. The volatile oils are often sophisticated. Among the most common adul- terations are fixed oils, resinous substances, and alcohol. The presence of the fixed oils may be known by the permanent greasy stain which they leave on paper, while that occasioned by a pure volatile oil disappears entirely when exposed to heat. They may also in general be detected by their comparative insolubility in alcohol. Both the fixed oils and resins are left behind when the adulterated oil is distilled with water. If alcohol is present, the oil be- comes milkjiwhen agitated with water, and, after the separation of the liquids, the water occupies more space and the oil less than before. The following method of detecting alcohol has been proposed by M. Beral. Put twelve drops of the suspected oil in a perfectly dry watch-glass, and add a piece of potassium about as large as the head of a pin. If the potassium remain for twelve or fifteen minutes in the midst of the liquid, there is either no alcohol present, or less than four per cent. If it disappear in five minutes, the oil contains more than four per cent, of alcohol; if in less than a minute twenty- five per cent, or more. 31. Borsarelli employs chloride of calcium for the same purpose. This he introduces in small pieces, well dried and perfectly free from powder, into a small cylindrical tube, closed at one end, and about two-thirds filled with the oil to be examined, and heats the tube to 212°, oc- casionally shaking it. If there be a considerable proportion of alcohol, the chloride is entirely dissolved, forming a solution which sinks to the bottom of the tube; if only a very small quantity, the pieces lose their form, and collect at the bottom in a white adhering mass; if none at all, they remain un- changed. (Journ, de Pharm., xxvi. 429.) Sometimes volatile oils of little value are mixed with those which are costly. The taste and smell afford in this case the best means of detecting the fraud. The specific gravity of the 484 Olea Volatilia.—Oleum Amygdalse. part i. oils may also serve as a test of their purity. When two oils, of which one is lighter and the other heavier than water, are mixed, they are separated by long agitation with this fluid, and will take a place corresponding to their respective specific gravities; but it sometimes happens that an unadulterated oil may thus be separated into two portions. When oil of turpentine is used as the adulteration, it may be known by remaining in part undissolved, when the mixture is treated with three or four times its volume of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-84; or, according to M. Mero, by causing the suspected oil, when agitated with an equal measure of poppy oil, to remain transparent, instead of becoming milky, as it would do if pure. The latter test will not apply to the oil of rosemary. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., vii. 303.) Volatile oils may be preserved without change in small well-stopped bot- tles, entirely filled with the oil, and excluded from the light. W. OLEUM AMYGDALAE. U.S. Oil of Almonds. " The fixed oil of the kernels of Amygdalus communis." U. S. Off. Syn. AMYGDALiE OLEUM. Amygdalus communis. Var. a. Var. 0. Oleum ab alterutriusque nucleis expressum. Lond.; OLEUM AMYGDA- LARUM, Dub. Huile d'amandes, Fr.; Mandelol, Germ.; Olio di mandorle, Ital; Aceyte de almen- dras, Span. See AMYGDALA. This oil is obtained equally pure from sweet and bitter almonds. In its preparation, the almonds, after having been deprived of a reddish-brown pow- der adhering to their surface, by rubbing them together in a piece of coarse linen, are ground in a mill resembling a coffee-mill, or bruised in a stone mortar, and then submitted to pressure in canvas sacks between plates of iron slightly heated. The oil, which is at first turbid, is clarified by rest and filtration. The Dublin College directs the oil to be prepared by bruising the almonds, and then expressing without heat. Sometimes the almonds are steeped in very hot water, deprived of their cuticle, and dried in a stove pre- viously to expression. The oil is thus obtained free from colour, but in no other respect better. Bitter almonds, when treated in this waj, are said to impart a smell of hydrocyanic acid to the oil. With regard to these, there- fore, the process is objectionable. M. Boullay obtained fifty-four per cent, of oil from sweet almonds, Vogel twenty-eight per cent, from bitter almonds. Oil of almonds is clear and colourless, or slightly tinged of a greenish-yel- low, is nearly inodorous, and has a bland sweetish taste. It remains liquid at temperatures considerably below the freezing point of water. Its sp. gr. is from 0-917 to 0 92. From the statement of Braconnot, it appears to contain 76 per cent, of olein and 24 of margarin. It may be used for the same purposes with olive oil; and, when suspended in water by means of mucilage or the yolk of eggs and loaf sugar, forms a very pleasant emulsion, useful in pulmonary affections attended with cough. From a fluidrachm to a fluidounce may be given at a dose. Off. Prep. Unguentum Aquae Rosas, U. S. W. PART I. Oleum Bergamii.—Oleum Bubulum. 485 OLEUM BERGAMII. U.S. Oil of Bergamot. "The volatile oil of the rind of the fruit of Citrus Limetta. (De Candolle.)" U.S. Off. Syn. BERGAMII OLEUM. Citrus Limetta Bergamium. Oleum e fructUs cortice destillatum. Lond.; BERGAMOT^] OLEUM. Volatile oil of the rind of the fruit of Citrus Limetta. Ed. Huile de bergamotte, Fr.; Bergamottol, Germ.; Oleo di bergamotta, Ital. Citrus. See AURANTII CORTEX. Citrus Limetta. De Cand. Prodrom. i. 539. The bergamot tree has been ranked by botanists generally among the lemons; but is now considered as a variety of the Citrus Limetta of Risso, and is so placed by De Candolle. It has oblong ovate, dentate, acute, or obtuse leaves, somewhat paler on the under than the upper surface, and with footstalks more or less winged or margined. The flowers are white, and usually small; the fruit pyriform or roundish, pale yellow, terminated by an obtuse point, with a sourish pulp, and concave receptacles of oil in the rind. The pulp of the fruit is sourish, somewhat aromatic, and not disagreeable to the taste. The rind is shining, and of a pale yellow colour, and abounds in a very grateful volatile oil. This may be obtained either by expression or distillation. In the former case, it preserves the agreeable flavour of the rind, but is somewhat turbid ; in the latter, it is limpid but less sweet. The mode of procuring it by expression is exactly that used for the oil of lemons. (See Oleum Limonis.) It is brought from the South of France, Italy, and Por- tugal. The oil of bergamot, often called essence of bergamot, has a sweet, very agreeable odour, a bitter aromatic pungent taste, and a pale greenish-yellow colour. Its sp. gr. is 0-885, and its composition the same as that of the oil of lemons. Though possessed of the excitant properties of the volatile oils in general, it is employed chiefly, if not exclusively, as a perfume. Off. Prep. Unguentum Sulphuris, Lond.; Unguentum Sulphuris Compo- situm, U. S, Lond. W. OLEUM BUBULUM. U S. Neats-foot Oil, " The oil prepared from the bones of Bos domesticus." U. S. Huile de pied de bceuf, Fr.; Ochsenfussefett, Germ. Neats-foot oil is obtained by boiling in water for a long time the feet of the ox, previously deprived of their hoof. The fat and oil which rise to the surface are removed, and introduced into a fresh portion of water heated nearly to the boiling point. The impurities having subsided, the oil is drawn off, and, if required to be very pure, is again introduced into water, which is kept for twenty-four hours sufficiently warm to enable the fat which is mixed with the oil to separate from it. The liquid being then allowed to cool, the fat concretes, and the oil is removed and strained, or filtered through layers of small fragments of charcoal free from powder. The oil is yellowish, and, when properly prepared, inodorous and of a bland 486 Oleum Bubulum.— Oleum Cajuputi. part I. taste. It thickens or congeals with great difficulty, and is, therefore, very useful for greasing machinery in order to prevent friction. It was introduced into the officinal catalogue of the United States Pharma- copoeia as an ingredient of the ointment of nitrate of mercury. Off. Prep. Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis, U. S. W. OLEUM CAJUPUTI. U.S. Secondary. Cajeput Oil. "The volatile oil of the leaves of Melaleuca Cajuputi." U. S. Off. Si/n. CAJUPUTI. Melaleuca minor. Oleum e foliis destillatum. Lond.; CAJUPUTI OLEUM. Volatile oil of the leaves of Melaleuca minor. Ed.; MELALEUCA LEUCADENDRON. Oleum volatile Cajeput. Dub. Huile de cajeput, Fr.; Kajeputol, Germ.; Olio di cajeput, Ital; Kayuphtieh, Malay. Melaleuca. Sex. Syst. Polyadelphia Icosandria.—Nat. Ord. Myrtaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-parted, semi-superior. Corolla five-petaled. Stamens about forty-five, very long, conjoined in five bodies. Style single. Capsule three-celled. Seeds numerous. Roxburgh. It was long supposed that the oil of cajeput was derived from the 3Ielaleuca leucadendron; but from specimens of the plant affording it, sent from the Moluccas and cultivated in the botanical garden of Calcutta, it appears to be a distinct species, which has received the name of 31. Cajuputi. It corre- sponds with the arbor alba minor of Rumphius, and is a smaller plant than the 31. leucadendron. It is possible, however, that the oil may be obtained from different species of Melaleuca; as M. Stickel, of Jena, succeeded in pro- curing from the leaves of the 31. hypericifolia, cultivated in the botanical gar- den of that place,,a specimen of oil not distinguishable from the cajeput oil of commerce, except by a paler green colour. (Annal. der Pharm,, xix. 224.) 3Iela!euca Cajuputi. Rumphius, Ijfcrbar. Amboinense, torn. ii. tab. 17; Rox- burgh, Trans. Lond. 3ted. Bot. Soc, A.D. 1829; Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., vol. i. p. 193.—3Ielalcuca minor. De Candolle. This is a small tree, with an erect but crooked stem, and scattered branches, the' slender twigs of which droop like those of the weeping willow. The bark is of a whitish- ash colour, very thick, soft, spongy, and lamellated, throwing off its exterior layer from time to time in flakes, like the birch tree. The leaves have short footstalks; are alternate, lanceolate, when young sericeous, when full grown smooth, deep green, three and five-nerved, slightly falcate, entire, from three to five inches long, from one-half to three-quarters of an inch broad; and when bruised exhale a strong aromatic odour. The flowers, which are small, white, inodorous, and sessile, are disposed in terminal and axillary downy spikes, with solitary, lanceolate, three-flowered bractes. The filaments are three or four times longer than the petals, and both are inserted in the rim of the calyx. This species of Melaleuca is a native of the Moluccas, and other neighbour- ing islands. The oil is obtained from the leaves by distillation. It is pre- pared chiefly in Amboyna and Bouro, and is exported from the East Indies in glass bottles. The small proportion yielded by the leaves, and the extensive use made of it in India, render it very costly. Properties. Cajeput oil is very fluid, transparent, of a fine green colour, a lively and penetrating odour analogous to that of camphor and cardamom, and a warm pungent taste. It is very volatile and inflammable, burning without any residue. The sp. gr. has been variously stated from 0914 to 0-980. Dr. Thomson says it varies from 0-914 to 0-9274. The oil is wholly soluble in alcohol. When it is distilled, a light colourless liquid first comes over, and part I. Oleum Cajuputi.—Oleum Caryophylli. 487 afterwards a green and denser one. The green colour has been ascribed to a salt of copper, derived from the vessels in which the distillation is performed, and Guibourt obtained two grains and a half of oxide of copper from a pound of the commercial oil. But neither Brande nor Gcertner could detect copper in specimens which they examined; and M. Lesson, who witnessed the pro- cess for preparing the oil at Bouro, attributes its colour to chlorophylle, or some analogous principle, and states that it is rendered colourless by rectifi- cation. Guibourt, moreover, obtained a green oil by distilling the leaves of a Melaleuca cultivated at Paris. A fair inference is that the oil of cajeput is naturally green; but that, as found in commerce, it sometimes contains cop- per, either accidentally present, or added with a view of imitating or main- taining the fine colour of the oil. The proportion of copper, however, is not so great as to interfere with the internal use of the oil; and the metal may be readily separated by distillation with water, or agitation with a solution of ferrocyanuret of potassium. (Guibourt.) * The high price of cajeput oil has led to its occasional adulteration. The oil of rosemary, or that of turpentine, impregnated with camphor and coloured with the resin of milfoil, is said to be employed for the purpose. 31edical Properties and Uses. This oil is highly stimulant, producing when swallowed a sense of heat, with an increased fulness and frequency of pulse, and exciting in some instances profuse perspiration. It is very highly es- teemed by the Malays and other people of the East, who consider it a universal panacea. (Lesson, Journ. de Chim. 31id., 1827.) They are said to employ it with great success in epilepsy and palsy. (Ainslie.) The complaiqts to which it is best adapted are probably chronic rheumatism, and spasmodic affections of the stomach and bowels, unconnected with inflammation. It has been highly extolled as a remedy in spasmodic cholera, and has been used also as a diffusible stimulant in low fevers. Diluted with an equal proportion of olive oil, it is applied externally to relieve gouty and rheumatic pains. Like most other highly stimulating essential oils, it relieves toothache, if in- troduced into the hollow of the carious tooth. It is little used in the United States. The dose is from one to five drops, given in emulsion, or upon a lump of sugar. W. OLEUM CARYOPHYLLI. U. S. Oil of Cloves. "The volatile oil of the unexpanded flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus." Off. Syn. CARYOPHYLLI OLEUM. Caryophyllus aromaticus. Oleum e floribus destillatum. Lond.; CARYOPHYLLI OLEUM. Volatile oil of the undeveloped flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus. Ed.; EUGENIA CA- RYOPHYLLATA. Oleum volatile. Dub. Huile de girofle, Fr.: Nelkenol, Germ.; Olio di garofani, Ital; Aceyte de clavos, Span. See CARYOPHYLLUS. This oil is obtained by distilling cloves with water, to which it is customary to add common salt, in order to raise the temperature of ebullition; and the . water should be repeatedly distilled from the same cloves, in order completely to exhaust them. The product.of good cloves is said to be about one-fifth or one-sixth of their weight. The oil was formerly brought from Holland or the East Indies; but, since the introduction of the Cayenne cloves into our mar- kets, the reduced price and superior freshness of the drug have rendered the distillation of oil of cloves profitable in this country; and the best now sold 488 Oleum Caryophylli.—Oleum Cinnamomi. part I. is of domestic extraction. We have been informed that from seven to nine pounds of cloves yield to our distillers about one pound of the oil. Properties. Oil of cloves, when recently distilled, is very fluid, clear, and colourless, but becomes yellowish by exposure, and ultimately reddish-brown. It has the odour of cloves, and a hot, acrid, aromatic taste. Its sp. gr. is variously stated at from 1-034 to 1-061, the latter being given by Bonastre as the sp. gr. of the rectified oil. It is one of the least volatile of the essen- tial oils, and requires for congelation a temperature from zero of Fahrenheit to —4°. It is completely soluble in alcohol, ether, and strong acetic acid. Nitric acid changes its colour to a deep red, and converts it by the aid of heat into oxalic acid. When long kept it deposits a crystalline stearoptene. It is frequently adulterated with fixed oils, and sometimes also with oil of pimento and with copaiba. When pure it sinks in distilled water. According to Ettling, the oil of cloves consists of two distinct oils, one lighter, the other heavier than water. They may be obtained separate by distilling the oil from a solution of potassa. The lighter comes over, the heavier remains combined with the potassa, from which it may be separated by adding sulphuric acid and again distilling. Light oil of cloves is colour- less, has the sp. gr. 0-918, and consists exclusively of carbon and hydrogen, being isomeric with pure oil of turpentine. It is said not to possess active properties. (Kane.) Heavy oil of cloves is colourless at first, but darkens with age, has the odour and taste of cloves, is of the sp. gr. 1-079, boils at 470°, and forms soluble and crystallizable salts with the alkalies. Hence it has been called eugenic or caryophyllic acid. It consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; the formula, according to Ettling, being C^H^O.. Medical Properties and Uses. The medical effects of the oil are similar to those of cloves, and it is used for the same purposes; but its most common employment is as a corrigent of other medicines. Like other powerful irri- tants, it is sometimes effectual in relieving toothache, when introduced into the cavity of a carious tooth. The dose is from two to six drops. Off. Prep. Pilulae Colocynthidis Compositae, Ed., Dub. W. OLEUM CINNAMOMI. U.S. Oil of Cinnamon. "The volatile oil of the bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, and Cinnamo- mum aromaticum." U S. Off. Syn. CINNAMOMI OLEUM. Laurus Cinnamomum. Oleum e cor- tice destillatum. Lond.; CINNAMOMI OLEUM. Volatile oil of the bark of Cinnamomum Zeylanicum. CASSLZE OLEUM. Volatile oil of the bark of Cinnamomum Cassia. Ed.; LAURUS CINNAMOMUM. Oleum vola- tile. Dub. Huile de cannelle, Fr.: Zimmtol, Gei-m.,- Olio di cannella, Ital; Aceyte de canela, Span. See CINNAMOMUM. The United States Pharmacopoeia includes, under the name of Oil of Cin- namon, both the oil procured from the Ceylon cinnamon, and that from the Chinese cinnamon or cassia. As these oils, though very different in price, and slightly in flavour, have the same medical properties, are used for the same purposes, are often sold by the same name, and are not unfrequently mixed together, there does not seem to be sufficient ground for maintaining any officinal distinction between them. Nevertheless, the Edinburgh College has given them distinct places in its officinal list, designating the one as oil of cinnamon, and the other as oil of cassia. part I. Oleum Cinnamomi. 489 Oil of Cinnamon of Ceylon is prepared in that island from the inferior kinds of cinnamon, which are of insufficient value to pay the export duty. The following account of the method of extraction, as formerly practised, is given by Marshall. The bark, having been coarsely powdered, is macerated for two days in sea-water, and then submitted to distillation. A light and a heavy oil come over with the water, the former of which separates in a few hours, and swims upon the surface, the latter falls to the bottom of the re- ceiver, and continues to be deposited for ten or twelve days. In future distillations, the saturated cinnamon water is employed in connexion with sea- water to macerate the cinnamon. Eighty pounds of the bark, freshly pre- pared, yield about two and a half ounces of the lighter oil, and five and a half of the heavier. From the same quantity of cinnamon which has been kept for several years in store, about half an ounce less of each oil is obtained. The two kinds are probably united in the oil of commerce. Recently prepared oil of cinnamon is of a light-yellow colour, becoming deeper by age, and ultimately red. Pereira states that the London druggists redistil the red oil, and thus obtain two pale yellow oils, one lighter and the other heavier than water, with a loss of about ten per cent, in the process. The oil has the flavour of cinnamon in a concentrated state. When applied undiluted to the tongue, it is excessively hot and pungent. According to Dr. Duncan, it sometimes has a peppery taste, ascribable to an admixture of the leaves with the bark in the preparation of the oil. Chinese oil of cinnamon (oil of cassia) is imported from Canton and Singa- pore. Like the former variety it has a pale yellow colour, which becomes red with age; at least such is the case with the specimens which have come under our observation. Its flavour is similar to that of Ceylon oil of cinna- mon, though inferior; and it commands a much less price. The following re- marks apply to both oils. Oil of cinnamon is heavier than water, having the sp. gr. of about 1-035. Alcohol completely dissolves it; and, as it does not rise in any considerable quantity at the boiling temperature of that liquid, it may be obtained by form- ing a tincture of cinnamon and distilling off the menstruum. When exposed to the air, it absorbs oxygen, and is said to be slowly converted into a peculiar acid denominated cinnamic or cinnamonic acid, two distinct resins, and water. Cinnamic acid is colourless, crystalline, of a sourish taste, volatilizable, slightly soluble in water, readily dissolved by alcohol, and convertible by nitric acid with heat into benzoic acid. It is sometimes seen in crystals in bottles of the oil which have been long kept. Like benzoic acid, it is said when swallowed to occasion the elimination of hippuric acid by urine. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., iii. 64.) It may be obtained by distilling the balsam of Tolu. (See Tolutanum.) Of the two resins, one is soluble both in hot and cold alcohol; the other readily in the former, but sparingly in the latter. Oil of cinnamon is almost wholly converted by nitric acid, slowly added to it, into a crystalline mass, which is supposed to be a compound of the oil and acid. The researches of Dumas and Peligot have led to the opinion, that there exists in the oil a compound radical, named cinnamyle, consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (C^H^), which unites with one equivalent of hydrogen to form oil of cinnamon, and with one equivalent of oxygen to form anhydrous cinnamic acid. Crystallized cinnamic acid contains, in addition, one equivalent of water. The oil of cinnamon is said to be frequently adul- terated with alcohol and fixed oil. Medical Properties and Uses. It has the cordial and carminative properties of cinnamon, without its astringency; and is much employed as an adjuvant to other medicines, the taste of which it corrects or conceals, while it concili- 490 Oleum Cubebse.—Oleum Limonis. part I. ates the stomach. As a powerful local stimulant, it is sometimes prescribed in gastrodynia, flatulent colic, and languor from gastric debility. The dose is one or two drops, and may be most conveniently administered in the form of emulsion. Off. Prep. Aqua Cinnamomi, U.S., Lond.; Mistura Spiritus Vini Gal- lici, Lond.; Spiritus Cinnamomi, Lond. W. OLEUM CUBEBA. U. S., Ed. Oil of Cubebs. " The volatile oil of the berries of Piper Cubeba." U S. See CUBEBA. This oil is obtained from the fruit of Piper Cubeba, by grinding it, and then distilling with water. From ten pounds of cubebs Schonwald procured eleven ounces of oil, and this result very nearly coincides with the experiments of Christison, who obtained seven per cent. When perfectly pure, the oil is colourless; but as usually found, is yellowish or greenish. It has the smell of cubebs, and a warm, aromatic, camphorous taste; is of a consistence ap- proaching that of almond oil; is lighter than water, having the sp. gr. 0-929; and, when exposed to the air, is said to thicken without losing its odour. Upon standing, it sometimes deposits crystals, which are thought to be a hy- drate of the oil. It consists of carbon and hydrogen, and its formula is stated to be C^H^. The oil has all the medicinal properties of cubebs, and may often be advan- tageously substituted for the powder, in the commencing dose of ten or twelve drops, to be gradually increased until its effects are obtained, or until it proves offensive to the stomach. It may be given suspended in water by means of sugar, or in the form of emulsion, or enclosed in capsules of ge- latin. W. OLEUM LIMONIS. U.S. Oil of Lemons. " The volatile oil of the rind of the fruit of Citrus Limonum." U. S. Off- Syn. LIMONUM OLEUM. Citrus Limonum. Oleum e FructAs Cortice exteriori destillatum. Lond.; LIMONUM OLEUM. Volatile oil of the rind of the fruit of Citrus medica. Ed.; CITRUS MEDICA. Fructus tunicae exterioris oleum volatile. Dub. Huile de citron, Fr.; Citronenol, Germ.; Olio di limone, Ital; Aceyte de limon, Span. See LIMON. The exterior rind of the lemon abounds in an essential oil, which, as it is contained in distinct cellules, may be separated by simple expression. The rind is first grated from the fruit, and then submitted to pressure in a bag of fine cloth. The oil thus obtained is allowed to stand till it becomes clear, when it is decanted, and preserved in stopped bottles. By a similar process, that delightful perfume, the essence of bergamot, is procured from the fruit of the bergamot Citrus; and the oil called by the French huile de cedrat, from the citron. (See Oleum Bergamii and Limon.) All these oils may also be obtained by distillation; but thus procured, though clearer, and, in conse- quence of the absence of mucilage, less liable to change on keeping, they have less of the peculiar flavour of the fruit; and the mode by expression is gene- part i. Oleum Limonis.—Oleum Lini. 491 rally preferred. They are all brought originally from Italy, Portugal, or the South of France. Properties. The oil of lemons is a very volatile fluid, having the odour of the fruit, and a warm, pungent aromatic taste. As ordinarily procured it is yellow, and has the specific gravity 0-8517; but by distillation it is rendered colourless, and, if three-fifths only are distilled, its sp. gr. is reduced to 0.847, at 71° F. It is soluble in all proportions in anhydrous alcohol. When per- fectly pure, it consists exclusively of carbon and hydrogen, and is said to be identical in composition with pure oil of turp'entine, or camphene; its formula being C10HS. In this state it is capable of absorbing almost half its weight of muriatic acid gas, by which it is converted into a crystalline substance, and a yellow oily fuming liquid. The crystals are analogous to the artificial cam- phor which results from the action of muriatic acid upon oil of turpentine, and are a compound of the oil and acid. The oil of lemons is said to consist of two isomeric oils. Oil of lemons is often adulterated by the fixed oils and by alcohol, the former of which may be detected by the permanent stain which they impart to paper, the latter by the milkiness produced by the addition of water. Medical Properties and Uses. This oil has the stimulant properties of the aromatics; but is chiefly used to impart a pleasant flavour to other medicines. It has been commended as an application to the eye in certain cases of oph- thalmia. Off. Prep. Liquor Potassae Citratis, U. S.; Spiritus Ammoniae Aromaticus, Ed., Dub.; Trochisci Acidi Tartarici, Ed.; Unguentum Veratri Albi, U. S.} Loud. W. OLEUM LINI. U. S., Dub. Flaxseed Oil. " The oil of the seeds of Linum usitatissimum." U. S. Off. Syn. LINI OLEUM. Linum usitatissimum. Oleum e Seminibus ex-- press urn. Lond.; Expressed oil of the seeds of Linum usitatissimum. Ed. Linseed oil; Huile de lin, Fr.; Leinol, Germ.; Olio di lino, Ital; Aceyte de linaza, Span. See LINUM. This oil is obtained by expression from the seeds of the Linum usitatissi- mum, or common flax. In its preparation on a large scale, the seeds are usually roasted before being pressed, in order to destroy the gummy matter contained in their exterior coating. The oil is thus obtained more free from mucilage, but more highly coloured and more acrid than that procured by cold expression. Flaxseed oil has a yellowish-brown colour, a disagreeable odour, and nauseous taste; is of the sp.gr. 0-932; boils at 600° F.; does not congeal at zero; dissolves in forty parts of cold and five of boiling alcohol, and in one part and a half of ether (Christison's Dispensatory); becomes ran- cid with facility; and has the property of drying, or becoming solid on ex- posure to the air. On account of its drying property, it is highly useful in painting, and the formation of printers' ink. 31edical Properties and Uses. It is laxative in the dose of a fluidounce; but on account of its disagreeable taste is seldom given internally. It is sometimes added to purgative enemata y but its most common application is externally to burns, usually in combination with lime-water. Off. Prep. Ceratum Resinae Compositum, U. S.; Linimentum Calcis, U. S.. Ed.] Dub. W. 492 Oleum Myristiese.—Oleum Olivse. part I. OLEUM MYRISTICA. U. S. Oil of Nutmeg. " The volatile oil of the kernels of Myristica moschata." U. S. Off. Syn. MYRISTICA OLEUM. Myristica moschata. Oleum e nu- cleis destillatum. Lond.; MYRISTIC.E OLEUM. Volatile oil of the ker- nels of the fruit of Myristica officinalis. Ed.; MYRISTICA MOSCHATA. Oleum volatile. Dub. See MYRISTICA. This oil is obtained from powdered nutmegs by distillation with water. It is colourless or of a pale straw colour, limpid, lighter than water, soluble in alcohol and ether, with a pungent spicy taste, and a strong smell of nutmeg. It consists of two oils, which may be separated by agitation with water, one rising to the surface, the other sinking to the bottom. Upon standing it de- posits a crystalline stearoptene, which is called by John myristicin. It may be used for the same purposes as nutmeg, in the dose of two or three drops; but is not often employed. W. OLEUM OLIV.E. U. S. Olive oil. " The oil of the fruit of Olea Europoea." U. S. Off. Syn. OLIViE OLEUM. Olea europoea. Oleum e drupis expres- sum. Lond.; Expressed oil of the pericarp of Olea europoea. Ed.; OLEA EUROPOEA. Oleum ex fructu. Dub. Huile d'olive, Fr.; Olivenol, Germ.; Olio delle olive, Ital; Aceyte de olivas, Span. Olea. Sex. Syst. Diandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord, Oleaceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla four-cleft, with subovate segments. Drupe one-seeded. Willd, Olea Europoea. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 44; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 280, t. 98. This valuable tree is usually from fifteen to twenty feet in height, though it sometimes attains a much greater size, particularly in Greece and the Levant. It has a solid, erect, unequal stem, with numerous straight branches, covered with a grayish bark. The leaves, which stand opposite to each other on short foot- stalks, are evergreen, firm, lanceolate, entire, two or three inches in length, with the edges somewhat reverted, smooth and of a dull green colour on their upper surface, whitish and almost silvery beneath. The flowers are small, whitish, and disposed in opposite axillary clusters, which are about half as long as the leaves, and accompanied with small, obtuse, hoary bractes. The fruit or olive is a smooth, oval drupe, of a greenish, whitish, or violet colour, with a fleshy pericarp, and a very hard nut of a similar shape. The flowers are not very fruit- ful, as clusters containing not less than thirty yield only two or three ripe olives. The olive tree, though believed by some to have been originally from the Levant, flourishes at present in all the countries bordering on the Mediterra- nean, and has been cultivated from time immemorial in Spain, the South of France, and Italy. It begins to bear fruit after the second year, is in full bearing at six years, and continues to flourish for a century. There are several varieties, distinguished by the form of the leaves, and the shape, colour, and size of the fruit. The variety longifolia of Willdenow is said to be cbiefly cultivated in Italy and the South of France, and the variety latifolia in Spain. The latter bears much larger fruit than the former; but the oil is less esteemed. part i. Oleum Olivse. 493 The leaves and bark of the olive tree have an acrid and bitterish taste, and have been employed as substitutes for cinchona, though with no great success. In hot countries, a substance resembling the gum-resins exudes spontaneously from the bark. It was thought by the ancients to possess useful medicinal properties, but is not now employed. Analyzed by Pelle- tier, it was found to contain resinous matter, a small quantity of benzoic acid, and a peculiar principle analogous to gum, which has received the name of olivile. But the fruit is by far the most useful product of the tree. In the unripe state it is hard and insupportably acrid; but, when macerated in water, or an alkaline solution, and afterwards introduced into a solution of common salt, it loses these properties, and becomes a pleasant and highly esteemed article of diet. The pericarp, or fleshy part of the ripe olive, abounds in a fixed oil, which constitutes its greatest value, and for which the tree is chiefly cultivated in the South of Europe. The oil is obtained by first bruising the olives in a mill, and then submitting them to pressure. The product varies much, according to the state of the fruit, and the circumstances of the pro- cess. The best oil, called virgin oil, is obtained from the fruit picked before it has arrived at perfect maturity, and immediately pressed. It is distin- guished by its greenish hue. The common oil used for culinary purposes, and in the manufacture of the finest soaps, is procured from very ripe olives, or from the pulp of those which have yielded the virgin oil. In the latter case, the pulp is thrown into boiling water, and the oil removed as it rises to the surface. An inferior kind, employed in the arts, especially in the preparation of the coarser soaps, plasters, unguents, &c, is afforded by fruit which has been thrown into heaps, and allowed to ferment for several days, or by the marc left after the expression of the finer kinds of oil, broken up, exposed to the fermenting process, and again introduced into the press. Olive oil is imported in glass bottles, or in flasks surrounded by a peculiar kind of net-work made of grass, and usually called Florence flasks. The best comes from the South of France, where most care is exercised in the selection of the fruit. Properties. The pure oil is an unctuous liquid, of a pale yellow or greenish- yellow colour, with scarcely any smell, and a bland slightly sweetish taste. Its sp. gr. is 0-9153. It is soluble in twice its volume of ether, but is only partially soluble in alcohol, at least unless this liquid be in very large propor- tion. It begins to congeal at 38° F. At a freezing temperature a part of it becomes solid, and the remainder, retaining the liquid consistence, may be separated by pressure, or by the agency of cold alcohol, which dissolves it. The concrete portion has been found by MM. Pelouze and Boudet to be a definite compound of margarin and olein; the liquid portion is uncombined olein. According to Braconnot, the oil contains 72 parts of olein, and 28 of margarin in the hundred. Olive oil is solidified by nitrous acid and by nitrate of mercury, and converted into a peculiar fatty substance, which has received the name of ela'idin. The olein of all oils which have not the drying pro- perty undergoes the same change, when acted on by nitrous acid; and the singular fact is stated by MM. Pelouze and Boudet, that the margarin of olive oil, combined as it is with olein, is converted by that acid into elaidin, while the same principle, in a state of purity, is not affected by it. (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 391.) Olive oil, when exposed to the air, is apt to become rancid, acquiring a disagreeable smell, a sharp taste, a thicker consistence, and a deeper colour; and the change is promoted by heat. It is said to be frequently adulterated with the cheaper fixed oils, especially with that of poppies; but the adultera- tion may be easily detected by reducing the temperature to the freezing point. As other oils are less readily congealed than the olive oil, the degree of its 494 Oleum Olivse.—Oleum Ricini. part I. purity will be indicated by the degree of concretion. Another mode has been indicated by M. Poutet, founded on the property possessed by the superni- trate of mercury of solidifying the oil of olives, without a similar influence upon other oils. Six parts of mercury are dissolved at a low temperature in seven and a half parts of nitric acid of the sp. gr. 1-35; and this solution is mixed with the suspected oil in the proportion of one part to twelve, the mix- ture being occasionally shaken. If the oil is pure, it is converted after some hours into a yellow solid mass; if it contains a minute proportion, even so small as a twentieth of poppy oil, the resulting mass is much less firm; and a tenth prevents a greater degree of consistence than oils usually acquire when they concrete by cold. M. Gobel has invented an instrument which he calls the elaiometer, by which the smallest quantity of poppy oil can be detected. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 24.) According to M. Diesel, pure olive oil is coloured green by common nitric acid, whereas, if mixed with rape oil, it is rendered of a strong yellowish-gray colour. (Arch, der Pharm., xlvi. 287.) Medical Properties and Uses. Olive oil is nutritious and mildly laxative, and is occasionally given in cases of irritable intestines, when the patient objects to more disagreeable medicines. Taken into the stomach in large quantities, it serves to involve acrid and poisonous substances, and mitigate their action. It has also been recommended as a remedy for worms, and is a very common ingredient in laxative enemata. Externally applied, it is use- ful in relaxing the skin, and sheathing irritated surfaces from the action of the air; and is much employed as a vehicle or diluent of more active sub- stances. In the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, it is thought, when smeared over the skin, to afford some protection against the plague; and ap- plied warm, by means of friction over the surface, is said to be useful as a remedy in the early stages of that complaint. But the most extensive use of olive oil is in pharmacy, as a constituent of liniments, ointments, cerates, and plasters. The dose as a laxative is from one to two fluidounces. Off. Prep. Enema Catharticum. Ed. W. OLEUM RICINI. U.S. Castor Oil. " The oil of the seeds of Ricinus communis." U. S. Off. Syn. RICINI OLEUM. Ricinus communis. Oleum e seminibus ex- pressum. Lond.; RICINI OLEUM. Expressed oil of the seeds of Ricinus communis. Ed.; RICINUS COMMUNIS. Oleum e seminibus. Dub. Huile de ricin, Fr.; Ricinusol, Germ.; Olio di ricino, Ital; Aceyte de ricino, Span. Ricinus. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Monadelphia.—Nat, Ord. Euphorbiaceae. Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx five-parted. Corolla none. Sfomens numerous. Female. Calyx three-parted. Corolla none. Styles three, bifid. Capjsule three- celled. Seed one. Willd. Pieinus communis. Willd. Sj). Plant, iv. 564; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 624, t. 221. The castor oil plant, or palma Christi, attains in the East Indies and Africa the character of a tree, and rises sometimes thirty or forty feet in height. In the temperate latitudes of North America and Europe it is an annual plant; though it is stated by M. Achille Richard that, in the South of France, in the vicinity of Nice, on the seacoast, he saw a small wood consisting en- tirely of this species of Ricinus. The following description applies to the plant as cultivated in cool latitudes. The stem is of vigorous growth, erect, round, hollow, smooth, glaucous, somewhat purplish towards the top, branch- ing, and from three to eight feet or more in height. The leaves are alternate, PART I. Oleum Ricini. 495 peltate or supported upon footstalks inserted into their lower disk, palmate with seven or nine pointed serrate lobes, smooth on both sides, and of a bluish-green colour. The flowers are monoecious, stand upon jointed pedun- cles, and form a pyramidal terminal raceme, of which the lower portion is occupied by the male flowers, the upper by the female. Both are destitute of corolla. In the male flowers the calyx is divided into five oval, concave, pointed, reflected, purplish segments; and encloses numerous stamens, which are united into fasciculi at their base. In the female the calyx has three or five narrow lanceolate segments; and the ovary, which is roundish and three- sided, supports three linear, reddish stigmas, forked at their apex. The fruit is a roundish glaucous capsule, with three projecting sides, covered with tough spines, and divided into three cells, each containing one seed, which is ex- pelled by the bursting of the capsule. This species of Ricinus is a native of the East Indies and Northern Africa, has become naturalized in the West Indies, and is cultivated in various parts of the world, in no country perhaps more largely than in the United States. New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, and the States upon the right bank of the Ohio, are the sections in which it is most abundant. The flowers appear in July, and the seeds ripen successively in August and September. The part employed in medicine is the fixed oil extracted from the seeds. 1. The Seeds. These are about as large as a small bean, oval, compressed, obtuse at the extremities, very smooth and shining, and of a grayish or ash colour, marbled with reddish-brown spots and veins. At one end of the seed is a small yellowish tubercle, from which an obscure longitudinal ridge pro- ceeds to the opposite extremity, dividing the sides upon which it is situated into two flattish surfaces. In its general appearance the seed is thought to resemble the insect called the tick, the Latin name of which has been adopted as the generic title of the plant. Its variegated colour depends upon a very thin pellicle, closely investing a hard, brittle, blackish, tasteless, easily sepa- rable shell, within which is the kernel, highly oleaginous, of a white colour, and a sweetish taste succeeded by a slight degree of acrimony. The seeds easily become rancid, and are then unfit for the extraction of the oil, which is acrid and irritating. In 100 parts of the seeds Geiger found, exclusive of moisture, 23-82 parts of envelope, and 69-09 of kernel. These 69-09 parts contained 46-19 of fixed oil, 2-40 of gum, 20-00 of starch and lignin, and 0-50 of albumen. Taken internally the seeds are powerfully cathartic, and often emetic. Two or three are sufficient to purge, and seven or eight act with great violence. This property depends upon an acrid principle, which has by some been thought to exist exclusively in the integuments, by others in the embryo. But it is now satisfactorily ascertained that the integuments are inert; and Guibourt maintains that the principle alluded to pervades the whole kernel, in connexion with the oil. This principle is considered by some as volatile, and is said to be dissipated by the heat of boiling water. According to MM. Soubeiran and Mialhe, it is of a resinous character. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., vi. 225.) M. Calloud, however, considers it neither oily nor resinous; having found the residue of the seeds, after expression of the oil, and after being treated with pure alcohol, to be powerfully emetic in the quantity of thirty grains, taken in two doses. (Ibid. xiv. 190.) M. Parola states that ether also is incapable of extracting the acrid emetic principle from the seeds. At a temperature much above 212° the oil itself becomes altered, and acquires acrid properties. 2. The Oil. This may be extracted from the seeds in three ways; 1. by decoction, 2. by expression, and 3. by the agency of alcohol. The process by decoction, which is practised in the East and West Indies, 496 Oleum Ricini. part I. consists in bruising the seeds, previously deprived of their husk, and then boiling them in water. The oil, rising to the surface, is skimmed or strained off, and afterwards again boiled with a small quantity of water to dissipate the acrid principle. To increase the product it is said that the seeds are sometimes roasted. The oil is thus rendered brownish and acrid; and the same result takes place in the second boiling, if care is not taken to suspend the process soon after the water has been evaporated. Hence it happens that the West India oil has generally a brownish colour, an acrid taste, and irri- tating properties. The oil is obtained, in this country, by expression. The following, as we have been informed, are the outlines of the process usually employed by those who prepare it on a large scale. The seeds, having been thoroughly cleansed from the dust and fragments of the capsules with which they are mixed, are conveyed into a shallow iron reservoir, where they are submitted to a gentle heat insufficient to scorch or decompose them, and not greater than can be readily borne by the hand. The object of this step is to render the oil suffi- ciently liquid for easy expression. The seeds are then introduced into a powerful screw press. A whitish oily liquid is thus obtained, which is trans- ferred to clean iron boilers, supplied with a considerable quantity of water. The mixture is boiled for some time, and, the impurities being skimmed off as they rise to the surface, a clear oil is at length left upon the top of the water, the mucilage and starch having been dissolved by this liquid, and the albumen coagulated by the heat. The latter ingredient forms a whitish layer between the oil and the water. The clear oil is now carefully removed; and the process is completed by boiling it with a minute proportion of water, and continuing the application of heat till aqueous vapour ceases to rise, and till a small portion of the liquid, taken out in a vial, preserves a perfect trans- parency when it cools. The effect of this last operation is to clarify the oil, and to render it less irritating by driving off the acrid volatile matter. But much care is requisite not to push the heat too far, as the oil then acquires a brownish hue, and an acrid peppery taste, similar to those of the West India medicine. After the completion of the process, the oil is put into barrels, and thus sent into the market. There is reason, however, to believe that much of the American oil is prepared by merely allowing it to stand for some time after expression, and then drawing off the supernatant liquid. One bushel of good seeds yields five or six quarts, or about twenty-five per cent, of the best oil. If not very carefully prepared, it is apt to deposit a sediment upon standing; and the apothecary frequently finds it necessary to filter it through coarse paper before dispensing it. Perhaps this may be owing to the plan just alluded to of purifying the oil by rest and decantatlon.* We have been told that the oil in barrels occasionally deposits a copious whitish sediment in cold * We find the following sentence in Christison's Dispensatory, p. 793. " If the state- ment made above on the authority of Boutron-Charlard, be correct [that no margarin is deposited by castor oil previously heated to 212°], this circumstance [the deposition of a crystalline matter by castor oil in cold weather], instead of being an objection, is strong proof of the American oil being really cold drawn, and not prepared by dry heat and ebullition as Drs. Wood and Bache have represented." If it be intended here to throw discredit on our statement, we have only to reply, that we have ourselves witnessed the arrangements above described, and had the account of the steps of the process from the manufacturers, as it was at the time conducted in this city. But it may be observed that we do not state that the oil is prepared by dry heat; the warmth first employed, merely to render the oil fluid, not deserving to be so called. That American castor oil is also pre- pared by mere expression, rest, and decantation, we have stated in the text; but we are disposed to give the preference to that prepared by the former process, as freer from impurities, and therefore likely to keep better, and as milder in its action in consequence of the volatilization of a portion of the acrid principle. PART I. Oleum Ricini. 497 weather, which it redissolves when the temperature rises. This substance is probably margarin, or an analogous principle. A large proportion of the drug consumed in the eastern section of the Union is derived, by way of New Orleans, from Illinois and the neighbouring States, where it is so abundant that it bas sometimes been used for burning in lamps. The process for obtaining castor oil by means of alcohol has been practised in France; but the product is said to become rancid more speedily than that procured in the ordinary mode. Recently such a preparation has been em- ployed in Italy, and is asserted to be less disagreeable to the taste, and more effective than the common oil obtained by expression. According to M. Parola, an ethero-alcoholic extract, and an ethereal or alcoholic tincture of the seeds, operate in much smaller doses than the oil, and with less disposition to irritate the bowels or to cause vomiting. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., N. S., xiii. 143, from Gaz. Mid. de Paris, Feb. 7, 1846.) Properties. Pure castor oil is a thick, viscid, colourless fluid, with little or no odour, and a mild though somewhat nauseous taste, followed by a slight sense of acrimony. As found in the shops it is often tinged with yellow, and has an unpleasant smell; and parcels are sometimes though rarely met with, of a brownish colour, and hot acrid taste. It does not readily congeal by cold. When exposed to the air it slowly thickens, without becoming opaque, and it ranks among the drying oils. It is heavier than most of the other fixed oils, from which it differs also in being soluble in all proportions in cold absolute alcohol. Weaker alcohol, of the sp. gr. 0-8425, takes up about three-fifths of its weight. Adulterations with other fixed oils may thus be detected, as the latter are much less soluble in this fluid. Such adultera- tions, however, are seldom if ever practised in this country. Castor oil is also soluble in sulphuric ether. Its proximate composition is but imperfectly understood. When distilled it yields, according to MM. Bussy and Lecanu, 1. a colourless, highly odorous volatile oil, which crystallizes by cold, 2. two oleaginous acids, denominated ricinic and ricin-oleic, which are excessively acrid and nearly concrete, and 3. a solid spongy residue, amounting to two- thirds of the oil employed. Supposing these acids to be developed by heat, we can readily account for the injurious influence of too high a temperature in the preparation of the oil. By the action of nitrous acid, it is converted into a peculiar oleaginous substance called palmin, which yields palmic acid and glycerin when saponified. Alkalies unite with castor oil forming soaps, and determine the formation of three acids, the ricinic, ricin-dleic, and ricino- stearic acids, which can be obtained separate. Hence it has been inferred that the oil consists of three principles, for which the names of ricin, ricin- olein, and ricino-stearin have been proposed. (Kane's Chemistry.) These principles, however, have not been isolated. The purgative property of the oil is supposed by MM. Bussy and Lecanu to belong essentially to the oil itself, and not to reside in any distinct principle which it may hold in solution. Castor oil which is acrid to the taste may sometimes be rendered mild by boiling it with a small proportion of water. If turbid, it should be clarified by filtration through coarse paper. On exposure to the air, it is apt to be- come rancid, and is then unfit for use. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Good castor oil is a mild cathartic, speedy in its action, usually operating with little griping or uneasiness, and evacuat- ing the contents of the bowels without much increasing the alvine secretions. Hence, it is particularly applicable to cases of constipation from collections of indurated feces, and to those cases in which acrid substances have been swal- lowed, or acrid secretions have accumulated in the bowels. From its mild- ness it is also especially adapted to diseases attended with irritation or inflam- 32 498 Oleum Ricini.—Oleum Rosse. part I. mation of the bowels, as colic, diarrhoea, dysentery, and enteritis. It is habitually resorted to in the cases of pregnant and puerperal women; and is decidedly, as a general rule, the best and safest cathartic for children. Infants usually require a larger relative dose than adults, probably because they digest a larger proportion of the oil. The dose for an adult is about a fluidounce, for an infant from one to three or four fluidrachms. It is sometimes of exceedingly difficult administration, not so much from any peculiarly disagreeable taste, as from the recollection of former nausea, or other uneasiness which it may have produced, and from its clamminess and unpleasant adhesiveness to the mouth. In a few cases, the disgust which it excites is utterly unconquerable by any effort of resolu- tion. It is desirable, therefore, to obviate this inconvenience as far as possi- ble by the. mode of exhibition. A common method is to give it floating on the surface of mint or cinnamon water; but that which we have found upon the whole the least offensive, is to mix it with a cup of hot sweetened coffee, by which it is rendered more fluid, and its taste considerably disguised. Some take it in wine or spirituous liquors; but these are generally contra- indicated in the cases to which the medicine is applicable. When the stomach is unusually delicate, the oil may be made into an emulsion with mucilage or the yolk of an egg, loaf sugar, and some aromatic water. Tragacanth is re- commended as producing a better emulsion than gum Arabic. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xx. 309.) To the mixture laudanum may be added in cases of intestinal irritation. M. De Rudder proposes to give the oil in the air-bladders of fishes, which may be preserved in alcohol for the purpose. (Ibid., p. 310, from Journ. de Chim. Mid.) Castor oil may also be beneficially used as an enema, in the quantity of two or three fluidounces, mixed with some mucila- ginous liquid. Though apt to become rancid by itself, it loses much of this susceptibility when mixed with lard; and some apothecaries are said to use it as a substi- tute for olive oil in unguents and cerates. But the slightly irritating pro- perties of even the mildest castor oil render it unfit for those preparations which are intended to alleviate irritation. W. OLEUM ROS.E. U.S. Oil of Roses. " The volatile oil of Rosa centifolia." U. S. Off. Syn, ROS^ OLEUM. Volatile oil of the petals of Rosa centifolia. Ed. See ROSA CENTIFOLIA. This is commonly called attar, otto, or essence of roses. It is prepared on a large scale in Egypt, Persia, Cashmere, India, and other countries of the East, by distilling the petals of the rose with water. The oil concretes and floats upon the surface of the water when it cools. The precise species of rose from which the oil is extracted is not in all instances certainly known; but it is said to be obtained from the R. damascena in Northern India, and the R. moschata in Persia. It is furnished in very minute proportion; not more than three drachms having been obtained by Colonel Polier, in Hin- dostan, from one hundred pounds of the petals. It is usually imported in small bottles, and is very costly. Oil of roses is said to be prepared in Macedonia by crushing the petals in mills, expressing the fluid part, filtering it, and then exposing it to the sun in small glass vessels. The oil gradually collects on the surface of the ;-liquid, and is removed. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1847, p. 783.) Oil of roses is nearly colourless, or presents some shade of green, yellow, part I. Oleum Sesami.—Oleum Terebinthinse. 499 or red; but, according to Polier, the colour is no criterion of its value. It is concrete below 80°, and becomes liquid between 84° and 86°. Its odour is very powerful and diffusive. At 90° its sp. gr. is 0-832. Alcohol dis- solves it, though not freely when cold. It consists of two oils, one liquid, the other concrete at ordinary temperatures. These may be separated by freezing the oil, and compressing it between folds of blotting paper, which absorbs the liquid oil or eleoptene, and leaves the concrete or stearoptene. The latter consists exclusively of carbon and hydrogen; the former, of these and oxygen. Sandal-wood oil, other volatile oils, fixed oils, spermaceti, &c, are said to be added as adulterations. The volatile additions may be detected by not being concrete; the fixed, by the greasy stain they leave on paper when heated. Oil of roses may be added, as a very grateful perfume, to various spirituous preparations for internal use, and to cerates and ointments. W. OLEUM SESAMI. U.S. Secondary. Benne Oil. " The oil of the seeds of Sesamum orientale." U S. See SESAMUxM. OLEUM TEREBINTHIN^S. U.S., Dub. Oil of Turpentine. " The volatile oil of the juice of Pinus palustris and other species of Pinus." U S. " Pinus Sylvestris. Oleum volatile." Dub. Off. Syn. TEREBINTHINSE OLEUM. Pinus Sylvestris. Oleum e re- sina destillatum. Lond.; TEREBINTHIN,E OLEUM. Volatile oil of the liquid resinous exudation of various species of Pinus and Abies. Ed. Huile volatile de terebenthirie, Fr.; Terbintbinol, Germ.,- Olio della trementina, Ital; Aceyte de trementina, Span. See TEREBINTHINA. This is commonly called spirits or spirit of turpentine. It is prepared by distillation from our common turpentine, though equally afforded by other varieties. It may be distilled either with or without water; but in the latter case a much higher temperature is required, and the product is liable to be empyreumatic. To obtain it absolutely pure it should be redistilled from a solution of caustic potassa. The Dublin College gives the following formula for its preparation. "Take of common turpentine \_Terebinthina Vulgaris, Lond.], five pounds; water, four pints. Draw off the oil in a copper alem- bic." But it is at present never prepared by the apothecary, and in all the other Pharmacopoeias is placed in the catalogue of the Materia Medica. The turpentine of the Pinus palustris is said to yield about seventeen per cent, of oil; while the common turpentine of Europe affords twenty-four per cent. Large quantities of the oil are distilled in North Carolina for exportation. Pure oil of turpentine is perfectly limpid and colourless, of a strong pene- trating, peculiar odour, and a hot, pungent, bitterish taste. It is much lighter than water, having the specific gravity 0-86 at 72° F.; is highly volatile and inflammable; boils at a temperature somewhat higher than 300°; is very slightly soluble in water, less soluble in alcohol than most other volatile oils, and readily soluble in sulphuric ether. Boiling alcohol dissolves it with facility, but deposits most of the oil upon cooling. One hundred parts of alcohol of 084, dissolve 13-5 parts of the oil at 72°. As found in commerce, it always contains oxygen; but, when perfectly pure, it consists exclusively of carbon and hydrogen, and is thought to be isomeric with the radical of camphor. Hence it has been denominated camphene. (See pagi 155.) Ac- 500 Oleum Terebinthinse. PART I. cording to Blanchet and Sell, it consists of two distinct isomeric oils, which, by the absorption of oxygen, are converted into two distinct resins, corre- sponding to those found by Unverdorben in colophony. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 226.) But there is reason to believe that these oils are the results of chemical reaction ; as, when isolated, they have boiling points higher than that of the original oil. The oil of turpentine absorbs muriatic acid, forming with it two compounds, one a red dense liquid, the other a white crystalline sub- stance resembling camphor, and hence called artificial camphor. The latter consists of the unaltered oil (camphene) combined with the acid, and is there- fore muriate of camphene. In the former the oil appears to have undergone some molecular change, being converted into an oil isomeric with the oil of turpentine, but differing from it in its action on polarized light, and in form- ing a liquid compound with muriatic acid. If the muriate of camphene be distilled with lime, the acid is retained, and an oil comes over, differing from pure oil of turpentine in having no action on polarized light, and from the oil just mentioned in forming a solid compound with muriatic acid. These three oils are said to be isomeric. (Soubeiran and Capitaine, Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 11.) Nitric acid converts the oil of turpentine into resin, and, by long boiling, into turpentinic acid. On exposure to the air and light, oil of turpentine deposits a white solid matter in acicular crystals, which are without taste or smell, insoluble in cold water, but soluble in ether and alco- hol. (Boissenot, Journ. de Chim. 3Iid,, ii. 143.) White crystals of stearop- tene, heavier than water and fusible at 20°, separate from the oil at the tem- perature of 18° below zero. These are probably a hydrate of the oil. Exposed to the air the oil absorbs oxygen, becomes thicker and yellowish, and loses much of its activity, owing to the formation of resin. A small pro- portion of formic acid is said also to be generated. Hence the British Col- leges direct a process for the rectification of the oil, consisting in distilling it with about four measures of water. But the process is difficult, in con- sequence of the great inflammability of the vapour, and its rapid formation, which causes the liquid to boil over. In this country it is scarcely necessary; as the recent oil can be obtained at an expense less than that which would be incurred by its redistillation on a small scale. Another mode of purifying the oil is to agitate it with one-eighth of alcohol, which dissolves the portion that has become resinous by the absorption of oxygen. About one-fifth of the alcohol is retained by the oil, but is readily separated by agitation with water. Medical Properties and Uses. Oil of turpentine is stimulant, diuretic, oc- casionally diaphoretic, anthelmintic, in large doses cathartic, and externally rubefacient. When swallowed in moderate quantities it produces a sense of warmth in the stomach, accelerates the circulation, and increases the heat of the skin, without especially affecting the functions of the brain. In small doses, frequently repeated, it stimulates the kidneys, augmenting the secretion of urine, and often producing, especially if long continued, painful irritation of the urinary passages, amounting sometimes to violent strangury. At the same time it imparts the odour of violets to the urine; and this effect is also produced by its external application, or even by breathing the air of an apart- ment impregnated with its vapours. In large doses it occasions slight ver- tigo, or a sense of fulness in the head, sometimes amounting to intoxication, attended frequently with nausea, and succeeded generally, though not always, by speedy and brisk*' catharsis. When this effect is experienced, the oil is carried out of the bowels, and, no time being allowed for absorption, is less apt to irritate the kidneys and bladder than when taken in small and repeated doses. In some constitutions it produces, even when taken internally, an erythematic eruption on the skin. The oil is employed in numerous diseases. As a stimulant it is useful in PART I. Oleum Terebinthinse. 501 low forms of fever, particularly in cases where there is reason to suspect ulcera- tions of the mucous membranes. There is a particular state of fever usually attended with much danger, in which we have found this remedy almost uniformly successful. The condition of things alluded to, is one which occurs in the latter stages of typhoid fevers or lingering remittents, in which the tongue, having begun to throw off its load of fur in patches, has suddenly ceased to clean itself, and has become dry and brownish. The skin is at the same time dry, the bowels distended with flatus, and the patient sometimes affected with slight delirium. Under the use of small doses of oil of turpen- tine frequently repeated, the tongue becomes moist and again coated, the tym- panitic state of the bowels disappears, and the patient goes on to recover as in a favourable case of fever. We are disposed to ascribe the effect to a healthy change produced by the oil in the ulcerated surface of the intestines. The medicine has also been recommended as a counter-irritant in yellow and puer- peral fevers; and may undoubtedly be given with advantage in the latter stages of these diseases, and in other instances of gastric and enteric inflam- mations, which require a resort to stimulation; but the highly favourable re- ports which have been made of its effects in the early stages of puerperal peritonitis, have probably originated in the confounding of intestinal irritation with that formidable disease. In chronic rheumatism, particularly sciatica and lumbago, the oil has often been given with great benefit. It has also been much extolled as a remedy in neuralgia, in epilepsy and tetanus, in pas- sive hemorrhages, particularly from the bowels, in disordered conditions of the alimentary canal attended with sallow countenance, foul tongue, tumid abdomen, sour or fetid eructations, and general depravation of health, in ob- structions of the bowels, in some forms of chronic dysentery and diarrhoea, in obstinate gleets and leucorrhcea, in suppression of urine, and in chronic ne- phritic and calculous affections. We have seen it very beneficial in haemop- tysis. As a vermifuge also it is very highly esteemed, especially in cases of taenia. It appears, by its poisonous operation, to destroy or debilitate the worm, which, losing its hold upon the bowels, is then easily discharged. In cases of worms in the stomach it is often very useful. The worms, in this instance, are destroyed, and digested as any other dead animal matter. In dropsies with feeble action, the oil may sometimes be advantageously given as a diuretic; and in amenorrhcea from torpor of the uterine vessels it is occa- sionally useful. As a local stimulant or carminative it may be given bene- ficially in some instances of flatulent colic, and gout in the stomach. The dose for ordinary purposes is from five to thirty drops, repeated every hour or two in acute, and three or four times a day in chronic diseases. In rheumatism it is recommended by some in the dose of a fluidrachm every four hours. As a remedy for the tape worm it is given in the quantity of one or two fluidounces, and should be followed by castor oil if it do not operate in three or four hours. It has also proved successful in taenia in the dose of half a drachm, twice a day, continued for a considerable time. In ordinary cases of worms, the usual dose may be given. It may be administered dropped on sugar, or in emulsion with gum Arabic, loaf sugar, and cinnamon or mint water. In the form of enema, it has been employed in amenorrhcea, and is highly useful in cases of ascarides, obstinate constipation, and distension of the bowels from accumulation of air. No remedy is more effectual in tympanites than injections of the oil of turpentine. From half a fluidounce to two fluidounces may be administered in this way, suspended by the yolk of eggs in half a pint or a pint of water, or some mucilaginous fluid. Externally applied, the oil of turpentine irritates and speedily inflames the skin; and, in low forms of fever, with coldness of the surface, is when heated 502 Oleum Terebinthinse.—Oleum Tiglii. part i. one of the most efficacious rubefacients. It is also used as a liniment in rheu- matic and paralytic affections, and various internal inflammations. It should generally, in mild cases, be diluted with olive oil; and in some constitutions, even in this state, produces such violent inflammation of the skin, with ex- tensive eruptions, as to render its external use in any shape improper. Mixed with some mild oil and introduced on cotton into the ear, it is^ sometimes beneficial in deafness arising from a deficient or unhealthy secretion of wax. Applied to recent burns, it is thought by some to be highly useful in allaying the burning pain, and promoting a disposition to heal. For this purpose, however, it is usually mixed with the resin cerate (basilicon ointment), so as to form a liniment capable of being spread upon linen rags. (See Linimentum Terebinthinse. )* Off. Prep. Enema Terebinthinae, Lond., Ed.; Linimentum Cantharidis, U.S.; Linimentum Terebinthinae, U. S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.; Oleum Tere- binthinae Purificatum, Lond., Ed., Dub. W. OLEUM TIGLII. U.S. Croton Oil. " The oil of the seeds of Croton Tiglium." U. S. Off. Syn. TIGLII OLEUM. Croton Tiglium. Oleum e seminibus expres- sum. Lond,; CROTONIS OLEUM. Expressed oil of the seeds of Croton Tiglium. Ed. CROTON TIGLIUM. Oleum ex seminibus expressum. Dub. Huile de croton, Fr.; Crotonol, Germ.; Nervalum unnay, Tamool. Croton. See Cascarilla. Croton Tiglium. Willd. >S^>. Plant, iv. 543; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. 3d ed. vol. 5, p. 71. This species of Croton is a small tree or shrub, with a few spreading branches, bearing alternate petiolate leaves, which are ovate, acu- minate, serrate, smooth, of a dark green colour on the upper surface, paler beneath, and furnished with two glands at the base. The flowers are in erect terminal, racemes, scarcely as long as the leaf—the lower being female, the upper male, with straw-coloured petals. The fruit is a smooth capsule, about the size of a filbert, with three cells, each containing a single seed. The tree is a native of Hindostan, Ceylon, the Moluccas, and other parts of continental and insular India. It is pervaded throughout by an acrid pur- gative principle, which is probably analogous to that found in other plants belonging to the family of the Euphorbiaceae. Rumphius says that the root is employed in Amboyna, in the dose of a few grains, as a drastic purge in dropsy; and, according to the same author, the leaves are so acrid that, when chewed and swallowed, they excite painful inflammation in the lips, mouth, throat, and along the whole course of-the alimentary canal. The wood is said in small doses to be diaphoretic, in larger, purgative and emetic. But the seeds are the portion in which the active principle of the plant is most concentrated. These have been long employed throughout the whole of In- dia as a powerful purgative, and were introduced so early as the year 1630 into Europe, where they were known by the names of Grana 3Iolucca and Grana Tiglia. But in consequence of their violent effects they passed into neglect, and had ceased to be ranked among medicines, when, at a recent pe- riod, attention was again called to them by the writings of some English phy- * The following is the formula adopted by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy for the preparation of the rubefacient liniment, so much sold under the name of British Oil. R. Olei Terebinth, f^viij, Olei Lini fgviij, Olei Succini f^iv, Olei Juniperi f^iv, Pe- trolei Barbadens. fgiij, Petrolei American. (Seneca oil) f Sjj. Misce. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., v. 29.) PART I. Oleum Tiglii. 503 sicians in India. They are now imported for the oil which they afford, and which is the only portion of the plant considered officinal. These seeds are rather larger than a grain of coffee, of an oblong form, rounded at the extremities, with two faces, the external considerably more convex than the internal, separated from each other by longitudinal ridges, and each divided by a similar longitudinal ridge, so that the whole seed pre- sents an irregular quadrangular figure. Sometimes, as in the grain of coffee, their internal surface is flat with a longitudinal groove, owing to the presence of only two seeds in the capsule, the groove being produced by the central column or axis. The shell is covered with a soft yellowish-brown epidermis, beneath which the surface is black and smooth; and, as the epidermis is often partially removed by friction during their carriage, the seeds as they come to us are frequently of a mottled appearance, and sometimes nearly black. The kernel or nucleus is of a yellowish-brown colour, and abounds in oil. In India the seeds are prepared for use by submitting them to slight torrefaction, by which the shell is rendered more easily separable. In the dose of one or two grains the kernel purges with great activity. | The oil is obtained by expression from the seeds, previously deprived of * the shell. It may also be separated by decoction in water, or by the action • of ether, which dissolves the oil, and leaves it behind when evaporated. Ac- cording to Dr. Nimmo, the seeds consist of 64 parts of kernel, and 36 of envelope in the hundred; and the cotyledons yield 60 per cent, of oil. They yielded to Brandes upon analysis, independently of the shell, traces of a volatile oil, fixed oil, a peculiar fatty acid called crotonic acid, an alkaloid which he called crotonin, resin, stearin, wax, extractive, sugar, starch, gum, albumen, gluten, lignin, and salts. Some doubts are entertained as to the existence of croto- nin. The crotonic acid is the most interesting ingredient, is thought to be the active principle of the seeds, and is separated along with the oil in ex- pression. It may be obtained by treating the oil with solution of potassa, decomposing the resulting soap by tartaric acid, filtering and distilling the solution, neutralizing the product with baryta water, evaporating to dryness, decomposing the salt of baryta with strong phosphoric acid, and again distill- ing. (Christison's Dispensatory.) The acid solidifies at 23° F., is highly vola- tile, has a very acrid taste, is very irritating to the notrils, and forms salts with alkaline bases called crotonates. It is this principle, probably, which causes the dust and exhalation from the croton seed sometimes to excite ex- cessive irritation in the mucous surfaces of those who prepare them for expres- sion, or otherwise work among them. Properties. Croton oil, as found in the shops, is often of an orange or reddish-yellow colour, which is owing to the roasting of the seeds previously tQ expression, or to their having been kept too long. When procured with- out roasting from fresh seeds, it is yellowish or nearly colourless. Its smell is faint, but peculiar, its taste hot and acrid, leaving in the mouth a disagree- able sensation which continues for many hours. The oil is wholly soluble in sulphuric ether and oil of turpentine, and partially so in alcohol. According to Dr. Nimmo, it consists of two portions, one acrid and purgative, amounting to forty-five per cent., soluble in cold alcohol, and having an acid reaction, the other a mild oleaginous substance, like olive oil, soluble in ether and the oil of turpentine, and very slightly soluble in hot alcohol, by which it is de- posited when the liquor cools. The acrid portion probably consists of a resin- ous substance, and the acrid volatile acid before mentioned by the name of crotonic acid. It is thought that croton oil is often adulterated with other fixed oils. The Edinburgh College gives the following test of its purity. " When agitated with its own volume of pure alcohol and gently heated, it separates on stand- 504 Oleum Tiglii. part I. ing, without having undergone any apparent diminution." This, however, does not agree with the statement of Dr. Nimmo. We were told by the late Dr. M. Burrough, who was for some time in India, that much of the oil there prepared for exportation, under the name of croton oil, is derived from the seeds of a plant different from the Croton Tiglium. From a parcel of these seeds presented to him by Dr. Burrough, Dr. R. E. Griffith produced a plant which proved to be the Jatropha Curcas, the seeds of which are known by the name of Barbadoes nuts. (See Ta- pioca.) This oil, though weaker than the genuine, was said by Dr. Burrough to be an efficient cathartic in the dose of three or four drops. It is stated by Dr. Hamilton that croton seeds are afforded by the Croton Pavana, growing in Ava and the Eastern parts of Bengal; and it is highly probable that a portion of the croton oil of commerce is obtained from these seeds. (Trans. Lin. Soc, xiv. 257.) Medical Properties and Uses. Croton oil is a powerful hydragogue purga- tive, acting, for the most part, when given in moderate doses, with ease to the patient, but in large doses apt to excite vomiting and severe griping pain, and capable, if immoderately taken, of producing fatal effects. It acts with great rapidity, frequently evacuating the bowels in less than an hour, and generally exciting a rumbling sensation in half that period. It possesses also great advantage in the minuteness of the dose, on account of which it may frequently be given when we should fail with more bulky medicines, as in mania, coma, and the cases of children. A drop placed on the tongue of a comatose patient will generally operate. Though long used in India, and known a century ago to the Dutch physicians, it did not attract general no- tice till about 1820, when it was introduced into England by Mr. Conwell. It is chiefly employed in cases of obstinate constipation, in which it often produces the happiest effects after the failure of other medicines; but it may also be advantageously employed in almost all cases in which powerful and speedy purging is demanded. Dropsy, apoplexy, mania, and visceral obstruc- tions, are among the complaints in which it has been particularly recommended. It has recently been employed with great asserted benefit in neuralgia, epi- lepsy, and spasm of the glottis, and has been supposed to have powers in these affections, independent of its purgative property. The seeds are said to have been used with great success in India in amenorrhcea. Applied exter- nally, the oil produces inflammation of the skin, attended with a pustular erup- tion, and has been used in this way in rheumatism, gout, neuralgia, glandular and other indolent swellings, and in pulmonary diseases. It should be diluted with three parts of olive oil, soap liniment, oil of turpentine, or other conve- nient vehicle, and applied as a liniment twice or oftener in the twenty-four hours. Sometimes the insusceptibility of the skin to its influence is such as to require its application undiluted. For further information on this subject the reader is referred to the Amer. Journ. of Med. Sciences, xv. 240. The oil may also be applied externally, in the form of a plaster, made by incorpo- rating one part of it with four parts of lead plaster melted by a very gentle heat. Sometimes it appears to produce inflammation in parts distant from those to which it was directly applied. The dose for an adult is one or two drops, and is most conveniently admin- istered in the form of pill. A very safe and convenient plan is to make two drops into four pills with crumb of bread, and to give one every hour till they operate. The oil may also be given in emulsion. The form of tincture may be advantageously resorted to when a minute quantity of the medicine is required, as it affords the means of readily dividing the dose. It is said that four drops of the oil, applied externally by friction around the umbilicus, will produce a purgative effect. (Diet, des Drogues.) W. PART I. Olibanum. 505 OLIBANUM. Lond., Dub. Olibanum. "Boswellia serrata. Gummi-resina." Lond., Dub. Encens, Fr.; Weihranch, Germ.; Olibano, Iial.; Olibano, Incienso, Span.; Koondir Zuckir, Hindoo.; Cundur Looban, Arab. Olibanum, the frankincense of the ancients, was erroneously ascribed by Linnaeus to the Juniperus Lycia. There appear to be two varieties of oli- banum, one derived from the countries bordering on the Red Sea, and taken to Europe by way of the Mediterranean, the other brought directly from Cal- cutta. The tree producing the former has not been botanically described, though believed by some writers to be a species of Amyris. Captain Kemp- thorne, of the E. India Company's Navy, saw the tree growing upon the moun- tains, on the African coast, between Bunder Maryah and Cape Guardafui. According to his statement, it grows upon the bare marble rocks composing the hills in that region, without any soil or the slightest fissure to support it, adhering by means of a substance thrown out from the base of the stem. This rises forty feet, and sends forth near the summit short branches, covered with a bright green, singular foliage. The juice, which exudes through deep inci- sions made into the inner bark, is at first of the colour and consistence of milk, but hardens on exposure. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iv. 37.) The India olibanum has been satisfactorily ascertained to be the product of the Boswellia serrata of Roxburgh, a large tree growing in the mountains of India, and found by Mr. Colebrook abundant in the vicinity of Nagpur. The tree belongs to the class and order Decandria 3Ionogynia, and to the natural order Tercbintaceee of Kunth. The Arabian or African frankincense is in the form of yellowish tears, and irregular reddish lumps or fragments. The tears are generally small, oblong or roundish, not very brittle, with a dull and waxy fracture, softening in the mouth, and bearing much resemblance to mastich, from which, however, they differ in their want of transparency. The reddish masses soften in the hand, have a stronger smell and taste than the tears, and are often mixed with frag- ments of bark, and small crystals of carbonate of lime. The Indian frankincense, or olibanum, consists chiefly of yellowish, some- what translucent, roundish tears, larger than those of the African, and gene- rally covered with a whitish powder produced by friction. It has a balsamic resinous smell, and an acrid, bitterish, and somewhat aromatic taste. When chewed it softens in the mouth, adheres to the teeth, and partially dissolves in the saliva, which it renders milky. It burns with a brilliant flame, and a fragrant odour. Triturated with water it forms a milky imperfect solution. Alcohol dissolves nearly three-fourths of it, and the tincture is transparent. From 100 parts, Braconnot obtained 8 parts of volatile oil, 56 of resin, 30 of gum, and 5-2 of a glutinous matter insoluble in water or alcohol, with 0-8 loss. Various saline substances were found in its ashes. The oil may be separated by distillation, and resembles that of lemons in colour and smell. Medical Properties and Uses. Olibanum is stimulant like the other gum- resins; but is now never used internally. It is chiefly employed for fumiga- tions, and enters into the composition of some unofficinal plasters. W. 506 Opium. PART I. OPIUM. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Opium. "The concrete juice of the unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum." U. S. "Papaver somniferum. Capsulseimmaturse Succus concretus." Lond. "Con- crete juice from the unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum." Ed. "Papaver somniferum. Capsularum succus proprius concretus." Dub. Opium, Fr.; Opium, Monshaft, Germ.; Oppio, Ital; Opio, Span; Affioni, Turk.; Ufyoon, Arab.; Sheerikhaskash, Persian.; Ufeem, Hindoo. Papaver. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Papaveraceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla four-petaled. Calyx two-leaved. Capsule one-celled, opening by pores under the persistent stjgma. Willd. Opium is at present generally believed to be derived exclusively from the Papaver somniferum; though every species of poppy is capable of yielding it to a greater or less extent, and some authors have indicated the Papaver orientale as its real source. The British and French Pharmacopoeias unite with our own in recognising only the first-mentioned species. Papaver somniferum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1147; Woodv. Med. Bot., p. 376, t. 138. There are several varieties of this species, of which the two most prominent are distinguished by the titles of the white and black poppy, derived from the colour of their seeds. It is the former which is usually de- scribed as the proper opium plant. The white poppy is an annual plant, with a round, smooth, erect, glaucous, often branching stem, rising two or three feet in height, and sometimes attaining five or even six feet in favourable situations. The leaves are large, variously lobed and toothed, and alternately disposed upon the stem, which they closely embrace. The flowers are termi- nal, very large, and of a white or silver gray colour. In India they appear in February, in Europe and the United States, not earlier than June, July, or August. The calyx is smooth, and composed of two leaves, which fall when the petals expand. These are usually four in number; but there is a variety in which the flower is double. The germen, which is smooth and globular, supports a radiated stigma, and is surrounded by numerous short and slender filaments, with erect, oblong, compressed anthers. The capsule is smooth and glauco.us, of a rounded shape, from two to four inches in diameter, somewhat flattened at the top and bottom, and crowned with the persistent stigma, the diverging segments of which are arranged in a circle upon the summit. It contains numerous minute white seeds, which, when perfectly ripe, escape through small openings beneath the stigma. In the black poppy, the flower, though sometimes white, is usually violet coloured or red, the capsule is some- what smaller and more globular, and the seeds are of a brown or blackish colour. All parts of the poppy are said to contain a white, opaque, narcotic juice; but the leaves, when analyzed by M. Blondeau, yielded none of those active principles by which opium is characterized. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 214.) It is in the capsule that the juice most abounds, and the virtues of the plant chiefly reside. Hence this part is sometimes employed medicinally in Europe, where it is considered officinal. (See Papaveris Capsulse.) The seeds are wholly destitute of narcotic properties, and are even used as food in many parts of the world. The Romans employed them in the preparation of various dainties. They abound with a bland oil, which may be extracted by expres- sion, and has most of the useful properties of olive oil. It is an article of much importance on the continent of Europe, particularly in France, in the northern departments of which the black poppy is very extensively cultivated for the seed alone. The oil is employed for culinary and pharmaceutic pur- PART I. Opium. 507 poses, in painting, and the manufacture of soap, and in other ways as a sub- stitute for olive oil, which is said to be frequently adulterated with it. The poppy does not appear to elaborate the milky fluid in which its narcotic pro- perties reside, before a certain period of its growth; for we are told that, in Persia, the young plants which are pulled up to prevent too thick a crop are used as pot-herbs; and the prtxuv of the Greeks, which is believed to be iden- tical with the Papaver somniferum, is said by Hippocrates to be nutritive. Though generally believed to be a native of Asia, this species of poppy grows wild in the South of Europe, and even in England, whither its seeds are supposed to have been brought at a very early period. It was cultivated by the ancient Greeks, and is mentioned by Homer as a garden plant. It is at present cultivated very extensively in India, Persia, Egypt, and Asiatic Turkey, for opium; and in several parts of Europe, especially in France, not only for this product, but also for the seed and capsules. In this country it is found only in our gardens as an ornamental flower. The process for procuring opium from the poppy, as practised by the mo- dern inhabitants of India and Persia, according to the reports of Kerr and of Koempfer, is very nearly the same with that described by Dioscorides as em- ployed in his own times, about eighteen hundred years since; and the accounts of B61on, Olivier, and Texier, as to the modes of collection in Asia Minor, are not materially different. As the capsules abound most in the narcotic juice, it is from these that the opium is procured. According to Texier, a few days after the fall of the flower, men and women proceed to the fields, and make horizontal incisions in the capsule, taking care not to penetrate its cavity. A white juice, exudes, and appears in the form of tears upon the edges of the incisions. The field is left in this state for twenty-four hours, after which the juice is scraped off by means of large blunt knives. A portion of the epidermis of the capsule is also removed, and constitutes about one-twelfth of the whole product. Each poppy-head affords opium but once. Thus col- lected, the opium is in the state of an adhesive and granular jelly. It is placed in small earthen vessels, where it is beaten, and at the same time moistened with saliva. When of a proper consistence, it is wrapped in leaves and sent into the market. (Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 196.) Considerable quan- tities of good opium have been obtained in England by scarifying the capsules of the poppy.* Similar success has been met with in France; and the drug obtained by incisions in both countries has been found nearly if not quite equal to that imported from the East. In the Dictionnaire des Drogues it is stated that a specimen of opium, collected in this way in the vicinity of Pro- vins, gave sixteen per cent, of the active principle, while a good commercial specimen, examined by M. Petit, afforded only eigbt per cent. * So early as the year 1796, a premium was awarded by the Society for the Encou- ragement of Arts, to Mr. Ball, for a specimen of British opium ; and in 1823, Messrs. Cowley and Stains collected 196 pounds, which sold for nearly seven dollars a pound, from little more than twelve acres of land. This product, however, was by no means equal to tliat obtained in Scotland by Mr. John Young. From one acre of ground planted with poppies and potatoes, he procured fifty-six pounds of opium, valued at 450 dollars, while the whole expense was more than repaid by the potatoes, and the oil expressed from the seeds. For papers on the subject of the cultivation of the poppy in England, see Edin. Philos-oph. Journ., vol. i. p. 258, and the Quarterly Journal of Science, vol. iv. p. 69. In Armenia, where opium is largely produced, four varieties of seeds are used, the white, yellow, black, and sky-blue. The flower produced by the white seeds is white, that by the yellow is red, that by the black is black, and that by the sky-blue, is deep purple. The white and sky blue seeds yield large somewhat oblong capsules, like citrons in shape ; the yellow and black, small and round capsules. For an extent of ground forty paces square, forty drachms of seeds are required. Each head yields about a grain of opium. The operators, not accustomed to the work, are apt to become intoxicated or stupefied during the period of harvest. (Gaultier de Claubry, Journ. de Pharm, 3e ser., xiii. 105.) 508 Opium. PART I. Another method of extracting the virtues of the capsules is to select such as have ceased to yield their juice by exudation, to beat them with a small proportion of water, and inspissate the liquid thus obtained by artificial heat. The ancient Greeks were acquainted with both processes, as appears from the writings of Dioscorides. The term ortiov, derived from o7to$, juice, they applied to the substance procured by incisions, and answering precisely to the modern opium. The inspissated expressed juice they called uyxuviov, from uvxuv, the name of the plant. Tournefort states that it is the latter preparation which is exported from Turkey as opium, the former being much more valuable, and therefore retained in the country for the use of the great and wealthy. This error has been copied by many writers on the materia medica; and till within a comparatively few years, opium was generally believed to be an extract obtained by evaporating either the expressed juice, or a decoction of the capsules. Commercial History. Commerce is supplied with opium chiefly from Hindostan, Persia, Egypt, and the Asiatic dominions of Turkey. Immense quantities are produced in the Indian provinces of Bahar and Benares, and in the more interior province of Malwa. The opium of Hindostan is distributed extensively through continental and insular India, where it is habitually em- ployed in the place of spirituous liquors. Great quantifies are also sent to China, into which it finds an easy entrance, notwithstanding prohibitory laws. Much was formerly imported by the East India Company into England, through which a small portion reached our own country; but at present India opium is considered so far inferior to that from Turkey, that it has been almost en- tirely excluded from our market, and none is brought directly from the East. The great demand for it in the Indian Archipelago and in China, and its consequent high price, have probably contributed more even than its reputed inferiority to this result. Indeed, Ainslie explicitly states that India opium is inferior to none; and it is probable that the specimens from which the de- scription was drawn up that has been current among authors upon the materia medica, were the refuse of the Eastern market. We know that the drug was formerly very much and variously adulterated by the natives. Among the impurities mentioned by authors are the extract of the poppy procured by decoction, the powdered leaves and stems of the plant made into a paste with mucilage, the oil of sesamum, catechu, and even cow-dung. But a more care- ful superintendence by the officers of the Company is said to have resulted in a great improvement of the India opium. Of that produced in Persia, very little is brought to this country; and it is scarcely known in our market as a distinct variety. Much was formerly produced in Upper Egypt, especially in the district of ancient Thebes, which was supposed to yield it in greatest per- fection. It was in fact for a long time generally known by the name of Opium Thebaicum, and laudanum is still frequently directed in prescriptions as the Tinctura Thebaiea. Its cultivation has recently been again introduced into Egypt; and considerable quantities are now exported. Turkey opium is produced in Anatolia, and shipped chiefly from the port of Smyrna. It is brought to the United States, either directly from the Levant, or indirectly through other European ports. From the treasury returns for the years from 1827 to 1845 inclusive, according to a table prepared by Dr. J. B. Biddle, and published in the American Journal of Pharmacy for April 1847, it appears that the average value of the annual importations for the period referred to has been from Turkey 128,137 dollars, from England 13,744, from France 4,470, and from all other places 6,607 dollars. Of this amount so much was exported as to leave for the average annual consumption of the country the value of 66,809 dollars. Turkey opium usually comes to us in masses of irregular size and shape, generally more or less flattened, covered with leaves, or the remains of leaves, and with the reddish capsules PART I. Opium. 509 of some species of Rumex, which are said to be absent in the inferior kinds, and may therefore be considered as affording some indication of the purity of the drug. We may account for this circumstance upon the very probable supposition, that these capsules are removed during the operation which the masses sometimes undergo in the hands of the merchants, after leaving those of the cultivators. We are told by the French writers that extensive frauds are practised at Marseilles in this branch of commerce. The opium taken thither from the Levant is first softened, and then adulterated with various matters, which are incorporated in its substance. To use a strong expression of M. Guibourt, they make the opium over again at Marseilles. Our traders to the Mediterranean would do well to bear this assertion in mind. Accord- ing to Dr. A. T. Thomson, one-fourth part of Turkey opium generally con- sists of impurities. Sand, ashes, the seeds of different plants, the extracts of the poppy, Lactuca virosa, Glycyrrhiza glabra, and Chelidonium glaucum, gum Arabic, tragacanth, aloes, even small stones, and minute pieces of lead and iron, are mentioned among the substances employed in the sophistication of the drug. Mr. Landerer, of Athens, was informed by a person who had been engaged in the extraction of opium, that grapes freed from their seeds and crushed, were almost universally mixed with the poppy juice, and that another adulteration consisted of the epidermis of the capsules and stem of the plant, pounded in a mortar with the white of eggs. (Am. Journ. of Pharm,, xv. 238.) In England a sophisticated opium has been prepared, so nearly resembling good Turkey opium in appearance, that by the eye alone it would be difficult to detect the fraud, and yet wholly destitute of the active principle of this drug. Portions of it have been sent into the markets both of France and this country. It is probably the genuine drug, deprived of its morphia by some process which does not materially disturb the visible arrangement of its particles.* (Am. Journ. of Pharm., x. 261.) * The great importance of opium renders it desirable that all its commercial varieties should be accurately described, and their relative value so far as possible ascertained. The following statement has been drawn up from the most recent published accounts of the drug, and from the personal observations of the author. The papers of Guibourt in France, Christison in Great Britain, and Merck and Martius in Germany, have been con- sulted. (See Journ. de Pharm, xvii. 714, and xxi. 542; and Annalen der Pharm., xviii. 79, and xxiv. 56.) The varieties of this drug may be arranged, according to the countries in which they are produced, under the heads of Turkey, Egyp'ian, India, and Persia opium. I. TURKEY OPIUM. This title belongs to the opium produced in the Turkish pro- vince of Anatolia, and exported from Smyrna and Constantinople. According to some authorities, there is no essential difference between the parcels of the drug brought from these two ports. Others maintain that they are distinct varieties, differing in their interior structure, and probably also in the precise place of their production, and the mode of their collection. The truth probably is, that most of the opium shipped at Constantinople is produced in the northern parts of Anatolia, while that from Smyrna is collected in the provinces more convenient to the latter city; and, though it is possible that an identical drug maybe occasionally brought from the two ports, yet there seems to be good ground in general for arranging it under different varieties, as derived from these different sources. 1. Smyrna Opium. This is the variety which is, beyond all comparison, most abundant in our markets; and it is from this that the ordinary descriptions of opium are drawn up. It comes to us in masses of various size, usually from half a pound or somewhat less to ■a pound in weight, sometimes, though rarely, as much as two or even three pounds, ori- ginally, perhaps, of a globular form, but variously indented, and rendered quite irregular in shape, by the pressure to which they are subjected, while yet soft, in the cases which contain them. Sometimes they are even pressed out into flat cakes. As brought into market, the lumps are usually hard on the outside, but still soft within. They are covered externally with the remains of leaves, and with the reddish capsulesofa speci'-s of Rumex, which have no doubt been applied in order to prevent the surfaces from adhering. Not- withstanding, however, this coating, the masses sometimes stick together, and two or more become consolidated into one. In this way the fact may be accounted for, that the seeds 510 Opium. PART i. Opium is regarded as inferior when it has a blackish colour; a weak or empyreumatic smell; a sweet or slightly nauseous and bitter taste; a soft, viscid, or greasy consistence; a dull fracture; or an irregular, heterogeneous texture, arising from the intermixture of foreign substances. It should not of the Rumex are occasionally found in the interior of the masses. In the finer parcels of Smyrna opium, the colour internally is light brown; in the inferior it is darker, A peculiar character of this variety is, that when a lump of it is cut into and then carefully torn, numerous minute shining tears are observable, particularly under a microscope; bearing some resemblance to small seeds, but readily distinguishable by pressure between the fingers. They are undoubtedly formed from the drops of juice which escape from the incisions in the capsules, and which, according to Belon, are allowed to concrete before they are removed. From the account of the same author it appears that, after the juice has been collected, it is not subjected to the process of kneading or beating, as in the case of other varieties of opium; so that the tears preserve their original shape in the mass. It is probably owing to the peculiar mode of collecting Smyrna opium, that minute pieces of the skin of the poppy capsules are found intermingled in the mass; these being sepa- rated in the process of removing the adhering tears. In the finer specimens of Smyrna opium, these fragments of the capsules are the only impurities. This variety of the drug is of very different qualities, the finest kinds yielding, according to Merck, as much as 13 per cent, of pure morphia, while from some very bad parcels he could not procure more than 3 or 4 per cent. In these inferior specimens the colour is darker, the smell is often musty, and there is very generally more or less mouldiness both upon the surface, and in the interior of the masses, indicating perhaps too much moisture in the opium originally, or its subsequent exposure to an injurious degree of dampness. Good Smyrna opium ought to yield 10 or 11 per cent, of morphia. Dr. Christison, however, states that he has not been able to procure more than 9 per cent, from the finest Smyrna opium. 2. Constantinople Opium. Most of the Constantinople opium is in lumps from half a pound to two and a half pounds in weight, and scarcely distinguishable in exterior appear- ance from those of the former variety, being equally irregular in shape, and in like manner covered with the capsules of the Rumex. It differs, however, strikingly from the Smyrna opium in its interior constitution, being, according to Merck, wholly destitute of the tears which characterize that variety. This would indicate some difference in the mode of collecting and preparing the juice. In the case of the Constantinople opium, it1 is pro- bably either removed from the capsules before concretion, or subjected to pressure after- wards. Merck says that he has not discovered, in this variety, those minute portions of the poppy capsules which are usually present inthe Smyrna opium. The average quality of the Constantinople opium, as above described, is about equal to that of the drug from Smyrna; but it appears to be occasionally purer; as Merck obtained from one specimen as much as 15 per cent, of pure morphia. Notwithstanding what has been above stated, we are not yet in possession of facts to prove that this is not, as some have supposed it to be, the better sort of Smyrna opium selected and sent to the capital. Guibourt describes another variety of Constantinople opium of much inferior character. "It comes," he observes, "in small flattened cakes, sufficiently regular and of a lenticular shape, from two to two and a half inches in diameter, and always covered with a poppy leaf, the midrib of which divides the surface into two equal parts. It has an odour similar to that of the preceding variety, but feebler, and it blackens and dries in the air. It is more mucilaginous than Smyrna opium, and contains only half as much morphia." These characters are obviously those of Egyptian opium; and, though the parcels which came under the notice of Guibourt may have been imported directly from Constantinople, it is highly probable that they were originally from Alexandria. Mr. Stettner, of Trieste, though well acquainted with the opium commerce of that port, admits no such Constan- tinople opium as that described by Guibourt. (Annal der Pharm., xxiv. 65.) II. EGYPTIAN OPIUM. This is in flat roundish cakes, of various dimensions, sometimes as much as six inches in diameter and a pound in weight, usually, however, much smaller, and sometimes not weighing more than half an ounce. These cakes are either wrapped in a poppy leaf, so placed that the midrib divides the surface into two equal parts, or exhibits vestiges of such a covering. Occasionally the brown colour of the opium is seen through the leaf, and the surface appears as if uncovered, while the leaf is still present. This variety of opium is always destitute of the Rumex capsules, and differs from the Smyrna opium also in being brittle instead of tenacious, and equally hard in the centre as at the surface of the mass. Its fracture is conchoidal and of a waxy lustre, and small fragments of it are translucent. Its colour is usually redder than that of Smyrna opium, though it is sometimes dark. Some of the pieces, on exposure to the air, become damp and sticky on the outer surface, indicating the fraudulent addition of some deli- PART I. Opium. 511 impart a deep-brown colour to the saliva, nor leave a dark uniform trace when drawn over paper, nor form with water a thick viscid solution. Properties. Good opium has a peculiar strong narcotic odour, and a bitter, somewhat acrid taste. When long chewed it excites much irritation in the quescent substance. The odour is similar to that of Smyrna opium, but weaker. There can be little doubt that this opium is, in some way, sophisticated in its preparation; as it yields only 6 or 7 per cent, of morphia. (Merck.) A specimen examined by Mr. J. Evans, of Philadelphia, yielded only 355 per cent. Egyptian opium, therefore, should never be dispensed by the apothecary, or employed in the preparation of his tinctures; as the prescription of the physician is based upon the strength of good Smyrna opium, which is about twice that of the Egyptian. III. INDIA OPIUM. Little if any of this opium reaches our market. There appear to be two chief varieties of it, one produced in Bahar and Benares, in the Bengal Presi- dency, and called Bengal opium, the other in the interior provinces, and designated by the name of Malwa opium. 1. Bengal Opium. This appears to be identical with the variety sometimes called Patna opium. It is in round balls, weighing three pounds and a half, invested by a coating half an inch thick, composed of' agglutinated leaves and poppy-petals. The interior of the mass is of a brownish-black colour, of the consistence of a stiff paste, and possessed in a high degree of the characteristic odour and taste of opium. Mr. Smyttan, inspector of opium at Bombay, obtained from two to three and a half per cent, of morphia from this variety of opium; but, as he obtained only from five to six and a half per cent, from Smyrna opium, we may conclude that the drug was not exhausted by his process, and may estimate the proportion of its active principle at double that stated above. Still, even with this allowance, it must be subjected to great adulteration in its preparation; as it is by no means probable that the poppies cultivated in India yield a product materially weaker than those of Turkey. Yet Christison states that all the India opium which he has seen is exempt from the mixture of leaves, seeds, and fragments of poppy capsules so abundant in Smyrna opium. Its inferior character is in some degree probably owing to the juice, after collection, being kept for some time before it is made up, and conse- quently undergoing fermentation. The India opium examined by Dr. A. T. Thomson was apparently of inferior character. As described by that author, it was in round masses, covered with the petals of the poppy in successive layers, to the thickness of nearly one-fourth of an inch. It had a strong empyreumatic smell, with little of the peculiar heavy odour of Turkey opium. Its taste was more bitter and equally nauseous, but less acrid. Its colour was blacker, and its texture, though as tenacious, was less plastic. It was more friable, and when triturated with water, was wholly suspended or dissolved, leaving none of that plastic residue which is afforded by the other variety. It yielded to Dr. Thomson more narcotina than Turkey opium, but only about one-third the quantity of morphia. All these are the characters of an extract of the poppy heads, rather than of their inspissated juice. The absence of the plastic principle analogous to caoutchouc is strong evidence in favour of this view of its nature; for it is obvious that water would not extract this principle from the capsules, while it is hardly probable that the juice is destitute of it. Besides, the strength indicated by Dr. Thomson is very nearly the same with that of the extract ot the capsules prepared in France. The Bengal opium is at present a superior drug to that here described, though still inferior to the Smyrna opium. There is a variety of Patna or Bengal opium, called garden Patna opium, which was described in the fifth edition of this work on the authority of Dr. Christison, as Malwa opium. Dr. Christison has subsequently ascertained its true origin. It is prepared in Bahar with peculiar care, from juice which has not been suffered to undergo fermentation. It is in cakes three or four inches square, and about half an inch thick, which are packed in cases with a layer of mica between them. These cakes are without covering, hard, dry, and brittle, of a uniform shining fracture, and not unlike an extract in appearance. The colour is sometimes almost black, and sometimes of a light brown, not unlike that of Egyptian opium. Dr. Christison states that it is much superior to the globular Bengal opium, and that some specimens are little inferior to Turkey opium in the proportion of morphia. 2. Malwa Opium. This is in flat, roundish cakes, five or six inches in diameter, and from four to eight ounces in weight. They are commonly quite hard, dry, and brittle, of a light brown colour, a shining fracture, a compact homogeneous texture, and free from mechanical impurities. The quality is superior to that of common Bengal opium.— (Christison s Dispensatory ) IV. PERSIA OPIUM. A variety of opium under this name has sometimes existed I 512 Opium. part^i. lips and tongue, and even blisters the mouth of those unaccustomed to its use. Its colour is reddish-brown or deep fawn; its texture compact; its specific gravity 1-836. When drawn over paper it usually leaves an interrupted trace of a light brown colour. It is often soft in the interior of the mass, and in this state is tenacious; but when exposed to the air it gradually hardens, and ultimately becomes brittle, breaking with a shining fracture, and affording, when pulverized, a yellowish-brown powder, which becomes adhesive upon a slight elevation of temperature. It readily inflames upon the application of a lighted taper. It yields its virtues to water, alcohol, and diluted acids, but not to ether. To all these menstrua it imparts a deep-brown colour. Alco- hol dissolves about four-fifths of it. Pelletier states that the proportion taken up by water varies in all specimens. He never found the quantity of extract prepared with cold water to exceed 12 parts out of 16. (Journ. de Pharm., Nov. 1832.) Much attention has been devoted to the chemical constitution of opium; and very interesting results have been obtained. It was by their researches into the nature of this substance that chemists were led to the discovery of those vegetable alkaloids, which, as the active principles of the plants in which they are found, have recently attracted so much attention among physicians, and been applied so advantageously in the treatment of disease. To Serturner, an apothecary at Eimbeck, in Hanover, certainly belongs the credit of having opened this new and most important field of experiment. In the year 1803, M. Derosne made known the existence of a crystallizable substance which he had discovered in opium, and which he erroneously believed to be the active prin- ciple. In the following year, Seguin discovered another crystallizable body, which subsequent experience has proved to be the true narcotic principle of opium; but he did not fully investigate its nature, and no immediate practical advantage was derived from his excellent analysis. About the same time, Serturner was engaged in a similar investigation, the results of which, very analogous to those obtained by Seguin, were published in a German journal, without, however, attracting general attention. In this state the subject re- mained till the year 1817, when Serturuer announced the existence of a saline compound in opium, consisting of a peculiar alkaline principle united with a peculiar acid, and clearly demonstrated the precise nature of a substance, which, though before discovered both by Seguin and by himself, had been hitherto but vaguely known. To the alkali, in which he correctly conceived the narcotic powers of the opium to reside, he gave the name of morphium, which has been subsequently changed to morphia by English writers, in order to render it analogous to the titles of the other alkalies. The acid he called in the markets of London, and has even found its way to this country, though it is very rare. It is described as being in cylindrical pieces, about three and a half inches long and half an inch thick, wrapped in glossy paper, and tied with a cotton thread. It is of a uniform consistence, but exhibits, nevertheless, under the microscope, small agglu- tinated tears, much less than those of the Smyrna opium. It has the liver-brown colour- of Egyptian opium, a virose, musty odour, and a very bitter taste; and, like Egyptian opium, softens in a moist atmosphere. It is said to have been brought to England from Trebizond on the Black Sea ; but its origin is not known. It is of inferior quality. From the report of a trial in the city of New York, published in the Journal of Commerce, it appears that a parcel of Persia opium imported into that city from London in August, 1835, was in small round balls, and contained only 3 per cent, of morphia. It is highly important that the real value of these commercial varieties of opium should be known to the physician and apothecary; as otherwise, there can be no certainty in relation to the strength of the preparations which maybe made from them. In the pre- paration of laudanum and the other linctures into which opium enters, it is understood that the drug employed should have the average quality of good Smyrna opium. The inferior kinds should be used only for the extraction of morphia. part f. Opium. 513 meconic, a term derived from the Greek name of the poppy. The correctness of the statements of Serturner was confirmed by the experiments of Robiquet, who also satisfactorily demonstrated that the substance obtained by Derosne, and called by him the salt of opium, was a principle altogether distinct from morphia, though supposed to possess very considerable influence over the system. In the belief of its narcotic powers, Robiquet denominated it nar- cotin, a title which it still retains. Several other peculiar principles have since been discovered; though it is difficult to resist the impression, that some of them may be the result of the processes to which opium is submitted for their extraction. According to the views of its constitution at present ad- mitted, opium contains, 1. morphia; 2. narcotin or narcotina; 3. codeia; 4. paramorphia; 5. narcein; 6. meconin; 7. porphyroxin; 8. meconic and sul- phuric acids; 9. a peculiar acid, not yet fully investigated; 10. extractive matter; 11. gum; 12. bassorin; 13. a peculiar resinous body insoluble in ether and containing nitrogen; 14. fixed oil; 15. a substance resembling caoutchouc; 16. an odorous volatile principle; besides lignin, and a small proportion of acetic acid, sulphate of lime, sulphate of potassa, alumina, and iron. Besides these principles, Pelletier announced the discovery of another which he called pseudomorphia, but which appears to be only an occasional constituent of opium. (See Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 575.)* Of the principles above mentioned morphia is by far the most important. It is generally admitted to exist in opium united with meconic acid in the state of meconate, and to a certain extent also as a sulphate. Of morphia and the mode of procuring it, and of its salts, we shall treat at large under another head. (See 31orphia.) Narcotina or narcotin receives one or the other of these names according as it is considered alkaline or neuter; they who rank it among the alkalies giving it the former name, they who deny it such a position, the latter. It exists in opium, chiefly at least, in the free state, and is left behind in considerable quantity when the drug is macerated with water. It is white, tasteless, and inodorous; and crystallizes in silky flexible needles, usually larger than the crystals of morphia, fusible at a moderate elevation of temperature, insoluble in cold water, soluble in 400 parts of boiling water, in 100 parts of cold and 24 of boiling alcohol which deposits it upon cooling, and very soluble in ether. The fixed and volatile oils, and the diluted acids also dissolve it. As it exerts no alkaline reaction upon vegetable colours, and does not prevent the acids from reddening litmus paper, there would appear to be some reason for deny- ing it the rank of an alkali. But it unites with some of the acids forming definite compounds, which may be procured in a separate state; and Robiquet obtained the sulphate and muriate of narcotina well crystallized. (Journ. de Pharm., xvii. 639, and xix. 59.) Hence many chemists, among whom, is Berzelius, consider it alkaline; and, perhaps, this view of it is the most con- venient. It must be admitted, however, to have a very feeble neutralizing power. With acetic acid it does not appear to form a permanent combination; for, though dissolved by cold acetic acid, it is separated by heating the solu- tion. Narcotina is composed, according to an analysis conducted with great care by Pelletier, of 4-31 parts of nitrogen, 65-16 of carbon, 5-45 of hydrogen, and 25-08 of oxygen. (Journ. de Pharm., xviii. 624.) According to Robi- quet, its muriate consists of 4-585 parts of narcotina, and 0-409 of dry acid. * The discovery of a new alkaloid in opium, for which the name ofpapaverina is pro- posed, has been announced by Dr. G. Merck. For an account of its properties the reader is referred to the Am. Journ. of Pharm. (xx. 211). An account of the mode of preparing it, and of its effects on the system, appears to have been reserved for a future communi- cation. 33 514 Opium (Ibid., xix. 63.) Narcotina may be distinguished from morphia by its in- sipidity, solubility in ether, and insolubility in alkaline solutions, by not affecting vegetable colours, by assuming a yellowish instead of a blood-red colour under the action of strong nitric acid, and by not producing a blue colour with the salts of iron. It is, however, reddened by a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids. It gives a greasy stain to paper when heated upon it over a candle. Heated with an excess of sulphuric acid and peroxide of man- ganese, it is converted into an acid called opianic acid, and into a substance of feeble alkaline properties, which has received the name of cotarnine (cotar- nina). (Journ, cle Pliarm. et de Chim., Zesir., vi. 99.) Water extracts it partially from opium, in consequence of the acid which the latter contains, either free or combined with the narcotina. It is usually obtained mixed with morphia in the processes for procuring that principle; and may be sepa- rated by the action of sulphuric ether, which dissolves it without affecting the morphia, and yields it upon evaporation. It may also be obtained by digest- ing opium in sulphuric ether, and slowly evaporating the ethereal solution, which deposits crystals of narcotina. Another mode of procuring it is to treat opium, which has been exhausted by previous maceration in water, with dilute acetic acid, to filter the solution, precipitate by an alkali, wash the precipitate with water, and purify it by solution in boiling alcohol, from which it crystal- lizes as the liquid cools. Should it still be impure, the solution in alcohol and crystallization may be repeated. Though narcotina itself is tasteless, its salts are very bitter, even more so than those of morphia. (Berzelius.) Their solution reddens litmus, and affords precipitates with the alkalies and infusion of galls. They have not been very accurately investigated. It has already been stated that Robiquet obtained the sulphate and muriate crystallized. Different opinions have been advanced relative to the action of narcotina on the system. Derosne believed it to be the active principle of opium; though, upon experimenting with it, he obtained effects but little stronger than those produced by an equal dose of opium itself. Magendie found it to exercise a powerful influence upon the system of dogs. One grain dissolved in oil was sufficient to throw the animal into a state of stupor, which terminated in death in the course of twenty-four hours. This stupor was wholly different from the composed sleep produced by morphia and its preparations. He inferred that, while the latter principle exercises the remedial, anodyne, and soporific virtues of opium, the injurious excitant operation of the medicine is ascribable to the narcotina. Both Derosne and Magendie found its unpleasant effects to be modified or prevented by its conjunction with acetic acid. According to Magendie, twenty-four grains, dissolved in vinegar, may be given to a dog without destroying life. M. Baily prescribed it in the dose of sixty grains, both in the solid state and dissolved in muriatic acid, without observing from it any sensible effect. In the same state, Orfila found that it might be taken by man in very large doses with impunity; and thirty grains of it dissolved in acetic acid, produced no effect upon several patients to whom it was admi- nistered. Upon dogs, he informs us that it is without action when dissolved in nitric or muriatic acid; but held in solution by acetic or sulphuric acid, or by olive oil, thirty or forty grains of it were sufficient to produce fatal effects. A singular circumstance noticed by the same experimenter is, that the solu- tion in acetic or sulphuric acid occasioned violent-excitement; while the con- trary condition uniformly resulted from the use of the solution in olive oil. On the whole, we may conclude that narcotina, either in the solid form or dissolved in acids, is not possessed of any considerable narcotic powers; and that the effects of a narcotic character which have been attributed to it, have \ Part i. part I. Opium. 515 probably arisen from the employment of a preparation not entirely freed from other principles contained in the opium. Dr. O'Shaughnessy, Professor of Chemistry in the Medical College of Calcutta, recommends narcotina very highly in intermittent fever, and believes that he has discovered in it even stronger anti-periodic properties than those of quinia. Should his reports in its favour be confirmed by further experiments, it will undoubtedly take its place among the most valuable substances of the materia medica. In the cases reported by him, it was employed in combination with muriatic acid. (jiven in this form, though powerfully febrifuge, it was found not to produce narcotic effects, not to constipate the bowels, and never to occasion that dis- tressing headache and restlessness which sometimes follow the use of quinia. It proved, moreover, powerfully sudorific. It was given in doses of three grains, three times a day. Dr. O'Shaughnessy was induced to recommend its employment to his medical friends in India, from a knowledge that it had proved effectual in mild agues in the hands of Dr. Roots and Mr. Jetson in England. (h/hla-was discovered in 1832 by Robiquet in the muriate of morphia prepared according to the process of Gregory. It exists in opium combined like morphia with meconic acid, and is extracted along with that alkali in the preparation of the muriate. (See Morphia.) When the solution of the mixed muriates of morphia and codeia is treated with ammonia, the former alkali is precipitated, and the codeia, remaining in solution, may be obtained by eva- poration and crystallization. It may be purified by treating the crystals with hot ether, which dissolves them, and yields the codeia in colourless crystals by spontaneous evaporation. This alkaline product melts at 300° without decomposition. It is soluble in water, which takes up 1-26 per cent, at 60°, 3-7 at 110°, and 5-9 at 212°. When added in excess to boiling water, the undissolved portion melts and sinks to the bottom, having the appearance of an oil. It is soluble also in alcohol and ether, but is insoluble in alkaline solutions. Hence, it may be separated from morphia by a solution of potassa or soda, which dissolves the morphia, and leaves the codeia. It has an alka- line reaction on test paper, and combines with acids to form salts, some of which are crystallizable, particularly the nitrate. Its capacity of saturation is almost identical with that of morphia. According to Robiquet, 1 part of muriatic acid is saturated by 7-837 of codeia, and by 7-88 of morphia. It is distinguishable, however, from the latter principle, by the different form of its crystals, which are octohedral, by its solubility in boiling ether, greater solu- bility in water, and insolubility in alkaline solutions, and by not assuming a red colour with nitric acid, nor a blue one with the salts of the sesquioxide of iron. (Journ. de Pharm., xix. 91.) Tincture of galls precipitates from its solutions a tannate of codeia. Crystallized from a watery solution, it contains about six per cent, of water, which is driven off at 212°. The crystals ob- tained from a solution in ether contain no water. Like the other vegetable alkalies, it consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Its formula is NC^H^O.; and its combining number consequently 284. Dr. Gregory tried the effects of nitrate of codeia upon himself and several of his pupils, and found that, in a dose of three grains or less, it produced no obvious effect, but in the quantity of from four to six.grains, accelerated the pulse, occasioned a sense of heat in the head and face, and gave rise to an agreeable excitement of the spirits like that resulting from intoxicating drinks, which was attended with a sense of itching upon the skin, and, after lasting for several hours, was followed by an unpleasant depression, with nausea and sometimes vomiting. Xo tendency to sleep was observed, except in the state of depression. In two or three cases the medicine produced a slight purgative effect; but in others 516 Opium. PART I. it appeared to exercise no peculiar influence on the bowels. M. Barbier, of Amiens, administered codeia uncombined in numerous cases, and observed that, in the dose of one or two grains, it acted on the nervous system, and appeared to be directed especially to the great sympathetic; as it relieved painful affections having their origin apparently in disorders of this nerve, while it exerted no influence over pains of the back and extremities supplied by nerves from the spinal marrow. He did not find it to affect the circulation, to disturb digestion, or to produce constipation. In sufficient quantity, it in- duced sleep, without occasioning those marks of cerebral congestion occasioned by opium. Dr. Miranda, of Havana, has employed it with great advantage in several bad cases of dyspepsia. On the whole, there can be no doubt that this principle has a decided action on the animal economy, and is among those upon which opium depends for its peculiar powers. Paramorphia (thebaina) is the name given by Pelletier to a principle, discovered by him in the precipitate thrown down from an infusion of opium treated with milk of lime. The precipitate being washed with water till the liquid came away colourless, and then treated with alcohol, instead of affording morphia to this solvent, as was anticipated, yielded a new alkaline principle, which was obtained separate by evaporating the alcohol, acting on the residue with ether, allowing the ethereal solution to evaporate spontaneously, and then purifying the resulting crystalline mass by dissolving it in an acid, precipi- tating by ammonia, and recrystallizing by means of alcohol or ether. Pelle- tier named it paramorphia, from its close analogy in composition with morphia, from which, however, it is quite distinct in properties. It is white, crystal- lizable in needles, of an acrid and styptic rather than bitter taste, fusible at about 300°, scarcely soluble in water, very soluble in alcohol and ether even when cold, and still more so when heated, and capable of combining with the acids, with which, however, it does not form crystallizable salts. Alkalies precipitate it from its acid solutions, and, unless in very concentrated solution, do not redissolve it when added in excess. It is not, like morphia, reddened by nitric acid, nor does it become blue with solutions of the salts of sesqui- oxide of iron. From codeia it differs in never being in large crystals, in not forming crystallizable salts, in being always precipitated from its acid solutions by ammonia, and in not melting in oily drops. From narcotina, which it most resembles, it may be distinguished by its shorter crystals, which want the pearly appearance of those of narcotina, by its different taste, by its much greater solubility in cold alcohol of which 10 parts will dissolve 1 of this principle, while narcotina requires 100 parts, and by the action of nitric acid, which converts it into a resindike matter before dissolving it, while the same acid instantly dissolves narcotina. It consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, its formula being NC2,H1403 (Pane), and its combining number consequently 202. The name of thebain was proposed for it by M. Couerbe, who was disposed to give the credit of its discovery to 31. Thiboumery, the director of Pelletier's laboratory. According to Magendie, it is closely ana- logous, in its effects on the system, to strychnia and brucia, producing tetanic spasms in the dose of a grain. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 69.) Narcein, discovered by Pelletier in 1832, is white, in silky acicular crys- tals, inodorous, of a slightly bitter taste, fusible at 197° F., soluble in 375 parts of cold and 220 of boiling water, soluble also in alcohol, and insoluble in ether. It is rendered blue by the action of mineral acids so far diluted as not to decompose it; but does not, like morphia, become blue by the action of the salts of iron, nor red by that of nitric acid. It is dissolved by the acids, but does not combine with or neutralize them, and, though at first thought to be alkaline by Pelletier, is not so considered at present. It resembles the PART I. Opium. 517 vegetable alkalies, however, in its constitution, consisting of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Its formula is NC^H^O^. Pelletier obtained it in the course of his analysis of opium. Having formed an aqueous extract of opium, he treated it with distilled water, precipitated the morphia by am- monia, concentrated the solution, filtered it, threw down the meconic acid by baryta water, separated the excess of baryta by carbonate of ammonia, drove off the excess of the ammoniacal salt by heat, evaporated the liquor to the consistence of syrup, set it aside till a pulpy matter formed containing crystals, separated and expressed this pulpy matter, then treated it with alcohol, and concentrated the alcoholic solution. This, upon cooling, deposited crystals of norcein, which were easily purified by repeated solution and crystallization. When mixed with mcconin, which often crystallizes with it, the latter may be separated by the agency of ether. It has not been ascertained to have any influence upon the system. Two grains of it have been introduced into the jugular vein of a dog without any observable effect. Meconin, the existence of which was announced in 1832 by M. Couerbe, is identical with a substance discovered several years previously by M. Dublanc, jun., but of which no account was published. It is perfectly white, in the form of acicular crystals, soluble in about 265 parts of cold and 18 of boiling water, very soluble in ether, alcohol, and the essential oils, fusible at 195°, volatilizable without change, and possessed of a degree of acrimony which favours the supposition that it may not be without action upon the system. It is neither acid nor alkaline, and contains no nitrogen. Meconin is obtained by precipitating the aqueous infusion of opium with ammonia, washing the precipitate with water until the latter nearly ceases to acquire colour, mixing the watery fluids, evaporating them to the consistence of molasses, setting them aside for two or three weeks, during which a mass of granular crystals is formed, then decanting the liquid, expressing the mass, and drying it with a gentle heat. The meconin may be separated from the mass by treating it with boil- ing alcohol of 36° Baume, evaporating so as to obtain crystals, dissolving these in boiling water with animal charcoal, filtering the liquid while hot, and subjecting the crystals which form upon the cooling of the solution to the action of ether, which dissolves the meconin, and yields it in a state of purity by spontaneous evaporation. (Journ. de Pharm., Decern., 1832.) Porphyroxin, according to Merck, may be obtained by treating powdered opium, previously exhausted by boiling ether, and then made into a pulp by means of water, with carbonate of potassa, agitating it with ether, evaporating the ethereal solution, dissolving the residue in dilute muriatic acid, and pre- cipitating with ammonia. Paramorphia and porphyroxin are thus obtained together. These are to be dissolved in ether, which by spontaneous evapo- ration, deposits the former in crystals, and the latter in the form of resin. The porphyroxin is separated by the cautious use of alcohol, and is obtained by the evaporation of the alcoholic solution. It is neuter, crystallizable in shining needles, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether, and charac- terized by the property of assuming a purple-red or rose colour when heated in dilute muriatic acid. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xiv. 1S7.) Of pseudomorphia, as it is found in opium only as an accidental ingredient, and is not generally present, it is scarcely necessary to treat in detail. An interesting fact, however, in relation to it, and one of some toxicological im- portance, is that it possesses two properties considered characteristic of morphia, those namely of being reddened by nitric acid, and of striking a blue colour with the salts of iron, and yet is without any poisonous influence upon the animal economy. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 77, or Journ, de Pharm., xxi. 575.) But it differs in not forming salts with the acids, and in not de- composing iodic acid. It consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. 518 Opium. part i. 31econic acid is in white crystalline scales, of a sour taste followed by bit- terness, fusible and volatilizable by heat, soluble in four parts of boiling water, soluble also in cold water and alcohol, with the property of reddening vegetable blues, and forming salts. Its compounds with the earths and heavy metallic oxides are generally insoluble in water. Its characteristic properties are, that it produces a blood-red colour with the salts of sesquioxide of iron, a green precipitate with a weak solution of ammoniated sulphate of copper, and white precipitates, soluble in nitric acid, with acetate of lead, nitrate of silver, and chloride of barium. It is obtained by macerating opium in water, filtering the infusion, and adding a solution of chloride of calcium. Meconate and sul- phate of lime are precipitated. The precipitate, having been washed with hot water and with alcohol, is treated with dilute muriatic acid at 180°. The me- conate of lime is taken up, and, upon the cooling of the liquid, bimeconate of lime is deposited. This is dissolved in warm concentrated muriatic acid, which deposits pure meconic acid when it cools. It may be freed from colouring mat- ter by neutralizing it with potassa, decomposing the crystallized meconate thus obtained by muriatic acid, and again crystallizing. Meconic acid has little or no action on the system, and is not used separately in medicine; but its natural relation to morphia requires that it should be understood. Incompatibles. All the substances which produce precipitates with opium do not necessarily affect its medical virtues; but the alkalies, and all vegeta- ble infusions containing tannin and gallic acid, are strictly incompatible; the former separating and precipitating the active principle, the latter forming with it an insoluble compound. The proportion of morphia which any particular specimen of opium will furnish, may be considered as the best test of its value, except that of actual trial upon the system. Good opium should yield ten or twelve per cent, of the impure morphia precipitated from the infusion by ammonia with alcohol, ac- cording to the process of the United States Pharmacopoeia. (See Morphia.) The Edinburgh College gives the following test. " A solution from 100 grains of fine opium macerated twenty-four hours in two fluidounces of water, filtered, and strongly squeezed in a cloth, if treated with a cold solution of half an ounce of carbonate of soda in two waters, yields a precipitate, which weighs, when dry, at least ten grains, and dissolves entirely in solution of oxalic acid." Tests of Opium. It is sometimes highly important to be able to ascertain the presence or absence of opium in any suspected mixture. As meconic acid and morphia have been found only in the products of the poppy, if either or both of them be shown to exist in any substance, very strong evidence is afforded of the presence of opium in that substance. Our tests should, there- fore, be applied in reference to the detection of these two principles. If an aqueous infusion of the substance examined yield a red colour with the tinc- ture of chloride of iron, there is presumptive evidence of the presence of me- conic acid. Greater certainty may be obtained by the following process. Add in excess to the filtered liquor a solution of acetate of lead. If opium be pre- sent, there will be a precipitate of meconate of lead, and the acetates of morphia and lead will remain in solution. The precipitate is then to be suspended in water, and decomposed, either by adding a little diluted sulphuric acid, which forms the sulphate of lead and leaves the meconic acid in solution, or by pass- ing through it a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen, removing by filtration the precipitated sulphuret of lead, and heating the clear liquor so as to drive off the sulphuretted hydrogen. With the clear liquor thus obtained, if it contain meconic acid, the tincture of chloride of iron will produce a striking red colour, the ammoniated sulphate of copper a green precipitate, and acetate of lead, nitrate of silver, and chloride of barium, white precipitates soluble in nitric PART I. Opium. 519 acid. Sulphocyanuret of potassium, which, according to Dr. Wright, is an inva- riable constituent of saliva (Simon's Chemistry, ii. 6), produces a red colour with the salts of sesquioxide of iron, resembling that produced by meconic acid; but, according to Mr. Everitt, this colour is entirely and at once destroyed by a solution of corrosive sublimate, which has no effect on the red colour of the meconate of iron. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 88.) On the contrary, chloride of gold reddens a solution of hydrosulphocyanic acid or a sulpho- cyanuret, but not of meconic acid. Pereira says the acetates also redden the salts of sesquioxide of iron; but they do not afford the results above mentioned with acetate of lead and chloride of barium. To test the presence of morphia, the liquid from which the meconate of lead has been precipitated, and which may be supposed to contain the acetates of morphia and lead, must be freed from the lead by a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen, and then from the sulphu- retted hydrogen by heat; after which, the following reagents maybe applied: —viz. 1. nitric acid, which colours the morphia red; 2. iodic acid, which is decomposed by the morphia with the extrication of iodine, which colours the liquid reddish-brown, and, if starch is present, unites with it to form a blue compound; 3. solution of ammonia, which, if carefully added so as not to be in excess, throws down a precipitate of morphia soluble in a great excess of that alkali or of potassa; and 4. tannic acid, which precipitates an insoluble tannate of morphia.. If the precipitate thrown down by ammonia afford a deep red colour, becoming yellow, with nitric acid, and a blue colour with the sesquichloride of iron, the proof may be considered as complete.* The London College judiciously directs that opium, before being used, be carefully separated from all foreign substances, especially those which are external. The College also directs that it should be kept in two states—soft, fit to form pills; and hard, by drying it with the aid of a water-bath, so that it may be pulverized. 31edical Properties and Uses. Opium is a stimulant narcotic. Taken by a healthy person, in a moderate dose, it increases the force, fulness, and fre- quency of the pulse, augments the temperature of the skin, invigorates the muscular s}rstem, quickens the senses, animates the spirits, and gives new energy to the intellectual faculties. Its operation, while thus extending to all parts of the system, is directed with peculiar force to the brain, the func- tions of which it excites sometimes even to intoxication or delirium. In a short time this excitation subsides; a calmness of the corporeal actions, and a delightful placidity of mind succeed; and the individual, insensible to painful impressions, forgetting all sources of care and anxiety, submits him- self to a current of undefined and unconnected, but pleasing fancies; and is conscious of no other feeling than that of a quiet and vague enjoyment. At the end of half an hour or an hour from the administration of the narcotic, all consciousness is lost in sleep. The soporific effect, after having continued for eight or ten hours, goes off, and is generally succeeded by more or less nausea, headache, tremors, and other symptoms of diminished or irregular nervous action, which soon yield to the recuperative energies of the system; and, unless the dose be frequently repeated, and the powers of nature worn * M. Heusler proposes as a test for opium the application of the property, possessed by porphyrorin, of becoming purple-red when heated with dilute muriatic acid. But as this prin- ciple is insoluble in water, the test is not applicable to the watery extract or infusion of opium. To the suspected liquid, a little solution of potassa is added, the mixture is agi- tated with ether, a slip of unsized paper is moistened with the ethereal solution, and the slip is dried and again moistened several times. If the paper be now moistened with dilute muriatic acid, and exposed to the vapour of boiling water, it is coloured more or less red according to the quantity of opium. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xiv. 188.) 520 Opium. PART I. out by over-excitement, no injurious consequences ultimately result. Such is the obvious operation of opium when moderately taken; but other effects, very important in a remedial point of view, are also experienced. All the secretions, with the exception of that from the skin, are either suspended or diminished; the peristaltic motion of the bowels is lessened; pain and inor- dinate muscular contraction, if present, are allayed; and general nervous irritation is composed, if not entirely relieved. When large doses are taken, the period of excitement and exhilaration is shorter; the soporific and anodyne effects are more intense and of longer duration; and the succeeding symptoms of debility are more obvious and alarming. In quantities. sufficient to destroy life, opium scarcely produces any sensi- ble increase of the general powers of the system, but almost immediately reduces the frequency, though not the force of the pulse, diminishes muscular strength, and brings on languor and drowsiness, which soon eventuate in a deep apoplectic sleep. A stertorous respiration; a dark suffusion of the countenance; a full, slow, and labouring pulse; an almost total insensibility to external impressions; and—when a moment of consciousness has been obtained by violent agitation, or powerfully irritating applications—a con- fused state of intellect, and an irresistible disposition to sink back into coma- tose sleep, are symptoms which, for the first few hours, attend the operation of the poison. Though not signs of an elevated condition of the bodily powers, neither do they imply a state of pure, unmixed debility. The pulse is, indeed, slow; but it is often so full, and so powerful in its beat, that the practitioner feels himself obliged to use the lancet. In the space, however, of a few hours, varying according to the quantity of the narcotic taken, and the powers of the patient's constitution, a condition of genuine debility en- sues ; and this condition will be hastened in point of time, though it will be more under the control of remedies, if the opium be removed artificially from the stomach. Called to an individual labouring under the influence of a fatal dose of opium, at a period from six to eight hours after it has been swallowed, the practitioner will generally find him with a cool, clammy skin; cold ex- tremities; a pallid countenance; a feeble, thread-like, scarcely perceptible pulse; a slow, interrupted, almost gasping respiration; and a torpor little short of absolute, death-like insensibility. Death soon follows, unless relief is afforded. No appearances are revealed by the dissection of those who have died of the immediate effects of opium, which can be considered as affording satis- factory evidence of its mode of operation. The redness occasionally observed in the mucous membrane of the stomach is by no means constantly present, and is ascribable rather to the irritating substances prescribed as remedies, or to the spirituous vehicle in which the poison has been swallowed, than to the action of the poison itself. Such at least is the inference drawn by Nysten from his experiments and observations; and Orfila states that the stomachs of dogs which he had killed by opium internally administered, did not pre- sent the slightest vestige of inflammation. The force of the medicine is directed to the cerebral and nervous functions; and death is produced by a suspension of respiration, arising from the want of due influence from the brain. The section of the par vagum on both sides has not been found to prevent or retard the death of animals to which large doses of opium have been given, nor even materially to modify its narcotic effects. (Nysten, quoted by Orfila.) It would seem, therefore, that the active principle is conveyed into the circulation, and operates upon the brain, and probably upon the nervous system at large, by immediate contact with their interior structure. PART I. Opium. 521 It is an error to attribute the anodyne, sedative, and soporific effects of the medicine to the previous excitement. They are, as much as this very excite- ment, the direct results of its action upon the brain. It is in the state of exhaustion and collapse which ensue after the peculiar influence of the opium has ceased, that we are to look for an illustration of that principle of the system, by which any great exaltation of its energies above the natural standard is followed by a corresponding depression. We may be permitted to advance the conjecture, that the excitement which almost immediately supervenes upon the internal use of opium, is produced by means of nervous communication; while the succeeding narcotic effects are attributable to its absorption and entrance into the circulation; and the prostration of all the powers of the system which ultimately takes place, is a necessary consequence of the agita- tion into which the various organs have been thrown. On some individuals opium produces very peculiar effects, totally differing from the ordinary results of its operation. In very small quantities it occa- sionally gives rise to excessive sickness and vomiting, and even spasm of the stomach; in other cases it produces restlessness, headache, and delirium; and we have known it, even in large doses, to occasion obstinate wakefulness. The headache, want of appetite, tremors, &c, which usually follow, in a slight de- gree, its narcotic operation, are uniformly experienced by some individuals to such an extent, as to render the use of the medicine very inconvenient. It is possible that some of these disagreeable effects may arise not from the meco- nate of morphia contained in the opium, but from some other of its ingredients, and those which do result from the meconate may not be produced by other salts of morphia. It has, in fact, been found that the operation of opium may often be favourably modified by changing the state of combination in which its active principle naturally exists. Dissolved in vinegar or lemon juice, it had been known to act in some instances more pleasantly and effectually than in substance, or in the state of tincture, long before physicians had learned to explain the phenomenon by referring it to the production of an acetate or citrate of morphia. When upon the subject of morphia, we shall take occasion to treat of the medical properties of this principle in its various combinations. An occasional effect of opium, which has not yet been alluded to, is a dis- agreeable itching or sense of pricking in the skin, which is sometimes attended with a species of miliary eruption. We have found the effect to result equally from all the preparations of this narcotic. The general operation of opium may be obtained by injecting it into the rectum, or applying it to the surface of the body, especially upon a part de- nuded of the cuticle. It has appeared to us, when thus applied, to produce less general excitement, in proportion to its other effects, than when adminis- tered by the mouth; but we do not make the statement with entire confidence. It is said that, when introduced into the cellular membrane, it acts with great energy; and when thrown into the cavity of the peritoneum, speedily produces convulsions and death. Injected into the cavity of the heart, it impairs or altogether destroys the powers of that organ. The local effects of opium are similar in character to those which follow its general operation. An increased action of the part is first observable; then a diminution of its sensibility and contractility; and the latter effect is more speedy, more intense, and of longer continuance, the larger the quantity in which the narcotic is applied. In all parts of the world, opium is habitually employed by many with a view to its exhilarating and anodyne influence. This is particularly the case among the Mahomedans and Hindoos, who find in this narcotic the most pleas- ing substitute for those alcoholic drinks which are interdicted by the precepts of 522 Opium. part I. their religion. In India, Persia, and Turkey, it is consumed in immense quantities; and many nations of the East smoke opium as those of the West smoke tobacco. This is not the place to speak of the fearful effects of such a practice upon both the intellectual and bodily faculties. The use of opium as a medicine can be clearly traced back to Diagoras, who was nearly cotemporary with Hippocrates; and it was probably employed before his time. It is at present more frequently prescribed than perhaps any other article of the materia medica. Its extensive applicability to the cure of disease, will be rendered evident by a view of the indications which it is cal- culated to fulfil. 1. It is excitant in its primary action. In low or typhoid complaints, requiring a supporting treatment, it exalts the actions of the arte- rial and nervous systems, and, in moderate doses frequently repeated, may be employed with advantage in conjunction or alternation with other stimulants. 2. It relieves pain more speedily and effectually than any other known medi- cine, with the exception of ether and chloroform. If possessed of no other property than this, it would be entitled to high consideration. Not to men- tion cancer, and other incurable affections, in which the alleviation afforded by opium is of incalculable value, we have numerous instances of painful diseases which are not only temporarily relieved, but entirely cured by the remedy; and there is scarcely a complaint in the catalogue of human ail- ments, in the treatment of which it is not occasionally demanded for the relief of suffering, which, if allowed to continue, might aggravate the disorder, and protract if not prevent a cure. 3. Another very important indication, which, beyond any other narcotic, it is capable of fulfilling, is the production of sleep. For this purpose it is given in a great variety of diseases—whenever, in fact, morbid vigilance exists, not dependent on acute inflammation of the brain. Among the complaints in which it proves most serviceable in this way is de- lirium tremens, or the mania of drunkards, in which it is frequently sufficient of itself to effect a cure. Opium produces sleep in two ways; first, by its direct operation on the brain, secondly, by allaying that morbid nervous irri- tation upon which wakefulness generally depends. In the latter case it may frequently be advantageously combined with camphor or Hoffmann's anodyne. 4. Opium is powerfully antispasmodic. No medicine is so efficient in relax- ing spasm, and in controlling those irregular muscular movements which de- pend on unhealthy nervous action. Hence its great importance as a remedy in tetanus; colic; spasm of the stomach attending gout, dyspepsia, and cholera; spasm of the ureters in nephritis, and of the biliary ducts during the passage of calculi; and in various convulsive affections. 5. Probably depend- ent upon a similar influence over the nervous system, is the property which it possesses of allaying general and local irritations, whether exhibited in the nerves or blood-vessels, provided the action do not amount to positive inflam- mation; and even in this case it is sometimes prescribed with advantage. Hence its use in composing restlessness, quieting cough, and relieving nausea, tenesmus, and strangury. 6. In suppressing morbid discharges, it answers another indication which fits it for the treatment of a long list of diseases. This effect it is, perhaps, enabled to produce by diminishing the nervous energy upon which secretion and muscular motion depend. Upon this prin- ciple it is useful in diarrhoea, when the complaint consists merely in increased secretion into the bowels, without high action or organic derangement; in consumption, chronic catarrh, humoral asthma, and other cases of morbidly increased expectoration; in diabetes, and in certain forms of hemorrhage, par- ticularly that from the uterus, in combination with other remedies. 7. It remains to mention one other indication—that of producing perspiration—in fulfilling which opium, conjoined with small doses of emetic medicines, is PART I. Opium. 523 pre-eminent. No diaphoretic is so powerful as a combination of opium and ipecacuanha; and none is so extensively employed. "We shall speak more fully of this application of the remedy under the head of Pule is Ipecacuanha; et Opii. It is here sufficient to say, that its beneficial effects are especially experienced in rheumatism, the bowel affections, and certain forms of pulmo- nary disease. From this great diversity of properties, and the frequent occurrence of those morbid conditions in which opium affords relief, it is often prescribed in the same disease to meet numerous indications. Thus, in idiopathic fevers, we frequently meet with morbid vigilance and great nervous irritation, combined with a low condition of the system. In typhous pneumonia, there is the same depression of the vital powers, combined with severe neuralgic pains, and much nervous irritation. In diarrhoea, besides the indications presented by the spasmodic pain and increased discharge, there is a strong call for the diapho- retic operation of the opium. It is unnecessary to multiply instances. There is hardly a complaint which does not occasionally present a complication of symptoms demanding the use of this remedy. But a medicine possessed of such extensive powers may do much injury, if improperly directed; and conditions of the system frequently occur, in which, though some one of the symptoms calls for its use, others, on the contrary, are incompatible with it. Thus, opium is contra-indicated by a high state of inflammatory excitement, which should be reduced before we can with pro- priety venture upon its employment; and, when there is any doubt as to the sufficiency of the reduction, the opium should be given in combination with tartarized antimony or ipecacuanha, which modify its stimulant operation, and give it a more decided tendency to the skin. It is also contra-indicated by inflammation of the brain, or strong determination of blood to the head, by deficient secretion from inflamed mucous membranes, as in the early stages of bronchitis, and generally by constipation of the bowels. When, however, the constipation depends upon intestinal spasm, as in colic, it is sometimes re- lieved by the anti-spasmodic action of the opium; and the binding effects of the medicine may generally be counteracted by the use of laxatives. Opium is usually administered in substance or in tincture. In the former state it is given in the shape of pill, which, as a general rule, should be formed out of powdered opium, as it is thus more readily dissolved in the liquors of the stomach, and therefore operates more speedily and effectually than when made, as it sometimes is, immediately from the plastic mass. There is no medicine of which the dose is more variable, according to the habits of the patient, the nature of his complaint, or the purpose to be effected. While in ca- tarrh and diarrhoea, we often prescribe not more than one-fourth or one-third of a grain, in tetanus and some other nervous affections, it has been administered, without abating the violence of the symptoms, in the enormous quantity of two drachms in twenty-four hours; and in a case of cancer of the uterus, under the care of the late Drs. Monges and La Roche, of this city, the quantity is stated to have been gradually increased till the amount taken during one day, either in the shape of tincture or in substance, was equivalent to more than three ounces. The medium dose, in ordinary cases of disease, to produce the anodyne and soporific effects of the medicine, is one grain. Opium may often be administered with great advantage by the rectum. In this way it operates most advantageously in cases of obstinate vomiting, of pain- ful nephritic and uterine affections, of strangury from blisters, and of dysenteric tenesmus. It may be employed as a suppository, or in the form of enema made with laudanum and a small quantity of viscid liquid, as flaxseed tea, mucilage of gum Arabic, or starch prepared with hot water. The quantity, 524 Opium. part I. as a general rule, may be three times that administered by the mouth; but the relative susceptibility of the stomach and rectum in different persons is not always the same; and the effects produced by the narcotic, given by in- jection, are sometimes much greater than was anticipated. The practitioner, moreover, should take into consideration the previous habits of the patient. In an individual who has long been accustomed to take opium internally, and whose stomach will receive large doses with impunity, it is possible that the rectum may not have lost, in a proportionate degree, its absorbing power or susceptibility; and that serious consequences might result by adhering, in such a case, to the general rule as to the relative quantity to be given in the way of enema or suppository. In some one of its liquid preparations, opium is often used externally as an addition to collyria in ophthalmia, to injections in gonorrhoea, and to lotions in various complaints of the skin, and external pains, as those of gout and rheumatism. It is also used as a local anodyne in the state of powder, made into a plaster or cataplasm. But its external use requires some caution, espe- cially when the skin is deprived of the cuticle. Death is said to have resulted from the application of a cataplasm, containing a very large quantity of lauda- num, to the epigastrium. (Annua ire de Thirap., 1843, p. 5.) When opium has been taken in an overdose, the only effectual mode of relief is immediately to evacuate the stomach, either by means of the stomach- pump, or, when this is not attainable, by the more active emetics, such as tar- tarized antimony, sulphate of zinc, or sulphate of copper, conjoined with ipe- cacuanha. Emetics are preferable to the stomach-pump, when opium has been swallowed in substance; as the capacity of the tube is insufficient to admit of the passage of the masses in which the poison is sometimes taken. The operation of the emetic should be promoted by a very free use of warm drinks, by irritating the fauces with a feather, by keeping the patient in motion, and, if the insusceptibility to the action of the remedy is very great, by dashing cold water upon the head and shoulders, thus counteracting, for a moment, the narcotic influence of the opium upon the brain, and enabling thin organ to receive and transmit the necessary impressions. For the same pur- pose it has been recommended to pass a current of electricity through the brain. After the evacuation of the poison, the chief indication is to obviate the de- bility which generally supervenes, and which, in cases where the quantity of the narcotic has been large, or has remained long in the stomach, is sometimes alarming and even fatal. For this purpose, the carbonate of ammonia or the aromatic spirit of ammonia, with wine wbey, may be employed internally, and sinapisms and stimulant frictions applied to the surface. The practitioner should not despair even if called at the last moment. The stomach tube may be applied at any period; and it is possible that, even without an evacuation of the stomach, a little assistance may enable the system to resist successfully the prostrating influence of the poison, if not taken in an overwhelming dose. The electro-magnetic battery was employed with great advantage in a case of prostration of this kind by Dr. Page, of Valparaiso; and the practice has since been imitated in Europe. Strong coffee, under these circumstances, has been found useful, and is obviously suggested in all cases by its powerful influence in producing wakefulness. Should all other measures fail, resort may be had to artificial respiration, by which the functions of the lungs and heart may possibly be sustained till the brain has struggled through its conflict with the narcotic, and is enabled to resume its natural action. Brodie has demonstrated that death from many of the narcotics results from a suspension of the cerebral influence necessary to sustain the respiratory function, and that the heart ceases to act in consequence of the cessation of respiration. If this can be PART I. Opium.—Opopanax. 525 restored artificially before the contractions of the heart have entirely ceased, the circulation may continue, and life be supported for a time without aid from the brain, which now receives a supply of arterial blood, and is thus better enabled to rise above the repressing action of the opium. As this narcotic does not produce a structural derangement, but operates chiefly upon the nervous power, a favourable result is more likely to be experienced than in cases of poisoning from some other articles of the same class. Several cases are on record, in which patients, apparently in the very last stage, were saved by a resort to artificial respiration.* Off. Prep. Acetum Opii, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Confectio Opii, U. S., Lond., < Ed.; Electuarium Catechu, ift?., Dub.; Emplastrum Opii, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. ; Extraetum Opii, Ed., Lond., Dub.; Linimentum Opii, Ed, ; Morphia, U.S.; Morphiae Murias, Ed,, Lond.; Pilulae Calomelanos et Opii, Ed.; Pilulae Opii, U S., Ed,; Pil. Plumbi Opiatae, Ed.; Pil. Saponis Com- positae, U.S., Land., Dub.; Pil. Styracis Comp., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Cretan Compositus cum Opio, Lond., Ed.; Pulvis Ipecacuanhae et Opii, U. S., Loud., Ed., Dub. ; Pulvis Kino Compositus, Lond, ; Tinctura Opii, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. ; Tr. Opii Acetata, U S.; Tr. Opii Ammoniata, Ed.; Tr. Opii Camphorata, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Trochisci Glycyrrhizae et Opii, U S., Ed.; Vinum Opii, U S., Lond., Ed. W. OPOPANAX. Lond. Opopanax. cc Opopanax Chironium. Gummi-resina." Lond. Off. Syn. OPOPONAN. Pastinaca Opoponax. Gummi Resina. Dub. Opopanax, Fr.; Panax, Opopanax, Germ.; Opopanace, Ital.; Opopanaco, Span.; Jawe- sheer, Arab.; Giiwsheer, Pers. Pastinaca. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Umbelliferae. Gen. Ch, Fruit elliptical, compressed, flat. Petals involute, entire. Willd. Pastinaca Opopanax. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1466; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 122, t. 47.— Opopanax Chironium. De Candolle. This species of parsnep, usually called rough parsnep, has a thick, yellow, fleshy, perennial root, which sends up annually a strong branching stem, rough near the base, about as thick as a man's thumb, and from four to eight feet in height. The leaves are variously pinnate, with long sheathing petioles, and large, oblong, serrate leaflets, of which the terminal one is cordate, others are deficient at their base upon the upper side, and the whole are hairy on their under sur- face. The flowers are small, yellow, and form large flat umbels at the termi- nation of the branches. The plant is a native of the Levant, and grows wild in the South of France, Italy, and Greece. When the base of the stem is wounded, a juice exudes, which, when dried in the sun, constitutes the opopanax of commerce. Some authors state that it is obtained from the root. A warm climate appears ne- cessary for the perfection of the juice; as that which has been collected from the plant in France, though similar to opopanax, is of inferior quality. The * One case was that of an infant, ten days old, who had received by mistake from twenty-rive to thirty drops of laudanum intended for the mother, had completely lost the power of deglutition, was comatose, and had had several convulsions. Artificial respira- tion was sustained two or three hours. (See case by Dr. Ogilvie, in the N. Am. Med. and Surg. Journ., vol. iii. p. 277.) Another case was that of an adult female, for a notice of which, see the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, vol. xx. p. 450. 526 Opopanax.— Origanum. part I. drug is brought from Turkey. It is said to come also from the East Indies; but Ainslie states that he never met with it in any Indian medicine bazaar. It is sometimes in tears, but usually in irregular lumps or fragments, of a reddish-yellow colour, speckled with white on the outside, paler within, and, when broken, exhibiting white pieces intermingled with the mass. Its odour is strong, peculiar, and unpleasant; its taste bitter and acrid. Its sp. gr. is 1-622. It is inflammable, burning with a bright flame. In chemical con- stitution it is a gum-resin, with an admixture of other ingredients in small proportion. The results of its analysis by Pelletier were from 100 parts, 33-4 of gum, 42 of resin, 4-2 of starch, 1-6 of extractive, 0-3 of wax, 2-8 of malic acid, 9-8 of lignin, 5-9 of volatile oil and loss, with traces of caout- chouc. Water by trituration dissolves about one-half of the gum-resin, forming an opaque milky solution, which deposits resinous matter on stand- ing, and becomes yellowish. Both alcohol and water distilled from it retain its flavour; but only a very minute proportion of oil can be obtained in a separate state. Medical Properties and. Uses. Opopanax was formerly employed, as an antispasmodic and deobstruent, in hypochondriasis, hysteria, asthma, and chronic visceral affections, and as an emmenagogue in suppression of the menses; but it is now generally regarded as a medicine of very feeble powers, and in this country is scarcely ever used. Its dose is from ten to thirty grains. W. ORIGANUM. U. S., Lond., Ed. Origanum. " The herb of Origanum vulgare." U S., Ed. " Origanum vulgare." Lond. Off. Syn. ORIGANUM VULGARE. Dub. Origan, Fr.; Gemeiner Dosten, Wohlgemuth, Germ.; Origano, Ital. ; Oregano, Span. Origanum. Sex. Syst. Didynamia Gymnospermia,—Nat. Ord. Lamiaceae or Labiatae. Gen. Ch. Strobile four-cornered, spiked, collecting the calyces. Corolla with the upper lip erect and fiat, the lower three-parted, with the segments equal. Willd. Origanum vulgare, Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 135 ; Woodv. 3Fed. Bot. p. 344, t. 123. Origanum or common marjoram is a perennial herb, with erect, pur- plish, downy, four-sided, trichotomous stems, which rise about eighteen inches high, and bear opposite, ovate, entire, somewhat hairy leaves, of a deep yellowish-green colour. The flowers are numerous, of a pinkish-purple or rose colour, disposed in roundish, panicled spikes, and accompanied with ovate reddish bractes, longer than the calyx. This is tubular and five-toothed, with nearly equal segments. The corolla is funnel-shaped, with the upper lip erect, bifid, and obtuse, the lower trifid, blunt, and spreading. The anthers are double, the stigma bifid, and reflexed. The plant is a native of Europe and America. In this country it grows along the road sides, and in dry stony fields and woods, from Pennsylvania to Virginia, and is in flower from June to October; but it is not very abun- dant, and is seldom collected for use. The oil, which is the part chiefly em- ployed, is imported from Europe. Properties. Common marjoram has a peculiar agreeable aromatic odour, and a warm, pungent taste. These properties it owes to a volatile oil, which may be separated by distillation. (See Oleum Origani.) part i. Origanum.—Origanum Majorana.—Os. 527 3frdical Properties and Uses. It is gently tonic and excitant, and has been used in the form of infusion as a diaphoretic and emmenagogue, and externally as a fomentation; but it is at present scarcely employed. Off. Prep. Oleum Origani, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. ORIGANUM MAJORANA. Herba. Dub. Sweet Marjoram. Marjolaine, Fr.; Majoran, Wurstkraut, Germ.; Maggiorana, Ital.; Mejorana, Span. Origanum. See ORIGANUM. Origanum Majorana. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 137; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p. 345, t. 124. This species of Origanum has a perennial root, with numerous stems, which are woody, branching, four-sided, and a foot and a half high. The leaves are sessile, in pairs, ovate, obtuse, entire, downy, and of a pale green colour. The flowers are small, white, and appear successively between the bract eal leaves, which are numerous, and form round compact spikes, of which three or four are placed at the extremity of each peduncle. The corolla is funnel-shaped, with the upper lip erect and roundish, the under divided into three pointed segments. Sweet marjoram grows wild in Portugal and Andalusia, and is cultivated as a garden herb in other pacts of Europe and in the United States. Some authors, however, consider the 0. 31ajoranoides, which is a native of Barbary, and closely allied to the 0. Majorana, as the type of the sweet marjoram of our gardens. This plant has a pleasant odour, and a warm, aromatic, bitterish taste, which it imparts to water and alcohol. By distillation with water it yields a volatile oil, which is directed by the Edinburgh College among their prepara- tions, though the plant has been rejected. It is tonic and gently excitant, but is used more as a condiment in cookery than as a medicine. In domestic practice, its infusion is much employed by the vulgar to hasten the tardy eruption in measles and other exanthematous diseases. Off. Prep. Oleum Volatile Origani Majoranae. Ed. W. OS. U.S. Bone. Off. Syn. OSSA. Dub. Os, Fr.; Knochen, Germ.; Ossa, Ital; Huesos, Span. Bones are employed in several pharmaceutical processes, and those derived from the domestic quadrupeds, especially the ox, may be assumed as the kind intended for officinal use. They have been expunged from the officinal list of the Edinburgh College, though used by the College for preparing phos- phate of soda. Properties, de. They are solid white substances, of a lamellated texture, constituting the skeleton of the superior orders of animals, of which they form the hardest and densest parts. They consist of a cellular gelatinous tissue, the cavities of which are filled up with certain earthy salts, to be mentioned presently. When subjected to destructive distillation, in close vessels, they are decomposed without alteration of shape, lose about three-sevenths of their weight, become brittle, and are converted into a black substance, containing 528 Os. PART I. the earthy salts of the bone, and constituting the species of animal charcoal called bone-black. (See Carbo Animalis.) The portions which distil over consist of the usual ammoniacal products derived from animal matter. (See Ammonias 3Iurias.) When calcined in open vessels they lose more of their weight, and are converted into a white friable substance, consisting of the incombustible part, and commonly called bone-earth, or bone-ash; and a similar residue is obtained by calcining horn. (See Cornu Ustum.) Treated with boiling water, a small portion of the gelatinous matter is dissolved; but when acted on by water in a Papin's digester, the whole of it is taken up, and the earthy salts, deprived of their cement, crumble into powder, and become dif- fused through the solution. When subjected to the action of dilute muriatic acid, the earthy salts are dissolved, and the bone softens without losing its shape, and becomes semitransparent and-flexible. The portion remaining un- attached by the acid is the gelatinous tissue, which may be converted into gelatin by long boiling. This portion of bone is nutritious, and has been pre- pared so as to form a wholesome aliment by M. d'Arcet. His process for obtaining it consists in digesting bones in weak muriatic acid for seven or eight days, occasionally renewing the acid, plunging them for a few moments in boiling water, and then subjecting them to a strong current of cold water. The pure animal matter thus procured is made into cakes, called portable soup (tablettes de bouillon), by dissolving it in water, concentrating the solution until it gelatinizes, and drying the matter obtained. Composition. The bones of different animals, and of the same animal at different ages, vary somewhat in their composition. Dry ox-bones, according to Berzelius, consist of bone-gelatin (cartilage of bone) 33-3, bone-phosphate of lime with a little fluoride of calcium 57-35, carbonate of lime 3-85, phos- phate of magnesia 2-05, soda with a very little chloride of sodium 3-45 = 100. Fourcroy and Vauquelin's results give a larger proportion of animal matter and carbonate of lime, and a"smaller of bone-phosphate. Fossil bones have the same general composition. Human bones differ somewhat in the propor- tions of their constituents, and in containing traces of iron and manganese. Bone-phosphate of lime consists, according to Berzelius, of three eqs. of phos- phoric acid and eight of lime, or, according to Mitscherlich, of one eq. of acid and three of lime. The latter composition makes it a tribasic phosphate, which is probably its true nature. Uses. Bones are applied to numerous uses. Burnt to whiteness, they fur- nish bone-phosphate of lime, from which phosphorus and all its compounds are either directly or indirectly obtained. (See Phosphorus.) Subjected to destructive distillation, they yield impure carbonate of ammonia and empy- reumatic oil; and a carbonaceous residue is left, called bone-black. Calcined, pulverized, and washed, they form the material of which cupels are made. As bone-dust, they form an excellent manure. Deprived of their earthy salts by weak acids, they furnish a nutritious article of diet. By proper treatment with water they furnish gelatin, applicable not only to the purposes of size and common glue, but also to those of the finer sorts of gelatin, called isin- glass, in making animal jellies, and for the fining of wines. (See Ichthyocolla and Cornu.) The hoof bones of the ox, when boiled with water, furnish a peculiar oil, called neats-foot oil. (See Oleum Bubidum.) Off.Prep. Calcis Phosphas Praecipitatum, Dub.; Sodae Phosphas, U.S., Ed., Dub. B. part I. Ovum. 529 OVUM. Lond., Ed. Egg- "Phasianus Callus. Or urn." Lond. " Egg of Phasianus gallus." Ed. ffiuf, Fr.; Ei, Germ.; Ovo, Ital; Huevo, Span. The common dunghill fowl is supposed to have come originally from India, where it is found in a wild state. It is now domesticated in almost all parts of the globe. The egg, which is the only officinal product, consists of 1. an exterior cover- ing called the shell; 2. a white, semi-opaque membrane, lining the internal surface of the shell; 3. the white; 4. the yolk. Other distinct parts are recognised by the comparative anatomist, but they have no peculiar interest for the practical physician or pharmaceutist. 1. The shell—testa ovi or putamen ovi—consists, according to Vauquelin, chiefly of carbonate of lime, with animal matter, and a minute proportion of phosphate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, oxide of iron, and sulphur. When exposed to a high degree of heat in the open air, the carbonic acid is driven off, the animal matter consumed, and lime is left nearly pure. 2. The membrane lining the shell appears to be of an albuminous nature. 3. The white—albumen ovi—is a glairy viscid liquid contained in very delicate membranes, without odour or taste, readily soluble in water, coagu- lable by the stronger acids, by alcohol, and by a heat of 160° F. Exposed in thin layers to a current of air, it becomes solid, retaining its transparency and solubility in water. By coagulation it is rendered sapid, white, opaque, and insoluble. At a temperature of 212°, one part of it renders one thou- sand parts of water in which it has been dissolved opaque. It contains, accord- to Dr. Bostock, in one hundred parts, 85 of water, 12 of pure albumen, 2-7 of mucus or uncoagulable matter, and 0-3 of saline substances, including soda with traces of sulphur. The white of egg is precipitated by chloride of tin, chloride of gold, subacetate of lead, corrosive sublimate, and tannin. When kept in the fluid state it soon putrefies; but, if carefully dried without coagu- lation, it may be long preserved without change, and may be applied in a state of solution to the same purposes as in its original condition. 4. The yolk—vifellus ovi—is inodorous, of a bland oily taste, and forms an opaque emulsion when agitated with water. By heat it is coagulated into a granular solid, which yields a fixed oil by expression. According to M. Gobley, 100 parts of it contain 51-486 of water, 15-760 of a peculiar albuminous principle, denominated viteflin, 21-304 of margarin and olein, 0-438 of cho- lesterin, 7-226 of oleic and margaric acids, 1-200 of phosphoglyceric acid, 0-034 of muriate of ammonia, 0-277 of chlorides of sodium and potassium, and sulphate of potassa, 1-022 of phosphates of lime and magnesia, 0-400 of animal extract (extrait de viande), and 0-553 of colouring matter, traces of iron, traces of lactic acid, kc, (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., xii. 12.) 31edieal Properties and Uses. Eggs are applied to various purposes in medicine and pharmacy. The shells, powdered and levigated, may be used beneficially as an antacid in diarrhoea. In common with oyster-shells, they possess the advantage of uniting intimately animal matter with the carbonate of lime, the particles of which are thus more thoroughly isolated, and prove more acceptable to the stomach than chalk, in the finest state of division to which the latter can be brought by mechanical means. The dose and mode of preparation are the same with those of oyster-shell. (See Testa!) The white of the egg is used chiefly for the clarification of liquids, which 530 Ovum.—Panax. PART I. it effects by involving, during its coagulation, the undissolved particles, and rising with them to the surface or subsiding. It is highly recommended as an antidote for corrosive sublimate and sulphate of copper, with which it forms insoluble and comparatively inert compounds. It is sometimes also used for the suspension of insoluble substances in water, but is inferior for this pur- pose to the yolk, and even to mucilage of gum Arabic. Agitated briskly with a lump of alum it coagulates, at the same time dissolving a portion of the alum, and thus forming an astringent poultice, which may be advantageously applied between folds of gauze over the eye, in some states of ophthalmia. (See Cataplasma Aluminis.) The yolk in its raw state is thought to be laxative, and is a popular remedy in jaundice. If beneficial in this complaint, it is probably in consequence of affording a mild nutritious diet, acceptable to the stomach, and easily digested. In dyspepsia it is, from this cause, highly useful. The late Dr. Parrish, of Philadelphia, found great advantage in that complaint from the habitual use of the yolk of egg, beat up with water and a little ginger. In pharmacy, the yolk is highly useful as an intermedium between water and insoluble sub- stances, such as the balsams, turpentine, oils, &c. It is a mistake to employ the white, instead of the yolk of eggs, in preparing emulsions. Off. Prep. Cataplasma Aluminis, Dub.; Enema Terebinthinae, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Spiritus Vim Gallici, Lond. W. PANAX. U.S. Secondary. Ginseng. " The root of Panax quinquefolium." U. S. Ginseng, Fr., Germ., Span.; Ginsen. Ital. Panax. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia. (Polygamia Dicecia, Linn.) — Nat. Ord. Araliaceae. Gen. Ch. Flowers polygamous. Umbel simple. Calyx five-toothed. Corolla of five petals. Berry inferior, subcordate, two, sometimes three-seeded. Calyx in the male flower entire. Nuttall. Panax quinquefolium. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 1124; Woodv. 3Icd.Bot.\i. 149, t. 58 ; Bigelow, Am,.3Ied.Bot, ii. 82. The ginseng has a perennial root, which sends up annually a smooth, round stem, about afoot high, and divided at the summit into three leafstalks, each of which supports a compound leaf, consisting of five, or more rarely of three or seven petiolate, oblong obovate, acuminate, serrate leaflets. The flowers are small, greenish, and arranged in a simple umbel, supported by a peduncle, which rises from the top of the stem in the centre of the petioles. The fruit consists of kidney-shaped, scarlet berries, crowned with the styles and calyx, and containing two and sometimes three seeds. The plant is indigenous, growing in the hilly regions of the Northern, Middle, and Western States, and preferring the shelter of thick, shady woods. The root is the part employed. This is collected in considerable quantities in Ohio and Western Virginia, and brought to Philadelphia and other cities on the sea-board for the purpose of exportation to China, where it is highly valued. Some suppose the ginseng plant of Chinese Tartary to be the same as ours ; others believe it to be the Panax Schinseng of Nees von Esenbeck; while by others, again, though acknowledged to be a Panax, it is thought to be a different species from either of those mentioned. While supplied with this drug exclusively from their own native sources, which furnished the root only in small quantities, the Chinese entertained the most extravagant notions PART I. Panax.—Papaver. 531 of its virtues, considering it as a remedy for all diseases, and as possessing almost miraculous powers in preserving health, invigorating the system, and prolonging life. It is said to have been worth its weight in gold at Pekin; and the first shipments made from North America to Canton, after the dis- covery of the root in this country, yielded enormous profits. But the subse- quent abundance of supply has greatly diminished its value. The root is fleshy, somewhat spindle-shaped, from one to three inches long, about as thick as the little finger, and terminated by several slender fibres. Frequently there are two portions, sometimes three or more, connected at their upper extremity, and bearing a supposed, though very remote resem- blance to the human figure, from which circumstance it is said that the Chi- nese name ginseng originated. When dried, the root is yellowish-white and wrinkled externally, and within consists usually of a hard central portion, surrounded by a soft whitish bark. It has a feeble odour, and a sweet, slightly aromatic taste, somewhat analogous to that of liquorice root. It has not been accurately analyzed, but is said to be rich in gum and starch. It is some- times submitted, before being dried, to a process of clarification, which renders it semitransparent and horny, and enhances its value as an article of export. The extraordinary medical virtues formerly ascribed to ginseng, had no other existence than in the imaginations of the Chinese. It is little more than a demulcent, and in this country is not employed as a medicine. Some per- sons, however, are in the habit of chewing it, having acquired a relish for its taste; and it is chiefly to supply the wants of these that it is kept in the shops. W. PAPAVER. U. S., Lond., Ed. Poppy-heads. " The ripe capsules of Papaver somniferum." U S. " Papaver somniferum. Capsuhr. maturse." Lond, " Capsules of Papaver somniferum, not quite ripe." Ed. Off. Syn. PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM. Capsulse maturse. Dub. Capsules des pavots, Fr.; Kapseln des weissen Mohns, Germ.; Capidel papavero, Ital; Cabezas de amapola, Span. Sec OPIUM. In England the poppy is cultivated chiefly for its capsules, which are gathered rs t'-iey ripen, and taken to market enclosed in bags. The Edin- burgh College properly direct them to be collected before they are quite ripe, as they contain at that period more of the active milky juice. They are occa- sionally imported into this country; but as no effect is produced by them which cannot be as readily obtained from opium, or some one of its prepara- tions, they are little employed. The dried poppy capsules vary in size from the dimensions of a small egg to those of the fist. They are of a spheroidal shape, flattened below, and sur- mounted by a crown-like expansion—the persistent stigma—which is marked by numerous diverging rays that rise somewhat above its upper surface, and appear to be prolongations of partial septa, or partitions, proceeding along the interior circumference of the capsule from the top to the bottom. In the re- cent state, the seeds, which are very numerous, adhere to these septa; but in the dried capsule they are loose in its cavity. The capsules of the black poppy are smaller and more globular than those of-the white, and contain dark instead of light-coloured seeds. There appears to be no essential dif- ference in their properties. Both kinds, when fresh, are glaucous, but when 532 Papaver.—Pareira. PART I. dry, as directed in the Pharmacopoeias, are of a dirty white or purplish-brown colour, have a consistence somewhat like that of paper, are without smell, and have little taste, unless long chewed, when they are decidedly bitter. Submitted to analysis, they are found to contain principles similar to those of opium, which they yield to water by decoction. They have been employed in Fiance for obtaining morphia. Medical Properties and Uses. Dried poppy-heads, though analogous to opium in medical properties, are exceedingly feeble. They are sometimes employed in the form of decoction, as an external emollient and anodyne ap- plication ; and, in the shape of emulsion, syrup, or extract, are often used internally by European practitioners to calm irritation, promote rest, and pro- duce generally the narcotic effects of opium. Off. Prep. Decoctum Papaveris, Lond., Ed.; Extraetum Papaveris, Lond., Ed.; Syrupus Papaveris, Lond., Ed., Dub. W. PAREIRA. U. S. Secondary, Lond., Ed. Pareira Brava. " The root of Cissampelos Pareira." U. S., Ed. " Cissampelos Pareira. Radix." Lond. Cissampelos. Sex. Syst. Dicecia Monadelphia. — Nat. Ord. Menisper- maceae. Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx four-leaved. Corolla none. Nectary rotate. Stamens four, with connate filaments. Female one-leaved, ligulate roundish. Corolla none. Styles three. Berry one-seeded. Cissampelos Pareira. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 861; Woodv. Med, Bot. 3d ed. p. 167, t. 65. This is a climbing plant, with numerous slender, shrubby stems, and roundish, entire leaves, indented at the top, covered with soft hair upon their under surface, and supported upon downy footstalks, which are inserted into the back of the leaf. The flowers are very small, and disposed in racemes, of which those in the female plant are longer than the leaves. The plant is a native of the West Indies and South America, and is supposed to be the source of the root brought from Brazil, under the name of pareira brava. According to Auguste St. Hilaire, however, the true pareira is ob- tained from another species of the same genus, growing in Brazil, and denomi- nated C. glaberrima ; while by Aublet it is referred to a species of Abuta, belonging to the same natural family. The root comes in pieces from the thickness of the finger to that of the arm, from a few inches to two or more feet in length, cylindrical, sometimes contorted or forked, and covered with a thin, firmly adhering, grayish-brown bark. The outer surface is marked with longitudinal and annular wrinkles, and sometimes, in the larger pieces, with knotty excrescences. The interior is ligneous, yellowish, very porous, marked by irregular concentric circles, inodorous, and of a sweetish, nauseous, bitter taste. The root imparts its virtues readily to water. M. Feneulle found in it a soft resin, a yellow bitter principle, a brown substance, an azotized substance, fecula, acidulous malate of lime, nitrate of potassa, and various other salts. He considers the yellow bitter substance as the active principle. It is soluble in water and alcohol, and precipitated from its solution by tincture of galls. Wiggers an- nounced, in 1838, the existence in pareira brava of a vegetable alkali, for which he proposed the name of cissamjjclina. He procured it by boiling the root with water acidulated with sulphuric acid, precipitating by carbonate of PART I. Pareira.—Petroleum. 533 potassa, dissolving the precipitate again in water acidulated with sulphuric acid, treating the solution with animal charcoal, precipitating anew with car- bonate of potassa, drying and pulverizing the precipitate, treating it repeatedly with ether, and evaporating the ethereal solution. The alkali thus obtained may be rendered entirely pure by dissolving it in diluted acetic acid, precipi- tating with carbonate of potassa, and washing and drying the precipitate. (Annal. der Pharm., xxvii.' 29.) Wiggers did not describe this alkali. It is probably the chief ingredient of the bitter substance obtained by Feneulle. Peretti of Rome and Pelletier afterwards separated an alkali from the root, which was characterized by assuming a beautiful purple colour by contact with strong nitric acid. (Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 162.) In Christison's Dispensa- tory it is stated to be uncrystallizable, insoluble in water, soluble in ether, alcohol, and the acids, and of an intensely bitter and sweetish taste. Medical Properties and Uses. Pareira brava is said to be tonic, aperient, and diuretic. It was introduced into European practice so long ago as 1688, and at one time enjoyed considerable reputation as a lithontriptic. It has been recommended in calculous affections, chronic inflammation and ulceration of the kidneys and bladder, leucorrhcea, dropsy, rheumatism, and jaundice. The purpose for which it is at present chiefly employed is the relief of chro- nic diseases of the urinary passages. Sir Benjamin Brodie found it very useful, in chronic inflammation of the bladder, in allaying irritability of that organ, and correcting the disposition to profuse mucous secretion. Dr. T. F. Betton, of Germantown, near Philadelphia, has also employed it successfully in a case of irritable bladder. (Am. Journ, of 3Ied. Sci.,. xvii. 259.) Ad- vantage may often be derived from combining it, in this complaint, with one of the narcotics, as opium or hyoscyamus. In Brazil, it is used in the cure of the bites of poisonous serpents; a vinous infusion of the root being taken internally, while the bruised leaves of the plant are applied to the wound. The dose of pareira brava in substance is from thirty grains to a drachm. The infusion, however, is more convenient. (See Infusum Pareiras.) A tincture, made by macerating one part of the root in five parts of alcohol, has been given in the dose of a fluidrachm. The aqueous extract may be given in the dose of from ten to thirty grains. Off. Prep. Extraetum Pareurae, Lond., Ed.; Infusum Pareirae, Lond., Ed. W. PETROLEUM. Lond., Ed. Petroleum. "Petroleum (Barbodense)." Lond. Off.Si/n. PETROLEUM. BITUMEN PETROLEUM. PETROLEUM BARBADEXSE. Dub. Barbadoes tar. Rock oil; Petrole, Huile de Gabian, Fr.; Steinol, Germ.; Petrolio, Ital; Petroleo, Span. Petroleum belongs to the class of native inflammable substances, called bitumens. These are liquids or readily fusible solids, which emit, when heated, a peculiar smell, burn easily, and leave a very small carbonaceous residue. They are of two kinds, one liquid, called naphtha, the other solid denominated asphaltum. Naphtha is a transparent yellowish-white, very light and inflam- mable limpid liquid, which is found abundantly in Persia. It has been used with asserted advantage in Asiatic cholera, particularly by Dr. Andreosky, of the Russian army. The dose is from ten to twenty drops, given in half a glass of white wine, or in mint-water. It consists exclusively of carbon and hydrogen. As oxygen does not enter into its composition, it may be advan- 534 Petroleum. PART I. tageously employed for preserving potassium. During the formation of coal gas, an artificial naphtha is obtained, which by rectification is rendered equally light and limpid with the natural substance. Thus purified, it was found by Mr. James Syme, of Edinburgh, to possess the property of dis- solving caoutchouc; and the solution has been usefully applied to the purpose of forming various surgical instruments of that material. This solution has also been employed, at the suggestion of Mr. Mackintosh, of Glasgow, for rendering cloth and other fabrics water-proof. They are varnished with the solution on one side, and the varnished surfaces are applied to each other, and made to adhere by powerful pressure. Asphaltum is solid, black, dry, friable, and insoluble in alcohol. These two varieties of bitumen often exist in a state of mixture in nature. When the asphaltum predominates it takes the name of maltha or mineral tar ; when the naphtha is in the larger proportion it is called petroleum. Localities. Petroleum is found principally at Amiano in Italy, at Gabian in France, upon the borders of the Caspian Sea, near Rangoon in the Birman Empire, and in Barbadoes, Trinidad, and other West India Islands. The wells of petroleum in Birmah are said to produce four hundred thousand hogsheads annually. The petroleum from Barbadoes is indicated as the officinal variety by the London and Dublin Colleges. The kind is not specified by the Edin- burgh College. In the United States, petroleum is found in various localities, the principal of which are on the Kenhawa in Virginia; near Scottsville in Kentucky; in Western Pennsylvania; on Duck Creek in Ohio; and on the shores of Seneca Lake in New York. That found in the latter locality is usually called in this country Seneca oil; and similar varieties of petroleum from other domestic sources are known by the same name. Properties. Barbadoes petroleum is a black, nearly opaque, inflammable liquid, of the consistence of molasses, unctuous to the touch, and possessing a bituminous taste, and strong and tenacious odour. Its sp. gr. varies from 0-730 to 0-878. When subjected to distillation, it yields naphtha, and leaves a solid residue of asphaltum. It is little affected by alcohol, acids, or alka- lies, but dissolves in ether and in the fixed and volatile oils. It consists chiefly of carbon and hydrogen, associated with a little nitrogen and oxygen. Rangoon petroleum has a reddish-black colour, a strong, rather fragrant odour, and the consistence of lard in summer. When heated to 90°, it becomes a reddish-brown very mobile liquid. Dr. Christison obtained from it by distillation, first, a large quantity of naphtha, and afterwards a crystal- line principle, which he ascertained to be identical with paraffin. In the naphtha Dr. Gregory subsequently discovered eupione. It is probable, as Dr. Christison remarks, that this petroleum is more active than the Barbadoes. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Petroleum is accounted a stimulating anti- spasmodic and sudorific. It is occasionally given in disorders of the chest, when not attended with inflammation. In Germany it has been extolled as a remedy for tape-worm. Schwartz's formula in such cases was a mixture of one part of petroleum with one and a half parts of tincture of assafetida, of which forty drops were given three times a day. Externally, petroleum is employed in chilblains, chronic rheumatism, affections of the joints, paralysis, and diseases of the skin. It is an ingredient in the popular remedy called British oil. (See page 502, Note.) The dose of petroleum is from thirty drops to a small teaspoonful, given in any convenient vehicle. The native petroleum called Seneca oil is used to a considerable extent as an external application in domestic practice. It is lighter coloured, thinner in consistence, and less sapid and odorous than the Barbadoes petroleum, and probably contains more naphtha. B. PART r. Petroselinum.—Phosphorus. 535 PETROSELINUM. U.S. Secondary. Parsley Root. " The root of Apium Petroselinum." U. S. Persil, Fr.; Petersilie, Germ.; Prezzemolo, Ital.; Perexil, Span. Apium. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Apiaceae or Umbel- liferae. Gen. Ch. Fruit ovate, striated. In rolucre one-leafed. Petals equal. Willd. Apium Petroselinum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1475; Woodv. 3kd. Bot. p. 118, t. 45.—Petroselinum sativum. Hoffmann, Umb. i. t. 1, f. 2; Lindley, Flor. 3fed. p. 35.—Parsley has a biennial root, with an annual, round, furrowed, jointed, erect, branching stem, which rises about two feet in height. The radical leaves are compound, pinnated in ternaries, with the leaflets smooth, divided into three lobes, and notched at the margin. In the cauline leaves, the segments of the leaflets are linear and entire. The flowers are small, pale yellow, and disposed in terminal compound umbels, with a one or two-leaved general involucre, and partial ones composed of six or eight leaflets. The petals are five, roundish, and inflexed at their apex. The seeds (half fruits) are small, ovate, flat on one side, convex on the other, of a dark-green colour, and marked with five longitudinal ridges. They have a strong, terebinthinate odour, and a warm aromatic taste. The plant is a native of Sardinia, and other parts of Southern Europe, and is cultivated everywhere in gardens. All parts of it contain an essential oil, to which it owes its medicinal virtues, as well as its use in seasoning. 31. H. Braconnot obtained from the herb a peculiar gelatinous substance, resembling pectic acid in appearance, which he named apiin. It is procured by boiling the herb in water, straining the liquor, and allowing it to cool. The apiin then forms a gelatinous mass, which requires only to be washed with cold water. (Phil. 3Iag., xxi v. 155.) The root is the part directed by the Phar- macopceia, though the fruit is at least equally efficient. The root is spindle-shaped, about as thick as the finger, externally white, and marked with close annular wrinkles, internally fleshy and white, with a yellowish central portion. It has a pleasant smell, and a sweetish slightly aromatic taste; but loses these properties by long boiling, and by the action of time. It should be employed in the recent state. 3lcdical Properties and Uses. Parsley root is said to be aperient and diu- retic, and is occasionally used in nephritic and dropsical affections, in connex- ion with more active medicines. It is highly recommended by Professor Chapman. The usual form of administration is that of strong infusion. The juice of the fresh herb has been employed as a substitute for quinia in inter- mittents. W. PHOSPHORUS. Lond. Phosphorus. Phosphore, Fr.; Phosphor, Germ.; Fosforo, Ital., Span. This elementary substance was discovered in 1669 by Brandt, an alchemist of Hamburg; and the process by which it was made remained a secret until 1737. At first it was obtained from putrid urine, and was exceedingly scarce and costly. In 1769, Gahn discovered it in bones, and shortly afterwards published a process by which it might be extracted from them; and his me- thod lias been followed to the present time. 536 Phosphorus. part I. Preparation, Powdered calcined bones, which consist principally of that variety of phosphate of lime called bone-phosphate, are digested for twenty- four hours with two-thirds of their weight of strong sulphuric acid, previously diluted with twelve times its weight of water. The sulphuric acid separates the greater part of the lime from the phosphoric acid, and precipitates as sul- phate of lime; while a superphosphate of lime remains in solution. The whole is then strained through a linen cloth to separate the sulphate of lime, and afterwards submitted to evaporation, which causes a fresh precipitation of sul- phate, requiring to be separated by a new straining. The strained solution of superphosphate is evaporated to a syrupy consistence, and then thoroughly mixed with half its weight of powdered charcoal, so as to form a soft mass, which is dried by being heated to dull redness in an iron pot. The mass when cool is quickly transferred to a coated earthenware retort, furnished with an adopter of copper, bent downwards at right angles, so as to enter a bottle with a large neck containing water, which should rise about two lines above the orifice of the adopter. The bottle is closed round the adopter with a cork, which is traversed by a small glass tube, to give exit to the gaseous products. The retort is heated in a furnace, furnished with a dome, in the most gradual manner, so as to occupy about four hours in bringing it to a red heat. After- wards the heat is pushed vigorously, so long as any phosphorus drops into the water; and this takes place generally for from twenty-four to thirty hours. During this part of the process, the excess of acid in the superphosphate is decomposed; its oxygen combining with the charcoal, and the liberated phos- phorus distilling over. A quantity of the materials sufficient to fill a quart retort will yield about a pound of phosphorus. The calcined bones of the sheep are preferred; as they are more readily acted on by the acid. Properties. Phosphorus is a semitransparent solid, without taste, but pos- sessing an alliaceous smell. When perfectly pure it is colourless; but as usu- ally prepared it is yellowish or reddish-yellow. According to Schroetter, the red substance, which forms on its surface when exposed to the light, is an isomeric modification of the phosphorus. It is flexible, and when cut exhibits a waxy lustre. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves sparingly in alcohol and the oils, and more freely in ether. Its sp.gr. is 1-84 (Schroetter), and its equivalent number 32. It takes fire at 100°, melts at 108°, and boils at 550°, air being excluded. During its combustion, it combines with the oxygen of the air, and forms phosphoric acid. On account of its great inflammability, it requires to be kept under water. When exposed to the air it undergoes a slow combustion, emitting white vapours, which are luminous in the dark. It was found by Wohler, in one instance, to contain one-half of one per cent. of arsenic; and, therefore, when used in forming medicinal preparations, should be tested for that metal. It also occasionally contains antimony and sulphur. The latter impurity renders it brittle. Phosphorus forms with oxygen the hypophosphorous, phosphorous, and phosphoric acids, and two isomeric varieties of the latter acid, called pyrophosphoric and metaphosphoric. The only officinal combinations containing phosphorus are " the diluted phos- phoric acid" of the London College, and the phosphates of iron, lime, and soda. These will be noticed under their several officinal titles. Medical Properties. Phosphorus, exhibited in small doses, acts as a pow- erful general stimulant; in large doses, as a violent irritant poison. Its action seems directed particularly to the kidneys and genital organs, producing diu- resis, and excitation of the venereal appetite. The latter effect has been conclusively proved by the experiments of Alphonse Leroy, Chenevix, and Bertrand-Pelletier. From its peculiar physiological action, it is considered applicable to diseases attended with extreme prostration of the vital powers. PART I. Phytolaccse Baecse.—Phytolacca Radix. 537 It has been recommended in dropsy, impotency, typhus fever, phthisis, maras- mus, chlorosis, paralysis, amaurosis, mania, &c. Those who work in phos- phorus, as the manufacturers of lucifer matches, are liable to necrosis of the jaw-bone, the consequence of periostitis. The mode in which the phosphorus acts in producing this affection is not known. The usual form for exhibiting phosphorus is an ethereal solution, as directed by the Paris Codex, under the title of Tinctura JEtherea cum Phosphoro. It is formed by macerating for a month, in a well-stopped bottle, covered with black paper, 4 parts of phosphorus, cut in small pieces, in 200 parts of sul- phuric ether, and decanting into small bottles, prepared in a similar manner. The proportion of phosphorus dissolved is about four grains to the ounce of ether. The dose of this solution is from five to ten drops, given every two or four hours, in a small portion of some bland drink. It has been objected to the ethereal solution, that, upon the evaporation of the ether, the phosphorus is liable to be set free, and may inflame in the stomach. It is on this account that oil is preferred as a solvent. The Oleum Phosphoratum or phosphorated oil of the Prussian Pharmacopoeia is made as follows. Take of phosphorus twelve grains; almond oil, recently prepared, an ounce. Melt the phosphorus in the oil by the heat of warm water, and agitate until it appears to be dis- solved. The ounce of oil takes up about four grains of phosphorus; and the dose of the solution is from five to ten drops, mixed with some mucilaginous liquid. An aromatic flavour may be given to the phosphorated oil by the addition of a few drops of oil of bergamot. Great caution is necessary in the exhibition of phosphorus, and its effects should be closely watched. It ought never to be given in substance; as, when thus administered, it is apt to produce violent irritation of the stomach. When taken in substance in a poisonous dose, two or three grains of tartar emetic should be given to dislodge it. If swallowed in the state of solution, copious draughts of cold water, containing magnesia in suspension, should be admin- istered, in order to arrest the combustion of the phosphorus, and to neutralize any acid which may have been formed. Off. Prep. Acidum Phosphoricum Dilutum, Lond. B. PHYTOLACCA BACCA. U.S. Secondary. Poke Berries. " The berries of Phytolacca decandra." U. S. PHYTOLACCA RADIX. U.S. Secondary. Poke Root. " The root of Phytolacca decandra." U. S. Phytolacca. Sex. Syst. Decandria Decagynia.—Nat. Ord. Phytolac- caceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx none. Petals five, calycine. Berry superior, ten-celled, ten-seeded. Willd. Phytolacca decandra. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 822; Bigelow, Am. 31ed. Bot. i. 39; Barton, Med. Bot, ii. 213. This is an indigenous plant with a very large perennial root, often five or six inches in diameter, divided into two or three principal branches, soft, fleshy, fibrous, whitish within, and co- vered with a brownish cuticle. The stems, which are annual, frequently grow to the height of six or eight feet, and divide into numerous spreading branches. 538 Phytolaccse Baecse.—Phytolaccse Radix. part I. They are round, very smooth, of a green colour when young, but purple after the berries have ripened. The leaves are scattered, ovate oblong, entire, pointed, smooth, ribbed beneath, and supported on short footstalks. The flowers are numerous, small, and grow in long racemes, which are sometimes erect, sometimes drooping. The corolla consists of five ovate, concave, petals, folding inwards, and of a whitish colour. The germ is green. There are ten stamens, and the same number of pistils. The raceme of flowers becomes a cluster of dark purple, almost black, shining berries, flattened above and be- low, and divided into ten cells, each of which contains one seed. The poke is abundant in all parts of the United States, flourishing along fences, by the borders of woods, and especially in newly-cleared and unculti- vated fields. It also grows spontaneously in the North of Africa and the South of Europe, where, however, it is supposed to have been introduced from America. Its flowers begin to appear in July, and the fruit ripens in autumn. The magnitude of the poke-weed, its large rich leaves, and its beautiful clus- ters of purple berries, often mingled upon the same branch with the green unripe fruit, and the flowers still in bloom, render it one of the most striking of our native plants. The young shoots are much used as food early in the spring, boiled in the manner of spinage. The ashes of the dried stems and leaves contain a very large proportion of potassa, yielding, according to Bra- connot, not less than forty-two per cent, of the pure caustic alkali. In the plant the potassa is neutralized by an acid closely resembling the malic, though differing from it in some respects. The leaves, berries, and root are used in medicine, but the two latter only are mentioned in the Pharmacopoeia. The root abounds most in the active principles of the plant. It should be dug up late in November, cut into thin transverse slices, and dried with a moderate heat. As its virtues are diminished by keeping, a new supply should be pro- cured every year. The berries should be collected when perfectly ripe, and the leaves about the middle of summer, when the footstalks begin to redden. The berries contain a succulent pulp, and yield upon pressure a large quan- tity of fine purplish-red juice. They have a sweetish, nauseous, slightly acrid taste, with little odour. The colouring principle of their juice is evanescent, and cannot be applied to useful purposes in dyeing, from the difficulty of fixing it. Alkalies render it yellow; but the original colour is restored by acids. The juice contains saccharine matter, and, after fermenting, yields alcohol by distillation. The dried root is of a light yellowish-brown colour externally, very much wrinkled, and, when in transverse slices, exhibits on the cut surface nume- rous concentric rings, formed by the projecting ends of fibres, between which the intervening matter has shrunk in the drying process. The structure in- ternally in the older roots is firm and almost ligneous; the colour yellowish- white, alternating with darker circular layers. There is no smell; the taste is slightly sweetish, and at first mild, but followed by a sense of acrimony. The active matter is imparted to boiling water and alconol. From the analysis of Mr. Edward Donelly, the root appears to contain tannic acid, starch, gum, sugar, resin, fixed oil, and lignin, besides various inorganic principles. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 169.) 3ledical Properties and Uses. Poke is emetic, purgative, and somewhat narcotic. As an emetic it is very slow in its operation, frequently not begin- ning to vomit in less than one or two hours after it has been taken, and then continuing to act for a long time upon both the stomach and bowels. The vomiting produced by it is said not to be attended with much pain or spasm; but narcotic effects have been observed by some physicians, such as drowsi- ness, vertigo, and dimness of vision. In over-doses it produces excessive PART I. Pimenta. 539 vomiting and purging, attended with great prostration of strength, and some- times with convulsions. It has been proposed as a substitute for ipecacuanha; but the slowness and long continuance of its action, and its tendency to purge, wholly unfit it for the purposes which that emetic is calculated to fulfil. In small doses it acts as an alterative, and has been highly recommended in the treatment of chronic rheumatism. The dose of the powdered root, as an emetic, is from ten to thirty grains; as an alterative, from one to five grains. A saturated tincture of the berries prepared with diluted alcohol may be given in rheumatic cases, in the dose of a fluidrachm, three times a day. A strong infusion of the leaves or root has been recommended in piles. An ointment, prepared by mixing a drachm of the powdered root or leaves with an ounce of lard, has been used with advantage in psora, tinea capitis, and some other forms of cutaneous disease. It occasions at first a sense of heat and smarting in the part to which it is applied. An extract made by evaporating the ex- pressed juice of the recent leaves has been used for the same purposes, and acquired at one time considerable repute as a remedy in cancer. W. PIMENTA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Pimento. "The unripe berries of Myrtus Pimenta." U. S. "Myrtus Pimenta. Baecse immaturse exsiccatse." Lond. " Unripe berries of Eugenia Pimenta." Ed, " Myrtus Pimenta. Fructus." Dub. Allspice, Jamaica pepper; Piment, Poivre de la Jamaique, Fr.; Nelkenpfeffer, Germ.; Pimenti, Ital; Pimienta de la Jamaica, Span. Myrtus. Sex. Syst, Icosandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Myrtaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft, superior. Petals five. Berry two to five-celled, many seeded. Willd, Myrtus Pimenta. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 973; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 541, t. 194.—Eugenia Pimenta, De Cand. Prodrom. iii. 285; Lindley, Flor. 31ed. p. 76. This is a beautiful tree, about thirty feet high, with a straight trunk, much branched above, and covered with a very smooth gray bark. Its dense and ever-verdant foliage gives it at all times a refreshing appearance. The leaves, which are petiolate, vary in shape and size; but are usually about four inches long, elliptical, entire, blunt or obtusely pointed, veined, and of a deep shining green colour. The flowers are small, without show, and disposed in panicles upon trichotomous stalks, which usually terminate the branches. The fruit is a spherical berry, crowned with the persistent calyx, and when ripe is smooth, shining, and of a black or dark-purple colour. The tree exhales an aromatic fragrance, especially during the summer months, when it is in flower. It is a native of the West Indies, Mexico, and South America, and is abundant in Jamaica, whence its fruit received the name of Jamaica pepper. The berries are the officinal part. They are gathered after having attained their full size, but while yet green, and are carefully dried in the sun. When sufficiently dry, they are put into bags and casks for exportation. Properties. The berries, as they reach us, are of different sizes, usually about as large as a small pea, round, wrinkled, umbilicate at the summit, of a brownish colour, and when broken present two cells, each containing a black hemispherical seed. They have a fragrant odour, thought to resemble that of a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Hence the name of allspice^ by which they are best known in this country. Their taste is warm, aromatic, pungent, and slightly astringent. They impart their flavour to water, and all 540 Pimenta.—Piper. part I. their virtues to alcohol. The infusion is of a brown colour, and reddens lit- mus paper. They yield a volatile oil by distillation. (See Oleum Pimentse.) By a minute analysis, Bonastre obtained from them a volatile oil, a green fixed oil, a concrete oleaginous substance in yellowish flakes, tannin, gum, resin, uncrystallizable sugar, colouring matter, malic and gallic acids, saline matters, moisture, and lignin. The green oil has the burning aromatic taste of pimento, and is supposed to be the acrid principle. Upon this, therefore, together with the volatile oil, the medical properties of the berries depend; and, as these two principles exist most largely in the shell or cortical portion, this part is most efficient. According to Bonastre, the shell contains 10 per cent, of the volatile, and 8 of the fixed oil, the seeds only 5 per cent, of the former, and 2 5 of the latter. Berzelius considers the green fixed oil of Bonastre as a mixture of volatile oil, resin, fixed oil, and perhaps a little chlorophylle. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Pimento is a warm, aromatic stimulant, used in medicine chiefly as an adjuvant to tonics and purgatives, the taste of which it serves to cover, while it increases their warmth, and renders them more acceptable to the stomach. It is particularly useful in cases attended with much flatulence. It is, however, much more largely employed as a con- diment than as a medicine. The dose is from ten to forty grains. Off. Prep. Aqua Pinientas, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Oleum Pimentae, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Spiritus Pimentae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Syrupus Rhamni, Lond., Ed., Dub. W. PIPER. U.S. Black Pepper. " The berries of Piper nigrum." U. S. Off. Syn. PIPER NIGRUM. Piper nigrum. Baecse. Lond.; PIPER NIGRUM. Dried unripe berries of Piper nigrum. Ed.; PIPER NIGRUM. Semina. Dub. Poivre, Fr.; Schwarzer Pfeffer, Germ.; Gemeine peper, Dutch; Pepe nero, Ital; Pi- mienta negra, Span.; Fifil uswud, Arab.; Lada, Malay; Maricha, Javan; Sahan, Palem- bang. Piper. See CUBEBA. Piper nigrum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 159; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 721, t. 246; Carson, Illust, of Med. Bot. ii. 38, pi. 83. The pepper vine is a perennial plant, with a round, smooth, woody, articulated stem, swelling near the joints, branched, and from eight to twelve feet or more in length. The leaves are en- tire, broad ovate, acuminate, seven-nerved, coriaceous, very smooth, of a dark green colour, and attached by strong sheath-like footstalks to the joints of the branches. The flowers are small, whitish, sessile, covering thickly a cylindrical spadix, and succeeded by globular berries, which are of a red colour when ripe. The plant grows wild in Cochin-china and various parts of India. It is cultivated on the coast of Malabar, in the peninsula of Malacca, in Siam, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Philippines, and many other places in the East. We are told by Crawford, that the best pepper is produced in Malabar; but Europe and America derive their chief supplies from Sumatra and Java. The plant is propagated by cuttings, and is supported by props, or by trees of various kinds planted for the purpose, upon which it is trained. In three or four years from the period of planting, it begins to bear fruit. The ber- ries are gathered before they are all perfectly ripe, and, upon being dried, become black and wrinkled. White pepper is the ripe berry, deprived of its skin by maceration in water PART I. Piper. 541 and subsequent friction, and afterwards dried in the sun. It has less of the peculiar virtues of the spice than the black pepper, and is seldom employed in this country. Properties. The dried berries are about as large as a small pea, externally blackish and wrinkled, internally whitish, of an aromatic smell, and a hot, pungent, almost fiery taste. They yield their virtues partially to water, en- tirely to alcohol and ether. Pelletier found them to contain a peculiar crys- talline matter called piperin, an acrid concrete oil or soft resin of a green colour, a balsamic volatile oil, a coloured gummy substance, an extractive matter like that found in leguminous plants capable of being precipitated by infusion of galls, a portion of bassorin, uric and malic acids, lignin, and vari- ous salts. Piperin was discovered by Professor Oersted, of Copenhagen, who considered it a vegetable alkali, and the active principle of pepper. Pelletier, however, utterly denied its alkaline nature and medical activity, and ascribed all the effects, supposed to have been obtained from it, to a portion of the acrid concrete oil with which it is mixed when not very carefully prepared. When perfectly pure, piperin is in colourless transparent crystals, without taste, fusible at 212°, insoluble in cold water, slightly soluble in boiling water which deposits it upon cooling, soluble in alcohol, ether, and acetic acid, decomposed by the concentrated mineral acids, with the sulphuric be- coming of a blood-red colour, with the nitric, first of a greenish-yellow, then orange, and ultimately red. Christison, however, states, in his Dispensatory, that the whitest crystals he had been able to obtain were still acrid, and emit- ted an irritating vapour when thrown on heated iron. Piperin is obtained by treating pepper with alcohol, evaporating the tincture to the consistence of an extract, submitting the extract to the action of an alkaline solution by which the oleaginous matter is converted into soap, washing the undissolved portion with cold water, separating the liquid by filtration, treating the matter left on the filter with alcohol, and allowing the solution thus obtained to evaporate spontaneously, or by a gentle heat. Crystals of piperin are deposited, and may be purified by alternate solution in alcohol or ether, and crystallization. The taste and medicinal activity of pepper probably depend on the peculiar concrete oil or resin before alluded to, and on the volatile oil. The concrete oil is of a deep green colour, very acrid, and soluble in alcohol and ether. The volatile oil is limpid, colourless, becoming yellow by age, of a strong odour, and of a taste less acrid than that of the pepper. It consists of ten eqs. of carbon, and eight of hydrogen, and forms a liquid, but not a concrete compound with muriatic acid. 31edical Properties and Uses. Black pepper is a warm carminative stimu- lant, capable of producing general arterial excitement, but acting with greater proportional energy on the part to which it is applied. From the time of Hippocrates it has been employed as a condiment and medicine. Its culinary uses at present are too well known to require notice. Its chief medicinal ap- plication is to excite the languid stomach, and correct flatulence. It was long since occasionally administered for the cure of intermittents; but its employ- ment for this purpose had passed from the hands of the profession into those of the vulgar, till a few years since revived by an Italian physician, to be again consigned to forgetfulncss. Piperin has also been employed in the same complaint, and has been recommended as superior even to the sulphate of quinia; but experience has not confirmed the first reports in its favour. That, in its impure state, when mixed with a portion of the acrid principle, it will occasionally cure intermittents, there can be no doubt; but it is not comparable to the preparations of bark, and is probably less active than the alcoholic extract of pepper. In those cases of intermittents in which the 542 Piper.—Piper Longum.—Pix Abietis. part I. stomach is not duly susceptible to the action of quinia, as in some instances of drunkards, pepper may be found a useful adjuvant to the more powerful febrifuge. The dose of pepper is from five to twenty grains. It may be given in the state of the berry or in powder; but is more energetic in the latter. Pipe- rin has been given in doses varying from one to six or eight grains. Off. Prep. Confectio Piperis Nigri, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Confectio Rutae, Lond., Dub. ; Emplastrum Cantharidis Compositum, Ed. ; Unguentum Pi- peris Nigri, Dub. W. PIPER LONGUM. Lond., Ed., Dub. Long Pepper. " Piper longum. Fructus immaturus exsiccatus." Lond. (l Dried spikes of Piper longum." Ed. " Semina." Dub. Poivre longue, Fr.; Langer Pfeffer, Germ.; Pepe lungo, Ital.; Pimienta larga, Span. Piper. See CUBEBA. Piper longum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 161; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p. 724, t. 247. This species of Piper differs from its congeners in having its lower leaves cordate, petiolate, seven-nerved, its upper oblong cordate, sessile, and five-nerved; its flowers in dense, short, terminal, and nearly cylindrical spikes; and its fruit, consisting of very small one-seeded berries or grains, embedded in a pulpy matter. It is a native of South-eastern Asia, and is produced abundantly in Bengal and many parts of Hindostan. The fruit is green when immature, and becomes red as it ripens. It is gathered in the former state, as it is then hotter than when perfectly ripe. The whole spike is taken from the plant and dried in the sun. Long pepper is cylindrical, an inch or more in length, indented on its sur- face, of a dark gray colour, a weak aromatic odour, and a pungent fiery taste. 31. Dulong found its chemical composition to be closely analogous to that of black pepper, as ascertained by Pelletier. Like that it contains piperin, a concrete oil or soft resin upon which its burning acrimony depends, and a volatile oil to which it probably owes its odour. Its medical virtues are essentially the same as those of the black pepper; but it is considered in- ferior to that spice, and is seldom used. Off Prep. Confectio Opii, Land., Dub. ; Pulvis Aromaticus, Dub., Lond.; Pulvis Gretas Compositus, Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Cinnamomi Composita, Lond., Ed. W. PIX ABIETIS. U. S. Burgundy Pitch. " The prepared concrete juice of Abies excelsa." U. S. Off. Syn. PIX ABIETINA. Pinus Abies. Resina prseparata. Lond.; PIX BURGUNDICA. Concrete resinous exudation, probably in a great measure from Abies excelsa. Ed.; PIX BURGUNDICA. PINUS ABIES. Resina. Thus. Dub. Poix de Bourgogne, Poix jaune, Poix blanche, Fr.; Burgundisches Pech, Germ. The genus Pinus of Linnaeus has been divided into three genera which are now acknowledged by most botanists, viz., Pinus, Abies, and Larix; the first including the pines, the second the firs and spruces, and the third the larches. We follow the United States Pharmacopoeia in adopting the new division. PART I. Pix Abietis. 543 Abies. Sex.'Syst. Moncecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Pinaceae or Coni- ferae. Gen. Ch. Male flowers. Catkins solitary, not racemose; Scales sta- miniferous at the apex. Stamens two, with one-celled anthers. Females. Catkins simple. 0varies two. Stigmas glandular. Cone with imbricated scales, which are thin at the apex, and rounded. Cotyledons digitate-partite. Leaves solitary in each sheath. De Cand. Abies excelsa, De Cand.—A. communis. Lindley, Loudon's Encyc. of Plants.—Pinus Abies. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 506; Woodv. 31ed,Bot. p. 4, t. 2. The Norway spruce is a very lofty tree, rising sometimes one hundred and fifty feet in height, with a trunk from three to five feet in diameter. The leaves, which stand thickly upon the branches, are short, obscurely four- cornered, often curved, of a dusky green colour, and shining on the upper surface. The male aments are purple and axillary, the female of the same colour, but usually terminal. The fruit is in pendent, purple, nearly cylin- drical strobiles, the scales of which are oval, pointed, and ragged at the edges. This tree is a native of Europe and Northern Asia. Though designated "as the source of Burgundy pitch, it furnishes but a part of the substance sold under that name by the druggists. Tingley asserts that the real Burgundy pitch is obtained from the Abies picca, or European silver fir tree; and the same fact is stated by Fee. According to Geiger, who is probably correct, it is procured from both species. To obtain the pitch, portions of the bark are removed so as to lay bare the wood, and the flakes of concrete resinous matter which form upon the surface of the wound, having been detached by iron instruments, are melted with water in large boilers, and then strained through coarse cloths. It is called Burgundy pitch from the province of that name in the East of France. We are told that the greater portion is collected in the neighbourhood of Neufchatel. From other species of pine, in different parts of Europe, a similar product is obtained and sold by the same name. It is prepared by removing the juice which concretes upon the bark of the tree, or upon the surface of inci- sions, called galipot by the French, and purifying it by melting and straining, either through cloth or a layer of straw. A factitious Burgundy pitch is also made by melting together common pitch, resin, and turpentine, and agitating the mixture with water, which gives it the requisite yellowish colour. Its odour is different from that of the genuine. As brought to this country, Burgundy pitch is generally mixed with im- purities, which require that it should be melted and strained before being used. In its pure state it is hard, brittle, quite opaque, of a yellowish or brownish- yellow colour, and a weak terebinthinate taste and odour. It is very fusible, and at the heat of the body softens and becomes adhesive. It differs from turpentine in containing a smaller proportion of essential oil. Under the name of Abietis Resina, the London College directs the con- crete juice of the spruce fir, as taken immediately from the bark of the tree, without any preparation. It is the Thus or Frankincense of the former London and present Dublin Pharmacopoeias. It is in solid brittle tears, of a brownish-yellow colour on the outside, and paler within, and emits an agree- able odour when burned. It softens and becomes adhesive at the temperature of the body. Though ascribed to the Abies excelsa, it is probably obtained also from other sources; and we have been told by an apothecary from London, that an article exactly resembling our common white turpentine when per- fectly dried, is sold as frankincense in the shops of that city. 544 Pix Abietis.—Pix Canadensis. part I. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Applied to the skin in the shape of a plas- ter, Burgundy pitch acts as a gentle rubefacient, producing a slight degree of inflammation and serous effusion without separating the cuticle. Sometimes it excites a papillary or vesicular eruption; and we have known it to act upon the surface as a violent poison, giving rise to excessive pain, tumefaction, and redness, followed by vesication and even ulceration. It is used chiefly in cases of slight chronic pains of a rheumatic character, or in chronic affections of the chest or abdominal viscera, which call for a gentle but long-continued revulsive action upon the skin. The resin of the spruce fir (Abietis Resina) is used only as an ingredient of plasters. Off. Prep. Emplastrum Cantharidis Comp., Ed.; Emplast. Ferri, U S.; Emplast. Galbani Comp., U. S.; Emplast. Opii, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Emplast. Picis, Lond., Ed.; Emplast. Picis cum Cantharide, U. S., Dub. Off. Prep, of Abietes Resina. Emplast. Aromaticum, Dub.; Emplast. Gal- bani, Lond,; Emplast. Opii, Lond.; Emplast. Picis, Lond. W. PIX CANADENSIS. U.S. Canada Pitch. "The prepared concrete juice of Abies Canadensis." U. S. Abies. See PIX BURGUNDICA. Abies Canadensis. Michaux, N Am. Sylv. iii. 185.—Pinus Canadensis. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 505. This is the hemlock spruce of the United States and Canada. When of full growth it is often seventy or eighty feet high, with a trunk two or three feet in diameter, and of nearly uniform dimensions for two-thirds of its length. The branches are slender, and dependent at their extremities. The leaves are very numerous, six or eight lines long, flat, den- ticulate, and irregularly arranged in two rows. The strobiles are ovate, little longer than the leaves, pendulous, and situated at the ends of the branches. The tree is abundant in Canada, Nova Scotia, and the more northern parts of New England; and is found in the elevated and mountainous regions of the Middle States. Its bark abounds in the astringent principle, and is much used for tanning in the northern parts of the United States. It contains much less juice than some other of the Pinaceae; and very little flows from incisions made into its trunk. But in the trees which have attained their full growth, and are about or have begun to decay, the juice exudes spontaneously, and hardens upon the bark in consequence of the partial evaporation or oxidation of its essential oil. The bark thus incrusted is stripped from the tree, broken into pieces of convenient size, and boiled in water. The pitch melts, rises to the surface, is skimmed off, and is still further purified by a second boiling in water. It is brought to Philadelphia from the north of Pennsylvania, in dark- coloured brittle masses, which, on being broken, exhibit numerous minute fragments of bark, interspersed through their substance. From these it is purified in the shops by melting and straining through linen or canvas. (Ellis, Journ. of Phil. Col. of Pharm., ii. 18.) Thus prepared it is hard, brittle, quite opaque, of a dark yellowish-brown colour, which becomes still darker by exposure to the air, of a weak peculiar odour, and scarcely any taste. It softens and becomes adhesive with a mode- rate heat, and melts at 198° F. Its constituents are resin and a minute pro- portion of essential oil. It is most generally known by the incorrect name of hemlock gum, and in the former edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia was named hemlock pitch. part I. Pix Canadensis.—Pix Liquida. 545 31edical Properties and Uses. Canada pitch is a gentle rubefacient, closely analogous to Burgundy pitch in its properties, and employed for precisely the same purposes. It is, however, more readily softened by heat, and is some- times almost too soft for convenient application at the temperature of the body. A volatile oil obtained from the Abies Canadensis, and called oil of hemlock, has been employed to produce abortion, with the effect of endangering the life of the female. (See a paper by Dr. J. S. Paige in the N Y. Journ. of 3Ied., viii. 184.) W. PIX LIQUIDA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tar. 11 The impure turpentine procured by burning from the wood of Pinus pa- lustris and other species of Pinus." U. S. " Pinus sylvestris. Resina prse- parata liquida." Lond, "Tar from various species of Pinus and Abies." Ed. " E speciebus Pini diversis." Dub. Goudron, Fr.; Theer, Germ.; Pece liquida, Ital; Alquitran, Span. The tar used in this country is prepared from the wood of various species of pine, particularly the Pinus palustris of the Southern States, the P. aus- t red is of Michaux. (See Terebinthina.) The dead wood is usually selected, because, when vegetation ceases, the resinous matter becomes concentrated in the interior layers. The wood is* cut into billets of a convenient size, which are placed together so as to form a large stack or pile, and then covered with earth as in the process for making charcoal. The stack is built upon a small circular mound of earth previously prepared, the summit of which gradually declines from the circumference to the centre, where a small cavity is formed, communicating by a conduit with a shallow ditch surround- ing the mound. Fire is applied through an opening in the top of the pile, and a slow combustion is' maintained, so that the resinous matter may be melted by the heat. This runs into the cavity in the centre of the mound, and passes thence by the conduit into the ditch, whence it is transferred into barrels. Immense quantities of tar are thus prepared in North Carolina and the south-eastern parts of Virginia, sufficient, after supplying our own consumption, to afford a large surplus for exportation. Considerable quantities of tar are also prepared in the lower parts of New Jersey, in some portions of New England, and in Pennsylvania west of the Alleghany mountains, from the Pinus rigida, or pitch pine, and perhaps from some other species. Properties. Tar has a peculiar empyreumatic odour, a bitterish, resinous somewhat acid taste, a colour almost black, and a tenacious consistence inter- mediate between that of a liquid and solid. It consists of resinous matter, united with acetic acid, oil of turpentine, and various volatile empyreumatic products, and coloured with charcoal. By distillation it yields an acid liquor called pyroligneous acid.(see Acidum Pyroligneum), and an empyreumatic oil called oil of tar ; and what is left behind is pitch. The empyreumatic oil has been ascertained by Dr. Reichenbach, of Moravia, to contain, besides oil of turpentine, six distinct principles, wbich he has named paraffine, eupione, creasote, picamar, capnomor, and pittacal. Of these, only picamar and crea- sote merit particular attention; the former as the principle to which tar owes its bitterness, the latter as the one upon which it probably depends chiefly for its medical virtues. (See Creasotum.) Tar yields a small proportion of its constituents to water, which is thus rendered medicinal, and is employed under 35 546 Pix Liquida.—Pix Nigra.—Plumbum. part I. the name of tar water. It is dissolved by alcohol, ether, and the volatile and fixed oils. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. The medical properties of tar are similar to those of the turpentines. It is sometimes used in chronic coughs, and, when the disease depends on chronic bronchial inflammation, with occa- sional advantage. Little benefit can be expected from it in genuine phthisis, in the treatment of which it was formerly highly recommended. Dr. Bate- man employed it advantageously as an internal remedy in ichthyosis. Its vapour, inhaled into the lungs, has been found serviceable in numerous cases of bronchial disease. Externally applied, in the state of ointment, it is a very efficient remedy in tinea capitis, or scaldhead, and in some cases of psoriasis; and has been used with advantage in foul or indolent ulcers, and some other affections of the skin. It may be used in the form of tar water (Aqua Picis Liquidse), or in sub- stance made into pills with wheat flour, or mixed with sugar in the form of an electuary. The dose is from half a drachm to a drachm, and may be re- peated so as to amount to three or four drachms daily. Off. Prep. Aqua Picis Liquidae, Dub.; Unguentum Picis Liquidae, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. PIX NIGRA. Lond. Black Pitch. " Pinus sylvestris. Resinaprseparata solida." Lond, Off. Syn, PIX ARIDA. Pitch: from various species of Pinus and Abies. Ed. This is the solid black mass left after the evaporation of the liquid parts of tar. (See Pix Liquida.) It has a shining fracture, softens and becomes adhesive with a moderate heat, melts in boiling water, and consists of the resin of the pine unaltered, and of various empyreumatic resinous products which have received the name of pyretine. (Berzelius, Trait, de Chim., vi. 641 and 680.) It appears to be very gently stimulant or tonic, and has been used internally in ichthyosis and other cutaneous diseases, and recently with great advantage in piles. The dose is from ten grains to a drachm given in pills. Pitch is also used externally in the form of ointment. (See Unguentum Picis Nigrse.) Off. Prep. Unguentum Picis Nigrae, Lond. W. PLUMBUM. Lead. Plomb, Fr.; Blei, Germ.; Lood, Dutch; Plombo, Ital; Plomo, Span.,- Chumbo, Port. Lead is not officinal in its metallic state; but enters into a number of im- portant medicinal preparations. It occurs in nature in three principal states —as an oxide, as a sulphuret called galena, and in saline combination, form- ing the native sulphate, phosphate, carbonate, chromate, molybdate, tungstate, and arseniate of lead. The oxide is rare, but galena is exceedingly abundant and diffused, and is the ore from which all the lead of commerce is extracted. The process of extraction consists merely in melting the ore in contact with charcoal. Mines of galena occur in different parts of the world, but the rich- est and most extensive are found in our own country. The lead region of the United States extends in length from the Wisconsin in the north to the Red river of Arkansas in the south, and in breadth about one hundred and fifty PART I. Plumbum. 547 miles. It is only of latter years that these mines have been extensively worked. Properties. Lead is a soft, bluish-gray, and very malleable metal, present- ing a bright surface when newly melted or cut. It has a perceptible taste, and a peculiar smell when rubbed. It undergoes but little change in the air, but is acted on by the combined influence of air and water, which give rise to a hydrated protoxide, which is afterwards changed, in part, into carbonate, by absorbing carbonic acid from the atmosphere. This chemical effect on the metal is greater, in proportion as the water is purer. (See _po//e 112.) Its sp. gr. is 11-4, melting point about 612°, and equivalent number 1036. Ex- posed to a stream of oxygen on ignited charcoal, it burns with a blue flame, throwing off dense yellow fumes. The best solvent of lead is nitric acid; but the presence of sulphuric acid destroys, and that of muriatic acid lessens its solvent power, on account of the insolubility of the sulphate and chloride of lead. Lead forms five oxides, a dinoxide, protoxide, sesquioxide, deutoxide, and red oxide. The dioxide consists of two equivalents of lead and one of oxygen. The protoxide, called in commerce massicot, may be obtained by calcining, in a platinum crucible, the subnitrate of lead, formed by precipitat- ing a solution of the nitrate by ammonia. On a large scale it is manufactured by exposing melted lead to the action of the air. Its surface becomes encrusted with a gray pellicle, which, being scraped off, is quickly succeeded by another; and the whole of the metal, being in this way successively presented to the air, becomes converted into a greenish-gray powder, consisting of protoxide and metallic lead. This, by exposure to a moderate heat, absorbs more oxygen, and is converted entirely into protoxide. This oxide has a yellow colour, and is the only oxide of lead capable of forming salts with the acids. As a hydrate it is officinal with the London College. (See Plumbi Oxydum Hydratum.) It consists of one eq. of lead 103-6, and one of oxygen 8 = 111-6. A variety of the protoxide called litharge is very much used in pharmacy, and is officinal in all the Pharmacopoeias. (See Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum.) The sesquiox- ide, discovered by Winkelbleeh, is unimportant. The deutoxide, called also puce oxide from itsy?e«-brown colour, may be obtained by treating red lead with ni- tric acid. The acid takes up the protoxide, and leaves the deutoxide, which may be purified by washing with boiling water. It is a tasteless powder, of a dark- brown colour. When heated to redness it loses half its oxygen and becomes protoxide. It consists of one eq. of lead 103-6, and two of oxygen 16 = 119-6. The red oxide, called in commerce minium or red lead, is described under another head. (See Plumbi Oxidum Rubrum.) Lead combines with chlorine and iodine, forming officinal preparations. (See Plumbi Chloridum and Plumbi Iodidum.) The acetate, carbonate, and nitrate are also officinal. The best tests of this metal are sulphuretted hydrogen, and a solution of iodide of potassium. The former produces a black precipitate of sulphuret of lead, the latter, a yellow one of iodide of lead. Medical Properties and Uses. The effects of lead in its various combina- tions are those of a sedative and astringent. It is used internally for the pur- pose of reducing vascular action, and restraining inordinate discharges; and externally as an abater of inflammation. When introduced into the system in a gradual manner, either by working in the metal, or by taking it in small and frequently repeated doses, it acts injuriously on the nervous system, pro- ducing a peculiar colic, called lead colic, sometimes apoplectic symptoms, and occasionally palsy, which is almost always partial, and affects for the most part the upper extremities. In some instances salivation is produced, and, accord- ing to Dr. Henry Burton, the constitutional effects of the metal are indicated by a narrow lead-blue line at the edge of the gum, round two or more of the teeth, as a constant and early sign. The treatment necessary in lead colic is 548 Plumbum. part i. given under carbonate of lead. Lead palsy is usually attended with dyspepsia, constipation, tendency to colic, lassitude, and gloominess of mind; and is best treated by tonics, aperients, exercise, and avoidance of the cause of the dis- ease. The poisonous effects of an overdose of the lead preparations are to be combated by emetics, if free vomiting has not previously occurred, by the ex- hibition of the sulphate of magnesia or sulphate of soda, to act as an antidote by forming the inert sulphate of lead, and by opium. In chronic poisoning by lead, warm sulphuretted baths, formed by dissolv- ing four ounces of sulphuret of potassium in thirty gallons of water, in a wooden tub, are useful. These baths cause discoloration of the skin, from the formation of sulphuret of lead, and should be repeated every few days, until this effect ceases to be produced. During each bath, the patient should be well scrubbed with a flesh-brush, and soap and water, in order to remove the discoloration. By proceeding in this way, the lead on the skin, or in its pores, is rendered insoluble and inert, and at the same time removed. Orfila has determined, by experiments on dogs, the appearance exhibited by the mucous membrane of the stomach, after the use of small doses of the salts of lead. After the action of such doses for two hours, dull white points are visible on the membrame, sometimes in rows and sometimes disseminated, and evidently consisting of the metal, united with the organic tissue. If the animal be allowed to live for four days, the same spots may be seen with the magnifier; and if sulphuretted hydrogen be applied to the membrane, they are instantly blackened. (Archives Gin., 3e serie, iv. 244.) According to M. Gendrin, sulphuric acid, prepared like lemonade, and used both internally and externally, is a prophylactic against the poisonous effects of lead, especially the lead colic. (Am. Journ. of 31ed. Sci., xv. 528.) It may be supposed to act by forming the inert sulphate of lead with the poison. Mr. Benson, a manager of white lead works at Birmingham, has tried this acid, and finds it an effectual preventive of lead colic in his establishment, where it was exceedingly prevalent before its employment. He uses it as an addition to ginger beer, to which bicarbonate of soda is also added to render it brisk, but not in sufficient quantity to prevent a considerable portion of the acid remaining in excess. (London Lancet, Dec, 1842.) On the other hand, the powers of sulphuric acid in preventing the poisonous effects of lead are positively denied by Dr. A. Grisolle. This writer recommends that workmen employed in lead manufactories should use frequent baths, avoid intemperance, and always eat before they enter upon their work in the morning. He sup- poses that, in a great majority of cases, the metal is introduced into the system through the stomach by means of the saliva or food. Pharm. Preparatirms. The following table embraces all the officinal pre- parations containing lead, in the United States and British Pharmacopoeias. Plumbi Oxidum Rubrum, U. S., Ed. Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum, U. S.; Plumbi Oxydum, Lond.; Lithargy- rum, Ed.; Plumbi Oxydum Semivitreum, Dub. Anglice, Litharge. Ceratum Saponis, U. S., Lond. Emplastrum Plumbi, U. S., Lond.; Emplastrum Lithargyri, El, Dub. Anglice, Lead plaster, Litliarge plaster* Unguentum Plumbi Compositum, Lond. Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis, U. S.; Liquor Plumbi Diacetatis, Land.; Plumbi Diacetatis Solutio, Ed.; Plumbi Subacetatis Liquor, Dub. * This plaster forms the basis of a number of other plasters. part r. Plumbum.—Plumbi Acetas. 549 Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis Dilutus, U. S.; Liquor Plumbi Dia- cetatis Dilutus, Lond.; Plumbi Subacetatis Liquor Compo- situs, Dub. Anglice, Lead-water. Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis, U S.; Ceratum Plumbi Compo- situm, Lond. Anglice, Goulard's cerate. Plumbi Oxydum Hydratum, Lond. Plumbi Chloridum, Lond. Plumbi Iodidum, Lond., Ed. Unguentum Plumbi Iodidi, Lond, Plumbi Acetas, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Ceratum Plumbi Acetatis, Lond.; Unguentum Plumbi Acetatis, Ed., Dub. Pilulae Plumbi Opiatae, Ed. Plumbi Carbonas, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Unguentum Plumbi Carbonatis, U. S., Ed., Dub. Plumbi Nitras, Ed. B. PLUMBI ACETAS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Acetate of Lead. Sugar of lead; Saccharum Saturni, Cerussa acetata, Lat. ; Acetate de plomb, Sucre de plomb, Sel de Saturne, Fr.; Essigsaures Bleioxyd, Bleizucker, Germ.; Zucchero di Sa- turno, Ital.; Azucar de plomo, Span. Directions are given by the three British Colleges for preparing acetate of lead; but, as it is seldom or never prepared by the apothecary, and may be obtained in the greatest perfection, and at a cheap rate, from the manufacturing chemist, it is more properly placed, in the United States Pharmacopceia, in the catalogue of the Materia Medica. Preparation, Sugar of lead is obtained by two methods. By one method, thin plates of lead are placed in shallow vessels filled with distilled vinegar, in such a manner as to have a part of each plate rising above the vinegar; and these are turned from time to time, so as to bring different portions of the metallic surface in contact with the air. The metal, after becoming protox- idized, dissolves in the vinegar to saturation, and the solution is evaporated to the point of crystallization. This process is a slow one, but furnishes a salt which is perfectly neutral. The other method consists in dissolving, by the assistance of heat, litharge, or the protoxide of lead obtained by calcination, in an excess of distilled vinegar or of purified pyroligneous acid, contained in leaden boilers. The oxide is quickly dissolved, and, when the vinegar has become saturated, the solution is transferred to other vessels to cool and crys- tallize. The crystals having formed, the mother waters are decanted, and, by a new evaporation, made to yield a new crop. These are generally yellow, but may be rendered white by repeated solutions and crystallizations. The London College directs this salt to be formed by dissolving litharge, by the aid of a gentle heat, in dilute acetic acid. The Edinburgh process is substantially the same as the London; the pyroligneous acid directed by the Edinburgh College being in fact acetic acid of medium strength. The pro- cess of the Dublin College consists in the solution of carbonate of lead (white lead) in the acid; but is ineligible on account of its expense. Sugar of lead is extensively manufactured in Germany, Holland, France, and England, as well as in the United States. It is principally consumed in the arts of dyeing and calico-printing, in which it is employed to form with alum the acetate of alumina, to act as a mordant. Properties. Acetate of lead is a white salt, crystallized in brilliant needles, 550 Plumbi Acetas. part I. which have the shape of long prisms, terminated by dihedral summits. Its taste is at first sweet and afterwards astringent. Exposed to the air it efflo- resces slowly. It dissolves in four times its weight of cold, and in a much smaller quantity of boiling water. It is soluble also in alcohol. Its solution in common water is turbid, in consequence of the formation of carbonate of lead with the carbonic acid which such water always contains. This turbid- ness may be removed by the addition of a small proportion of vinegar, or of dilute acetic acid. In pure distilled water, free from carbonic acid, it ought to dissolve entirely, and form a clear solution. Sulphuric acid, when added to a solution of acetate Of lead, produces instantly a precipitate of sulphate of lead; and the disengaged acetic acid gives rise to vapours having the smell of vinegar. The salt, when heated, first fuses and parts with its water of crystallization, and afterwards is decomposed, yielding acetic acid and pyro- acetic spirit (acetone), and leaving a residue of charcoal and reduced lead. An important property of sugar of lead is its power of dissolving a large quantity of protoxide of lead. (See Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis.) It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, one of protoxide of lead 111-6, and three of water 27=189-6. Incompatibles. Acetate of lead is decomposed by all acids, and by those soluble salts, the acids of which produce with protoxide of lead insoluble or sparingly soluble compounds. Acids of this character are the sulphuric, muriatic, citric, and tartaric. It is also decomposed by lime-water, and by ammonia, potassa, and soda; the last two, if added in excess, dissolving the precipitate at first formed. It is decomposed by hard water, in consequence of the sulphate of lime and common salt which such water usually contains. With sulphuretted hydrogen, it gives a black precipitate of sulphuret of lead; with iodide of potassium, a yellow one of iodide of lead; and with carbonate of soda, a white one of carbonate of lead. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Acetate of lead, in medicinal doses, is a powerful astringent and sedative; in large ones, an irritant poison. The danger, however, from over-doses of sugar of lead is not so great as is generally supposed. It has sometimes been given in pretty large doses in regular prac- tice without any bad effects, and cases are on record where a quarter of an ounce has been swallowed without proving fatal. It may be remarked, how- ever, that the immediate effects of an over-dose are often escaped by prompt and spontaneous vomiting; and that the remote constitutional effects are not apt to occur, so long as the evacuations from the bowels are not materially diminished. The principal diseases in which it has been exhibited are he- morrhages, particularly from the lungs, intestines, and uterus. Its effect in restraining the discharge of blood is admitted to be very powerful. It has also been used with advantage in certain forms of dysentery and diarrhoea, and has been recommended in particular stages of cholera infantum. Combined with opium it is well suited to the treatment of the diarrhoea occurring in phthisis. It sometimes proves a valuable remedy in checking vomiting. Dr. Irvine, of Charleston, recommends it to compose the irritability of the stomach in yellow fever; and Dr. Davis, of Columbia, S. C, used it with benefit in the irritable stomach attendant on bilious fever. It has been much extolled by the German, practitioners in dothinenteritis, or the typhoid fever attended with ulcerations of the intestines. In some of these cases it was advantage- ously combined with carbonate of ammonia. The same practitioners have strongly recommended it in aneurism of the aorta, and Dupuytren, on their report of its efficacy, tried it in several cases, and with marked effect in di- minishing the size of the aueurismal tumour. (Archives Ge"n., 3e sirie, v. 445.) One of the authors of this Dispensatory bas imitated the practice in aneurism of the aorta, and in enlargement of the heart, and with encouraging part I. Plumbi Acetas.—Plumbi Carbonas. 551 results. In mercurial salivation, M. Brachet, of Lyons, found sugar of lead very efficacious, administered in grain pills, night and morning. Several cases of severe salivation of several months' duration, which had resisted the use of opium, purgatives, &c, were speedily relieved by the remedy. The solution is frequently used as a collyrium; and, applied by means of cloths, or mixed with crumb of bread, it forms a good application to superficial in- flammation. It is sometimes advantageous to associate opium with the solu- tion, in which case the meconate of morphia of the opium is decomposed, with the result of forming acetate of morphia in solution, and meconate of lead which precipitates. A convenient lotion, containing an excess of acetate of lead, may be formed by adding four grains of the acetate and four of opium to a fluidounce of water. In many cases of superficial inflammation, the di- lute solution of subacetate of lead is preferred. (See Liquor Plumbi Sub- acetatis Dilutus.) When employing this medicine, the practitioner should always bear in mind that, when long continued in small doses, it is apt to produce dangerous con- stitutional effects. These are chiefly of two kinds; 1. an affection of the ali- mentary canal, attended with severe pain and obstinate constipation, called coliea, pictonum or lead colic; 2. a chronic affection of the muscles, especially of the extensors of the upper extremities, characterized by an excessive wast- ing of these organs, and denominated lead palsy. Both these affections are apt to be excited in those artisans who work in lead. The approach of these dangerous constitutional symptoms is. said to be indicated by a narrow lead- blue line at the edge of the gums. (See page 547.) The dose of sugar of lead is from one to three grains, in the form of pill, repeated every two or three hours. It is generally given combined with opium. The solution for external use may be made by dissolving from two to three drachms of the salt in a pint of water; and if it be wanted clear, a fluidrachm of vinegar, or of dilute acetic acid may be added, which immediately dissolves the carbonate of lead, to which its turbidness is owing. The usual strength of the solution as a collyrium is from one to two grains to the fluidounce of distilled water. Off. Prep. Acidum Aceti cum, Ed.; Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis, U.S., Lond,, Ed.; Pilulae Plumbi Opiatae, Ed.; Plumbi Chloridum, Lond.; Plumbi Iodidum, Land.; Unguentum Plumbi Acetatis, Ed., Dub., Lond. B. PLUMBI CARBONAS. U.S., Lond., Ed. Carbonate of Lead. Off. Syn. PLUMBI CARBONAS. CERUSSA. Dub. White lead, Ceruse ; Ceruse, Carbonate de plomb, Blanc de plomb, Blanc de ceruse, Fr,; Bleiweiss, Germ.; Cerussa, Lat., Ital; Albayalde, Span. Preparation, Carbonate of lead is prepared by two principal methods. By one method it is obtained by passing a stream of carbonic acid through a solution of subacetate (trisacetate) of lead. The carbonic acid combines with the excess of protoxide and precipitates as carbonate of lead, while a neutral acetate remains in solution. This, by being boiled with a fresh "portion of protoxide, is again brought to the state of subacetate, when it is treated with carbonic acid as before. In this way the same portion of acetate repeatedly serves the purpose of being converted into subacetate, and of being decom- posed by carbonic acid. The carbonate obtained is washed, dried by a gentle heat, and thrown into commerce. This process, which produces white lead of the first quality, was invented and made public by Thenard about the year 1802, and is that which is usually pursued in France and Sweden. 552 Plumbi Carbonas. PART I. A modification of the process of Thenard is now pursued by some manu- facturers in England. It consists in mixing litharge with a hundredth part of acetate of lead, and subjecting the mixture, previously moistened with very little water, to a stream of carbonic acid. (Pelouze.) The other method, which consists in exposing lead to the vapours of vine- gar, originated in Holland, and is usually pursued in England and the United States; but in England, with some modifications which are not well known. We shall describe this process as pursued by our own manufacturers. The lead is cast into thin sheets, made by pouring the melted lead over an oblong sheet-iron shovel, with a flat bottom, and raised edges on its sides, which is held in a slanting direction over the melting-pot. As many of these sheets are then loosely rolled up as may be sufficient to form a cylinder five or six inches in diameter, and seven or eight high, which is placed in an earthen pot containing about half a pint of vinegar, and having within, a few inches from the bottom, three equidistant projecting portions in the earthenware, on which the cylinder of lead is supported, in order to keep it from contact with the vinegar. The pots thus prepared are placed side by side, in horizontal layers, in a building roughly constructed of boards, with interstices between them. The first layer is covered with boards, on which a stratum of tan or refuse straw from the stables is strewed; and fresh layers of pots, boards, and straw are successively placed until the whole' building is filled. The sides also are enclosed with straw. The layers of pots contained in one building, called a stack, are allowed to remain undisturbed for about six weeks, at the end of which time they are unpacked, and the cylinder of sheet-lead in each pot, though still retaining its shape, is found almost entirely converted into a flaky, white, friable substance, which is the white lead. This is separated from the lead yet remaining in the metallic state, ground in water, whereby it is washed and reduced to fine powder, and finally dried in long shallow reservoirs, heated by steam. Pelouze has succeeded in explaining all these processes on the same gene- ral principles. In Thenard's process it is admitted, that the same portion of acetate of lead repeatedly unites with protoxide, and gives it up again to car- bonic acid to form the carbonate. In the modified English process, referred to above, he supposes that the one per cent, of acetate of lead combines with sufficient litharge to convert it into subacetate, which immediately returns to the state of neutral acetate, by yielding up its excess of base to form the car- bonate with the carbonic acid. The acetate is now ready to combine with a fresh portion of litharge, to be transferred to the carbonic acid as before; and thus this small proportion of acetate, by combining with successive portions of the litharge, finally causes the whole of it to unite with the carbonic acid. In the Dutch process, Pelouze has tendered it almost certain, that none of the oxygen or carbonic acid of the carbonate is derived from the vinegar. Here he supposes that the heat, generated by the fermentation of the straw or tan, volatilizes the vinegar, the acetic acid of which, with the assistance of the oxygen of the air, forms with the lead a small portion of subacetate. This, by reacting with the carbonic acid resulting from the decomposition of the straw or tan, or derived from the atmosphere, forms carbonate of lead, and is reduced to the state of neutral acetate. The neutral acetate returns again to the state of subacetate, and, by alternately combining with and yielding up the protoxide, causes the whole of the lead to be finally converted into car- bonate. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e. ser.,'\. 51 and 443.) The views of Pelouze have been fully confirmed by Hochstetter. (Ibid., ii. 428.) The temperature of the stacks of pots in the Dutch process is about 113°. If it fall below 95°, a part of the lead escapes corrosion, and if it rise above 122°, the product is yellow. The form of acetic acid usually employed in PART I. Plumbi Carbonas. 553 this process is common vinegar; but the variable nature of that liquid as to strength and purity is an objection to its use; and, accordingly, other forms of the acid have been substituted for it with advantage, as, for example, the purified acetic acid from wood in a diluted state. For further information in relation to the different processes proposed or pursued for making white lead, the reader is referred to a paper by Prof. J. C. Booth, in the Journal of the Franklin Institute for Jan. 1842. See also the process of M. Gannal, de- scribed in the same Journal for July 1847. Properties. Carbonate of lead is a heavy, opaque substance, in powder or friable lumps, insoluble in water, of a fine white colour, inodorous and nearly insipid. Its beauty as a pigment depends in a great measure on the purity of the lead from which it is manufactured. It is wholly soluble, with effer- vescence, in dilute nitric acid. Exposed to heat it becomes yellow, and with charcoal is reduced to the metallic state. It is sometimes adulterated with the sulphates of baryta, lime, and lead, particularly the former. M. Louyet has examined samples of French white lead, containing considerably more than half their weight of sulphate of baryta (Chem. Gaz., No. 100, p. 493). These sulphates, if present, are left undissolved by nitric acid. Chalk or whit- ing is another adulteration. This may be detected by adding to the nitric solution of the white lead an excess of potassa, which will redissolve the pro- toxide of lead first thrown down, but leave a white powder of lime. Neutral carbonate of lead consists of one eq. of carbonic acid 22, and one of protoxide of lead lll-6:=133-6. Commercial white lead is a compound of the carbon- ate and hydrate of lead. Mulder and Hochstetter make its formula to be 2(PbO,C03)+PbO,HO. Medical Properties and Uses. White lead is ranked in the materia medica as an astringent and sedative. It is employed externally only, being used as an application to ulcers, and to inflamed and excoriated surfaces. It has been recommended also in facial neuralgia. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 603.) It is applied either by sprinkling the powder on the part, or in the form of oint- ment. (See Unguentum Plumbi Carbonatis.) Its external use, however, is viewed by many practitioners as dangerous, on account of the risk of absorp- tion; but the danger is certainly overrated, as we have the testimony of re- spectable physicians that they frequently employ, it in this way, without the least unpleasant result. Of the different preparations of lead, the carbonate is considered to be the most poisonous. Being extensively manufactured for the purposes of the arts, it is that preparation which, by slow absorption, most frequently produces the peculiar spasmodic colic, called colica pictonum. This disease is characterized by pain about the region of the navel, and by obstinate constipation, attended with a frequent desire to evacuate the bowels, and is supposed to depend upon a spasmodic constriction of the intestinal tube, particularly of the colon. The principal indications in the treatment are, first to relax the spasm, and then to evacuate the bowels by the gentlest means. Opium and mild aperients, used alternately, are accordingly the best remedies, and among the latter cas- tor oil and sulphate of magnesia are to be preferred. Indeed, the latter ap- pears peculiarly adapted to the case; for, while it acts as an aperient, it operates as a counterpoison, by forming the inert sulphate of lead with any soluble compound of the metal which it may meet with in the bowels. Calomel is often useful; and if it happen to induce ptyalism, the complaint immediately yields. Sometimes acute poisoning is produced by carbonate of lead, where a large amount of the salt has been swallowed at once. (See Journ. de Pharm., vii. 473, and viii. 148.) Off. Prep. Plumbi Acetas, Dub.; Unguentum Plumbi Carbonatis, U. S.} Ed., Dub. B. 554 Plumbi Oxidum Rubrum. PART I. PLUMBI OXIDUM RUBRUM. U.S., Ed. Red Oxide of Lead. Red lead, Minium; Deutoxide de plomb, Oxide rouge de plomb, Minium, Fr.; Men- nig, Germ.; Minio, Ital, Span. Preparation. Red lead is prepared on the large scale in a furnace, with the floor slightly concave and the roof arched, presenting a general resemblance to a baker's oven. The lead is placed on the floor, and gradually raised to a red heat, whereby it melts and becomes covered with a pellicle of protoxide, which is removed by means of a long iron scraper; and the pellicles, as they successively form, are scraped off, until the whole of the metal has been con- verted into them. The product is subjected to further calcination with occa- sional stirring, for some time, with a view to oxidize any particles of metallic lead. It is thus rendered yellow, and constitutes the protoxide of lead, or 'massicot. This is taken out of the furnace and thrown upon a level pave- ment, and cooled by being sprinkled with water. It is next reduced to fine powder by trituration and levigation, and dried; and in this state is introduced into large, shallow, square tin boxes, which are placed in another furnace, closed from the air, and heated nearly to redness; the heat being allowed gra- dually to fall during a period of from twenty-four to thirty hours. At the end of this time the protoxide of lead will have combined with an additional quantity of oxygen, and become the red oxide. This is taken out, and having been passed through a fine wire sieve, is packed in barrels for the purposes of commerce. The above is an outline of the French process for making red lead. In England and the United States, the calcination of the protoxide is not per- formed in tin boxes, but by returning it to the furnace in which it was first calcined. To save the first calcination, litharge is generally used for making the red lead of commerce, which consequently is liable to contain the impuri- ties of that substance, consisting of iron, copper, a little silver, and silica. Copper is hurtful in red lead when used for making glass, to which it commu- k nicates colour. In order to have red lead of good quality, it should be made in large quantities at a time. It is also important that it be slowly cooled ; for, as the absorption of oxygen by which it is formed takes place during a particular interval of temperature only, it is necessary that the heat within that interval should be maintained sufficiently long to allow, all the protoxide to absorb its appropriate dose of oxygen. It is said that the finest red lead is procured by calcining the protoxide obtained from the carbonate. Properties, &c. Red lead is in the form of a heavy, scaly powder, of a bright red colour, with a slight shade of orange. Its sp. gr. is about 9. When exposed to heat it gives off oxygen, and is reduced to the state of pro- toxide. It is sometimes adulterated with red oxide of iron, or red bole, sub- stances which, may be detected by treating the red lead with nitric acid, and testing the nitric solution with tincture of galls. This reagent will produce a black precipitate, in consequence of the iron being dissolved by the nitric acid. If brick-dust be present, it will be left undissolved upon boiling the suspected specimen in water, with sugar and a small quantity of nitric acid. When free from impurities, it is completely reduced on charcoal, by means of the blow- pipe, into a globule of metallic lead. It is completely soluble in highly fuming nitrous acid. (Ed. Pharm.) The resulting solution is one of the nitrate of the protoxide, formed by a transfer of the excess of oxygen in the red lead to the nitrous acid, which is thus converted into the nitric. When treated with PART r. Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum. 555 nitric acid, it is resolved into protoxide which dissolves, and deutoxide which remains in the form of a dark-brown powder. The red lead of commerce may be considered as a mixture of what may be called the true red oxide, and variable proportions of protoxide. That this is its nature is proved by the action of cold dilute acetic acid, not used in excess, which takes up a variable quantity of protoxide, leaving a portion unchanged in colour, which may be deemed the pure red oxide. This latter, when ana- lyzed by nitric acid, has been proved, by the coincident results of Dalton, Dumas, and Phillips, to consist of two eqs. of protoxide, and one of deutoxide, corresponding to three eqs. of lead, and four of oxygen. Red lead enters into no officinal preparation. It is employed in preparing Acidum Aceticum, U S., Ed., and Chlorinei Aqua, Ed. In the arts it is used chiefly as a paint, and as an ingredient of flint glass. B. PLUMBI OXIDUM SEMIVITREUM. U.S. Sernivitrified Oxide of Lead. Off. Syn. PLUMBI OXYDUM. Plumbi Oxydum (semivitreum). Land,; LITHARGYRUM. Ed.; PLUMBI OXYDUM SEMIVITREUM. LITH- ARGYRUM. Dub. Litharge ; Oxide de plomb fondu, Litharge, Fr.; Bleiglatte, Germ.; Litargirio, Ital.; Almartaga, Span. When the protoxide of lead is rendered semi-crystalline by incomplete fusion, it becomes the sernivitrified oxide, or litharge. Almost all the litharge of commerce is obtained, as a secondary product, in the process for extracting silver from argentiferous galenas. After extracting the argentiferous lead from the ore, the alloy is calcined in the open air; whereby the lead becomes oxi- dized, and by fusion passes into the state of litharge, while the silver remains unchanged. The following is an outline of the process. The lead containing the silver is placed upon an oval slightly excavated dish, about three feet long and twenty inches wide, called a test, made by beating pulverized bone-ash, made into a paste with water, into a mould, the sides of which are formed of an elliptical band of iron, and the bottom, of strips of sheet iron, placed a short distance apart. The test is of such a size as exactly to fit an opening in the floor of a reverberatory furnace, where it is placed and adjusted to the level of the floor. On one side of the test the fire-place is situated, and ex- actly opposite, the chimney; while at one extremity of it the pipe of a strong bellows is placed, and at the other a vertical hole is made, communicating with a gutter leading from the centre of the test. The furnace is now lighted, and shortly afterwards the bellows is put in motion. The lead fuses and com- bines with oxygen, and the resulting oxide, melting also, forms a stratum which swims on the surface, and which is driven by the blast of the bellows along the gutter, and through the vertical hole into a recipient below, where, upon solidifying, it crystallizes in small scales, which form the litharge. In proportion as the lead is oxidized and blown off the test, fresh portions are added, so as to keep it always sufficiently full. The process is continued for eight or ten days, after which no more lead is added. The operation is now confined to the metal remaining on the test; and, the oxidation proceeding, a period at last arrives when the whole of the lead has run off as litharge, and the silver, known to be pure by its brilliant appearance in the fused state", alone remains. This is then removed, and the process repeated on a fresh portion of argentiferous lead. P'roperties. Litharge is in the form of small, brilliant, vitrified scales, some presenting a red, and others a yellow colom. In mass it has a foliaceous 556 Plumbi Oxidum Semivitreum.—Podophyllum. part i. structure. It is devoid of taste or smell. It slowly attracts carbonic acid from the air, and contains more of this acid the longer it has been prepared. It is on this account that it commonly effervesces slightly with the dilute acids. It has the property of decolorizing wines, when agitated with them. When heated with the fats and oils, in connexion with water, it saponifies them. (See Emplastrum Plumbi.) In dilute nitric acid it should be almost entirely soluble. As it occurs in commerce, it usually contains iron, copper, and a little silver and silica. The English litharge is most esteemed; that from Germany being generally contaminated with iron and copper. In choos- ing litharge, samples should be selected which are free from copper, and from fragments of vegetable matter. Copper is detected, if, upon adding ferrocy- anuret of potassium to a nitric solution of the litharge, a brown instead of a white precipitate is produced. Two varieties of litharge are distinguished in commerce, named from their colour, and dependent on differences in the pro- cess for making it. Sometimes it has a pale yellow colour and silvery appear- ance, and is then denominated silver litharge or yellow litharge; at other times it is of a red colour, and is known under the name of gold litharge'ox red litharge. The latter has been said to owe its colour to the presence of a por- tion of red lead; but M. Leblanc has shown that the two varieties of litharge differ in colour, structure, and density only, and not in chemical composition. In composition, litharge is essentially identical with the protoxide of lead. (See Plumbum.) The carbonic acid which it contains is variable; but its average amount is about four per cent. Pharmaceutical Uses, &c. Litharge is never used internally, but is em- ployed in several pharmaceutical operations, and forms an ingredient in vari- ous external applications, used for abating inflammation, and for other pur- poses. Combined with olive oil it forms the Emplastrum Plumbi, which is the basis of many of the Plasters. (See Emplastra.) In the arts it is em- ployed in the glazing of pottery, in painting to render oils drying, and as an ingredient in flint glass. Off. Prep. Ceratum Saponis, Lond.; Emplastrum Plumbi, U.S.,Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Plumbi Acetas, Lond., Ed.; Plumbi Nitras, Ed. B. PODOPHYLLUM. U.S. May-apple. " The rhizoma of Podophyllum peltatum." U. S. Podophyllum. Sex. Syst. Polyandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Ranunculi, Juss.; Podophylleae, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Calyx three-leaved. Corolla nine-petalled. Berry one-celled, crowned with the stigma. Willd. Podophyllum peltatum. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1141; Barton, Med. Bot. ii. 9; Carson, Illust. of Med. Bot. i. 18, pi. 11. The may-apple, known also by the name of mandrake, is an indigenous herbaceous plant, and the only species belong- ing to the genus. The root (rhizoma) is perennial, creeping, usually several feet in length, about one-quarter of an inch thick, of a brown colour externally, smooth, jointed, and furnished with radicles at the joints. The stem is about a foot bigh, erect, round, smooth, divided at top into two petioles, and sup- porting at the fork a solitary one-flowered peduncle. Each petiole bears a large peltate, palmate leaf, with six or seven wedge-shaped lobes, irregularly incised at the extremity, yellowish-green on their upper surface, paler and slightly pubescent beneath. The flower is nodding. The calyx is composed PART I. Podophyllum. 557 of three oval, obtuse, concave, deciduous leaves. The corolla has from six to nine white, fragrant petals, which are obovate, obtuse, concave, with delicate transparent veins. The stamens are from thirteen to twenty, shorter than the petals, with oblong, yellow anthers of twice the length of the filaments. The stigma is sessile, and rendered irregular on its surface by numerous folds or convolutions. The fruit is a large oval berry, crowned with the persistent stigma, and containing a sweetish fleshy pulp, in which about twelve ovate seeds are imbedded. It is, when ripe, of a lemon-yellow colour, diversified by round brownish spots. The plant is extensively diffused throughout the United States, growing luxuriantly in moist shady woods, and in low marshy grounds. It is propa- gated by its creeping root, and is often found in large patches. The flowers appear about the end of May and beginning of June; and the fruit ripens in the latter part of September. The leaves are said to be poisonous. The fruit has a subacid, sweetish, peculiar taste, agreeable to some palates,' and may be eaten freely with impunity. From its colour and shape, it is some- times called wild lemon. The root is the officinal portion, and is said to be most efficient when collected after the falling of the leaves. It shrinks con- siderably in drying. Properties. The dried root is in pieces about two lines in thickness, with swelling, broad, flattened joints at short intervals. It is much wrinkled lengthwise, is yellowish or reddish-brown externally, and furnished with fibres of a similar, but somewhat paler colour. The fracture is short and irregular, and the internal colour whitish. The powder is light yellowish-gray, resem- bling that of jalap. The root in its aggregate state is nearly inodorous; but in powder has a sweetish not unpleasant smell. The taste is at first sweetish, afterwards bitter, nauseous, and slightly acrid. Both the decoction and tincture are bitter; but alcohol is said to be the best solvent of the active matter. A bitter substance was extracted from the root by William Hodgson, jun., of Philadelphia. It was in pale brown shining scales, unalterable in the air, neuter, very sparingly soluble in cold water, much more soluble in boiling water, soluble also in ether, and freely so in boiling alcohol. Nitric acid dis- solved it with effervescence, producing a rich deep-red colour. Its taste, at first not very decided, in consequence of its sparing solubility, became at length very bitter and permanent; and its alcoholic solution was intensely bitter. Should this be found to be the purgative principle of the plant, it would be entitled to the name of podophyllum It was obtained by boiling the root with quicklime in water, straining the decoction, precipitating the lime with sulphate of zinc, evaporating the clear solution to the consistence of an extract, treating this with cold alcohol of 0-817, filtering and evaporat- ing the alcoholic solution, and treating the residue with boiling distilled water, which deposited the bitter principle on cooling. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iii. 273.) Analyzed by Mr. John R. Lewis, podophyllum yielded albumen, gum, starch, extractive, lignin, gallic acid, fixed oil, traces of vola- tile oil, salts of potassa and lime, and two resinous principles, one soluble in alcohol and ether, and the other soluble in alcohol only. Both resins were found to possess the active properties of the root. Six grains operated as a drastic cathartic, with some emetic effect. Mr. Lewis obtained no purgative effect from the same quantity of the substance procured by the process of Mr. Hodgson, which probably contains the resin in an impure state. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 165.) Medical Properties and Uses. Podophyllum is an active and certain ca- thartic, producing copious liquid discharges without much griping or other unpleasant effect. In some cases it has given rise to nausea and even vomit- 558 Polygala Rubella.—Polygonum Bistorta. part I. ing, but the same result is occasionally experienced from every active cathartic. Its operation resembles that of jalap; but is rather slower, and is thought by some to be more drastic. It is applicable to most inflammatory affections which require brisk purging; and is much employed in various parts of the country, especially combined with calomel, in bilious fevers and hepatic con- gestions. It is also frequently used in connexion with bitartrate of potassa in dropsical, rheumatic, and scrofulous complaints. The dose of the powdered root is about twenty grains. An extract is pre- pared from it possessing all its virtues in a smaller bulk. (See Extraetum Podophylli.) In minute doses frequently repeated, podophyllum is said to diminish the frequency of the pulse, and to relieve cough; and for these effects is sometimes used in haemoptysis, catarrh, and other pulmonary affections. Off. Prep. Extraetum Podophylli, U. S. W. POLYGALA RUBELLA. U.S. Secondary. Bitter Polygala. " The root and herb of Polygala rubella." U. S. Polygala. See SENEGA. Polygala rubella. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 875; Bigelow, Am. 31ed. Bot. iii. 129. — P. polygama. Walter, Flor. Car. 179; Pursh, Flor. Am. Sept. 465. This species of Polygala is an indigenous, perennial plant, with a branching, somewhat fusiform root, which sends up annually numerous sim- ple, smooth, and angular stems, from four to eight inches in height. The leaves are scattered, sessile, obovate or linear lanceolate, attenuated towards the base, obtuse, and mucronate. The flowers are purple, and in elongated terminal racemes. From the base of the stem proceed other racemes, which lie upon the ground, or are partially buried under it, and bear incomplete but fertile flowers, the calyx of which is without wings. This plant is found in many parts of the United States, preferring a dry sandy or gravelly soil, and flowering in June and July. The whole plant is officinal. It has a strong and permanent bitter taste, which it yields to water and alcohol. Medical Properties and Uses. In small doses it is tonic, in larger laxative and diaphoretic. The infusion of the dried plant has been usually employed to impart tone to the digestive organs. (Bigelow.) It appears to be closely analogous in medical virtues to the Polygala amara of Europe, which is used for a similar purpose. W. POLYGONUM BISTORTA. Radix. Dub. Bistort Root. Bistorte, Fr.; Natter-Wurzel, Germ.; Bistorta, Ital, Span. Polygonum. Sex, Syst. Octandria Trigynia.—Nat. Ord. Polygonaceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla five-parted, calycine. Seed one, angular. Willd. Besides the bistort, some other plants belonging to this genus have been used as medicines. Among these are the P. aviculare, or knot-grass, a mild astringent formerly employed as a vulnerary and styptic; the P. Persicaria (Persicaria mitis), of a feebly astringent saline taste, and at one time consid- ered antiseptic; and the P. Ilydropiper or water-pepper (Persicaria urens), the leaves of which have a burning and biting taste, inflame the skin when rubbed upon it, and are esteemed diuretic. The water-pepper or smart-weed part I. Polygonum Bistorta.—Porrum. 559 of this country—P. punctatum (Elliott), P. Hydropiperoides (Michaux)— which grows abundantly in moist places, possesses properties similar to those of the European water-pepper, and is occasionally used as a detergent in chronic ulcers, and internally in gravel. Dr. Eberle very strongly recom- mended it in amenorrhcea, in which complaint he found no other remedy equally effectual. He gave a fluidrachm of the saturated tincture of the plant, or from four to six grains of the extract, three or four times a day. He found it to produce a warmth and peculiar tingling sensation throughout the system, with slight aching pains in the hips and loins, and a sense of weight and ten- sion within the pelvis. (Eberle s 3Iat. 3led.., Mh ed., vol. i. p. 441.) Dr. R. Wilcox, of Elmira, New York, has found great advantage from a decoction of the dried leaves of the smart-weed, made in the proportion of an ounce to the pint, and applied locally, in mercurial salivation, and the sore-mouth of nurs- ing women. (Am. Journ. of 3Ied. Sci.,N. S. xvi. 248.) The P. Fagopyrum is the common buckuhcat, Polygonum Bistorta. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 441; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 668, t. 232. This plant has a perennial root, and an annual herbaceous stem, which is simple, erect, jointed, and rises one or two feet in height. The lower leaves are cordate lanceolate, and supported on long-winged footstalks; the upper are ovate, almost sessile, amplexicaule, and sheathing. The flowers are of a pale rose colour, and form a close terminal spike. The plant is a native of Europe and the North of Asia. The root, which is the officinal portion, is cylindrical, somewhat flattened, about as thick as the little finger, marked with annular or transverse wrinkles, furnished with numerous fibres, and folded or bent upon itself, so as to give it the tortuous appearance from which its name was derived. Yv7hen dried it is solid, brittle, of a deep brown colour externally, reddish within, destitute of smell, and possessed of a rough, astringent taste. It contains much tannin, some gallic acid and gum, and a large proportion of starch. 3ledical Properties. Bistort resembles the other vegetable astringents, such as galls, kino, &c, in medical properties, and is applicable to the same complaints; but in this country is seldom or never used. It may be em- ployed in the form of decoction or of powder. The dose of the latter is twenty or thirty grains, three or four times a day. W. PORRUM. Lond. Leek Root. "Allium Porrum. Bulbus." Lond. Poireau, Fr.; Gemeiner Lauch. Germ.; Porro, Ital; Puerro, Span. Allium. See ALLIUM. Allium, Porrum, Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 64. " Stem flat-leaved, umbellifer- ous. Stamens tricuspidate. Root truncated." The leek is a biennial bulbous plant, growing wild in Switzerland, and cul- tivated in the gardens of Europe and this country for culinary purposes. All parts of it have an offensive pungent odour, and an acrid taste, dependent on an essential oil, which is in a great measure dissipated by decoction, and may be obtained separate by distillation. The bulb, which is the officinal portion, consists of concentric layers, like the onion, which it resembles in medical properties, though somewhat milder. It is gently stimulant, with a peculiar direction to the kidneys. The expressed juice may be given in the dose of a fluidrachm, mixed with syrup. This species of Allium is not used medicin- ally in the United States. . W. 560 Potassium.—Potassse Bitartras. part i. POTASSIUM. Potassium. Potassium, Fr.; Kalium, Kalimetall, Germ.; Potassio. Ital.; Potasio, Span. Potassium is a peculiar metal, forming the radical of a number of import- ant medicinal preparations. It was discovered in 1807 by Sir H. Davy, who obtained it by decomposing hydrate of potassa by galvanic electricity. It was afterwards procured in larger quantity by Gay-Lussac and Thenard, by bring- ing the fused alkali in contact with white-hot iron, which attracted the oxygen and set free the metal. The best process is that of Brunner, as modified by Wbhler, which consists in decomposing potassa in the state of carbonate, mixed with charcoal. The mixture of carbonate and charcoal is obtained by heating cream of tartar to redness in a covered crucible. Potassium is solid, softer and more ductile than wax, easily cut with a knife, and of a silver-white colour. A newly cut surface is brilliant; but the metal quickly tarnishes by combining with the oxygen of the air, and assumes the appearance of lead. It possesses a remarkably strong affinity for oxygen, and is capable of taking that element from every other substance. On ac- count of this property it must be kept in liquids, such as naphtha, which are devoid of oxygen as a constituent. Its sp. gr. is 0-865, its melting point 136°, its equivalent number 39-15, and symbol K. When thrown upon water it swims, takes fire, and burns with a rose-coloured flame, combining with oxygen, and generating potassa which dissolves in the water. It forms nu- merous combinations, uniting with most of the non-metallic elements, and with several of the metals. It combines in two proportions with oxygen, forming a protoxide (dry potassa) of a gray, and a teroxide of a yellowish-brown colour; the former containing one, and the latter three equivalents of oxygen to one of metal. It also unites with chlorine, and forms officinal compounds with iodine, bromine, sulphur, cyanogen, and ferrocyanogen, under the names of iodide, bromide, sulphuret, cyanuret, and ferrocyanuret of potassium. Its protoxide (dry potassa) is a very strong salifiable base, existing in nature al- ways in combination, and forming with acids a numerous and important class of salts. Of these, the acetate, carbonate, bicarbonate, chlorate, citrate (in solu- tion), hydrate (caustic potassa), nitrate, sulphate, sulphuretted sulphate, bisul- phate, tartrate, and bitartrate are officinal, and will be described under their respective titles, to which, for their properties, the reader is referred. B. POTASSiE BITARTRAS. U S., Lond., Ed. Bitartrate of Potassa. Off. Syn. POTASS^ BITARTRAS. TARTARI CRYSTALLI. Dub. Supertartrate of potassa, Cream of tartar, Crystals of tartar; Cremor tartari, Lai.,- Tartrate acide de potasse, Creme cle tartre, Fr.; Doppelt weinsaures Kali, Weinstein- rahm, Germ.; Cremore di tartaro, Ital; Cremor de tartaro, Span. During the fermentation of wines, especially those that are tart, a peculiar matter is deposited on the bottom and sides of the casks, forming a crystalline crust, called crude tartar or argol. That deposited from red wines is of a reddish colour, and called in commerce red tartar; while that derived from white wines is of a dirty white colour, and denominated white tartar. Both kinds consist of potassa, united with an excess of tartaric acid, forming bitar- trate of potassa, rendered impure by tartrate of lime, more or less colouring matter, and the lees and other matters which are deposited during the clarifi- PART I. Potassse Bitartras. 561 cation of the wine. The deposition of the tartar is thus explained. The bitartrate exists naturally in the juice of the grape, held in solution by sac- charine matter. When the juice is submitted to fermentation in the process for converting it into wine, the sugar disappears, and is replaced by alcohol, which, not being competent to dissolve the salt, allows it to precipitate as a crystalline crust. It is from this substance that cream of tartar is obtained by a process of purification. The process is conducted on a large scale at Montpellier, in France, and is founded upon the greater solubility of bitartrate of potassa in hot than in cold water. The tartar, previously pulverized, is boiled with water in copper boilers. The solution, when saturated, is transferred to earthern pans, where it deposits on cooling a crystalline layer, nearly free from colour. This is redissolved in boiling water; and the solution, having been mixed with four or five per cent, of pipe-clay, is evaporated to a pellicle. The clay precipi- tates with the colouring matter, and the clear solution, as it cools, deposits white crystals in crusts, which, upon being exposed to the air on linen for several days, acquire an increased degree of whiteness. These constitute the crystals of tartar of pharmacy. The salt, however, as met with in the shops, is generally, for greater convenience, in the form of powder; and it is to the substance in this form that the name of cream of tartar is usually applied. Properties. Bitartrate of potassa occurs in commerce in white crystalline crusts, or masses of aggregated crystals, and is received in that state from France by our wholesale druggists, who procure its pulverization for the use of the apothecaries. In crystals it is hard and gritty between the teeth, and dissolves slowly in the mouth; in powder it has a white colour. It is a per- manent salt, of an acid, not ungrateful taste, soluble in 184 parts of cold, and 18 of boiling water, but insoluble in alcohol. When exposed to a red heat it is decomposed, exhales a peculiar odour, gives rise to a solid pyrogenous acid, and the usual products of the destructive distillation of vegetable matter; and carbonate of potassa, mixed with charcoal, is left. Its solution is precipi- tated by solutions of baryta, strontia, and lime, which form insoluble tartrates, and by acetate of lead, forming tartrate of lead. If chloride of barium throws down a precipitate not entirely soluble in nitric acid, the fact indicates the presence of a sulphate; for the tartrate of baryta is soluble in this acid, but not the sulphate. With salifiable bases which form soluble tartrates, it gives rise to double salts, consisting of neutral tartrate of potassa, and the tartrate of the base added. Several of them are important medicines, and will be described under their respective titles. Cream of tartar, though sparingly soluble in water, becomes abundantly so by the addition of borax or boracic acid. The combinations thus formed are sometimes used in medicine, and will be described under borax. (See Sodse Boras.) The cream of tartar of commerce is not a pure bitartrate of potassa. It usually contains from two to five per cent, of tartrate of lime; and is some- times adulterated with sand, clay, and similar substances. The fraud may be easily detected by the salt not being entirely soluble in boiling water, or by treating it with a hot solution of potassa, which will dissolve the cream of tartar, and leave the adulterating substances. Composition. Cream of tartar consists of two eqs. of tartaric acid 132, one of potassa 4715, and one of water 9 = 188-15. The water cannot be expelled without decomposing the salt, and is supposed to act the part of a base. Medical Properties and Uses. Bitartrate of potassa is cathartic, diuretic, and refrigerant. In small doses it acts as a cooling aperient, in large ones as a hydragogue cathartic, producing copious watery stools; and from this latter property, as well as its tendency to excite the action of the kidneys, it is very 36 562 Potassse Bitartras.—Potassse Carbonas Lmpurus. part I. much used in dropsical affections. It is frequently prescribed in combination with senna, sulphur, or jalap. (See Pulvis Jalapte Compositus.) Its solution in boiling water, sweetened with sugar and allowed-to cool, forms an acid, not unpleasant, refrigerant drink, advantageously used in some febrile affections, and frequently employed as a domestic remedy. The beverage called imperial (potus imperialis) is a drink of this kind, made by dissolving half an ounce of the salt in three pints of boiling water, and adding to the solution four ounces of white sugar, and half an ounce of fresh lemon peel. Cream of tartar whey is prepared by adding about two drachms of the bitartrate to a pint of milk. It may be given, diluted with water, in dropsical complaints. The dose of cream of tartar is a drachm or two as an aperient; and from half an ounce to an ounce as a hydragogue cathartic, mixed with molasses or suspended in water. As a diuretic in dropsical cases, it may be given in the dose of a drachm and a half or two drachms, several times a day. Equal parts of cream of tartar, powdered rhatany root, and myrrh form a good dentifrice. In pharmacy, cream of tartar is employed to obtain the neutral tartrate of potassa (soluble tartar), tartrate of potassa and soda (Rochelle salt), tartrate of antimony and potassa (tartar emetic), and tartrate of iron and potassa (tar- tarized iron). Saturated by means of chalk, its second eq. of acid is converted into tartrate of lime, which, decomposed by sulphuric acid, yields tartaric acid. Deflagrated with nitre, it is converted into a pure form of carbonate of potassa, called salt of tartar. (See Potassse Carbonas Purus.) In the laboratory it is used to procure potassa in a pure state, and in making black and white flux. Black flux is prepared by deflagrating cream of tartar with half its weight of nitre; and white flux, by deflagrating it, with twice its weight of the same salt. Off. Prep. Acidum Tartaricum, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Antimonii et Potassae Tartras, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Decoctum Scoparii, Ed.; Ferri et Potassae Tartras, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassae Carbonas Purus, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Potassae Tartras, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub:; Pulvis Jalapae Compositus, U. S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.; Pulvis Scammonii Compositus, Ed.; Sodae et Potassae Tartras, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. B. POTASSAE carbonas IMPURUS. U.S. Impure Carbonate of Potassa. "The impure carbonate of potassa known in commerce by the name of pearlash." US. Off. Syn. POTASSA CARBONAS IMPURA. Lond.; LIXIYUS CINIS. Dub. Pearlash, Pearlashes. Impure potassa, Impure subcarbonate of potassa; Potasse du ' commerce, Fr.; Rohe Pottasche, Germ.; Potasch, Dutch; Potaske, Dan.; Potaska, Swed.- Potassa del commercio, Ital; Cenizas claveladas, Span. The alkali potassa, using this term in its strict sense, is the protoxide of the metal potassium. (See Potassium.) It exists in various states of combination and purity._ In its most impure state, it is the common potash of com- merce. This, subjected to calcination, becomes somewhat purer and is then called pearlash, the form of the alkali intended to be designated by the officinal name at the head of this article. Natural State and Preparation. Potash and pearlash of commerce are procured from the ashes of wood, by lixiviation, and the subsequent evapo- ration of the solution obtained. The alkali exists in the wood, principally in the state of acetate; and, being of a fixed and incombustible nature, is left behind after the incineration. The wood is burnt on the ground, in a place sheltered from .the wind. The ashes consist of a soluble and insoluble portion. PART I. Potassse Carbonas Impurus. 563 The soluble part is made up of carbonate of potassa, together with the sulphate, phosphate, and silicate of potassa, and the chlorides of potassium and sodium; the insoluble portion, of carbonate and subphosphate of lime, alumina, silica, oxidized iron and manganese, and a little carbonaceous matter that had escaped combustion. The ashes are lixiviated in barrels with the addition of a portion of lime, and the soluble substances above mentioned are taken up. The lixivium is then evaporated in large iron kettles, which for several days are kept constantly full. The evaporation is continued until the mass has become of a black colour, and of the consistence of brown sugar. It is now subjected to as powerful a heat as can be raised by the best wood fire for a number of hours, by which it is fused. During the progress of the fusion, the combustible impurities are for the most part burnt out, and a gas- eous matter is emitted, which agitates the more fluid part. When the fusion is complete, the liquid becomes quiescent, and looks like melted iron. It is now transferred, by means of large iron ladles, to iron pots, where it congeals in cakes. These are broken up and packed in tight barrels, and constitute the potash of commerce. (Dr. G. A. Rogers, in Silliman's Journal.) If it be intended to make pearlash, the process is varied. In this case the l>lack matter, above mentioned as of the consistence of brown sugar, called black salts by our manufacturers, instead of being fused, is transferred from the kettles to a large oven-shaped furnace, so constructed that the flame may be made to play over the alkaline mass, which in the mean time is stirred by means of an iron rod. The ignition is in this way continued, until the com- bustible impurities are burnt out, and the mass, from being black, becomes of a dirty bluish-white colour. (Rogers.) The ashes of plants amount generally to not more than a few parts in the hundred; and of these a portion only consists of potassa. The different parts of the same vegetable, and, for a stronger reason, different plants, furnish variable quantities of ashes. Ligneous plants furnish less than herbaceous, the trunk less than the branches, and the branches less than the leaves. The bark yields more ashes than the wood; and the leaves of trees which drop their foliage in winter, more than the leaves of evergreens. The following table gives the quantity of potassa contained in the ashes of one thousand parts of the undernamed plants: Pine - .. . 045 Barley straw . . 5-8 Poplar - - . . 0 75 Beech hark ; . GO Birch - . - - 1-29 Fern . . 6-2 Beech - . - - 1-45 Stalks of Indian corn - . 17 5 Oak - . - - 2-03 Sun-flower stalks - - 19-4 Oak bark . - - 2 08 Dry oak leaves ■ . 240 Box - - - 226 Common nettle . - 250 Willow - - - 2-85 Black elder . . 25-5 Linden - . - - 3-27 Vetch - . - 27-5 Elm ■ . - . 3'9 Poke - . . 45-6 Maple - - - - 39 Wheat stalks, young - - 470 Wheat straw - - - 4-18 Dried stems of potatoe 9 - 550 Flax - - - - 50 Wormwood - - 73-0 Rush - - - . 508 Fumitory - - 79-0 Common thistle - . 5'37 Angelica - - 962 Vine branches - - . 55 Commercial History. Potash and pearlash are made in those countries in which forests abound. Accordingly, the alkali is extensively manufactured in Canada and the United States, and constitutes a very important export of this country. It is prepared chiefly in the state of New York, which is sup- posed to furnish three-fourths of our exports of this alkali. It is also pro- duced in considerable quantities in the northern countries of Europe, espe- 564 Potassse Carbonas Impurus. part i. cially in Russia, and on the shores of the Baltic. It is of different qualities as it occurs in commerce; and is distinguished by the country or place of manufacture, as American, Russian, Dantzicpotash, &c. Properties. Potash is in the form of fused masses of a stony appearance and hardness, and caustic burning taste. Its colour is variegated, but reddish and dark-brown are the predominant hues. When exposed to the air it ab- sorbs moisture and deliquesces; and, if sufficiently long exposed, finally be- comes liquid. Pearlash is of a white colour, with usually a tinge of blue. As it occurs in commerce, it is in tight casks, containing about three hundred and fifty pounds, in which it forms one entire, hard, concrete mass. . In the shops it is found in coarse powder, intermingled with lumps as dug out of the casks, presenting an opaque granular appearance, like table salt or Havana sugar. It is a deliquescent salt, and has a burning alkaline taste. It is soluble in water, with the exception of impurities. One hundred grains of the salt of medium quality will neutralize about fifty-eight grains of sulphuric acid. It differs from potash principally in containing less combustible impu- rities, and in being less caustic and deliquescent. The colouring matter of both these forms of alkali is derived from carbonaceous impurities, and small portions of iron and manganese. Composition. The basis of both pot and pearlash is carbonate of potassa; but this is associated with certain salts, and with insoluble impurities. Several varieties of potash found in commerce were analyzed by Vauquelin, whose principal results are contained in the following table. The quantity examined of each kind was 1152 parts. Caustic Sulphate Chloride of Insoluble Carbonic Kinds of Potash. Hydrate of Potassa. of Potassa. Potassium. residue. Acid and Water. American potash, 857 154 20 2 119 Russian potash, 772 65 5 56 254 Pearlash, 754 80 4 6 308 Dantzic potash, 603 152 14 79 304 These results, calculated for 100 parts, show that the American potash contains 74 per cent, of pure hydrated alkali, and the Russian 67 per cent. Pearlash, it is seen, is more rich in carbonic acid than potash; and this result of analysis corresponds with the qualities of the two substances as prepared in the United States; potash being known to be far more caustic than pearlash. Besides the impurities shown by the table, silicate of potassa is present. As the potash of commerce is valuable in the arts in proportion to the quantity of real alkali which it contains, it becomes important, in so variable a substance, to possess an easy method of ascertaining its quality in that respect. The process by which this is accomplished is called alkalimetry, and the instrument used an olkalhneter. The best mode of conducting the assay, which is applicable to the commercial forms of soda as well as those of potassa, is that proposed by Faraday, and described by Turner as follows. Take a cylindrical tube, sealed at one end, nine and a half inches long, and three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and pour into it one thousand grains of water, marking with a file the point at which the water stands. Divide the space occupied by the water into one hundred equal parts, graduating from above downwards; and, opposite to the numbers 2344, 48-96, 54-63, and 65, severally write the words soda, potassa, carbonate of soda, and carbonate of potassa. Then prepare a dilute sulphuric acid, having the specific gravity 1-127, which may be formed by adding to the strong acid about four times its volume of distilled water. An acid of this strength, if added to the tube part I. Potassse Carbonas Lmpurus.—Potassse Chloras. 565 so as to reach to any one of the heights denoted by the above numbers, will be just sufficient to neutralize one hundred grains of the alkali written oppo- site to it. Suppose, for example, that the dilute acid be added until it stands opposite to the word carbonate of potassa, we shall then have the exact quan- tity necessary to neutralize one hundred grains of that carbonate; and if we add pure water, until the liquid reaches to 0, or the beginning of the scale, it is evident that the acid has been brought to the bulk of a hundred measures, each of which would be competent to neutralize one grain of the carbonate in question. All that is now necessary, in order to ascertain the quality of any commercial sample of this carbonate, is to dissolve one hundred grains of it in warm water, filter the solution to remove insoluble impurities, and add by degrees the dilute acid from the tube until the solution is exactly neutralized, as shown by litmus paper. The number of divisions of acid, expended in at- taining this point, may be read off from the tube; and for each division one grain of pure carbonate is indicated. This method of testing the potash of commerce indicates its alkaline strength, assuming this to be dependent solely on potassa; but soda may be present as an adulteration, and its proportion is important to be known. To solve this problem, M. 0. Henry proposes that the saturating power of a given weight should be first determined in relation to sulphuric acid, and afterwards the proportion of carbonate of potassa in an equal weight, by first converting it into an acetate, and then precipitating the potassa by hyperchlorate (oxy- chlorate) of soda, the reacting salts being in alcoholic solution. The precipi- tated hyperchlorate of potassa indicates the proportion of carbonate of potassa. The amount of the latter determines how much of the sulphuric acid was ex- pended in saturating the potassa; and the soda is indicated by the amount of this alkali, equivalent to the remainder of the acid. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 214:) Another method of detecting soda in the potash of commerce, proposed by Pagenstecher, is to convert the suspected alkali into a sulphate, and wash the sulphate formed with a saturated solution of sulphate of potassa. If the whole of the saline matter be sulphate of potassa, the washing will cause no loss of weight; but if part of it be sulphate of soda, this will be washed away, on account of its solubility in a saturated solution of sulphate of potassa. (Journ. de Pharm., Mars 1S48, 239.) Pharmaceutical Uses. Pearlash is never used as a medicine in regular practice, being considered as too impure; but it is employed pharmaceutical^ in several processes. The Dublin College uses it for depriving rectified spirit of water, in the process for strengthening it; and it is directed to be purified in all the Pharmacopoeias, in order to form the carbonate of potassa. Off. Prep. Potassae Carbonas, U. S., Lond., Dub. B. POTASS^ CHLORAS. Lond. Chlorate of Potassa. Hyperoxymuriate of potassa; Chlorate de potasse, Fr.; Chlorsaures Kali, Germ. C ^hlorate of potassa may be prepared by passing an excess of chlorine through a solution of either caustic hydrate, or carbonate of potassa. At first two eqs. of chlorine react with two eqs. of potassa, so as to form one eq. of chloride of potassium, and one eq. of hypochlorite of potassa (201 and 2K0=KC1 and K0,C10). Afterwards by the further action of the chlorine, more chlo- ride of potassium is formed, and the oxygen separated from the potassa con- verts the hypochlorous acid into the chloric, and consequently the hypochlorite into chlorate of potassa. Thus, 4C1, reacting with 4K0 and K0,C10 will form 4KC1 and K0;C105. The chlorate, being but sparingly soluble in 566 Potassse Chloras. PART I. water, is separated from the chloride of potassium by priority of crystalliza- tion. AVhen carbonate of potassa is used, the carbonic acid is first transferred from a part of the alkali to the remainder, and finally evolved. Graham has devised an improved process for obtaining this salt. It con- sists in mixing the carbonate of potassa with an equivalent quantity of hy- drate of lime, before submitting it to the action of chlorine. The gas is absorbed with avidity, and the mass becomes hot, while water is given off. The lime converts the carbonate into caustic potassa, and the reaction then takes place between six eqs. of potassa and six of chlorine, with the result of forming five eqs. of chloride of potassium, and one of chlorate of potassa. (6KO and 6C1=5KC1 and KO,C10s.) The products are, therefore, carbon- ate of lime, chloride of potassium, and chlorate of potassa. The chloride and chlorate are separated from the carbonate by solution in hot water, and the chlorate from the chloride by priority of crystallization as before. According to Liebig, the best method of obtaining chlorate of potassa is by mixing solutions of bleaching salt (hypochlorite of lime) and chloride of potassium. The reaction which takes place is explained by the following formula;—3(CaO,C10) and KCl = KO,C105 and 3CaCl. Properties. Chlorate of potassa is a white anhydrous salt, of a cooling and slightly acerb taste. It crystallizes in rhomboidal plates of a pearly lustre. It is soluble in 16 parts of water at 60°, and in two and a half parts'of boiling water. When thrown on burning coals, it augments their combustion re- markably. This property is due to the presence of oxygen, which may be evolved from the salt in the proportion of nearly 39 per cent., by heating it a little above its point of fusion. The residue is chloride of potassium. ■Chlorate of potassa is characterized by giving out oxygen upon fusion, and leaving a residue of chloride of potassium; by becoming first yellow and then red by admixture with a little sulphuric acid, and by the action of that acid evolving chlorous acid gas (quadroxide of chlorine), known by its yellow colour, and explosive property when heated; by its bleaching power when mixed first with muriatic acid and then with water; and by its property of exploding violently when triturated with a small portion of sulphur or phos-' phorus. Its usual impurity is chloride of potassium, which may be 'detected by a precipitate of chloride of silver being produced on the addition of nitrate of silver. It consists of one eq. of chloric acid 75-42, and one of potassa 4715 = 122-57. 3k- Plant, iii. 894; Bigelow, Am. 3Ied. Bot. ii. 97; Barton, 31ed. Bot. ii. 111. This unostentatious plant has a perennial branching root, from which several erect, simple, smooth, round, leafy stems annually rise, from nine inches to a foot in height. The stems are occasion- ally tinged with red or purple in their lower portion, but are green near the top. The leaves are alternate or scattered, lanceolate, pointed, smooth, bright green on the upper surface, paler beneath, and sessile or supported on very short footstalks. The flowers are small, white, and arranged in a close spike at the summit of the stem. The calyx is their most conspicuous part. It consists of five leaflets, two of which are wing-shaped, white, and larger than the others. The corolla is small and closed. The capsules are small, much compressed, obcordate, two-valved, two-celled, and contain two oblong ovate, blackish seeds, pointed at one end. This species of Polygala, commonly called Seneka snakeroot, grows wild in all parts of the United States, but most abundantly in the southern and west- ern sections, where the root is collected in great quantities for sale. It is brought into market in bales weighing from fifty to four hundred pounds. Properties. As the root occurs in commerce, it is of various sizes, from that of a straw to that of the little finger, presenting a thick knotty head, which exhibits traces of the numerous stems. It is tapering, branched, variously twisted, often marked with crowded annular protuberances, and with a projecting keel-like line, extending along its whole length. The epi- dermis is corrugated, transversely cracked, of a yellowish-brown colour in the young roots, and brownish-gray in the old. In the smaller branches the colour is a lighter yellow. The bark is hard and resinous, and contains the active principles of the root. The central portion is ligneous, white, and quite inert, and should be rejected in the preparation of the powder. The colour of this is gray. The odour of seneka is peculiar, strong in the fresh root, but faint in the dried. The taste is at first sweetish and mucilaginous, but after chewing becomes somewhat pungent and acrid, leaving a peculiar irritating sensation in the fauces. These properties, as well as the medical virtues of the root, are extracted by boiling water, and by alcohol. Diluted alcohol is an excellent solvent. The root has been analyzed by Gehlen, Peschier of Geneva, Feneulle of Cambray, Dulong D'Astafort, Folchi, and Trommsdorff, and more recently by M. Quevenne. Gehlen was supposed to have found the active principle in the substance left behind, when the alco- holic extract is treated successively with ether and water; and the name of senegin was accordingly conferred upon it. But it does not seem to have any just claim to the rank assigned to it, though it probably contains the active principle among its constituents. From a comparison of the results obtained 650 Senega. part i. by the above-mentioned chemists, it would appear that seneka contains, 1. a peculiar acrid principle, which M. Quevenne considers to be an acid, and has named polygalic acid; 2. a yellow colouring matter, of a bitter taste, insolu- ble or nearly so in water, but soluble in ether and alcohol; 3. a volatile prin- ciple, considered by some as an essential oil, but thought by Quevenne to possess acid properties, and named by him virgineic acid; 4. pectic acid or pectin; 5. tannic acid of the variety which precipitates iron green; 6. gum; 7. albumen; 8. cerin; 9. fixed oil; 10. woody fibre; and 11. saline and earthy substances, as the carbonates, sulphates, and phosphates of lime and potassa, chloride of potassium, alumina, magnesia, silica, and iron. The virtues of seneka appear to reside chiefly, if not exclusively, in the acrid principle which M. Quevenne called polygalic acid, and which he considered closely analogous to saponin. He obtained it pure by the following process. Powdered seneka is exhausted by alcohol of 33°, and so much of the alcohol is distilled off as to bring the resulting tincture to the consistence of syrup. The residue is treated with ether, in order to remove the fatty matter. The liquid upon standing deposits a precipitate, which is separated by filtration, and is then mixed with water. To the turbid solution thus formed alcohol is added, which facilitates the production of a white precipitate, consisting chiefly of polygalic acid. The liquid is allowed to stand for several days, that the pre- cipitate may be fully formed. The Supernatant liquid being decanted, the precipitate is drained upon a filter, and, being removed while yet moist, is dissolved by the aid of heat in alcohol of 36°. The solution is boiled with purified animal charcoal, and filtered while hot. Upon cooling it deposits the principle in question in a state of purity. Thus obtained, polygalic acid is a white powder, inodorous, and of a taste at first slight, but soon becoming pungent and acrid, and producing a very painful sensation in the throat. It is fixed, unalterable in the air, inflammable, soluble in water slowly when cold and rapidly with the aid of heat, soluble in all proportions in boiling ab- solute alcohol, which deposits most of it on cooling, quite insoluble in ether and in the fixed and volatile oils, and possessed of the properties of reddening litmus and neutralizing the alkalies. Its constituents are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. M. Quevenne found it, when given to dogs, to occasion vomit- ing and much embarrassment in respiration, and in large quantities to destroy life. Dissection exhibited evidences of inflammation of the lungs; and frothy mucus was found in the stomach, oesophagus, and superior portion of the trachea, showing the tendency of this substance to increase the mucous se- cretion, and explaining in part the beneficial influence of seneka in croup. (Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 449, and xxiii. 227.) From the experiments of M. Quevenne, it also appears that seneka yields its virtues to water, cold or hot, and to boiling alcohol; and that the extracts obtained by means of these liquids have the sensible properties of the root. But, under the influence of heat, a portion of the acrid principle unites with the colouring matter and coagulated albumen, and thus becomes insoluble in water; and the decoction, therefore, is not so strong as the infusion, if time is allowed, in the formation of the latter, for the full action of the menstruum. If it be desirable to obtain the virtues of the root in the form of an extract, the infusion should be prepared on the principle of displacement; as it is thus most concentrated, and consequently requires less heat in its evaporation. In forming an infusion of seneka, the temperature of the water, according to M. Quevenne, should not exceed 104° F. (Ibid.) The roots of the Panax quinquefolium or ginseng are frequently mixed with the seneka, but are easily distinguishable by their shape and taste. Another root has been occasionally observed in parcels of seneka, supposed to be that of the Gillenia trifoliata. This would be readily distinguished by its PART I. Senega.—Senna. 651 colour and shape (see Gillenia), and by its bitter taste without acrimony. One of the most characteristic marks of seneka is the projecting line running the whole length of the root, and appearing as though a thread were placed beneath the bark, and, being attached at the upper end, were drawn at the lower, so as to give the root a contorted shape. 3hdical Properties and Uses. Seneka is a stimulating expectorant and diuretic, and in large doses proves emetic and cathartic. It appears indeed to excite more or less all the secretions, proving occasionally diaphoretic and eminenagogue, and increasing the flow of saliva. Its action, however, is more especially directed to the lungs; and its expectorant virtues are those for which it is chiefly employed. It was introduced into practice about a century ago by Dr. Tennant, of Virginia, who recommended it as a cure for the bite of the rattlesnake, and in various pectoral complaints. As an expectorant it is employed in cases not attended with inflammatory action, or in which the in- flammation has been in great measure subdued. It is peculiarly useful in chronic catarrh, humoral asthma, the secondary stages of croup, and in peri- pneumonia notha after sufficient depletion. By Dr. Archer, of Maryland, it was recommended in the early stages of croup; but under these circumstances it is now seldom given, unless in combination with squill and an antimonial, as in the Syrupus Scillse Compositus. Employed so as to purge and vomit, it has proved useful in rheumatism; and some cases of dropsy are said to have been cured by it. It has also been recommended in amenorrhcea. The dose of powdered seneka is from ten to twenty grains; but the medi- cine is more frequently administered in decoction. (See Decoctum Senegas.) There is an officinal syrup; and an extract and tincture may be prepared, though neither is much employed. Polygalic acid may be employed in the dose of from the fourth to the half of a grain, dissolved in hot water, with the addition of gum and sugar. Off. Ur gum, extractive, albumen, volatile oil, resin, caout- chouc, colouring matter, lignin, and various salts, among which were common salt and the sulphates,"of soda and magnesia. The proportion of tannic acid was 12-4 per cent. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 116.) 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Statice is powerfully astringent, and in some parts of the United States, particularly in New England, is much em- ployed. It may be used for all the purposes for which kino and catechu are given; but its chief popular application is to aphthous and ulcerative affections of the mouth and fauces. Dr. Baylies, of Massachusetts, found it highly useful in cynanche maligna, both as an internal and local remedy. It is employed in the form of infusion or decoction. W. STILLINGIA. U. S. Secondary. Queers-root. "The root of Stillingia sylvatica." U. S. Stillingia. Sex. Syst. MonceciaMonadelphia.—Nat. Ord, Euphorbiaceae. Gen. Ch. Male. Involucre hemispherical, many-flowered, or wanting. Calyx tubular, eroded. Stamens two and three, exserted. Female. Calyx one-flowered, inferior. Style trifid. Capsule three-grained. Nuttall. Stillingia sylvatica. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 588. This is an indigenous perennial plant, commonly called Queen's delight, with herbaceous stems, two or three feet high, and alternate, sessile, oblong or lanceolate oblong, obtuse, serrulate leaves, tapering at the base, and accompanied with stipules. The male and female flowers are distinct upon the same plant. They are yellow, and arranged in the form of a spike, of which the upper part is occu- pied by the male, the lower by the female flowers. The male florets are scarcely longer than the bracteal scales. The plant grows in pine barrens, from Virginia to Florida, flowering in May and June. When wounded, it emits a milky juice. The root, which is the part used, is large, thick, and woody. A specimen kindly presented to us by Dr. J. B. Holmes, of Charleston, S. C, is in long cylindrical pieces, from a third of an inch to more than an inch thick, wrinkled from drying, of a dirty yellowish-brown colour externally, and, when cut across, exhibiting an interior soft yellowish ligneous portion, surrounded by a pinkish-coloured bark. The odour is slight, peculiar, and somewhat oleaginous, but in the recent root is said by Dr. Frost to be strong and acrimonious. The taste is bitterish and pungent, leaving an impression of disagreeable acrimony in the mouth and fauces. It imparts its virtues to water and alcohol. Dr. Frost thinks that the active principle is somewhat volatile, and states that the root loses much of its activity when long kept. 3hdieal Properties and Uses. In large doses, stillingia is emetic and cathartic, in smaller doses alterative, with some influence over the secretions. It has been long popularly used in South Carolina; but was first introduced to the notice of the profession by Dr. Thomas Young Simons, in a paper published in the American 3fedical Recorder for April, 1828, (vol. xiii. p. 312,) as a valuable alterative remedy in syphilitic affections, and others ordi- narily requiring the use of mercury. Dr. Simons's statements have been confirmed and extended by Dr. A. Lopez, of Mobile, (see N. Orleans 3Ied. and Surg. Journ., iii. 40,) and Dr. II. R. Frost, of Charleston, S. C (see Suuih. Journ. of Med. and Pharm. for November, 1816). From the reports 688 Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen. part I. in its favour there seems no reason to doubt the efficacy of this medicine in secondary syphilis, scrofula, cutaneous diseases, chronic hepatic affections, and other complaints ordinarily benefitted by alterative medicines. It may be given in substance, decoction, or tincture; but the two latter forms are pre- ferable. The dose of the powder is stated at from fifteen to thirty grains. The decoction, made by slowly boiling an ounce of the bruised root in a pint and a quarter of water to a pint, may be given in the quantity of one or two fluidounces three or four times a day, increased as the stomach will bear it. The dose of a tincture made with two ounces of the root and a pint of diluted alcohol is about a fluidrachm. The stillingia is sometimes advantageously combined with sarsaparilla and other alteratives. W. STRAMONII FOLIA. U.S., Lond. Stramonium Leaves. "The leaves of Datura Stramonium." U. S. "Datura Stramonium. Folia." Lond, Off. Syn. STRAMONIUM. Herb of Datura Stramonium. Thornapple, Ed.; STRAMONIUM. DATURA STRAMONIUM. Herba. Dub. STRAMONII RADIX. U.S. Stramonium Root. "The root of Datura Stramonium." U. S. STRAMONII SEMEN. U.S. Stramonium Seed. " The seeds of Datura Stramonium." U S. Off. Syn. STRAMONII SEMINA. Datura Stramonium. Semina. Lond. STRAMONIUM. DATURA STRAMONIUM. Semina. Dub. Thornapple; Stramoine, Pomme epineuse, Fr.; Stechapfel, Germ.; Stramonio, Ital; Estramonio, Span. Datura. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Solanaceae. Gen. Ch. Corolla funnel-shaped, plaited. Calyx tubular, angular, deci- duous. Capsule four-valved. Willd. Datura Stramonium. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1008; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i. 17; Woodv. Med, Bot. p. 197, t. 74. The thornapple is an annual plant, of rank and vigorous growth, usually about three feet high, but in a very rich soil sometimes rising six feet or more. The root is large, whitish, and furnished with numerous fibres. The stem is erect, round, smooth, somewhat shining, simple below, dichotomous r above, with numerous spread- ing branches. The leaves, which stand on short round footstalks in the forks of the stem, are five or six inches long, of an ovate triangular form, irregularly sinuated and toothed at the edges, unequal at the base, of a dark- green colour on the upper surface, and pale beneath. The flowers are large, axillary, solitary, and peduncled; having a tubular, pentangular, five-toothed calyx, and a funnel-shaped corolla with a long tube, and a waved plaited border, terminating in five acuminate teeth. The upper portion of the calyx falls with the deciduous parts of the flower, leaving its base, which becomes reflexed and remains attached to the fruit. This is a large, fleshy, roundish ovate, four-valved, four-celled capsule, thickly covered with sharp spines, PART I. Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen. 689 and containing numerous seeds, attached to a longitudinal receptacle in the centre of each cell. It opens at the summit. There are two varieties of this species of Datura, one with green stems and white flowers; the other with a dark-reddish stem, minutely dotted with green, and purplish flowers striped with deep purple on the inside. The latter, however, is considered by some botanists as a distinct species, being the D. Tatula of Linn. The properties of both are the same. It is doubtful to what country this plant originally belonged. Many European botanists refer it to North America, while we in return trace it to the old continent. Nuttall considers it as having originated in South Ame- rica or Asia; and it is probable that its native country is to be found in some portion of the East. Its seeds, being retentive of life, and easily germinating, are taken in the earth put on shipboard for ballast from one country to an- other, not unfrequently springing up upon the passage, and thus propagating the plant in all regions which have any commercial connexion. In the United States it is found everywhere in the vicinity of cultivation, frequent- ing dung-heaps, the road-sides and commons, and other places where a rank soil is created by the deposited refuse of towns and villages. Its flowers appear from May to July or August, according to the latitude. Where the plant grows abundantly, its vicinity may be detected by the rank odour which it diffuses to some distance around. All parts of it possess medicinal pro- perties. The herbaceous portion is directed by the Edinburgh College; the herb and seeds by that of Dublin; the leaves and seeds by the London Col- lege; and the leaves, root, and seeds by the Pharmacopceia of the United States. The leaves may be gathered at any time from the appearance of the flowers till the autumnal frost. In the common language of this country, the plant is most known by the name of Jamestown weed, derived probably from its having been first observed in the neighbourhood of that old settle- ment in Virginia. In Great Britain it is called thornapple. 1. The fresh leaves when bruised emit a fetid narcotic odour, which they lose upon drying. Their taste is bitter and nauseous. These properties, to- gether with their medical virtues, are imparted to water and alcohol. Water distilled from them, though possessed of their odour in a slight degree, is destitute of their active properties. They contain, according to Promnitz, 0-58 per cent, of gum, 0-6 of extractive, 0-64 of green starch, 015 of albumen, 0-12 of resin, 023 of saline matters, 5-15 of lignin, and 91-25 of water. The leaves, if carefully dried, retain their bitter taste. 2. The seeds are small, kidney-shaped, flattened on the sides, of a dark brown almost black colour, inodorous, and of the bitter nauseous taste of the leaves, with some degree of acrimony. They were analyzed by Brandes, who found, besides a peculiar alkaline principle called daturia, a glutinous matter, albumen, gum, a butyraceous substance, green wax, resin insoluble in ether, fixed oil, bassorin, sugar, gummy extractive, orange-coloured extractive, and various saline and earthy substances. According to Brandes, daturia exists in the seeds combined with an excess of malic acid. Chemists, however, have failed in obtaining such a principle by the process given by Brandes; and Berzelius states that the daturia of Brandes has been ascertained, even by that chemist himself, to be nothing more than phosphate of magnesia. ( Traiti de Chimie, vi. 319.) But Geiger and Hesse succeeded in isolating an alkaline principle, to which the same name has been given, and which Trommsdorff has repeatedly procured by their process. As described by Geiger and Hesse, daturia crystallizes in colourless, in- odorous, shining prisms, which, when first applied to the tongue, are bitterish, but ultimately have a flavour like that of tobacco. It is dissolved by 280 parts 44 690 Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen. part I. of cold, and 72 of boiling water, is very soluble in alcohol, and less so in ether. It has been shown to have a poisonous action upon animals, and strongly dilates the pupil. Crystals of it are asserted to have been obtained from the urine of a person fatally poisoned by stramonium. (See Am. Journ. of 31ed. Sci., xvi. 485.) It may be procured from the seeds in the same manner as hyoscyamia from those of Hyoscyamus niger. (See Hyoscyamus.) The product is exceedingly small. In the most favourable case, Trommsdorff got only -Jg- of one per cent. (Annal. der Pharm,, xxxii. 275.) Mr. Morries obtained a poisonous empyreumatic oil by the destructive distillation of stramonium. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Stramonium is a powerful narcotic. When taken in quantities sufficient to affect the system moderately, it usually pro- duces more or less cerebral disturbance, indicated by vertigo, headache, dim- ness or perversion of vision, and confusion of thought, sometimes amounting to slight delirium or a species of intoxication. At the same time peculiar deranged sensations are experienced about the fauces, oesophagus, and trachea, increased occasionally to a feeling of suffocation, and often attended with nausea. A disposition to sleep is sometimes but not uniformly produced. The pulse is not materially affected. The bowels are rather relaxed than confined, and the secretions from the skin and kidneys not unfrequently augmented. These effects pass off in five or six hours, or in a shorter period, and no incon- venience is subsequently experienced. (Marcet, Greding, dc.) Taken in poisonous doses, this narcotic produces cardialgia, excessive thirst, nausea and vomiting, a sense of strangulation, anxiety and faintness, partial or complete blindness with dilatation of the pupil, vertigo, delirium sometimes of a furious, sometimes of a whimsical character, tremors of the limbs, palsy, and ultimately stupor and convulsions. From all these symptoms the patient may recover; but in numerous instances they have terminated in death. To evacuate the stomach by emetics or the stomach pump is the most effectual means of afford- ing relief. Though long known as a poisonous and intoxicating herb, stramonium was first introduced into regular practice by Baron Storck, of Vienna, who found some advantage from its use in mania and epilepsy. Subsequent observation has confirmed his estimate of the remedy; and numerous cases are on record in which benefit has accrued from it in these complaints. It can be of use, however, only in those cases which depend solely on irregular nervous action. Other diseases in which it has been found beneficial are neuralgic and rheu- matic affections, dysmenorrhcea, syphilitic pains, cancerous sores, and spas- modic asthma. In the last complaint it has acquired considerable reputation. It is employed only during the paroxysm, which it very often greatly alleviates or altogether subverts. The practice was introduced into Great Britain from the East Indies, where the natives are in the habit of smoking the dried root and lower part of the stem of the Datura ferox, in the paroxysms of this dis- tressing complaint. The same parts of the D. Stramonium were substituted, and found equally effectual. To prepare the roots for use, they are quickly dried, cut into pieces, and beat so as to loosen the texture. The dried leaves answer the same purpose. They are smoked by means of a common tobacco- pipe. These and other narcotic leaves have also been used in the shape of cigars. The smoke produces a sense of heat in the lungs, followed by copious expectoration, and attended frequently with temporary vertigo or drowsiness, and sometimes with nausea. The remedy should never be used in plethoric cases, unless preceded by ample depletion, and in no case where there is determination to the head. Dangerous and even fatal consequences are said to have resulted from its incautious or improper use; and General Gent, who was instrumental in introducing the practice into England, is said at last to have fallen a victim to it. (Pereira's 3Iat. Med.) Stramonium has sometimes PARTI. Stramonii Folia.—S. Radix.—S. Semen.—Styrax. 691 been given by the stomach in the same complaint. It is used by Dr. H. D. W. Pawling in the treatment of delirium tremens, and, as represented in the inaugural dissertation of his pupil Dr. G. W. Holstein, Avith great success. Dr. Pawling employs a decoction of the leaves. Externally the medicine is used advantageously as an ointment or cataplasm in irritable ulcers, inflamed tumours, swelling of the mammae, and painful hemorrhoidal affections. Dr. J. Y. Dortch, of North Carolina, has found it very useful in tinea capitis. ( Thesis, Feb. 1S46.) By American surgeons it is very frequently applied to the eye, in order to produce dilatation of the pupil, previously to the operation for cataract; and is found equally efficacious with belladonna. For this purpose the extract, mixed with lard, is generally rubbed over the eyelid, or a solution of it dropped into the eye. Of the parts of the plant employed, the seeds are the most powerful. , They may be given in the dose of a grain twice a day; and an extract made by evaporating the decoction, in one quarter or half the quantity. The dose of the powdered leaves is two or three grains. The inspissated juice of the fresh leaves, which is the officinal extract, is more commonly prescribed than any other preparation, and may be administered in the quantity of one grain. (See Extraetum Stramonii.) There is also an officinal tincture, to which the reader is referred. Whatever preparation is used, the dose should be gradually in- creased till the narcotic operation becomes evident, or relief from the symp- toms of the disease is obtained. The quantity of fifteen or twenty grains of the powdered leaves, and a proportionate amount of the other preparations, have often been given daily without unpleasant effects. Off. Prep, of the Leaves. Extraetum Stramonii Foliorum, U.S., Dub.; Unguentum Stramonii, U S. Off. Prep, of the Seeds. Extraetum Stramonii Seminis, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Tinctura Stramonii, U. S. W. STYRAX. U.S., Lond., Ed. Storax. " The concrete juice of Styrax officinale." U S. " Styrax officinale. Bal- samum." Lond. " Balsamic exudation of Styrax officinale." Ed. Off. Syn. STYRAX OFFICINALE. Resina. Dub. Storax, Fr., Germ.; Storace, Ital; Estoraque, Span. Styrax. See BENZOINUM. Styrax officinale. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 623; Woodv. 3Ied, Bot, p. 291, t. 101. This species of Styrax is a tree which rises from fifteen to twenty-five feet in height, sends off many branches, and is covered with a rough gray bark. The leaves are alternate, petiolate, entire, oval, pointed, bright-green on their upper surface, white with a cotton-like down upon the under, about two inches in length, and an inch and a half in breadth. The flowers are united in clusters of three or four at the extremities of the branches. They are white, and bear considerable resemblance to those of the orange. This tree is a native of Syria and other parts of the Levant, and has be- come naturalized in Italy, Spain, and the South of France, where, however, it does not yield balsam. This circumstance has induced some naturalists to doubt whether the Styrax officinale is the real source of storax; and, as the Liquidambar styraciflua of this country affords a balsam closely analogous to that under consideration, Bernard de Jussieu conjectured that the latter might be derived from another species of the same genus, the L. orientale of Lamarck, which is more abundant in Syria than the Styrax. Storax is obtained in Asiatic Turkey by making incisions into the trunk of 692 Styrax. part i. the tree. Several kinds are mentioned in the books. The purest is the storax in grains, which is in whitish, yellowish-white, or reddish-yellow tears, about the size of a pea, opaque, soft, adhesive, and capable of uniting so as to form a mass. Another variety, formerly called styrax calamita, from the circum- stance, as is supposed, that it was brought wrapped in the leaves of a kind of reed, consists of dry and brittle masses, formed of yellowish agglutinated tears, in the interstices of which is a brown or reddish matter. The French writers call it storax amygdalo'ide. Both this and the preceding variety have a very pleasant odour like that of vanilla. Neither of them, however, is brought to our markets. A third variety, which is sometimes sold as the styrax calamita, is in brown or reddish-brown masses of various shapes, light, friable, yet possessing a certain degree of tenacity, and softening under the teeth. Upon exposure, it becomes covered upon the surface with a white efflorescence of benzoic acid. It evidently consists of saw-dust, united either with a portion of the balsam, or with other analogous substances. As found in our shops, it is usually in the state of a coarse, soft, dark-coloured powder, mingled with occasional light friable lumps of various magnitude, and containing very little of the balsam. When good, it should yield, upon pressure between hot plates, a brown resin- ous fluid, having the odour of storax. Another variety, found in our market, is a semi-fluid adhesive matter, called liquid storax, which is brown or almost black upon the surface exposed to the air, but of a slightly greenish-gray colour within, and of an odour some- what like that of the Peruvian balsam, though less agreeable. It is kept in jars, and is the most employed. What is the source of liquid storax is not certainly known. Some suppose it to be derived by decoction from the young branches of the Liquidambar styraciflua ; but some of the genuine juice of this plant, brought from New Orleans, which we have had an opportunity of inspecting, has an odour entirely distinct from that of the substance under consideration. According to Landerer, who resides in Greece, liquid storax is obtained, in the islands of Cos and Rhodes, from the bark and young twigs of the Styrax officinale, by subjecting them to pressure. The plant, according to the same authority, grows also on the mainland of Greece, but in that situation does not yield balsam. General I*roperties. Storax has a fragrant odour and aromatic taste. It melts with a moderate heat, and when the temperature is raised takes fire and burns with a white flame, leaving a light spongy carbonaceous residue. It imparts its odour to water, which it renders yellow and milky. Its active constituents are dissolved by alcohol and ether. Newmann obtained from 480 grains of storax 120 of watery extract; and from an equal quantity 360 grains of alcoholic extract. Containing volatile oil and resin, and yielding benzoic acid by distillation, it is entitled to be ranked as a balsam. Besides these ingredients, Reinsch found in styrax calamita, gum, extractive, lignin, a matter extracted by potassa, water, and traces of ammonia. Simon found, in liquid storax, cinnamic acid, and a resinous substance which he considered identical with the stryacine of Bonastre. 31edical Properties and Uses. This balsam is a stimulating expectorant, and was formerly recommended in phthisis, chronic catarrh, asthma, and amenorrhcea; but it is very seldom used at present, except as a constituent of the compound tincture of benzoin. Liquid storax has been recommended in gonorrhoea and leucorrhcea as equally effectual with copaiba, and less dis- agreeable. From ten to twenty grains may be given twice a day, and the dose gradually increased. Off. Prep. Extraetum Styracis, Ed.; Styrax Purificata, U S., Land., Dub.; Tinctura Benzoini Composita, U. S.} Lond., Ed.} Dub. W. PART I. Succinum. 693 SUCCINUM. U. S., Lond., Dub. Amber. Snccin, Ambre jaune, Karabe, Fr.; Bernstein, Germ.; Ambra gialla, Succino, Ital; Succino, Span. Amber is a kind of fossil resin, derived, probably, from extinct coniferae, occurring generally in small detached masses, in alluvial deposits, in different parts of the world. It is found chiefly in Prussia, either on the sea-shore, where it is thrown up by the Baltic, or underneath the surface, in the alluvial formations along the coast. It occurs also in considerable quantities near Catania, in Sicily. It is most frequently associated with lignite, and some- times encloses insects and parts of vegetables. In the United States, it was found in Maryland, at Cape Sable, near Magothy river, by Dr. Troost. In this locality it is associated with iron pyrites and lignite. It has also been discovered in New Jersey. The amber consumed in this country, however, is brought from the ports of the Baltic. Properties. Amber is a brittle solid, generally in small irregular masses, permanent in the air, having a homogeneous texture and vitreous fracture, and susceptible of a fine polish. It becomes negatively electric by friction. Its colour is generally yellow, either light or deep; but is occasionally reddish- brown or even deep-brown. It has no taste, and is inodorous unless heated, when it exhales a peculiar, aromatic, not unpleasant smell. It is usually translucent, though occasionally transparent or opaque. Its sp. gr. is about 1-07. Water and alcohol scarcely act on it. When heated in the open air, it softens, melts at 548°, swells, and at last inflames, leaving, after com- bustion, a small portion of ashes. Subjected to distillation in a retort fur- nished with a tubulated receiver, it yields, first, a yellow acid liquor; and afterwards a thin yellowish oil, with a yellow waxy substance, which is de- posited in the neck of the retort and the upper part of the receiver. This waxy substance, exhausted by cold ether of the part soluble in that menstruum, is reduced to a yellow micaceous substance, identical with the chrysene of Laurent. A white crystalline substance, identical with the idrialine of Dumas, may be separated from the micaceous substance by boiling alcohol. Both chrysene and idrialine are carbohydrogens. (Pelletier and Walter, Journ, de Pharm,, v. 60.) As the distillation proceeds, a considerable quantity of com- bustible gas is given off, which must be allowed to escape from the tubulure of the receiver. By continuing the heat the oil gradually deepens in colour, until, towards the end of the distillation, it becomes black and of the consist- ence of pitch. The oil obtained is called oil of amber, and the acid liquor is a solution of impure succinic acid. When amber is distilled repeatedly from nitric acid, it yields an acid liquor, from which, after it has been neutralized with caustic potassa, ether separates pure camphor. (Doepping, Journ. de Pharm., vi. 168.) Camphor is also obtained by distilling to dryness pow- dered amber with an extremely concentrated solution of caustic potassa. (G. Reich, Ibid., xiii. 33, Jan. 1848.) Composition, According to Berzelius, amber consists of 1. a volatile oil of an agreeable odour in small quantity; 2. a yellow resin, intimately united with a volatile oil, very soluble in alcohol, ether, and the alkalies, easily fusible, and resembling ordinary resins; 3. another resin, also combined with volatile oil, soluble in ether and the alkalies, sparingly soluble in cold, but more soluble in boiling alcohol; 4. succinic acid; 5. a bituminous principle insoluble in alcohol, ether, and the alkalies, having some analogy to the lac resin of John, and constituting more than four-fifths of the amber. It also contains a strongly odorous, bright yellow substance, which hardens by time, but preserves in part 694 Succinum.—Sulphur. PART I. its odour. The ultimate constituents of amber are carbon 80-59, hydrogen 7-31, oxygen 6-73, ashes (silica, lime, and alumina) 3-27=97-90. (Drossier, cited in Pereira's Elem. of 3Iat. Med.) Pharmaceutical Uses, dc Amber was held in high estimation by the ancients as a medicine; but at present is employed only in pharmacy and the arts. In pharmacy it is used to prepare succinic acid and oil of amber. (See Acidum Succinievm and Oleum Succini.) In the arts it is made into ornaments and employed in preparing varnishes. When put to the latter use it requires to be first subjected to roasting, whereby it is rendered soluble in a mixture of linseed oil and oil of turpentine. This solution forms amber varnish. Off. Prep. Acidum Succinicum, Dub.; Oleum Succini, U. S., Lond,, Dub. SULPHUR. U.S., Lond., Ed. Sulphur. "Sublimed sulphur." U S. " Sulphur (suhlimatum)." Lond. Off. Syn. SULPHUR SUBLIMATUM. Dub. SULPHUR LOTUM. U S., Dub. Washed Sulphur. " Sublimed sulphur thoroughly washed with water." U. S. Off Syn. SULPHUR SUBLIMATUM. Ed. Brimstone; Soufre, Fr.; Schwefel, Germ.; Zolfo, Ital; Azufre, Span. The officinal forms of sulphur are the sublimed, the washed, and the pre- cipitated. The sublimed sulphur is designated in the United States and London Pharmacopoeias by the single word Sulphur; the washed sulphur in the United States and Dublin nomenclature, as Sulphur Lotum. The London College has dismissed washed sulphur as an officinal preparation; and the Edinburgh College, adopting a faulty and confused nomenclature, recognises only the washed sulphur; calling it " Sulphur Sublimatum" under the Preparations, and " Sulphur" in the Materia Medica list. Sublimed and washed sulphur, will be noticed in this place; the precipitated sulphur in Part II, under the " Preparations." Natural States. Sulphur is very generally disseminated throughout the mineral kingdom, and is almost always present, in minute quantity, in animal and vegetable matter. Among vegetables, it is particularly abundant in the cruciform plants, as for example in mustard. It occurs in the earth, either native or in combination. When native it is found in masses, translucent or opaque, or in the powdery form mixed with various earthy impurities. In combination it is usually united with certain metals, as iron, lead, mercury, antimony, copper and zinc, forming compounds called sulphurets. Native sulphur is most abundant in volcanic countries, and is hence called volcanic sulphur. The most celebrated mines of native sulphur are found at Solfatara in the kingdom of Naples, in Sicily, and in the Roman States. It occurs, also, in different localities in the United States. Extraction, dr. Sulphur is obtained either from sulphur earths, or from the native sulphurets of iron and copper, called iron and copper pyrites. The sulphur earths are placed in earthen pots, set in oblong furnaces of brick- work. From the upper and lateral part of each pot proceeds a tube, which communicates with the upper part of another pot, situated outside the furnace, PART I. Sulphur. 695 and perforated near its bottom to allow the melted sulphur to flow out into a vessel containing water, placed beneath. Fire being applied, the sulphur rises in vapour, leaving the impurities behind, and, being condensed again, flows from the perforated pot into the vessel containing the water. Sulphur, as thus obtained, is called crude sulphur, and contains about one-twelfth of its weight of earthy matter. For purification, it is generally melted in a cast iron vessel. When the fusion is complete, the impurities subside, and the purer sulphur is dipped out and poured into cylindrical wooden moulds, which give it the form of solid cylinders, about an inch in diameter, called in commerce roll sulphur or cane brimstone. The dregs of this process, ground to powder, constitute a very impure kind of sulphur, of a gray colour, known in the shops by the name of sulphur vivum or horse brimstone. The above process purifies the sulphur but imperfectly. At the same time it causes a considerable loss; as the dregs just mentioned contain a large pro- portion of sulphur. A more eligible mode of purification consists in distilling the crude sulphur from a large cast iron still, set in brick-work over a furnace, and furnished with an iron head. The head has two lateral communications, one with a chamber of brick-work, the other with an iron receiver, immersed in water, which is constantly renewed to cool it sufficiently to cause the sul- phur to condense in the liquid form. When the tube between the still and receiver is shut, and that communicating with the chamber is open, the sul- phur condenses on its walls in the form of an impalpable powder, and con- stitutes sublimed sulphur or flowers of sulphur. If, on the other hand, the communication with the chamber be closed and that with the receiver opened, the sulphur condenses in the latter in the fused state, and, when cast in cylin- drical moulds, forms the roll sulphur of commerce. The extraction of sulphur from the bisulphuret of iron (iron pyrites) is performed by distilling it in stone-ware cylinders. Half the sulphur contained in the bisulphuret is volatilized by the heat, and conducted, by means of an adopter, into vessels containing water, where it condenses. The residue of the mineral is employed for making sulphate of iron, or green vitriol, by exposure to air and moisture. In the island of Anglcsea, large quantities of sulphur are obtained from copper pyrites in the process for extracting that metal. The furnaces in which the ore is roasted are connected by horizontal flues with chambers, in which the volatilized sulphur is condensed. Each chamber is furnished with a door, through which the sulphur is withdrawn once in six weeks. According to Berzelius, a very economical method of extracting sulphur from iron pyrites is practised in Sweden, which saves the expenditure of fuel. The pyrites is introduced into furnaces with long horizontal chimneys, of which the part next to the furnace is of brick-work, while the rest is formed of wood. The pyrites is kindled below, and continues to burn of itself; and the heat generated causes the stratum immediately above the part kindled to give off half its sulphur, which becomes condensed in flowers in the wooden chimney. As the fire advances, the iron and the other half of the sulphur enter into combustion, and, by the increase of heat thus generated, cause the volatilization of a fresh portion of sulphur. In this manner, the process con- tinues until the whole of the pyrites is consumed. The sulphur thus obtained is pulverulent and very impure, and requires to be purified by distillation from iron vessels. Crude sulphur is employed by the manufacturers of sulphuric acid, and, as it is very variable in quality, it becomes important to ascertain its exact value. This may be done by drying a given weight of it, and submitting it to com- bustion. The weight of the incombustible residue, added to that lost by desic- cation, gives the amount of impurity. 696 Sulphur. PART I. Crude sulphur comes to this country principally from Trieste, Messina in Sicily, and the ports of Italy, being imported for the use of the sulphuric acid manufacturers. Roll sulphur and the flowers are usually brought from Mar- seilles. Good Sicilian sulphur does not contain more than three per cent, of impurity, consisting chiefly of earths. Properties. Sulphur is an elementary non-metallic brittle solid, of a pale yellow colour, permanent in the air, and exhibiting a crystalline texture and shining fracture. It has a slight taste, and a perceptible smell when rubbed. When pure, its sp. gr. is about 2; but occasionally, from impurity, it is as high as 2-35. Its equivalent number is 16, and symbol S. It is a bad con- ductor of heat, and becomes negatively electric by friction. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in alkaline solutions, petroleum, the fixed and volatile oils, and, provided it be in a finely divided state, in alcohol and ether. Upon being heated, it begins to volatilize at about 180°, when its peculiar odour is perceived; it melts at 225°, and, at 600°, in close vessels, boils and rises in the form of a yellow vapour, which may be condensed again, either in the liquid or pulverulent form, according as the temperature of the recipient is above or below the melting point of the sulphur. When heated to 340° it becomes brownish and viscid, and, by continuing the heat, is rendered more and more so until the temperature reaches to between 450° and 500°. If, in this state, it be suddenly cooled by throwing it into water, it forms for a time a soft mass called soft amorphous sulphur, which is used for taking impres- sions of coins, seals, &c. In open vessels, sulphur takes fire at about the tem- perature of 300°, and burns with a blue flame, combining with the oxygen of the air, and giving rise to a peculiar gaseous acid, called sulphurous acid. The combinations of sulphur are numerous, and among the most powerful agents of chemistry. With oxygen it forms four principal acids, the hypo- sulphurous, sulphurous, hyposulphuric, and sulphuric, with hydrogen, sulpho- hydric acid (hydrosulphuric acid or sulphuretted hydrogen), and with the metals, various sulphurets. Some of the sulphurets are analogous to acids, others to bases; and these different sulphurets, by combining with each other, form compounds analogous to salts, and hence called by Berzelius sulpho-salts. Sulphur, when obtained by roasting the native sulphurets, sometimes con- tains arsenic, and is thereby rendered poisonous. Sicilian sulphur, being volcanic, is not subject to this impurity. The common English roll sulphur is sometimes made from iron pyrites, and is then apt to contain orpiment (tersulphuret of arsenic). This impurity may be detected by heating the suspected sulphur with nitric acid. The arsenic, if present, will be converted into arsenic acid; and the nitric solution, diluted with water, neutralized with carbonate of soda, and acidulated with muriatic acid, will give a yellow pre- cipitate of quintosulphuret of arsenic with a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen. Sulphur, when perfectly pure, is wholly volatilized by heat, and soluble with- out residue in oil of turpentine. • The above remarks apply to sulphur generally; but, in its pharmaceutical states of sublimed and washed sulphur, it presents modifications which require to be noticed. Sublimed sulphur, usually called powers of sulphur (flores sulphuris), is in the form of a crystalline powder of a fine yellow colour. It is always con- taminated with a little sulphuric acid, which is formed during its sublimation, at the expense of the oxygen of the air contained in the subliming chambers. It is on this account that sublimed sulphur always reddens litmus; and, if the acid be present in considerable quantity, it sometimes cakes. It may be freed from all acidity by careful ablution with hot water, when it becomes washed sulphur. Washed sulphur is placed in the list of the Materia Medica in the U. S. PART I. Sulphur.— Tabacum. 697 Pharmacopoeia, with an explanatory note, that it is sublimed sulphur tho- roughly washed with water. The Dublin and Edinburgh Colleges include it among the Preparations. The process of the Dublin College is to pour warm water on sublimed sulphur, and to continue the washing as long as the water, when poured off, continues to be impregnated with acid, which may be known by the test of litmus.. The sulphur is then dried on bibulous paper. The Edinburgh College directs the sublimation of "sulphur," and the washing of the powder obtained with boiling water until it is freed from acid taste. The sulphur here meant is evidently not the " sulphur" of the Materia Medica list of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia; as this is defined to be a pure sulphur, free from acidity. Washed sulphur has the general appearance of sublimed sul- phur. If properly prepared it does not affect litmus, and undergoes no change. by exposure to the atmosphere. Medical Properties and Uses. Sulphur is laxative, diaphoretic, and resolv- ent. It is supposed to be rendered soluble by the soda of the bile. It evi- dently passes off by the pores of the skin ; as is shown by the fact that silver, worn in the pockets of patients under a course of it, becomes blackened with • a coating of sulphuret. The stools which it occasions are usually solid, and it is gentle in its operation, unless it contain a good deal of acid, when it causes griping; and the liability of the sublimed sulphur to contain acid, renders it less eligible for exhibition than the washed sulphur, from which all acidity is removed. The diseases in which sulphuris principally used are hemorrhoidal affections, chronic rheumatism and catarrh, atonic gout, asthma, and other affections of the respiratory organs unattended with acute inflammation. It is also much employed, both internally and externally, in cutaneous affections, especially scabies, for the cure of which it is considered a specific. In these affections, as well as in chronic rheumatism, it is sometimes applied as an air bath, in the form of sulphurous acid gas, the head being protected from its effects. The dose of sulphur is from one to three drachms, mixed with syrup or molasses, or taken in milk. It is often combined with bitartrate of potassa, or with magnesia. Sulphur is consumed in the arts, principally in the manufacture of gun- powder and sulphuric acid. Off. Prep, of Sulphur. Emplastrum Ammoniaci cum Hydrargyro, Lond., Ed,; Emplast. Hydrargyri, Lond,; Ferri Sulphuretum, Ed., Dub.; Hydrar- gyri Sulphuretum Nigrum, U S., Land,, Dub.; Hydrargyri Sulphuretum Rubrum, U S-, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassa) Sulphas cum Sulphure, Ed.; Po- tassii Sulphuretum, U S., Loud., Ed., Dub.; Sulphur Lotum, Dub.; Sulphur Proecipitatum, U S.; Sulphuris Iodidum, U S.; Unguentum Sulphuris, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Unguent. Sulphuris Compositum, U S., Lond. Off. Prep, of Sulphur Lotum. Potassae Sulphureti Aqua, Dub. B. TABACUM. U.S., Lond., Ed. Tobacco. "The leaves of Nicotiana Tabacum." U. S., Ed. "Nicotiana Tabacum. Folia exsiccata." Lond. Off. Syn, NICOTIANA TABACUM. Folia, Dub. Tabac, Fr.; Tabak, Germ.; Tobacco, Ital; Tobaco, Span. Nicotiana. Sex. Syst, Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord.—Solanaceae. Gen, Ch. Corolla funnel-shaped, with the border plaited. Stamens inclined. Capsules two valved, two-celled. Willd, Nicotiana Tabacum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1014; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. ii. 171; Woodv. 3Ied.Bot. p. 208, t. 77. The tobacco is an annual plant, 698 Tabacum. part i. with a large fibrous root, and an erect, round, hairy, viscid stem, which branches near the top, and rises from three to six feet in height. The leaves are numerous, alternate, sessile and somewhat decurrent, very large, ovate lanceolate, pointed, entire, slightly viscid, and of a pale green colour. The lowest are often two feet long, and four inches broad. The flowers are dis- posed in loose terminal panicles, and are furnished with long, linear, pointed bractes at the divisions of the peduncle. The calyx is bell shaped, hairy, somewhat viscid, and divided at its summit into five pointed segments. The tube of the corolla is twice as long as the calyx, of a greenish hue, swelling at top into an oblong cup, and ultimately expanding into a five-lobed, plaited, rose-coloured border. The whole corolla is very viscid. The filaments incline to one side, and support oblong anthers. The pistil consists of an oval germ, a slender style longer than the stamens, and a cleft stigma. The fruit is an ovate, two-valved, two-celled capsule, containing numerous reniform seeds, and opening at the summit. Although the original locality of this plant is not settled to the satisfaction • of all botanists, there is good reason to believe that it is a native of tropical America, where it was found by the Spaniards upon their arrival. It is at present cultivated in most parts of the world, and nowhere more abundantly than within the limits of the United States. We seldom, however, see it north of Maryland. Virginia is, perhaps, the region of the world most celebrated for its culture. The young shoots, produced from seeds thickly sown in beds, are transplanted into the fields during the month of May, and set in rows with » an interval of three or four feet between the plants. Through the whole period of its growth, the crop requires constant attention. The developement of the leaves is promoted by removing the top of each plant, and thus preventing it from running into flower and seed. The harvest is in August. The ripe plants having been cut off above their roots, are dried under cover, and then stripped of their leaves, which are tied in bundles, and packed in hogsheads. Two varieties of this species are mentioned by authors, one with narrow, the other with broad leaves; but they do not differ materially in properties. Great diversity in the quality of tobacco is produced by difference of soil and mode of cultivation; and several varieties are recognised in commerce. Other species of Nicotiana are also cultivated, especially the N rustica and N pani- culata, the former of which is said to have been the first introduced into Europe, and is thought to have been cultivated by the aborigines of this country, as it is naturalized near the borders of some of our small northern lakes. The N quadrivalvis of Pursh affords tobacco to the Indians of the Missouri and Columbia rivers; and the N. fructicosa, a native of China, was probably cul- tivated in Asia before the discovery of this continent by Columbus. Properties. Tobacco, as it occurs in commerce, is of a yellowish-brown colour, a strong narcotic penetrating odour which is less obvious in the fresh leaves, and a bitter, nauseous, and acrid taste. These properties are imparted to water and alcohol. They are destroyed by long boiling; and the extract is, therefore, feeble or inert. An elaborate analysis of tobacco was made by Vau- quelin, who discovered in it among other ingredients, an acrid, volatile, colour- less principle, slightly soluble in water, very soluble in" alcohol, and supposed to be the active principle. It was separated by a complicated process, of which, however, the most important step was the distillation of- tobacco juice with potassa. In the results of this distillation Vauquelin recognised alkaline pro- perties, which he ascribed to the presence of ammonia, but which were, in part at least, dependent upon the acrid principle alluded to. To this principle the name of nicotin was given; but its alkalinity was not ascertained till a subsequent period. Another substance was obtained by Hermstadt by simply distilling water from tobacco, and allowing the liquid to stand for several days. PART I. Tabacum. 699 A white crystalline matter rose to the surface, which, upon being removed, was found to have the odour of tobacco, and to resemble it in effects. It was fusible, volatilizable, similar to the nicotin of Vauquelin in solubility, and without alkaline or acid properties. It was called nicotianin by Hermstadt, and appears to partake of the nature of volatile oils. Two German chemists, Posse-It and Reimann, subsequently analyzed tobacco, and ascertained the alka- line nature of its active principle, which, however, neither they nor Vauque- lin obtained in a state of purity. According to these chemists, 10,000 parts of the fresh leaves contain 6 parts of an alkaline substance, which they call nicotin, 1 of the nicotianin of Hermstadt, 287 of slightly bitter extractive, 174 of gum mixed with a little malate of lime, 26-7 of green resin, 26 of albumen, 104-8 of a substance analogous to gluten, 51 of malic acid, 12 of malate of ammonia, 4-8 of sulphate of potassa, 6-3 of chloride of potassium, 9-5 of potassa, which was combined in the leaves with malic and nitric acids, 16-6 of phosphate of lime, 24-2 of lime which had been combined with malic acid, 8-8 of silica, 496-9 of lignin, traces of starch, and 8828 parts of water. (Berzelius, Trade' de Chimie.) According to M. E. Goupet, tobacco also contains a little citric acid. (Chem. Gaz., Aug. 1846, p. 319.) The nicotin obtained by Vauquelin, and by Posselt and Reimann, was a colourless, volatile liquid; and, as subsequently ascertained by MM. Henry and Boutron, was in fact an aqueous solution of the alkaline principle in connexion with ammonia. It was reserved for these chemists to obtain nicotin, or nicotia, as it should now be called, in a state of purity. It exists in tobacco combined with an acid in excess, and in this state is not volatile. The following is the process employed by the last-mentioned chemists. Five hundred parts of smoking tobacco were exposed to distillation, in connexion with about 6000 parts of water and 200 parts of caustic soda; the heat applied being at first very mo- derate, and afterwards increased to the boiling point. The product of the distillation was received in a vessel containing about 30 or 40 parts of sul- phuric acid, diluted with three times its weight of water; and the process was continued till nearly one-half of the liquid had come over. The product, in which care was taken to preserve a slight excess of acid, was evaporated to about 100 parts, and was then allowed to cool. A slight deposit which had formed was separated by filtration, an excess of caustic soda was added, and the liquid again distilled. A colourless, very volatile acrid liquid now came over, which, being concentrated under the receiver of an air-pump, lost the ammonia which accompanied it, and assumed a syrupy consistence, and more or less of the colour of amber. In this liquid, after a few days, minute crys- talline plates formed, but, in consequence of their great affinity for moisture, it was difficult to isolate the crystals. This product was pure nicotia. Nicotia. (Nicotina. Nicotin.) As usually obtained, this is a colourless or nearly colourless liquid; heavier than water; remaining liquid at 22° F.; of little smell when cold; of an exceedingly acrid burning taste, even when largely diluted; entirely volatilizable, and, in the state of vapour, very irri- tant to the nostrils, with an odour recalling that of tobacco; inflammable; soluble in water, alcohol, ether, and oil of turpentine; strongly alkaline in its reaction; and capable of forming crystallizable salts with the acids. These salts are deliquescent, have a burning and acrid taste, and, like the salts of ammonia, lose a portion of their base by heat. Nicotia contains a much larger proportion of nitrogen than the other organic alkalies. In its action on the animal system, it is one of the most virulent poisons known. A drop of it in the state of concentrated solution was sufficient to destroy a deg; and small birds perished at the approach of a tube containing it. Tannin forms with it a compound of but slight solubility, and might be employed as a coun- terpoison. It exists in tobacco in small proportion. Henry and Boutron 700 Tabacum. PART I. found different varieties of tobacco to give products varying from 3-S to 11-28 parts in 1000.* It has been found in the seeds, and in very small proportion in the root. (See Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 689.) There can be little doubt that tobacco owes its activity to this alkali. Nicotianin is probably the odorous principle of tobacco. Posselt and Rei- mann prepared it by distilling six pounds of the fresh leaves with twelve pounds of water, till one half of the liquid passed over, then adding six pounds more of water, and again distilling, and repeating this process three times. The nicotianin was obtained to the amount of eleven grains, floating on the surface of the water. It was a fatty substance, having the smell of tobacco- smoke, and an aromatic somewhat bitter taste. It was volatilizable by heat, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and ether, and not affected by the dilute acids, but dissolved by the solution of potassa. This was not obtained by MM. Henry and Boutron. According to Landerer, it does not exist in the fresh leaves, but is generated in the drying process. It produces sneezing when applied to the nostrils, and a grain of it swallowed by Hermstadt, occa- sioned giddiness and nausea. When distilled at a temperature above that of boiling water, tobacco affords an empyreumatic oil, which Mr. Brodie has proved to be a most virulent poison. A single drop injected into the rectum of a cat occasioned death in about five minutes, and double the quantity administered in the same manner to a dog, was followed by the same result. This oil is of a dark-brown colour, and an acrid taste, and has a very peculiar smell, exactly resembling that of tobacco pipes which have been much used. It has been shown to contain nicotia. (Ann. de Chim. et de Phys., 3e ser. ix. 465.) Medical Properties and Uses. Tobacco unites with the powers of a seda- tive narcotic, those of an emetic and diuretic; and produces these effects to a greater or less extent to whatever surface it may he applied. In addition, when snuffed up the nostrils, it excites violent sneezing and a copious secre- tion of mucus; when chewed, it irritates the mucous membrane of the mouth, and increases the flow of saliva; and, when injected into the rectum, it some- times operates as a cathartic. Moderately taken, it quiets restlessness, calms mental and corporeal inquietude, and produces a state of general languor or repose, which has great charms for those habituated to the impression. In larger quantities, it gives rise to confusion of the head, vertigo, stupor, faint- ness, nausea, vomiting, and general debility of the nervous and circulatory functions, which, if increased, eventuates in alarming and even fatal prostra- tion. The symptoms of its excessive action are severe retching, with the most distressing and continued nausea, great feebleness of pulse, coolness of the skin, fainting, and sometimes convulsions. It probably operates both through the medium of the nervous system, and by entering the circulation. As its local action is stimulant, we can thus account for the fact, that it ex- cites the functions of the kidneys, at the same time that it reduces the nervous and secondarily the arterial power. The experiments of Brodie lead to the inference that the function of the heart is affected by tobacco, through the * M. Sehloesing obtained a much larger proportion than that stated above by the fol- lowing process. Tobacco is exhausted by boiling water, the infusion evaporated to a semi- solid consistence, and the extract shaken with twice its volume of alcohol of 36°. Two layers form,of which the upper contains all the nicotia. This is decanted, most of the alcohol evaporated, and alcohol anew added in order to precipitate certain matters. The extract is treated witli a concentrated solution of potassa, and, after cooling, is shaken with ether, which dissolves the nicotia. To the ethereal solution powdered oxalic acid is added, which unites with the nicotia, and separates in the form of a syrupy mass. This being washed with ether, treated with potassa, taken up by water, and distilled in a salt-water bath, yields the nicotia, which may be obtained pure by rectification in a current of hydrogen. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser. xii. 107.) PART I. Tabacum. 701 medium of the nervous system; for in a decapitated animal in which the cir- culation was sustained by artificial respiration, the infusion injected into the rectum did not diminish the action of the heart; while, on the contrary, this organ almost immediately ceased to contract, when an equal dose of the poison was administered to a healthy animal. Mr. Brodie observed a remarkable difference between the operation of the infusion and that of the empyreumatic oil. After death from the former the heart was found completely quiescent, while it continued to act with regularity for a considerable time after apparent death from the latter. We may infer from this fact, either that there are two poisonous principles in tobacco, or that a new narcotic product is formed during its destructive distillation. In cases of poisoning from tobacco, the indications are, after the evacuation of the poison, to support the system by external and internal stimulants, and to allay irritation of stomach by the moderate use of opiates. The use of tobacco was adopted by the Spaniards from the American In- dians. In the year 1560, it was introduced into France by the ambassador of that country at the court of Lisbon, whose name—Nicot—has been per- petuated in the generic title of the plant. Sir Walter Raleigh is said to have introduced the practice of smoking into England. In the various modes of smoking, chewing, and snuffing, the drug is now largely consumed in every country on the globe. It must have properties peculiarly adapted to the pro- pensities of our nature, to have thus surmounted the first repugnance to its odour and taste, and to have become the passion of so many millions. When employed in excess, it enfeebles digestion, produces emaciation and general debility, and lays the foundation of serious nervous disorders. Dr. Chapman informs us that he has met with several instances of mental disorder, closely resembling delirium tremens, which resulted from its abuse, and which sub- sided in a few days after it had been abandoned. Its remedial employment is less extensive than might be inferred from the variety of its powers. The excessive and distressing nausea which it is apt to occasion, interferes with its internal use; and it is very seldom administered by the stomach. As a narcotic it is employed chiefly to produce relaxation in spasmodic affections. For this purpose, the infusion or smoke of tobacco, or the leaf in substance in the shape of a suppository, is introduced into the rectum in cases of strangulated hernia, obstinate constipation from spasm of the bowels, and retention of urine from a spasmodic stricture of the urethra. For a similar purpose, the powdered tobacco, or common snuff, mixed with simple cerate, as recommended by the late Dr. Godman, is sometimes applied to the throat and breast in cases of croup; and Dr. Chapman has directed the smoking of a cigar in the same complaint, with decided benefit. One of the worst cases of spasm of the rima glottidis which we have seen, and which resisted powerful depletion by the lancet, yielded to the application of a tobacco cata- plasm to the throat. A similar application to the abdomen is highly recom- mended in painters' colic, and has proved useful in hysterical convulsions. Tetanus is said to have been cured by baths made with the decoction of the fresh leaves. The relaxation produced by smoking, in a person unaccustomed to it, was very happily resorted to by Dr. Physick, in a case of obstinate and long continued dislocation of the jaw; and the same remedy has frequently been found useful in the paroxysm of spasmodic asthma. Tobacco has been highly recommended, in the form of cataplasm, in articular gout and rheu- matism; and has been employed in the same way, as well as by injection, in cases of obstinate verrninose affections. As an emetic it is seldom or never employed, unless in the shape of a cataplasm to the epigastrium, to assist the action of internal medicines in cases of great insensibility of stomach. As a diuretic it was used by Fowler in dropsy and dysury, but the practice is not 702 Tabacum.— Tamarindus. part i. often imitated. There is no better errhine than tobacco, for the ordinary pur- poses for which this class of medicines is employed. As a sialagogue, it is beneficial in rheumatism of the jaws, and often relieves toothache by its ano- dyne action. It is also used externally in the shape of cataplasm, infusion, or ointment, in cases of tinea capitis, psora, and some other cutaneous affections. The empyreumatic oil mixed with simple ointment, in the proportion of twenty drops to the ounce, has been applied with advantage, by American practition- ers, to indolent tumours and ulcers; but, in consequence of its liability to be absorbed, and to produce unpleasant effects on the system, it should be used with great caution. This remark is applicable to all the modes of employing tobacco; particularly to the injection of the infusion into the rectum, which has in several instances caused the death of the patient. It is even more dangerous than a proportionate quantity introduced into the stomach; as, in the latter case, the poison is more apt to be rejected. Even the external ap- plication of the leaves or powder is not without danger, especially when the cuticle is removed. A case of death is on record, occurring in a child eight years old, in consequence of the application of the expressed juice of the leaves to the head for the cure of tinea capitis. Five or six grains of powdered tobacco will generally act as an emetic; but the remedy is not given in this shape. The infusion used in dropsy by Fowler was made in the proportion of an ounce to a pint of boiling water, and given in the dose of sixty or eighty drops. The officinal infusion, which is employed for injection, is much weaker. (See Infusum Tabaci.) A wine and an oint- ment of tobacco are directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. Off. Prep. Infusum Tabaci, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Vinum Tabaci, U S., Ed.; Unguentum Tabaci, U S. W. TAMARINDUS. U. S., Lond., Ed. Tamarinds. " The preserved fruit of Tamarindus Indica." U. S. " Tamarindus indica. Leguminis Pulpa." Lond, "Pulp of the pods of Tamarindus indica." Ed. Off. Syn, TAMARINDUS INDICUS. Leguminis pulpa. Dub. Tamarins, Fr.; Tamarinden, Germ.; Tamarindi, Ital; Tamarindos, Span. Tamarindus. Sex. Syst. Monadelphia Triandria.—Nat. Ord, Fabacese or Leguminosae. Gen. Ch. Calyx four parted. Petals three. Nectary with two short bristles under the filaments. Legume filled with pulp. Willd. Tamarindus Indica. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 577; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p. 448, t. 161. The tamarind tree is the only species of this genus. It rises to a great height, sends off numerous spreading branches, and has a beautiful appearance. The trunk is erect, thick, and covered with a rough, ash-coloured bark. The leaves are alternate and pinnate, composed of many pairs of oppo- site leaflets, which are almost sessile, entire, oblong, obtuse, unequal at their base, about half an inch long by a sixth of an inch broad, and of a yellowish- green colour. The flowers, which are in small lateral racemes, have a yellowish calyx, and petals which are also yellow, but beautifully variegated with red veins. The fruit is a broad, compressed, reddish ash-coloured pod, very much curved, from two to six inches long, and with numerous brown, flat, quad- rangular seeds, contained in cells formed by a tough membrane. Exterior to this membrane is a light-coloured acid pulpy matter, between which and the shell are several tough ligneous strings, running from the stem to the ex- tremity of the pod, the attachment of which they serve to strengthen. The shells are very fragile and easily separated. PART I. Tamarindus.— Tanacetum. 703 The Tamarindus Indica appears to be a native of the East and West Indies, Egypt, and Arabia, though believed by some authors to have been imported into America. De Candolle is doubtful whether the East and West India trees are of the same species. The pods of the former are much larger than those of the latter, and contain a greater number of seeds. At least such is the statement made by authors, who inform us that East India tamarinds con- tain six or seven seeds, those from the West Indies rarely more than three or four. We found, however, in a parcel of the latter in our possession, numer- ous pods with from eight to ten seeds, and the number generally exceeded four. The fruit is the officinal portion. Tamarinds are brought to us chiefly, if not exclusively, from the West Indies, where they are prepared by placing the pods, previously deprived of their shell, in layers in a cask, and pouring boiling syrup over them. A better mode, sometimes practised, is to place them in stone jars, with alter- nate layers of powdered sugar. They are said to be occasionally prepared in copper boilers. Properties. Fresh tamarinds, which are sometimes, though rarely, brought to this country, have an agreeable sour taste, without any mixture of sweetness. As we usually find them, in the preserved state, they form a dark-coloured adhesive mass, consisting of syrup mixed with the pulp, mem- brane, strings, and seeds of the pod, and of a sweet acidulous taste. The seeds should be hard, clean, and not swollen, the strings tough and en- tire, and the smell without mustiness. From the analysis of Vauquelin, it appears that in 100 parts of the pulp of tamarinds, independently of the sugar added to them, there are 9-40 parts of citric acid, 1-55 of tartaric acid, 0-45 of malic acid, 3-25 of bitartrate of potassa, 4-70 of gum, 6.25 of jelly, 34-35 of parenchymatous matter, and 27-55 of water; so that the acidity is chiefly owing to the presence of citric acid. It is said that copper may sometimes be detected in preserved tamarinds, derived from the boilers in which they are occasionally prepared. Its presence may be ascertained by the reddish coat which it imparts to the blade of a knife immersed in the tamarinds. Medical Properties and Uses. Tamarinds are laxative and refrigerant, and infused in water form a highly grateful drink in febrile diseases. Conva- lescents often find the pulp a pleasant addition to their diet, and useful by preserving the bowels in a loose condition. It is sometimes prescribed in con- nexion with other mild cathartics, and is one of the ingredients of the confec- tion of senna. Though frequently prescribed with the infusion of senna to cover the taste of that medicine, it is said to weaken its purgative power; and the same observation has been made of its influence upon the resinous cathar- tics in general. From a drachm to an ounce or more maybe taken at a dose. Off. Prep. Confectio Cassiae, Lond., Dub.; Confectio Sennae. U.S., Loud., Dub.; Infusum Sennae, Dub., Ed.; Tamarindi Pulpa, U.S.. W. TANACETUM. U.S. Secondary. Tansy. " The herb of Tanacetum vulgare." U S- Off. Syn. TANACETUM VULGARE. Folia. Dub. Tannisie, Fr.; Gemeiner Rheinfarrn, Wurmkraut, Germ.: Tanaceto, Ital. Span. Tanacetum. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Compositae- Senecionideoe, De Candolle; Asteraceae, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Receptacle naked. Pappus somewhat marginate. Calyx imbricate, hemispherical. Corolla rays obsolete, trifid. Willd. 704 Tanacetum.—Tapioca. part i. Tanacetum vulgare. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1814; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 66, t. 27. This is a perennial herbaceous plant, rising two or three feet in height. The stems are strong, erect, obscurely hexagonal, striated, often red- dish, branched towards the summit, and furnished with alternate, doubly pinnatifid leaves, the divisions of which are notched or deeply serrate. The flowers are yellow, and in dense terminal corymbs. Each flower is com- posed of numerous florets, of which those constituting the disk are perfect and five-cleft, those of the ray very few, pistillate, and trifid. The calyx consists of small, imbricated, lanceolate leaflets, having a dry scaly margin. The seeds are small, oblong, with five or six ribs, and crowned by a mem- branous pappus. Tansy is cultivated in our gardens, and grows wild in the roads and in old fields; but was introduced from Europe, where it is indigenous. It is in flower from July to September The leaves are ordered by the Dublin Col- lege; but the flowers and seeds are not less effectual, and all are included in the directions of the United States Pharmacopoeia. There is a variety of the plant with curled leaves, which is said to be more grateful to the stomach than that above described, but has less of the peculiar sensible properties of the herb, and is probably less active. The odour of tansy is strong, peculiar, and fragrant, but much diminished by drying; the taste is warm, bitter, somewhat acrid, and aromatic. These properties are imparted to water and alcohol. According to Peschier, the leaves contain volatile oil, fixed oil, wax or stearin, chlorophylle, yellow resin, yellow colouring matter, tannin and gallic acid, bitter extractive, gum, lignin, and a peculiar acid wbich he calls tanacetic, and which precipitates lime, baryta, oxide of lead, and oxide of copper. The medical virtues of the plant depend on the bitter extractive and volatile oil. The latter, when separated by distillation, has a greenish-yellow colour, with the flavour of the plant, is lighter than water, and deposits camphor upon standing. The seeds contain the largest proportion of the bitter principle, and the least of volatile oil. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Tansy has the medical properties common to the aromatic bitters. It has been recommended in intermittents, hysteria, amenorrhcea, and as a preventive of arthritic paroxysms; but at present it is chiefly used as an anthelmintic, and in this country is scarcely employed, for any purpose, in regular practice. The seeds are said to be most effectual as a vermifuge. The dose of the powder is from thirty grains to a drachm two or three times a day; but the infusion is more frequently administered. A fatal case of poisoning with half an ounce of oil of tansy is recorded in the Medical Magazine for November, 1834. Frequent and violent clonic spasms were ex- perienced, with much disturbance of respiration; and the action of the heart gradually became weaker till death took place from its entire suspension. No inflammation of the stomach or bowels was discovered upon dissection. (Am. Journ. of the 3Ied. Sci., xvi. 256.) W. TAPIOCA. U.S., Ed. Tapioca. " The fecula of the root of Jatropha Manihot." U. S. " Fecula of the root of Janipha Manihot." Ed, Jatropha. Sex, Syst. Moncecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Euphorbiaceae. Gen. Ch. Male. Calyx none, or five-leaved. Corolla monopetalous, fun- nel-shaped. Stamens ten, alternately shorter. Female. Calyx none. part I. Tapioca. 705 Corolla five-petaled, spreading. Styles three, bifid. Capsule three-celled. Seed one. Willd, Most if not all the species of Jatropha are impregnated, like other plants of the natural family of Euphorbiaceae, with an acrid, purging, poisonous prin- ciple. The seeds of the J. Curcas, which are known in Europe by the name of purging nuts, or Barbadoes nuts, have properties closely similar to those of the Croton Tiglium and Ricinus communis. They are blackish, oval, about eight lines long, fiat on one side, convex on the other; and the two sides pre- sent a slight longitudinal prominence. From three to five of these seeds, slightly roasted, and deprived of their envelope, are sufficient to purge actively; and in a large dose they are capable of producing fatal effects. Their active principle is said to reside exclusively in the embryo. Upon pressure they yield an oil which has all the properties of the croton oil. We are not aware that they are employed in this country. The only species of Jatropha acknow- ledged as officinal in our Pharmacopoeia is the J. Manihot, which yields the tapioca of the shops. A number of botanists, following Kunth, place this plant in a new genus separated from Jatropha, and named Janipha, from the Indian designation of another species of the genus. The following is the ge- neric character of Janipha, given by Lindley from A. de Jussieu. " Flowers monoecious. Calyx campanulate, five-parted. Petals none. Male. Stamens ten; filaments unequal, distinct, arranged around a disk. Female. Style one. Stigmas three, consolidated into a rugose mass. Capsule three-coccous." Jatropha Manihot. Willd. Sp, Plant, iv. 562. Janipha Manihot. Cur- tis' s Bot. 3Iag. 3071. This is the cassava plant of the West Indies, the man- dioca or tapioca of Brazil. It is a shrub about six or eight feet in height, with a very large, white, fleshy, tuberous root, which often weighs thirty pounds. The stem is round, jointed, and furnished at its upper part with al- ternate petiolate leaves, deeply divided into three, five, or seven oval, lanceolate, very acute lobes, which are somewhat wavy upon their borders, of a deep-green colour on their upper surface, glaucous and whitish beneath. The flowers are in axillary racemes. The Jatropha Manihot is a native of South America, and is cultivated ex- tensively in the West Indies, Brazil, and other parts of Tropical America, for the sake of its root, which is much employed as an article of food. The plant is of quick growth, and the root arrives at perfection in about eight months. There are two varieties, distinguished by the names of sweet and bitter. The root of the former may be eaten with impunity; that of the latter, which is most extensively cultivated, abounds in an acrid milky juice, which renders it highly poisonous if eaten in the recent state. By MM. Henry and Boutron- Charlard, it has been ascertained that the bitter cassava owes its poisonous properties to the presence of hydrocyanic acid. (Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 119.) Both varieties contain a large proportion of starch. The root is prepared for use by washing, scraping, and grating or grinding it into a pulp, which, in the case of the bitter variety, is submitted to pressure so as to separate the dele- terious juice. It is now in the state of meal or powder, which is made into bread, cakes, or puddings. As the poisonous principle is volatile, the portion which may have remained in the meal is entirely dissipated by the heat em- ployed in cooking. The preparation denominated tapioca among us is obtained from the expressed juice. This, upon standing, deposits a powder, which, after repeated washings with cold water, is nearly pure starch. It is dried by exposure to heat, which renders it partly soluble in cold water, and enables it to assume the consistence by which it is characterized. When dried without heat, it is pulverulent, and closely resembles the fecula of arrow-root. 45 706 Tapioca.—Taraxacum. PART I. Tapioca is in the form of irregular, hard, white, rough grains, possessing little taste, partially soluble in cold water, and affording a fine blue colour when iodine is added to its filtered solution. The partial solubility in cold water is owing to the rupture of the starch-granules by heat. Examined under the microscope, the granules appear partly broken, partly entire. The latter are muller-shaped, about the two-thousandth of an inch in diameter, more uniform in size than the granules of most other varieties of fecula, with a dis- tinct hilum which is surrounded by rings, and cracks in a stellate manner. The tapioca meal, called sometimes Brazilian arrow-root, and by the French mous- sache, is the fecula dried without heat. Its granules are identical with those already described. Being nutritious, and at the same time easy of digestion, and destitute of all irritating properties, tapioca forms an excellent diet for the sick and convalescent. It is prepared for use by boiling it in water. Lemon juice and sugar will usually be found grateful additions; and, in low states of disease or cases of debility, it may be advantageously impreg- nated with wine and nutmeg or other aromatic. A factitious tapioca is found in the shops, consisting of very small, smooth, spherical grains, and supposed to be prepared from potato starch. It is sold under the name of pearl tapioca. W. TARAXACUM. U.S., Lond.,Ed. Dandelion. "The root of Leontodon Taraxacum." U.S. "Leontodon Taraxacum. Radix." Lond. "The root of Taraxacum Dens-leonis." Ed. Off Syn. LEONTODON TARAXACUM. Herba. Radix. Dub. Pissenlit, Dent de lion, Fr.; Lowenzahn, Germ.; Tarassaco, Ital.; Diente de leon, Span. Leontodon. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia iEqualis. — Nat. Ord. Compositae- Cichoraceae, De Candolle; Cichoraceae, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Receptacle naked. Calyx double. Seed-down stipitate, hairy. Willd. Leontodon Taraxacum. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1544; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 39, t. 16.— Taraxacum Dens-leonis. De Cand. Prodrom. vii. 145. The dan- delion is an herbaceous plant, with a perennial, fusiform root. The leaves, which spring immediately from the root, are long, pinnatifid, generally run- einate, with the divisions toothed, smooth, and of a fine green colour. The common name of the plant was derived from the fancied resemblance of its leaves to the teeth of a lion. The flower-stem rises from the midst of the leaves, six inches or more in height. It is erect, simple, naked, smooth, hol- low, fragile, and terminated by a large golden-coloured flower, which closes in the evening, and expands with the returning light of the sun. The calyx is smooth and double, with the outer scales bent downwards. The florets are very numerous, ligulate, and toothed at their extremities. The receptacle is convex and punctured. The seed-down is stipitate, and, at the period of ma- turity, is disposed in a spherical form, and is so light and feathery as to be easily borne away by the wind, with the seeds attached. This species of Leontodon grows spontaneously in most parts of the globe. It is abundant in this country, adorning our grass-plats and pasture-grounds with its bright yellow flowers, which, in moist places, show themselves with the first opening of spring, and continue to appear till near the close of sum- mer. All parts of the plant contain a milky bitterish juice, which exudes when they are broken or wounded. The leaves, when very young, and PART I. Taraxacum. 707 blanched by the absence of light during their growth, are tender and not un- pleasant to the taste, and on the continent of Europe are sometimes used as a salad. When older and of their natural colour, they are medicinal, and have been adopted as officinal by the Dublin College. The other authorities re- cognise only the root, which is by far the most efficacious part. It should be full grown when collected, and should be employed in the recent state, as it is then most active. It does not, however, as stated by Duncan, lose nearly all its bitterness by drying; and the root dug up in the warmer seasons might, if dried with care, be employed with propriety in the succeeding winter. The juice of the root is thin and watery in the spring; milky, bitter, and sponta- neously coagulable in the latter part of summer and autumn; and sweet and less bitter in the winter, when affected by the frost. The months of July, August, and September are, therefore, the proper period for collecting it. The fresh full-grown root of the dandelion is several inches in length, as thick as the little finger, or thicker, round and tapering, somewhat branched, of a light-brown colour externally, whitish within, having a yellowish ligneous cord running through its centre, and abounding in a milky juice. In the dried state it is much shrunk, wrinkled longitudinally, brittle, and when broken presents a shining somewhat resinous fracture. It is without smell, but has a sweetish, mucilaginous, bitterish, herbaceous taste. Its active pro- perties are yielded to water by boiling, and do not appear to be injured in the process. The milky juice, examined by John, was found to contain bitter extractive, gum, caoutchouc, saline matters, a trace of resin, and a free acid. Besides tbese ingredients, starch, or inulin, and saccharine matter exist in the root. A crystallizable principle has been extracted from the juice of the root by M. Pollex, who has named it taraxacin. It is bitter and somewhat acrid, fusible but not volatile, sparingly soluble in cold water, but very soluble in boiling water, alcohol, and ether. It is obtained by boiling the milky juice in distilled water, filtering the concentrated liquor, and allowing it to evapo- rate spontaneously in a warm place. The taraxacin crystallizes, and may be purified by repeated solution and crystallization in alcohol or water. (Pharm. Journ. and Transact, i. 425.) 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Taraxacum is slightly tonic, diuretic, and aperient; and it is thought to have a specific action upon the liver, exciting it when languid to secretion, and resolving its chronic engorgements. It has been much employed in Germany, and is a popular remedy with many prac- titioners in this country. The diseases to which it appears to be especially applicable, are those connected with derangement of the hepatic apparatus, and of the digestive organs generally. In congestion and chronic inflamma- tion of the liver and spleen, in cases of suspended or deficient biliary secretion, and in dropsical affections dependent on obstruction of the abdominal viscera, it appears to be capable of doing good, if employed with a due regard to the degree of excitement. Our own experience is decidedly in its favour. An irritable condition of the stomach and bowels, and the existence of acute in- flammation, contra-indicate its employment. It is usually given in the form of extract or decoction. (See Decoctum Taraxaci and Extraetum Taraxaci.) Bitartrate of potassa is sometimes added to the decoction when an aperient effect is desired; and aromatics will occasionally be found useful in correcting a tendency to griping or flatulence. Off.Prep. Decoctum Scoparii Compositum, Lond.; Decoctum Taraxaci, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Extraetum Taraxaci, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. 708 Terebinthina. PART I. TEREBINTHINA. U.S. Turpentine. " The juice of Pinus palustris, and other species of Pinus." U. S. TEREBINTHINA CANADENSIS. U.S., Lond. Canada Turpentine. " The juice of Abies balsamea." U. S. " Pinus balsamea. Resina liquida." Lond. Off. Syn. BALSAMUM CANADENSE. Fluid resinous exudation of Abies balsamea; Canada balsam. Ed.; BALSAMUM CANADENSE. PINUS BALSAMEA. Resina liquida. Dub. TEREBINTHINA CHIA. Lond., Ed., Dub. Chian Turpentine. "Pistacia Terebinthus, Resina liquida." Lond., Dub. "Liquid resinous exudation of Pistacia Terebinthus." Ed. TEREBINTHINA VENETA. Ed., Dub. Venice Turpentine. " Liquid resinous exudation of Abies Larix." Ed. " Pinus Larix. Resina liquida." Dub. TEREBINTHINA VULGARIS. Lond., Dub. Common European Turpentine. " Pinus sylvestris. Resina Liquida." Lond., Dub. Terebenthine, Fr.; Terpentin, Germ.; Trementina, Ital, Span. The term turpentine is now generally applied to certain vegetable juices, liquid or concrete, which consist of resin combined with a peculiar essential oil, called oil of turpentine. They are generally procured from different species of pine, fir, or larch, though other trees afford products which are known by the same general title, as for instance the Pistacia Terebinthus, which yields the Chian turpentine. Some of the French writers extend the name of turpentine to other juices consisting of resin and essential oil, without benzoic or cinnamic acid, as copaiba, balm of Gilead, &c. We shall describe particularly, in this place, only the officinal turpentines. A brief botanical view of the plants from which they are respectively derived, will be in ac- cordance with the plan of this work. It is proper first to observe that the original genus Pinus of Linnaeus has been divided into the three genera, Pinus, Abies, and Larix, which are now very generally recognised, though Lindley unites the two latter in his Flora Medica. Pinus. Sex. Syst. Moncecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Pinaceae or Coni- ferae. Gen. Ch. Flowers monoecious. Males. Catkins racemose, compact, and PART I. Terebinthina. 709 terminal; squamose; the scales staminiferous at the apex. Stamens two; the anthers one-celled. Females. Catkins or cones simple, imbricated with acu- minate scales. Ovaries two. Stigmas glandular. Scales of the cone oblong, club-shaped, woody; umbilicato-angular at the apex. Seeds in pairs, covered with a sharp-pointed membrane. Cotyledons digitato-partite. Leaves two or many, in the same sheath. (Pereira's Mat. Med. from Bot. Gall.) 1. Pinus palustris. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 499.—P. Australis. Michaux, N Am. Sylv. iii. 133. "Leaves in threes, very long; stipules pinnatifid, ra- mentaceous, persistent; strobiles subcylindrical, armed with sharp prickles." This is a very large indigenous tree, growing in dry sandy soils, from the southern part of Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico. Its mean elevation is sixty or seventy feet, and the diameter of its trunk about fifteen or eighteen inches for two-thirds of this height. The leaves are about a foot in length, of a bril- liant green colour, and united in bunches at the ends of the branches. The names by which the tree is known in the Southern States, are long-leaved pine, yellow pine, and pitch pine; but the first is most appropriate, as the last two are applied also to other species. This tree furnishes by far the greater proportion of the turpentine, tar, &c, consumed in the United States, or sent from this to other countries. (See Pix Liquida.) 2. Pinus Tseda. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 498; Michaux, N Am. Sylv. iii. 156. "Leaves in threes, elongated, with elongated sheaths; strobiles oblong- conical, deflexed, shorter than the leaf; spines inflexed/' This is the loblolly, ox old field pine of the Southern States. It is abundant in Virginia, where it occupies the lands which have been exhausted by culti- vation. It exceeds eighty feet in height, has a trunk two or three feet in diameter, and expands into a wide spreading top. The leaves are about six inches long, and of a light-green colour. It yields turpentine in abundance, but less fluid than that which flows from the preceding species. 3. Pinus sylvestris. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 494; Woodv. Med.Bot., p. 1, t. 1; Michaux, N Am. Sylv. iii. p. 125. "Leaves in pairs, rigid; strobiles ovate-conical, of the length of the leaves; scales echinate." This species of pine, when of full size, is eighty feet high, with a trunk four or five feet in diameter. It inhabits the northern and mountainous parts of Europe. In Great Britain it is called the wild pine, or Scotch fir; the latter name having been applied to it from its abundance, in the mountains of Scotland. It yields a considerable proportion of the common European turpentine. Besides the pines above described, various others yield medicinal products. The Pinus maritima (Pinus Pinaster of Aiton and Lambert), growing in the southern and maritime parts of Europe, yields much of the turpentine, pitch, and tar consumed in France, and is admitted among the officinal plants in the French Codex. From the branches of the Pinus Pumilio, which in- habits the mountains of Eastern and South-eastern Europe, a terebinthinate juice exudes spontaneously, called Hungarian balsam. The Pinus Cembra, or Siberian stone-pine of the Alps and Carpathian mountains, is said to afford the product called Carpathian balsam; and the seeds both of that species, and the Pinus Pinea, or stone-pine of the South of Europe and North of Africa, are used in Europe in desserts, under the name of pine nuts. The Pinus rigida, or pitch pine of this country, and probably others besides those mentioned are sometimes employed in the preparation of tar. Abies. See PIX ABIETIS. Abies balsamea. Lindley, Flor. 3Ied. p. 554.—A. balsamifera, Michaux, .V. Am. Sylv. iii. 191.—Pinus balsamea, Willd. Sp.Plant.iy. 504. "Leaves solitary, flat, emarginate or entire, glaucous beneath, somewhat pectinate, sub- 710 Terebinthina. PART I. erect above, recurved, spreading; cones cylindrical, erect; bractes abbreviate, obovate, conspicuously mucronate, sub-serrulate." This is the American silver fir, or balm of Gilead tree, inhabiting Canada, Nova Scotia, Maine, and the mountainous regions further to the south. It is an elegant tree, seldom rising more than forty feet in height, with a tapering trunk, and numerous branches, which diminish in length in proportion to their height, and form an almost perfect pyramid. The leaves are six or eight lines long, inserted in rows on the sides and tops of the branches, narrow, flat, rigid, bright green on their upper suface, and of a silvery whiteness beneath. The cones are large, erect, nearly cylindrical, of a purplish colour, and covered with a resinous exudation which gives them a glossy, rich, and beautiful ap- pearance. It is from this tree that the Canada balsam is obtained. Several other species of Abies are officinal. The A. excelsa of Europe, and A. Canadensis of the United States, have already been described as the sources respectively of Burgundy and Canada pitch. (See Pix Abietis and Pix Cana- densis.) The A. Picea (Abies pectinata of De Candolle, A. taxifolia of the French Codex, Pinus Picea of Linnaeus), or European silver fir, growing in the mountainous regions of Switzerland, Germany, and Siberia, yields the Strasburg turpentine, which is much used in some parts of Europe. The Abies nigra (Pinus nigra), or black spruce of this country, yields a product, which, though not recognised by the Pharmacopceia, is considerably employed. The substance alluded to is the essence of spruce, prepared from the young branches by boiling them in water, and evaporating the decoction. It is a thick liquid, having the colour and consistence of molasses, with a bitterish, acidulous, astringent taste. It is much used in the preparation of the beverage commonly known by the name of spruce beer, which is a pleasant and whole- some drink in summer, and useful in long sea-voyages as a preventive of scurvy.* Larix. Sex. Syst. Monoecia Monadelphia.—Nat. Ord. Pinaceae or Coni- ferae. Gen. Ch. As in Abies, except that the cotyledons are simple, and never lobed; the cones lateral; the leaves, when first expanding, in tufted fascicles, becoming somewhat solitary by the elongation of the new branch. (Pereira's Mat. Med. from Bot. Gall.) Larix Europsea. De Cand. Flor. Fr. 2064.—Abies Larix. Lamb. Illust. t. 785, f. 2.—Pinus Larix. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 503; Woodv. Med. Bot.-p. 7, t. 4. "Leaves fascicled, deciduous; cones ovate-oblong; margins of the scales reflexed, lacerated; bractes panduriform." The European larch is a large tree, inhabiting the mountains of Siberia, Switzerland, Germany, and the East of France. It yields the Venice turpen- tine of commerce, and a peculiar sweetish substance, called in France Briancon manna, which exudes spontaneously, and concretes upon its bark. When the larch forests of Russia take fire, a juice exudes from the trunk during their combustion, which concretes, and is called Orenburgh gum. It is wholly soluble in water. (Lindley, Flor. Med.) Pistacia. See MASTICHE. Pistacia Terebinthus. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 752; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 29, t. 12. This is a small tree with numerous spreading branches, bearing alter- nate pinnate leaves, which consist of three or four pairs of ovate, lanceolate, entire, acute, smooth, and shining leaflets, with an odd one at the end. The * The following is the formula usually followed. Take of essence of spruce half a pint; pimento bruised, ginger bruised, hops, each four ounces; water three gallons. Boil for five or ten minutes; then strain, and add of warm water eleven gallons; yeast a pint; molasses six pints. Mix, and allow the mixture to ferment for twenty-four hours. PART I. Terebinthina. 711 male and female flowers are dioecious, small, and in branching racemes. This is a native of Barbary and Greece, and flourishes in the islands of Cyprus and Chio, the latter of which has given its name to the Chian turpentine obtained from the tree. A gall produced upon this plant by the puncture of an insect, has been used in Eastern Europe in pectoral affections. We shall treat of the several varieties of turpentine under distinct heads. 1. White Turpentine. Terebenthine de Boston, Fr. The common American or white turpentine (Terebinthina, U.S.) is pro- cured chiefly from the Pinus palustris, partly also from the Pinus Tseda, and perhaps some other species inhabiting the Southern States. In former times, large quantities were collected in New England; but the turpentine trees of that section of the Union are said to be nearly exhausted; and our commerce is almost exclusively supplied from North Carolina, and the south-eastern parts of Virginia. The following is the process for obtaining the turpentine as described by Michaux. During the winter months, excavations of the capacity of about three pints are made in the trunk of the tree three or four inches from the ground. Into these the juice begins to flow about the middle of March, and continues to flow throughout the warm season, slowly at first, rapidly in the middle of summer, and more slowly again in the autumnal months. The liquid is removed from these excavations as they fill, and trans- ferred into casks, where it gradually thickens, and ultimately acquires a soft solid consistence. Very large quantities are thus annually procured, sufficient not only to supply the whole consumption of this country, but also to furnish a valuable export. White turpentine, as found in our shops, is yellowish-white, of a peculiar somewhat aromatic odour, and a warm, pungent, bitterish taste. It is some- what translucent, and of a consistence which varies with the temperature. In the middle of summer it is almost semi-fluid and very adhesive, though brit- tle; in the winter it is often so firm and hard, as to be incapable of being made into pills without heat. Exposed to the air it ultimately becomes per- fectly hard and dry. In the recent state it affords about seventeen per cent. of essential oil. It is apt to contain small pieces of bark, wood, or other impurity. 2. Common European Turpentine. Terebenthine de Bordeaux, Terebenthine commune, Fr.; Gemeiner Terpentin, Germ.; Trementina comune, Ital; Trementina comun, Span. This is the Terebinthina Vulgaris of the London Pharmacopoeia. It is furnished by several species of pine; but chiefly by the Pimis sylvestris and Pinus maritima (P. Pinaster of Aiton). From the latter tree it is obtained largely in the maritime districts of the South-west of France, especially in the department of the Landes, and is exported from Bordeaux. Hence it is called in commerce Bordeaux turpentine. The process for procuring it con- sists simply in making incisions into the trunk, or removing portions of the bark, and receiving the juice which flows out in small troughs, or in holes dug at the foot of the tree. It is purified by heating, and filtering it through straw, or by exposing it to the sun in a barrel, through holes in the bottom of which the melted turpentine escapes. Thus prepared, it is whitish, turbid, thickish, and separates, upon standing, into two parts, one liquid and trans- parent, the other of a consistence and appearance like those of thickened honey. As found in European commerce it often consists wholly of this lat- ter portion. It speedily hardens upon exposure to the air in thin layers. 712 Terebinthina. PART I. The most liquid specimens are completely solidified by the addition of one part of magnesia to thirty-two of the turpentine. (Guibourt, Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 499.) It is scarcely ever given internally, but furnishes large quanti- ties of oil of turpentine and resin. We do not import it into this country. The substance which the French call galipot or barras, is that portion of the turpentine which concretes upon the trunk of the tree when wounded, and is removed during the winter. (Thenard.) This, when purified by melting with water and straining, takes the name of yellow or white pitch, ox Burgundy pitch. When turpentine has been deprived of its oil by distillation, the resin which remains is called rosin, and sometimes colophony, from the Ionian city of that name, where it was formerly prepared. It is the resin (Resina) of the London College, and the yellow resin (Resina flava) of the Dublin. White resin (Resina alba) is prepared by incorporating this, while in fusion, with a certain proportion of water. Tar (Pix Liquida) is the turpentine ex- tracted from the wood by a slow combustion, and chemically altered by the heat. Common pitch (Pix Nigra or Resina Nigra) is the solid residue left after the evaporation by boiling of the liquid parts of tar. (See these titles respectively.) 3. Canada Turpentine. Canada balsam, Balsam of fir; Baume de Canada, Fr.; Canadischer Balsam, Cana- discher Terpentin, Germ.; Trementina del Canada, Ital. This is the product of the Abies balsamea, and is collected in Canada and the State of Maine. It is procured, according to Michaux, by breaking the vesicles which naturally form upon the trunk and branches, and receiving their liquid contents in a bottle. When fresh, it is colourless or slightly yel- lowish, transparent, of the consistence of thin honey, very tenacious, of a strong, agreeable odour, and a bitterish, somewhat acrid taste. By time and exposure it becomes thicker and more yellow, and at last assumes a solid con- sistence. It is usually brought into market in bottles, and is kept in the shops under the name of Canada balsam or balsam of fir. In Europe, it is sometimes called balm of Gilead, from its supposed resemblance to that cele- brated medicine. The term balsam, as at present understood, is improperly applied to it; as it contains no benzoic or cinnamic acid, and is in fact a true turpentine, consisting chiefly of resin and essential oil. Bonastre obtained from 100 parts of Canada turpentine, 18-6 parts of volatile oil, 40-0 of resin easily dissolved by alcohol, 33-4 of sub-resin of difficult solubility in that fluid, 4-0 of caoutchouc similar to sub-resin, and 4-9 of bitter extractive and salts, besides traces of acetic acid. There is reason to believe that Strasburg tur- pentine is sometimes sold for it in the shops. 4. Venice Turpentine. Terebenthine de meleze, Terebenthine de Venise, Fr.; Venetianischer Terpentin, Germ.; Trementina di Venezia, Ital; Trementina de Venecia, Span. This turpentine received its name from the circumstance that it was for- merly an extensive article of Venetian commerce. It is procured in Switzer- land, and the French province of Dauphiny, from the Larix Europsea or larch, which grows abundantly upon the Alps and the Jura mountains. The peasants bore holes into the trunk about two feet from the ground, and con- duct the juice by means of wooden gutters into small tubs, placed at a con- venient distanced It is afterwards purified by filtration through a leather sieve. Genuine Venice turpentine is a viscid liquid, of the consistence of honey, flowing with difficulty, cloudy or imperfectly transparent, of a yellow- ish or slightly greenish colour, a strong not disagreeable odour, and a warm PART I. Terebinthina. 713 bitterish and very acrid taste. It does not readily concrete on exposure, is not solidified by one-sixteenth of magnesia, and is entirely soluble in alcohol. (Guibourt, Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 500.) What is sold under the name of Venice turpentine in our shops, is usually quite brown, and is said to be a factitious substance, prepared by dissolving rosin in oil of turpentine. Dr. A. T. Thomson states that much of the Venice turpentine of the shops of London is obtained from America. It is probably the same preparation as that which passes under the name in this country. 5. Chian Turpentine. Terebenthine de Chio, Fr.; Cyprischer Turpentin, Germ.; Trementina Cipria. Ital. This variety of turpentine is collected chiefly in the island of Chio or Scio, by incisions made during the summer in the bark of the Pistacia Terebinthus. The juice, flowing from the wounds, falls upon smooth stones placed at the foot of the tree, from which it is scraped with small sticks, and allowed to drop into bottles. The annual product of each tree is very small; and the turpentine, therefore, commands a high price even in the place where it is procured. Very little of it reaches this country. It is said to be frequently adulterated with the other turpentines. It is a thick, tenacious liquid, of a greenish-yellow colour, a peculiar penetrating odour more agreeable than that of the other substances of the same class, and a mild taste without bitterness or acrimony. It leaves a glutinous residue when treated with strong alcohol. ( Guibourt?) On exposure to the air it speedily thickens, and ultimately be- comes concrete and hard, in consequence of the loss of its volatile oil. Besides the turpentines mentioned, various others are noticed in books on materia medica, though not found in the shops of this country. There are the Slrasburg turpentine, much used in France, and obtained from the Abies Picea (Abiespectinata of De Candolle), or European silver fir, which grows on the mountains of Switzerland and Germany, and bears a close resemblance, as well in its appearance as its product, to the Abies balsamea of Canada ;* the Damarra turpentine, which speedily concretes into a very hard resin, and is derived from the Pinus Damarra of Lambert, the Agathis Damarra of Richard, growing in the East India islands; and the Dombeya turpentine, a glutinous, milky-looking fluid, of a strong odour and taste, derived from the Dombeya excelsa, the Araucaria Dombeyi of Richard, which inhabits Chili, and is said to be identical with the Norfolk Island pine. These, with one or two other turpentines scarcely known, or having a doubtful claim to the title, are all that belong properly to this class of vegetable products. General Properties. The turpentines resemble each other in odour and taste, though distinguished by shades of difference. Liquid at first, they become thick, and gradually solid by exposure, in consequence partly of the volatiliza- tion, partly of the oxidation of their essential oil. They are rendered more liquid or softened by heat, and at a high temperature take fire, burning with a white flame and much smoke. Water extracts only a minute proportion of their volatile oil. They are almost wholly soluble in alcohol and ether, and * This turpentine is described by Guibourt as being nearly as liquid as olive oil, at first turbid and whitish, but becoming by filtration or long standing transparent and almost colourless. Its odour is very agreeable, analogous to that of the citron, and its taste moderately acrid and bitter. It dries quickly in the air, is solidified by a sixteenth of magnesia, and is not entirely soluble in alcohol. It is procured, like the Canada tur- pentine, by incisions into the vesicles which form upon the surface of the tree, beneath the outer bark. According to Guibourt, this is the true Venice turpentine, while that de- scribed in the text, and generally recognised by authors as Venice turpentine, is in fact the Strasburg. (See Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 487.) Note to eighth edition. 714 Terebinthina.—Testa. part I. readily unite with the fixed oils. They yield by distillation a volatile oil, well known as the oil of turpentine, and leave a residue consisting exclusively of resin. (See Oleum Terebinthinse and Resina.) A minute proportion of suc- cinic acid passes over with the oil. From the experiments of M. Faure, of Bordeaux, it appears that some of the liquid turpentines, like copaiba, may be solidified by the addition of magnesia (Journ. de Chim. Mid., 1830, p. 94); and, according to M. Thierry, the same result is obtained by the addition of one part of hydrate of lime to thirty-two parts of the common European turpentine. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser. i. 315.) Medical Properties and Uses. The effects of the turpentines upon the system are dependent entirely on their essential oil. They are stimulant, diuretic, an- thelmintic, and in large doses laxative. When taken internally, or applied to the skin, they communicate a violet odour to the urine, and, if continued for some time, produce an irritation of the mucous membrane of the urinary pas- sages, amounting frequently to strangury. The last effect is less apt to be experienced when they operate upon the bowels. Externally applied they act as rubefacients. Their medical virtues were known to the ancients. At pre- sent they are less used than formerly, having been superseded by their volatile oil. They are, however, occasionally prescribed in leucorrhcea, gleet, and other chronic diseases of the urinary passages; in piles and chronic inflamma- tions or ulcerations of the bowels; in chronic catarrhal affections; and in vari- ous forms of rheumatism, especially sciatica and lumbago. The white turpen- tine is usually employed in this country. They may be given in the shape of pill made with powdered liquorice root; or in emulsion with gum Arabic or yolk of egg, loaf sugar, and water; or in electu- ary formed with sugar or honey. Their dose is from a scruple to a drachm. In the quantity of half an ounce or an ounce, triturated with the yolk of an egg, and mixed with half a pint of mucilaginous liquid, they form an excellent injection in cases of ascarides, and of constipation attended with flatulence. Off. Prep. Ceratum Resinae Compositum, U. S.; Emplastrum Cantharidis Com~p., Ed.; Emplastrum Galbani Comp., U. S., Lond.; Oleum Terebinthinae, Dub.; Unguentum Elemi, Lond.; Unguentum Infusi Cantharidis, Ed. W. TESTA. U.S. Oyster-shell. " The shells of Ostrea edulis." U. S. Off. Syn. TESTIE. Lond, Ecaillesdeshuitres,.Fr.; Austerschalen, Germ.; Gusci della ostriche, Ital; Cascaras, Span. The common oyster is the Ostrea edulis of naturalists, an animal belonging to the class Vermes, order Testacea. It is found in many parts of the world, and is particularly abundant on our own coast, and in the bays of our large rivers. It consists of a soft pulpy portion, comprising the vital organs of the animal, enclosed in a hard bivalve shell, of the nature of mother-of-pearl. The flesh of the oyster forms a very digestible and nutritious article of food, particularly suited to convalescents; but the shell only is officinal. Properties. Oyster-shells are too familiarly known to require description. They are made up, like other mother-of-pearl shells, of alternate layers of earthy matter, and of animal matter of the nature of coagulated albumen. Ac- cording to the analysis of Bucholz and Brandes, their exact constituents are carbonate of lime 98-6, phosphate of lime 1-2, animal matter 0-5, alumina (accidental) 0*2=100-5. Thus it appears that the animal matter is present in but small amount. When calcined or burnt, the animal matter and car- PART I. Testa.—Tolutanum. 715 bonic acid are dissipated, and the shells are converted into a species of lime, called oyster-shell lime. Crabstones, called crabs' eyes, and crabs' claws, are both forms of carbonate of lime, resembling oyster-shell in containing a small proportion of animal matter. They were formerly officinal in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, but were very properly omitted on the last revision of that work. They will be noticed in the Appendix. Pharmaceutical Uses. Oyster-shells require to be reduced to an impalpa- ble powder, before they are fit for medicinal employment; and their prepara- tion in this way constitutes their sole pharmaceutical use. When thus prepared they form the Testa Prseparata, under which head their medicinal properties will be noticed. Off. Prep. Testa Praeparata, U. S., Lond. B. TOLUTANUM. U.S. Balsam of Tolu. " The juice of Myroxylon Toluiferum. Richard." U. S. Off. Syn. BALSAMUM TOLUTANUM. Myroxylon peruiferum. Bal- samum concretum. Lond,; BALSAMUM TOLUTANUM. " Concrete bal- samic exudation of Myrospermum toluiferum." Ed.; TOLUIFERA BAL- SAMUM. Resina. Dub. Balsam of Tolu; Baume de Tolu, Fr.; Tolubalsam, Germ.; Balsamo del Tolu, Ital.; Balsamo de Tolu, Span. Myroxylon. See MYROXYLON. Till recently the tree from which this balsam is derived retained the name of Toluifera Balsamum, given to it by Linnaeus; but it is now admitted that the genus Toluifera was formed upon insufficient grounds; and botanists agree in referring the Tolu balsam tree to the 3Iyroxylon, or Myrospermum of De Candolle. Ruiz, one of the authors of the Flora Peruviana, considers it iden- tical with the Alyroxylon Peruiferum ; and his opinion has been adopted by some other writers. M. Achille Richard, however, thinks it a distinct species, and has appropriately denominated it 3Iyroxylon Toluiferum, a title which is recognised in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States. Sprengel and Hum- bolt also consider it a distinct species of Myroxylon. According to Richard, who had an opportunity of examining specimens brought from South America by Humboldt, the leaflets of the M. Peruiferum are thick, coriaceous, acute, and blunt at the apex, and all equal in size; while in the M. Toluiferum the leaflets are thin, membranous, obovate, with a lengthened and acuminate apex, and the terminal one is longest. The 31. Peruiferum is found in Peru and the southern parts of New Granada; the M. Toluiferum grows in Carthagena, and abounds especially in the neighbourhood of Tolu. The wood of the latter species, according to Humboldt, is of a deep-red colour, has a delightful bal- samic odour, and is much used for building. It is not improbable that the two balsams, known in the shops by the respective names of Peru and Tolu, differ more in the mode by which they are procured, than in the character of the trees which afford them. The balsam of Tolu is procured by making incisions into the trunk of the tree. The juice as it exudes is received in vessels of various kinds, in which it concretes. It is brought from Carthagena in calabashes or baked earthen jars of a peculiar shape, and sometimes in glass vessels. Properties. As first imported, it has a soft, tenacious consistence, which varies considerably with the temperature. By age it becomes hard and brittle 716 Tolutanum.—Tormentilla. part i. like resin. It is shining, translucent, of a reddish or yellowish-brown colour, a highly fragrant odour, and a warm, somewhat sweetish and pungent, but not disagreeable taste. Exposed to heat, it melts, inflames, and diffuses an agree- able odour while burning. It is entirely dissolved by alcohol and the essential oils. Boiling water extracts its acid. Distilled with water it affords a small proportion of volatile oil; and, if the heat be continued, the acid matter sub- limes. Mr. Hatchett states that, when dissolved in the smallest quantity of solution of potassa, it loses its own characteristic odour, and acquires that of the clove-pink. Its ingredients are resin, cinnamic acid, and volatile oil, the proportions of which vary in different specimens. The acid of balsam of Tolu was formerly thought to be the benzoic; but was proved by Fremy to be the cinnamic. The existence of the former acid in the balsam was denied by that chemist; and, though Deville subsequently obtained benzoic acid from it, yet, according to Kopp, the acid did not pre-exist in the balsam, but resulted from changes produced in the resin by heat, or the reaction of strong alkaline solutions. The pure volatile oil is a hydrocarbon (C10HS), which is denomi- nated by Kopp tolene. According to the same chemist, the resinous matter is of two kinds, one very soluble in alcohol, and the other but slightly so. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir. xi. 426.) Guibourt observed that the balsam con- tains more acid, and is less odorous in the solid form; and thinks that the acid is increased at the expense of the oil. Trommsdorff obtained 88 per cent, of resin, 12 of acid, and only 0-2 of volatile oil. According to Mr. Heaver, the balsam yields by distillation about one-eighth of its weight of pure cinnamic acid. The acid distils over in the form of a heavy oil, which condenses into a white crystalline mass. It may be freed from empyreumatic oil by pressure between folds of bibulous paper, and subsequent solution in boiling water, which deposits it in minute colourless crystals upon cooling. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 77.) 3Iedical Properties ai}d Uses. Balsam of Tolu is a stimulant tonic, with a peculiar tendency to the pulmonary organs. It is given with some advan- tage in chronic catarrh and other pectoral complaints, in which a gently stimu- lating expectorant is demanded; but should not be prescribed until after the reduction of inflammatory action. Independently of its medical virtues, its agreeable flavour renders it a popular ingredient in expectorant mixtures. Old and obstinate coughs are said to be sometimes greatly relieved by the inhala* tion of the vapour proceeding from an ethereal solution of this balsam. From ten to thirty grains may be given at a dose, and frequently repeated. The best form of administration is that of emulsion, made by triturating the bal- sam with mucilage of gum Arabic and loaf sugar, and afterwards with water. Off. Prep. Syrupus Tolutanus, Lond.; Tinctura Benzoini Composita, U S., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Tolutani, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. TORMENTILLA. U. S. Secondary., Lond., Ed. Tormentil. " The root of Potentilla Tormentilla." U S., Ed. " Potentilla Tormentilla. Radix." Lond. Off. Syn. TORMENTILLA OFFICINALIS. Dub. Tormentille, Fr.; Tormentillwurzel, Germ.; Tormentilla, Ital; Tormentila, Span. Potentilla. Sex. Syst. Icosandria Polygynia.—Nat. Ord. Rosaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx with a concave tube, a four or five-cleft limb, and four or five bractlets. Petals four or five. Stamens numerous. Carpels numerous, with a lateral style, on a procumbent, persistent, capitate, juiceless receptacle. PART I. Tormentilla.—Toxicodendron. 717 Seed appended. Herbs or undershrubs, with compound leaves, stipules adnate to the petiole, and white, yellow, rarely red flowers. (De Candolle.) Potentilla Tormentilla. Sibthorp. Fl. Ox. 162; Lindley, Flor. Med. 225. — Tormentilla erecta. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 1112; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 503, t. 1X1.— T officinalis. Smith, Flor. Brit. The tormentil, or septfoil, is a small perennial plant, very common throughout Europe. The stems, which rise about six or eight inches in height from a woody root, are slender, more or less erect, branching towards the top, and furnished with sessile leaves, which on the stalk usually consist of seven, on the branches of five, digitate, elliptical, vil- lous, deeply serrated leaflets, three of which are larger than the others. The flowers are small, yellow, and solitary upon axillary peduncles. All parts of the plant are astringent, especially the root, which is the part employed. It is gathered in spring. Properties. The root of tormentil is cylindrical or roundish, rather larger above than at the lower extremity, an inch or two in length, about as thick as the finger, knotty, sometimes contorted, brown or blackish externally, and reddish within. It has a slight aromatic odour, and a very astringent taste. Tannin is an abundant constituent. There is also a red colouring principle, soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in water. Besides these ingredients Meissner found resin, cerin, myricin, gummy extractive, gum, extractive, lignin, water, and a trace of volatile oil. The root is said to be used for tanning leather in the Orkneys and Western Islands of Scotland, and for staining leather red by the Laplanders. It yields all its medical virtues to boiling water. Medical Properties and Uses. Tormentil is a simple and powerful astring- ent, applicable to all cases of disease in which this class of medicines is in- dicated. We seldom, however, employ it in this country, having indigenous plants of equal virtue. It may be given in substance, decoction, or extract. The dose of the powder is from thirty grains to a drachm. Off. Prep. Decoctum Tormentillae, Lond.; Pulvis Cretae Compositus, Lond. W. TOXICODENDRON. U. S. Secondary, Lond. Poison-oak. " The leaves of Rhus Toxicodendron." U. S. " Rhus Toxicodendron. Folia." Lond. Off. Syn. RHUS TOXICODENDRON, Folia. Dub. Sumach v^neneux, Fr.; Gift-Sumach, Germ.; Albero del veleno, Ital. Rhus. See RHUS GLABRUM. Admitting, as appears generally to be done at present, that the Rhus Toxi- codendron and Rhus radicans of Linnaeus, are mere varieties of the same plant, there are three indigenous species of Rhus which possess poisonous pro- perties—the one above mentioned, the R. Vernix, commonly known by the name of swamp sumach or poison sumach, and the R. pumilum of the South- ern States. Though the first only is designated in the Pharmacopoeias, we shall briefly describe the three species; as their medical effects are probably similar, and their operation upon the system such that the plants should be known to every practitioner. 1. Rhus radicans. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1481; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. iii. 17.—R. Toxicodendron. Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. p. 205. Though Elliott and Nuttall consider the R. radicans and R. Toxicodendron as distinct species, the weight of botanical authority is on the other side, and Bigelow declares that he has " frequently observed individual shoots from the same stock, hav- 718 Toxicodendron. PART I. ing the characters of both varieties." The difference, however, in their ap- pearance is sufficiently striking to have led to the adoption of different com- mon names, the R. radicans being usually called poison vine, and the R. Toxicodendron, poison oak. The former has a climbing stem, rising to a great height upon trees, rocks, and other objects, to which it adheres by strong rooting fibres, which it tbrows out from its sides. The leaves, which stand upon long footstalks, are ternate, with broad ovate or rhomboidal, acute leaf- lets, smooth and shining on both sides, sometimes slightly hairy on the veins beneath, entire, or irregularly lobed and toothed. The flowers are small, greenish-white, dioecious, and grow in lateral, usually axillary panicles, or compound racemes. The male flowers have five stamens, and the rudiments of a style; the female, which are of only half the size and on a different plant, have abortive stamens, and a short erect style, standing on a roundish germ, and terminating in three stigmas. The fruit consists of roundish, pale- green or whitish berries. The R. Toxicodendron, or poison-oak, has the form of a shrub from one to three feet high, with leaflets angularly indented, and pubescent beneath. But this character of the foliage is probably not constant; and the stunted growth may be owing to peculiarities of situation. Dr. Bigelow states that the young plants of the R. radicans do not put forth rooting fibres until they are several years old, and that they are influenced in this respect by the con- tiguity of supporting objects. This species of Rhus grows in woods, fields, and along fences from Canada to Georgia. It flowers in June and July. When wounded, it emits a milky juice, which becomes black on exposure to the air, and leaves upon linen or other cloth a stain, which cannot afterwards be removed by washing with soap and water, or by alcohol either hot or cold, but deepens by age. It has been proposed as an indelible ink. Ether dissolves it. The juice applied to the skin frequently produces inflammation and vesica- tion ; and the same poisonous property is possessed by a volatile principle which escapes from the plant itself, and produces in persons who come into its vicinity an exceedingly troublesome erysipelatous affection, particularly of the face. Itching, redness, a sense of burning, tumefaction, vesication, and ultimate desquamation, are some of the attendants of this poisonous action. The swelling of the face is sometimes so great as almost entirely to obliterate the features. The effects are experienced soon after exposure, and usually begin to decline within a week. A light cooling regimen, with saline purga- tives, and the local use of cold lead-water, are the best remedies. All per- sons are not equally liable to the affection, and the great majority are wholly insusceptible of it from any ordinary exposure. 2. Rhus Vernix. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1479; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot. i. 96. The swamp sumach is a beautiful shrub or small tree, usually ten or fifteen feet high, but sometimes rising thirty feet. The bark of the trunk is dark-gray, of the branches lighter, of the extreme twigs and petioles beauti- fully red. The leaves are pinnate, with four or five pairs of opposite leaflets, and an odd terminal one. These are oblong or oval, entire or slightly sinu- ated, acuminate, smooth, and, except the one at the end, nearly sessile. The flowers, as in the preceding species, are dioecious. They are very small, green- ish, and arranged in loose axillary panicles. The berries are small, roundish and greenish-white. The tree grows in swamps and low grounds, from Canada to Carolina, and flowers in June and July. It is thought to be identical with a species of Rhus which grows in Japan, and furnishes a fine black varnish, much used in that country. Dr. Bigelow found that the opaque whitish juice which ex- part I. Toxicodendron.— Tragacantha. 719 udes from our native plant when wounded, and which becomes permanently black on exposure, may be made to afford a brilliant, glossy, durable varnish, by boiling it sufficiently before applying it. The Rhus Vernix produces much more powerfully than the R. radicans, the poisonous effects already described. Persons coming within its influence are much more apt to be affected with the poison, and generally suffer more severely. The whole body is sometimes enormously swollen, and the patient for many days scarcely able to move; but the complaint almost always spon- taneously subsides without destroying life. As in the former instance, the susceptibility to the influence of the poison is exceedingly various, and some persons may handle the plant with perfect impunity. 3. Rhus pumilum. Michaux, Flor. Americ. i. 182. This is a southern species, growing in upper Carolina, and not more than a foot in height. It is characterized by its pubescent branches and petioles; its pinnate leaves, with many pairs of oval, nearly acuminate, incised dentate leaflets, downy beneath; and by its silky fruit. According to Pursh, it is the most poisonous of the genus. It is probable that all parts of the Rhus radicans (R. Toxicodendron) are possessed of active properties; but the leaves only are directed in the Phar- macopoeias, under the title of Toxicodendron. These are inodorous, have a mawkish acrid taste, and yield their virtues to water. The presence of tannin and gallic acid have been detected in them; but they have not been accu- rately analyzed. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. These leaves appear to be stimulant and narcotic, producing when swallowed more or less irritation of the stomach and bowels, and promoting the secretory function of the skin and kidneys. Orfila found them to act in the manner of the acrid poisons, and to produce a stu- pefying effect upon the nervous system. They were successfully used by Du Fresnoy, in France, in the cure of obstinate cutaneous diseases. Dr. Ander- son, of Hull, in England, effected cures with the medicine in several cases of palsy. A sense of heat and pricking, with irregular twitchings, was excited by it in the affected parts. Dr. Horsfield, and other physicians of this country, have used it in consumption and dropsy, but not with any very encouraging success. The dose of the leaves recommended by Dr. Anderson was half a grain or a grain three times a day; but this is much too small. Dr. Duncan gave it in larger doses, with little other than a laxative effect. Dr. Horsfield ad- ministered a teacupful of the strong infusion without disadvantage. In France, the extract is recommended in doses of fifteen or twenty grains, repeated two or three times a day, and gradually increased to one or two drachms. Some of Du Fresnoy's patients took an ounce without effect. The probability is, that the active principle is volatile, and that the extract is less efficient than the leaves themselves. The risk of experiencing the poisonous effects of the plant upon the system, will probably prevent its extensive employment as a remedy, unless it should prove much more useful than the trials hitherto made give us reason to expect. W. TRAGACANTHA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Tragacanth. "The concrete juice of Astragalus verus." U. S. "Astragalus verus. Sticcus concretus." Lond. "Gummy exudation from Astragalus gummifer and probably A. verus, and other species." Ed. 720 Tragacantha. PART I. Off. Syn. TRAGACANTHA GUMMI. ASTRAGALUS CRETICUS. Gummi. Dub. Gomme Adraganthe, Fr.; Tragant, Germ.; Dragante, Ital; Gomo tragacanto, Span. Astragalus. Sex. Syst. Diadelphia Decandria.—Nat. Ord. Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Gen. Ch. Legume two-celled, more or less gibbous, with the lower suture turned inwards. Carina blunt. Loudon's Encyc. of Plants. Numerous species belonging to this genus yield a gummy matter having the properties of tragacanth. The drug known in commerce by that name was at first erroneously supposed to be obtained from the A. Tragacantha of Linnaeus (A. massiliensis of Lamarck), which grows in the South of Europe and North of Africa, and is now said to yield no gum. It was afterwards ascribed, on the authority of Tournefort, to a species (A. Creticus of Lamarck) which grows in Crete and Ionia, and, on that of Olivier, to the A. verus, whidh inhabits Asia Minor, Armenia, and Northern Persia. Labillardiere described a species by the name of A. gummifer, which he found growing on Mount Libanus in Syria, and from which tragacanth exudes, though not that of com- merce. Sieber denies that any one of these species yields the officinal traga- canth, which he ascribes to the A. aristatus growing in Anatolia, especially upon Mount Ida, where the gum is most abundantly collected. This plant, however, is not the A. aristatus of Villars, which, according to Sibthorp, fur- nishes tragacanth in Greece. (3Ierat and De Lens.) Professor Lindley has lately received two specimens of plants, said to be those which furnish traga- canth in Turkistan, one of which proves to be the A. gummifer of Labillar- diere, which was said to yield a white variety, and the other a new species which he calls A. strobiliferus, and which was said to yield a red and inferior product. The fact seems to be, that the commercial drug is collected from various sources; and it is affirmed that all the species of Astragalus with thorny petioles are capable of producing it. These form a natural group, and so closely resemble each other, that botanists have found some difficulty in distinguishing them. As the A. verus is designated in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, and that of the London College, we shall briefly describe it. Astragalus verus. Olivier, Voy. dans VEmpire Ottoman, v. 342, pi. 44. This is a small shrub, not more than two or three feet high, with a stem an inch in thickness, and numerous very closely crowded brancbes, covered with imbricated scales, and spines which are the remains of former petioles. The leaves, which are little more than half an inch long, consist of several pairs of opposite, villous, stiff, pointed leaflets, with a midrib terminating in a sharp yellowish point. The flowers are papilionaceous, small, yellow, axillary, ag- gregate, and furnished with cottony bractes. This species yields the gum collected in Persia, and thence transmitted southward to India through Bagdad and Bassora, northward to Russia, and westward to Aleppo. Tragacanth exudes spontaneously during the summer from the stems and branches, hardening as it exudes, and assuming various forms according to the greater or less abundance of the juice. Properties. It is in tortuous vermicular filaments, rounded or flattened, rolled up or extended, of a whitish or yellowish-white colour, somewhat trans- lucent, resembling horn in appearance. Sometimes the pieces are irregularly oblong or roundish, and of a slightly reddish colour. It is hard and more or less fragile, but difficult of pulverization, unless exposed to a freezing temper- ature, or thoroughly dried, and powdered in a heated mortar. The powder is very fine and white. Tragacanth has no smell and very little taste. Its sp. gr. is 1-384. Introduced into water it absorbs a certain proportion of that liquid, swells very much, and forms a soft adhesive paste, but does not dis- part I. Tragacantha.—Triosteum. 721 solve. If agitated with an additional quantity of water, this paste forms a uniform mixture; but in the course of one or two days the greater part sepa- rates, and is deposited, leaving a portion dissolved in the supernatant fluid. Tragacanth is wholly insoluble in alcohol. It appears to be composed of two different constituents, one soluble in water and resembling gum Arabic, the other capable of swelling in water, but not dissolving. The former is said to differ from gum Arabic in affording no precipitate with silicate of potassa or sesquichloride of iron. (Pereira's Mat. Med.) The latter, which, according to Bucholz, constitutes 43 per cent, of tragacanth, is ranked by some among the peculiar proximate principles with the title of tragacanthin. It is probably identical with bassorin. It has the property of becoming blue with iodine, which is not the case with bassorin; but this property is ascribed to the pre- sence of a small quantity of insoluble starch.* According to M. Guerin, 100 parts of tragacanth contain 53-3 parts of arabin or pure gum, 33-1 of bassorin and insoluble starch, and 11-1 of water, and yield when burned 2-5 parts of ashes. To separate the soluble entirely from the insoluble part, requires agi- tation with separate portions of water, which are to be decanted and filtered; and the process is to be continued till water ceases to dissolve any thing. Berzelius considers tragacanth as a variety of mucilage. (See Linum.) 3Iedical Properties and, Uses. Tragacanth is demulcent, but, on account of its difficult solubility, is not often given internally. The great viscidity which it imparts to water, renders it useful for the suspension of heavy insoluble powders; and it is also employed in pharmacy to impart consistence to troches, for which it answers better than gum Arabic. Off. Prep. Confectio Opii, U. S., Loud., Dub.; Mucilago Tragacanthae, Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Tragacanthae Compositus, Lond. W. TRIOSTEUM. U.S. Secondary. Fever-root. "The root of Triosteum perfoliatum." U S. Triosteum. Sex. Syst, Pentandria Monogynia.—Naf. Ord. Caprifoliaceae. Gen, Ch. Calyx five-cleft, persistent, nearly the length of the corolla; seg- ments linear, acute. Corolla tubular, five-lobed, sub-equal; base, nectarifer- ous, gibbous. Stigma somewhat five-lobed, capitate. Berry three-celled, three-seeded, crowned with the calyx. Nuttall. Triosteum perfoliatum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 990; Bigelow, Am. 3Ied. Bot. i. 90; Barton, Med. Bot. i. 59. This plant is indigenous and perennial. Several stems usually rise from the same root. They are simple, erect, round, hairy, fistulous, herbaceous, and from one to four feet high. The leaves are opposite, large, mostly connate, oval, acuminate, entire, abruptly narrowed at the base, and pubescent on their under surface. The flowers are of a dull purple colour, axillary, sessile, rarely solitary, sometimes in pairs, generally in triplets or five together in the form of whorls. The germ is inferior, and the style projects be- yond the corolla, into the tube of which the stamens are inserted. The berry is oval and of a deep orange colour, and contains three hard, bony seeds. The fever-root, fever-wort, or wild ipecac, as this plant is variously called, though not very abundant, is found in most parts of the United States, pre- ferring a limestone soil and shady situations. Its flowers appear in June. The whole plant has a bitter taste; but the root is most active, and is the only officinal part. It is horizontal, long, about'three-quarters of an inch in diamater, thicker 46 722 Triosteum.— Triticum Hybernum. part i. and tuberculated, near the origin of the stem, of a yellowish or brownish colour externally, whitish within, and furnished with fibres which may be considered as branches of the main root. When dry it is brittle and easily pulverized. It has a sickening odour, and a bitter nauseous taste. Both water and alcohol take up its active properties, which are retained in the extract. 3Iediced Properties and Uses. Fever-root is cathartic, and in large doses emetic. The late Professor Barton observed it also to produce a diuretic effect. The bark of the root is the part which has been usually employed. In the quantity of twenty or thirty grains it ordinarily acts upon the bowels; and may be given alone or in combination with calomel at the commencement of fevers. The extract may be given in half the dose. W. TRITICUM HYBERNUM. Seminum farina. Dub. Wheat Flour. Off. Syn. FARINA. Triticum hybernum. Seminum Farina. Lond.; FARINA. Flour of the seeds of Triticum vulgare. Ed. Farine de froment, Fr.; Waizenmehl, Germ.; Farina di frumento, Ital; Flor del trigo, Acemite, Span. Triticum. Sex. Syst, Triandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Graminaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx two-valved, solitary, transverse, many-flowered, on a flexu- ose, toothed receptacle. Rees's Cyclopaedia. Triticum hybernum. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 477.—T. vidgare, var. /3. hyber- num. Kunth, Gramin., 438. The common winter wheat has a fibrous root, and one or more erect, round, smooth, jointed stems, which rise from three to five feet in height, and are furnished with linear, pointed, entire, flat, many- ribbed, rough, somewhat glaucous leaves, and jagged bearded stipules. The flowers are in a solitary, terminal, dense, smooth spike, two or three inches long. The calyx is four-flowered, tumid, even, imbricated, abrupt, with a short com- pressed point. In the upper part of the spike it is more elongated; and in this situation the corolla is more or less awned. The grain is imbricated in four rows. The native country of wheat is unknown; but its cultivation is supposed to have spread from Sicily over Europe. It is now an object of culture in almost all countries which enjoy a temperate climate. Sown in the autumn, it stands the winter, and ripens its seeds in the following summer. Numerous varieties have been produced by cultivation, some of which are usually described as distinct species. Among these may perhaps be ranked the T ssstivum, or spring wheat, distinguished by its long beards, and the T. compositum, or Egyptian wheat, by its compound spikes. It is asserted that the latter changes, in Great Britain, into the common single-spiked wheat. (Loudon's Encycl) The seeds are too well known to need description. They are prepared for use by grinding and sifting, by which the interior farinaceous part is separated from the husk. The former is divided according to its fineness into different portions, but so far as regards its medical relations may be considered under one head, that of farina ox flour. The latter is called bran, and constitutes from 25 to 33 per cent. Flour is white, inodorous, and nearly insipid. Its chief constituents are starch, gluten, albumen, saccharine matter, and gum, the proportions of which are by no means constant. Vauquelin obtained, as an average product, from eight varieties of flour which he examined, 1025 per cent, of water, 10-80 of gluten (including coagulated albumen), 68-08 of starch, 5-61 of sugar, and 4-11 of gum. According to Christison, subsequent experiments have given an average of 16 or 17 per cent, of gluten and albumen. The ashes of wheat, which amount only to about 0-15 per cent., contain, according to Henry, superphos- PART I. Triticum Hybernum. 723 phates of soda, lime, and magnesia. The gummy substance found in wheat flour is not precisely identical with ordinary gum; as it contains nitrogen, and does not yield mucic acid by the action of nitric acid. The starch, which is by far the most abundant ingredient, is much employed in a separate state. (See Amy turn.) The gluten, however, is not less important; as it is to the large proportion of this principle in wheat flour, that it owes its superiority over that from other grains for the preparation of bread. The gluten here alluded to is the substance first noticed as a distinct principle by Beccaria. It is the soft viscid fibrous mass which remains, when wheat flour, enclosed in a linen bag, is exposed to the action of a stream of water, and at the same time pressed with the fingers till the liquor comes away colourless. But this has been ascertained to consist, in fact, of two different substances. When boiled in alcohol, one portion of it is dissolved, while another portion remains un- affected. Einhof appears to have established the fact, that the part of the glutinous mass left behind by alcohol is identical with vegetable albumen, while the dissolved portion only is strictly entitled to the appellation of gluten, which had been previously conferred on the whole mass. As these two principles are contained in numerous vegetable products, and as they are frequently re- ferred to in this work, it is proper that they should be briefly noticed. They both contain nitrogen, and both, when left to themselves in a moist state, undergo putrefaction. From these circumstances, and from their close resem- blance to certain proximate animal principles in chemical habitude and rela- tions, they are sometimes called, in works on chemistry, vegeto-animal sub- stauees. They are separated from each other, as they exist in the mass originally denominated gluten, by boiling this mass with successive portions of alcohol, till the liquid, filtered while yet hot, ceases to become turbid on cooling. The gluten dissolves, and may be obtained by adding water to the solution, and distilling off the alcohol. Large cohering flakes float in the liquor, which, when removed, form a viscid elastic mass, consisting of the substance in question with some slight impurity. The part left behind by the alcohol is the albumen in a coagulated state. Pure gluten, now called vegetable fibrin, is a pale yellow, adhesive, elastic substance, which, by drying, becomes of a deeper yellow colour and trans- lucent. It is almost insoluble in water, and quite insoluble in ether, and in the oils both fixed and volatile. Hot alcohol dissolves it much more readily than cold; and from its solution in ordinary alcohol, at the boiling temperature, it is deposited unchanged when the liquor cools. It is soluble in the dilute acids, and in caustic alkaline solutions, in consequence of forming soluble compounds with the acids and alkalies. With the earths and metallic oxides it forms near!}- insoluble compounds, which are precipitated when the earthy or metallic salts are added to the solution of gluten in liquid potassa. Corro- sive sublimate precipitates it from its acid as well as alkaline solutions, and, added in solution to moist gluten, forms with it a compound, which, when dry, is hard, opurjue, and incorruptible. Gluten is also precipitated by in- fusion of galls. It closely resembles if it be not identical with animal fibrin. Its name originated in its adhesive property. Gluten exists in most of the farinaceous grains, and in the seeds of some leguminous plants. Vegetable albumen is destitute of adhesiveness, and, when dried, is opaque, and of a white, gray, or brown colour. Before coagulation, it is soluble in water, but insoluble in alcohol. By heat it coagulates and becomes insoluble in water. It is dissolved by the solutions of the caustic alkalies. Most of the acids, if added to its solutions in excess, precipitate compounds of the acids respectively with the albumen, which, though soluble in pure water, are insoluble in that liquid when acidulated. It is not, however, precipitated 724 Triticum Hybernum. PART I. by an excess of the phosphoric or acetic acid. Its relations to the earthy and metallic salts are similar to those of gluten. Corrosive sublimate pre- cipitates it from its solutions, except from those in phosphoric and acetic acids, and, when added in a state of solution to moist albumen, forms with it a hard, opaque compound. It is also precipitated by infusion of galls. This principle derived its name from its very close resemblance to animal albumen. It is associated with gluten in most of the farinaceous grains, is a constituent of all the seeds which form a milky emulsion with water, and exists in all the vegetable juices which coagulate by heat. The mixture of gluten and albumen which constitutes the gluten of Bec- caria, exercises an important influence over starch, which, with the presence of water and the aid of a moderate heat, it converts partly into gum and partly into sugar. The production of saccharine matter in the germination of seeds, and in the formation of malt, which is an example of germination, is thus accounted for. The gluten itself becomes acid in the process, and loses the property of reacting on starch. It is now thought by many chemists that vegetable albumen is identical in all respects with animal albumen, and the gluten of vegetables with animal fibrin; and that both these principles, as well as another named casein, found also both in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, consist of a principle named protein, combined with a very small proportion of mineral substances, such as sulphur, phosphorus, &c. Protein consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; and its formula, according to Liebig, is N6C4SH30OM. It is pro- cured by dissolving any one of the substances above named in a strong solu- tion of potassa, heating for some time to 120°, and precipitating with acetic acid. (Turner's Chemistry, 1th Lond. Ed.) It is scarcely necessary to state that bread is formed by making flour into a paste with water, with the addition of yeast, setting it aside to ferment, and then exposing it to the heat of an oven. The fermentation excited by the yeast is accompanied with the extrication of carbonic acid gas, which, being retained by the tenacity of the gluten, forms innumerable little cells through the mass, and thus renders the bread light. It is important to recollect that common salt is always added; as this ingredient is incompatible with some of the substances which are occasionally directed to be made into pills with the crumb of bread. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Wheat flour in its unaltered state is seldom used in medicine. It is sometimes sprinkled on the skin in erysipelatous inflammation, and various itching or burning eruptions, particularly the nettle-rash; though rye flour is generally preferred for this purpose. In the state of bread it is much more employed. An infusion of toasted bread in water is an agreeable, somewhat nutritive drink, very well adapted to febrile complaints. Within our experience, no drink has been found more grateful in such cases than this infusion, sweetened with a little molasses, and flavoured by lemon-juice. Boiled with milk, bread constitutes the com- mon suppurative poultice, which maybe improved by the addition of a small proportion of perfectly fresh lard. Slices of it steeped in lead-water, or the crumb mixed with the fluid and confined within a piece of gauze, afford a con- venient mode of applying this preparation to local inflammations. The crumb—mica panis—is, moreover, frequently used to give bulk to minute doses of very active medicines, administered in the form of pill. It should be recollected, however, that it contains common salt, which is incompatible with certain substances, as, for example, the nitrate of silver. Bran is sometimes used in decoction, as a demulcent in catarrhal affections and complaints of the bowels. It has, when taken in substance, laxative part I. Triticum Hybernum.—Tussilago. 725 properties, and may be used with great advantage to prevent costiveness. Bran bread, made from the unsifted flour, forms an excellent laxative article of diet in some dyspeptic cases. The action of the bran is probably alto- gether mechanical, consisting in the irritation produced upon the mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels by its coarse particles. Off. Prep. Cataplasma Fermenti, Loud., Dub. W. TUSSILAGO. Lond. Coltsfoot. " Tussilago Farfara." Ljond. Off. Syn. TUSSILAGO FARFARA. Folia. Flores. Dub. Tussilage, Pas d'ane, Fr.; Gemeiner Huflattig, Germ.; Tossilagine, Ital.; Tusilago, Span. Tussilago. Sex. Syst. Syngenesia Superflua.—Nat. Ord. Compositae- Eupatoriaceae, De Candolle; Asteraceae, Lindley. Gen. Ch. Receptacle naked. Pappus simple. Calyx scales equal, as long as the disk, submembranaceous. Florets of the ray ligulate or toothless. Willd. Tussilago Farfara. Willd. Sp. Plant, iii. 1967; Woodv. Med, Bot, p. 45, t. 18. Coltsfoot is a perennial herb, with a creeping root, which early in the spring sends up several leafless, erect, simple, imifloral scapes or flower-stems, five or six inches high, and furnished with appressed scale-like bractes of a brownish-pink colour. The flower, which stands singly at the end of the scape, is large, yellow, compound, with hermaphrodite florets in the disk, and female florets in the ray. The latter are numerous, linear, and twice the length of the former. The leaves do not make their appearance until after the flowers have blown. They are radical, petiolate, large, cordate, angular and toothed at the margin, bright green upon their upper surface, white and downy beneath. The plant grows spontaneously both in Europe and North America. In this country it is found upon the banks of streams in the Middle and Northern States, and flowers in April. The whole of it is directed by the London Col- lege, the leaves and flowers only by that of Dublin. The leaves are most frequently employed. They should be gathered after their full expansion, but before they have attained their greatest magnitude. (London Dispensatory. The flowers have an agreeable odour, which they retain after desiccation. The dried root and leaves are inodorous, but have a rough, bitterish, mucila- ginous taste. Boiling water extracts all their virtues. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Coltsfoot exercises little sensible influence upon the human system. It is, however, demulcent, and is sometimes used in chronic coughs, consumption, and other affections of the lungs. The ex- pectorant properties which it was formerly thought to possess are not obvious. The leaves were smoked by the ancients in pulmonary complaints; and in some parts of Germany they are at the present time said to be substituted for tobacco. Cullen states that he found the expressed juice of the fresh leaves, taken to the extent of some ounces every • day, beneficial in several cases of scrofulous sores; and a decoction of the dried leaves, as recommended by Fuller, answered a similar purpose, though it often failed to effect a cure. The usual form of administration is that of decoction. An ounce or two of the plant may be boiled in two pints of water to a pint, of which a teacup- ful may be given several times a day. W. 726 Ulmus. PART I. ULMUS. Lond. Elm Bark. "Ulmus campestris." Cortex. Lond, Off. Syn. ULMUS CAMPESTRIS. Cortex interior. Dub. Ecorce d'orme, Fr.,■ Uimenrinde, Germ.; Scorza del olma, Ital; Corteza de olmo, Span. Ulmus. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Digynia.—Nat. Ord. Ulmaceas. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla none. Capsule (samara) compressed, membranaceous. Willd. Ulmus campestris. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1324; Woodv. 31ed. Bot. p. 710, t. 242. This species of elm is characterized by its doubly serrate leaves, un- equal at their base, by its nearly sessile, clustered, pentandrous flowers, and its smooth fruit. It is a large tree, with strong spreading branches, and a rough, cracked bark. It is a native of Europe, where the wood is highly esteemed for certain purposes in the arts. The inner bark of its young branches, which is the officinal portion, is thin, tough, of a brownish-yellow colour, inodorous, and of a mucilaginous, bitter- ish, and very slightly astringent taste. It imparts to water its taste and mu- cilaginous properties. Thetincture of iodine indicates the presence of starch, and Davy found somewhat more than two per cent, of tannin. A peculiar vegetable principle called ulmin or ulmic acid, now believed to be a consti- tuent of most barks, was first discovered in the matter which, spontaneously exudes from the bark of the European elm. It is a dark-brown almost black substance, without smell or taste, insoluble in cold water, sparingly soluble in boiling water which it colours yellowish-brown, soluble in alcohol, and readily dissolved by alkaline solutions. 31edical Properties and Uses. The bark of the European elm is demul- cent, and very feebly tonic and astringent, and is said also to be diuretic. It has been recommended in cutaneous affections of the leprous character. Dr. Sigmond speaks in strong terms of its efficacy in all the varieties of lepra, in lichenous eruptions, and in tinea capitis, employed both internally and ex- ternally. (3Iedico.-Bot. Trans., i. 169.) It is usually given in the form of decoction, and in chronic cases must be long continued to produce beneficial results. Off. Prep. Decoctum Ulmi, Lond., Dub. W. ULMUS. U.S. Slippery Elm Bark. " The inner bark of Ulmus fulva." U. S. Ulmus. See ULMUS. Lond. Ulmus fulva. Michaux, Flor. Americ. i. 172.— Ulmus rubra. F. Andrew Michaux, N. Am. Sylv. iii. 89. The slippery elm, called also red elm, is a lofty tree, rising fifty or sixty feet in height, with a stem fifteen or twenty inches in diameter. The bark of the trunk is brown, that of the branches rough and whitish. The leaves are oblong ovate, acuminate, nearly equal at the base, unequally serrate, pubescent and very rough on both sides, four or five inches in length by two or three in breadth, and supported on short foot- stalks. The buds, a fortnight before their developement, are covered with a dense russet down. The flowers, which appear before the leaves, are sessile, PART I. Ulmus. — Uva Passa. 727 and in clusters at the extremity of the young shoots. The bunches of flowers are surrounded by scales, which are downy like the buds. The calyx also is downy. There is no corolla. The stamens are five in number, short, and of a pale rose colour. The fruit is a membranaceous capsule or samara, enclos- ing in the middle one round seed, destitute of fringe. This species of elm is indigenous, growing in all parts of the United States north of Carolina, but most abundantly west of the Alleghany mountains. It flourishes in open, elevated situations, and requires a firm, dry soil. From the ichite elm, U Americana, it is distinguished by its rough branches, its larger, thicker, and rougher leaves, its downy buds, and the character of its flowers and seeds. Its period of flowering is in April. The inner bark is the part used in medicine, and is brought to the shops separated from the epidermis. It is in long, nearly flat pieces, from one to two lines in thickness, of a fibrous texture, a tawny colour which is reddish on the inner surface, a pecu- liar sweetish, not unpleasant odour, and a highly mucilaginous taste when chewed. By grinding, it is reduced to a light, grayish-fawn-coloured powder. It abounds in mucilaginous matter, which it readily imparts to water. 3/edieal Properties and Uses. Slippery elm bark is an excellent demulcent, applicable to all cases in which this class of medicines is employed. It is especially recommended in dysentery, diarrhoea, and diseases of the urinary passages. Like the bark of the common European elm, it has been employed in cutaneous eruptions; but neither in these, nor in any other complaints, does it probably exert any greater powers than such as belong to the demul- cents generally. Its mucilage is highly nutritious; and we are told that it has proved sufficient for the support of life in the absence of other food. The instance of a soldier is mentioned, who lived for ten days in the woods on this bark and sassafras; and the Indians are said to resort to it for nutriment in extreme emergencies. It is usually employed as a drink in the form of infusion. (See Infusum Ulmi.) The powder may be used, stirred in hot water, with which it forms a mucilage, more or less thick according to the proportion added. The bark also serves as an emollient application in cases of external inflammation. For this purpose the powder may be formed into a poultice with hot water, or the bark itself may be applied, previously softened by boiling. Dr. McDowell, of Virginia, has recommended the use of slippery elm bark for the dilatation of fistulas and strictures. (Med. Examiner, i. 244, from the West. Journ. of 3Ied. and Phys. Sci.) Off. Prep. Infusum Ulmi, U. S. W. UVA PASSA. U.S. Raisins. " The dried fruit of Vitis vinifera." U. S. Of. S//u. UVA. Vitis vinifera. Baccve exsiccatse dempfis acinis. Loud,; UYl-E PASS.E. Dried fruit of Vitis vinifera. Ed.; VITIS VINIFERA. Fructus siccatus. Dub. Raisins sees, Fr.; Rosinen, Germ.; Uve passe, Ital; Pasas, Span. Vitis. Sex. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Vitaceae. Gen. Ch. P'etals cohering at the apex, withering. Berry five-seeded, su- perior. Willd. Vitis vinifera. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 1180; Woodv. Med. Bot. p. 144, t. 57. The vine is too well known to require description. This particular spe- 728 Uva Passa. part I. cies is distinguished by the character of its leaf, which is lobed, sinuated, and naked or downy. The leaves and tendrils are somewhat astringent, and were formerly used in diarrhoea, hemorrhages, and other morbid discharges. The juice which flows from the stem was also thought to be possessed of medicinal virtues, and the prejudice still lingers among the vulgar in some countries. The unripe fruit has a harsh sour taste, and yields by expression a very acid liquor, called verjuice, which was much esteemed by the ancients as a refresh- ing drink, when diluted with water. It contains malic and tartaric acids, and another called by some chemists racemic acid, by Berzelius paratartaric acid, from its resemblance to the tartaric, with which it agrees in composition, though differing from it in properties. The grape, when quite ripe, is among the most pleasant and grateful fruits brought upon the table, and is admirably adapted, by its refreshing properties, to febrile complaints. If largely taken, it proves diuretic and gently laxative. The ripe fruit differs from the unripe in containing more sugar and less acid, though never entirely destitute of the latter. The plant is supposed to have been derived originally from Asia; but it has been cultivated in Europe and Northern Africa from the remotest antiquity, and is now spread over all the temperate civilized regions of the globe. The fruit is exceedingly influenced by soil and climate, and the vari- eties which have resulted from culture or situation are innumerable. Those which yield the raisins of commerce are confined to the basin of the Medi- terranean. Raisins are prepared either by partially cutting the stalks of the bunches before the grapes are perfectly ripe, and allowing them to dry upon the vine; or by picking them in their mature state, and steeping them for a ^hort time previously to desiccation in an alkaline ley. Those cured by the first method are most highly esteemed. Several varieties of raisins are known in commerce. The best of those brought to this country are the 3Ialaga raisins, imported from Spain. They are large and fleshy, of a purplish-brown colour, and sweet agreeable taste. Those produced in Calabria are similar. The Smyrna raisins are also large, but of a yellowish-brown colour, slightly musky odour, and less agreeable flavour. They are originally brought from the coast of Syria. The Corin- thian raisins, or currants as they are commonly called in this country, are small, bluish-black, of a fatty appearance, with a vinous odour, and a sweet slightly tartish taste. Their name was derived from the city in the vicinity of which they were formerly cultivated; at present they are procured chiefly from Zante, Cephalonia, and the other Ionian Islands. In the older Phar- macopoeias they are distinguished by the title of uvse passse minores. Raisins contain a larger proportion of sugar than recent grapes. This principle, indeed, is often so abundant that it effloresces on the surface, or concretes in separate masses within the substance of the raisin. The sugar of grapes differs slightly from that of the cane, and is said to be identical with that produced by the action of sulphuric acid upon starch. It is less sweet than common sugar, less soluble in cold water, much less soluble in alcohol, and forms a syrup of less consistence. 31edical Properties and, Uses. The chief medical use of raisins is to flavour demulcent beverages. Taken in substance they are gently laxative; but are also flatulent and difficult of digestion, and, when largely eaten, sometimes produce unpleasant effects, especially in children. Off. Prep. Decoctum Althaeae, Dub., Ed.; Decoctum Guaiaci, Ed.; De- coctum Hordei Compositum, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Cardamomi Com- posita, Lond., Ed.; Tinctura Quassiae Comp., Ed.; Tinctura Rhei et Sennae, U. S.; Tinctura Sennae Comp., Lond., Ed. W. part I. Uva Ursi. 729 UVA URSI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Uva Ursi. " The leaves of Arbutus Uva Ursi." U. S. " Arctostaphylos Uva ursi. Folia." Loud, "Leaves of Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi." Ed. "Arbutus Uva Ursi. Folia." Dub. Busserole, Raisin d'ours, Fr.; Barentraube, Germ.; Corbezzolo, Uva Ursina, Ital.; Gayuba, Span. Arbutus. Sex. Syst. Decandria Monogynia.—Nat. Ord. Ericaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx five-parted. Corolla ovate, with a mouth, pellucid at the base. Berry five-celled. Willd, Arbutus Uva Ursi. Willd. Sp. Plant, ii. 618; Bigelow, Am. Med. Bot, i. 6G.—Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi. Sprengel, Syst. ii. 287.—The uva ursi, or bearbcrry, is a low evergreen shrub, with trailing stems, the young branches of which rise obliquely upwards for a few inches. The leaves are scattered, upon short petioles, obovate, acute at the base, entire, with a rounded margin, thick, coriaceous, smooth, shining, of a deep green colour on their upper surface, paler and covered with a network of veins beneath. The flowers, which stand on short reflexed peduncles, are collected in small clusters at the ends of the branches. The calyx is small, five-parted, of a reddish colour, and persistent. The corolla is ovate or urceolate, reddish-white, or white with a red lip, transparent at the base, contracted at the mouth, and divided at the margin into five short reflexed segments. The stamens are ten, with short filaments and bifid anthers; the germ round, with a style longer than the stamens, and a simple stigma. The fruit is a small, round, depressed, smooth, glossy, red berry, containing an insipid mealy pulp, and five cohering seeds. This humble but hardy shrub inhabits the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America. It is also found in the lofty mountains of Southern Europe, such as the Pyrenees and the Alps; and, on the American continent, extends from Hudson's Bay as far southward as New Jersey, in some parts of which it grows in great abundance. It prefers a barren soil, flourishing on gravelly hills, and elevated sandy plains. The leaves are the only part used in medi- cine. They are imported from Europe; but are also collected within our own limits; and the market of Philadelphia is supplied to a considerable extent from New Jersey. They should be gathered in autumn, and the green leaves only selected. In Europe the uva ursi is often adulterated with the leaves of the Vac- cinium Vitis Idsea, which are wholly destitute of its peculiar properties, and may be distinguished by their rounder shape, their revolute edges which are sometimes slightly toothed, and the appearance of their under surface, which is dotted, instead of being reticulated as in the genuine leaves. Leaves of the Chimaphila umbellata are sometimes found among the uva ursi as it exists in our markets. They may be readily detected by their greater length, their cuneiform lanceolate shape, and their serrate edges. The leaves of the uva ursi are inodorous when fresh, but acquire a smell not unlike that of hay when dried and powdered. Their taste is bitterish, strongly astringent, and ultimately sweetish. They afford a light-brown, greenish-yellow powder. Water extracts their active principles, which are also soluble in officinal alcohol. Among their ingredients are tannin, bitter extractive, resin, gum, and gallic acid;. and the tannin is so abundant that they are used for tanning in some parts of Russia. Neither this principle nor gallic acid exists in the leaves of the Vaccinium Vitis Idsea, 730 Uva Ursi. — Valeriana. part i. Medical Properties and Uses. Uva ursi is astringent and tonic, and is thought by some to have a specific direction to the urinary organs, for the complaints of which it is chiefly used. Others deny that it possesses any peculiar tend' ncy of this kind, and ascribe all its effects to its astringent and tonic action. It alters the colour of the urine, and its astringent principle has been detected in that secretion. It probably, therefore, exerts a direct influ- ence on the kidneys and urinary passages. Though known to the ancients, it had passed into almost entire neglect, till its use was revived by De Haen about the middle of the last century. It has acquired some reputation as an antilithic, and has undoubtedly been serviceable in gravel, partly, perhaps, by a direct action on the kidneys, partly by giving tone to the digestive organs, and preventing the accumulation of principles calculated to produce a secretion or precipitation of calculous matter. In chronic nephritis it is also a popular remedy, and is particularly recommended when there is reason to conjecture the existence of ulceration in the kidneys, bladder, or urinary passages. Dia- betes, catarrh of the bladder, incontinence of urine, gleet, leucorrhcea, and menorrhagia, are also among the diseases in which it has occasionally proved serviceable; and testimony is not wanting to its beneficial effects in phthisis pulmonalis. The dose of the powder is from a scruple to a drachm, to be repeated three or four times a day; but the form of decoction is usually pre- ferred. , (See Decoctum Uvse Ursi.) Off. Prep. Decoctum Uvae Ursi, U. S., Lond.; Extraetum Uvae Ursi, Lond. W. VALERIANA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Valerian. "The root of Valeriana officinalis." U.S., Ed. "Valeriana Officinalis. (Sylvestris.) Radix." Lond. Off. Syn. VALERIANA OFFICINALIS. Radix. Dub. Valeriane, Fr.; Wilde Baldrianwurzel, Germ.; Valeriana silvestre, Ital; Valerian sil- vestre, Span. Valeriana. Sex. Syst. Triandria Monogynia.—A^at. Ord. Valerianaceae. Gen. Ch. Calyx very small, finally enlarged into a feathery pappus. Co- rolla monopetalous, five-lobed, regular, gibbous at the base. Capsule one-celled. (Loudon's Encyc. of Plants.) Stamens exserted, one, two, three, and four. (Nuttall.) Valeriana officinalis. Willd. Sp. Plant, i. 177 ; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot. p. 77, t. 32. The officinal, or great wild valerian is a large handsome herbaceous plant, with a perennial root, and an erect, round, channeled stem, from two to four feet high, furnished with opposite pinnate leaves, and terminating in flowering branches. The leaves of the stem are attached by short broad sheaths, the radical leaves are larger and stand on long footstalks. In the former the leaflets are lanceolate and partially dentate, in the latter elliptical and deeply serrate. The flowers are small, white or rose-coloured, agreeably odorous, and disposed in terminal corymbs, interspersed with pear-shaped pointed bractes. The number of stamens is three. The fruit is a capsule containing one oblong ovate, compressed seed. The plant is a native of Europe, where it grows either in damp woods and meadows, or on dry elevated grounds. As found in these different situations, it presents characters so distinct as to have induced some botanists to make two varieties. Dufresne makes four, of which three prefer marshy situations. The variety which affects a dry soil (sylvestris, L. Ph.) is not more than two PART I. Valeriana. 731 feet high, and is distinguished by its narrow leaves. It is superior to the others in medicinal virtue. The root, which is the officinal portion, is collected in spring before the stem begins to shoot, or in the autumn when the leaves decay. It should be dried quickly, and kept in a dry place. It consists of numerous long, slender, cylindrical fibres, issuing from a tuberculated head or rhizoma. As brought to this country it frequently has portions of the stem attached. The best comes from England. Properties. The colour of the root is externally yellowish or brown, in- ternally white. The powder is yellowish-gray. The odour, which in the fresh root is slight, in the dried is strong and highly characteristic, and, though rather pleasant to many persons, is very disagreeable to others. Cats are said to be strongly attracted by it. The taste is at first sweetish, after- wards bitter and aromatic. Valerian yields its active properties to water and alcohol. Trommsdorff found it to consist of 1-2 parts of volatile oil; 12-5 of a peculiar extractive matter, soluble in water, insoluble in ether and alcohol, and precipitated by metallic solutions; 18-75 of gum; 6-25 of a soft odorous resin; and 63 of lignin. Of these constituents the most important is the essential oil, in which the virtues of the root chiefly reside. It is of a pale greenish colour, of the sp. gr. 0-934, with a pungent odour of valerian, and an aromatic taste. It becomes yellow and viscid by exposure. Trommsdorff ascertained that it contains a peculiar volatile acid, upon which the name of valerianic acid has been conferred. This, when separated from the oil, is a colourless liquid, of an oleaginous consistence, having an odour analogous to that of valerian, and a very strong, sour, disagreeable taste. It is soluble in thirty parts of water, and in all proportions in ether and alcohol. It combines with salifiable bases, forming soluble salts, which retain, in a diminished degree, the odour of the acid. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 316.) From the ex- periments of MM. Cozzi and Thirault, it would appear that the acid does not pre-exist in the root, but results from the oxidation of the volatile oil. (Ibid., 3e sir., xii. 162.) Valerianic acid is obtained by distilling the impure oil from carbonate of magnesia, decomposing by sulphuric acid the valerianate of mag- nesia which remains, and again distilling. M. Rabourdin, of Orleans, believing that a large proportion of the valerianic acid remains fixed in the root by union with a base, and does not come over by distillation alone, procures it by adding sulphuric acid to the root with a sufficient quantity of water, dis- tilling, separating the oil, saturating the liquor with carbonate of soda, evapo- rating, adding a slight excess of sulphuric acid, and again distilling. (Ibid., vi. 310.) The following process by Messrs. T. and H. Smith, of Edinburgh, avoids the inconvenience of distilling so bulky a root as valerian, while it answers the same purpose as that of M. Rabourdin. Boil the root for three or four hours with rather more than its bulk of water, in which an ounce of carbonate of soda is dissolved for every pound of the root, replacing the water as it evaporates. Express strongly, and boil the residuum twice with the same quantity of water, expressing each time as before. Mix the liquids, add two fluidrachms of strong sulphuric acid for every pound of the root, and distil till three-fourths of the liquid have passed over. Neutralize this with car- bonate of soda, concentrate the liquid, decompose the valerianate of soda con- tained in it by sulphuric acid, and separate the valerianic acid now set free, either by a separatory, or by distillation. (See Am. Journ, of Pharm., xvii. 253.) A similar process was also proposed by Mr. Procter, of Philadelphia. (Ibid., xvii. 3.) 31. J. Lefort proposes to obtain the acid by the rapid oxida- tion of the volatile oil. His plan is to distil 100 parts of the root with 500 of water, 10 of sulphuric acid, and 6 of bichromate of potassa. In this way 732 Valeriana. — Veratrum Album. parti. he has procured a larger proportion of acid than by any other process. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., x. 194.) The roots of the Valeriana Phu and V. dioica are said to be sometimes mingled with those of the officinal plant; but the adulteration is attended with no serious consequences; as, though much weaker than the genuine valerian, they possess similar properties. The same cannot be said of the roots of several of the Ranunculacese, which, according to Ebermayer, are sometimes fraudulently substituted in Germany. They may be readily detected by their want of the peculiar odour of the officinal root. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Valerian is gently stimulant, with an espe- cial direction to the nervous system, but without narcotic effect. In large doses it produces a sense of heaviness and dull pain in the head, with various other effects indicating nervous disturbance. It is useful in cases of irregular nervous action, when not connected with inflammation, or an excited condition of the system. Among the complaints in which it has been particularly re- commended are hysteria, hypochondriasis, epilepsy, hemicrania, and low forms of fever attended with restlessness, morbid vigilance, or other nervous disorder. It has also been used in intermittents, combined with Peruvian bark. At best, however, it is an uncertain remedy. It may be given in powder or infusion. In the latter form, it is said by Professor Joerg of Leipsic, who has experi- mented with it, to be less apt to irritate the alimentary canal than when ad- ministered in substance. The dose of the powder is from thirty to-ninety grains, repeated three or four times a day. The tincture is also officinal. As the virtues of valerian reside chiefly in the volatile oil, the medicine should not be given in decoction or extract. The distilled water is used on the con- tinent of Europe; and the volatile oil is occasionally substituted With advan- tage for the root. The dose of the oil is four or five drops. Off. Prep. Infusum Valerianae, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Valerianae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Valerianae Ammoniata, U. S., Loud., Ed., Dub. W. VERATRUM ALBUM. U.S. White Hellebore. " The rhizoma of Veratrum album." U. S. Off. Syn. VERATRU31. Veratrum album. Radix. Lond.; VERATRU3I. Rhizoma of Veratrum album. Ed.; VERATRU3I ALBU3I. Radix. Dub. Ellebore blanc, Fr.; Weisse Niesswurzel, Germ.; Eleboro bianco, Ital; Veratro bianco, Span. Veratrum. Sex. Syst. Polygamia 3Ionoccia.—Nat. Ord, 3Ielanthaceae. Gen. Ch. Hermaphrodite. Calyxnone. OWfosix-petaled. Stamens six. Pistils three. Capsules three, many-seeded. Male. Calyx none. Corolla six- petaled. Stamens six. Pistils a rudiment. Willd. Botanists who reject the class Polygamia of Linnaeus, place this genus in the class and order Hexandria Trigynid, with the following character. "Poly- gamous. Corolla six-parted, spreading, segments sessile and without glands. Stamens inserted upon the receptacle. Capsules three, united, many-seeded." Nuttall. Veratrum album. Willd. Sp. Plant, iv. 895; Woodv. 3Ied. Bot, p. 754, t. 257. This is an herbaceous plant, with a perennial, fleshy, fusiform root or rhizoma, yellowish-white externally, pale yellowish-gray within, and beset with long cylindrical fibres of a grayish colour, which constitute the true root. The stem is three or four feet high, thick, round, erect, and furnished with alter- PART I. Veratrum Album. 733 nate leaves, which are oval, acute, entire, plaited longitudinally, about ten inches long by five in breadth, of a yellowish-green colour, and embrace the stem at their base. The flowers are greenish, and arranged in a terminal panicle. The white hellebore is a native of the mountainous regions of continental Europe, and abounds in the Alps and Pyrenees. All parts of the plant are said to be acrid and poisonous; but the root (rhizoma) only is officinal. This is brought to us from Germany in the dried state, in pieces from one to three inches long by an inch or less in mean diameter, cylindrical or in the shape of a truncated cone, internally whitish, externally blackish, wrinkled, and rough with the remains of the fibres which have been cut off near their origin. Sometimes the fibres continue attached to the root. They are numerous, yellowish, and of the size of a crow's quill. White hellebore deteriorates by keeping. Properties. The fresh root has a disagreeable odour, which is lost by drying. The taste is at first sweetish, afterwards bitterish, acrid, burning, and durable. The powdered root is grayish. Analyzed by Pelletier and Caventou, white hellebore was found to contain an oily matter consisting of olein, stearin, and a volatile acid; supergallate of veratria, a yellow colour- ing matter, starch, gum, lignin, silica, and various salts of lime and potassa. The medicinal properties of the root reside in the veratria, which was first discovered in the seeds of Veratrum Sabadilla, and probably exists in other plants belonging to the same family. For an account of veratria, see Saba* dilla, p. 610, and the article Veratria among the preparations. Simon believed that he had found two new vegetable alkalies in white nellebore, one of which was named barytina, from being precipitated, like baryta, from its solution in acetic or phosphoric acid by sulphuric acid or the sulphates; the other jervina, from the Spanish name for a poison obtained from the root of white hellebore. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1837, p. 191.) 3ledic6 Dispensing of Medicines. part ii. instantly closed, and the cork covered with sealing wax. The hotter the liquid and the freer from air bubbles, the better will the infusion be preserved. The neutral mixture is known to be saturated perfectly, when it does not affect litmus paper either in its blue state or when reddened by acid. For preparing this and the effervescing draught, it is advisable to keep in the shop a solution of carbonate of potassa, containing an ounce to the pint. The silica which this salt contains precipitates after a few weeks, and leaves a per- fectly clear solution; whereas that prepared at the time it is to be used always becomes turbid after being saturated. The carbonic acid, extricated in the pre- paration of the neutral mixture, combines at first, without effervescence, with the remaining carbonate and forms a bisalt. This circumstance may lead, un- less the solution be tested, to the supposition that the mixture is saturated. Powders are often mixed together with difficulty, by means of a pestle and mortar, on account of their differing greatly in weight, or of their soft- ness and compressibility. In these cases, frequent stirring with a pallet knife becomes necessary to pro- duce a perfect mixture. In dividing powders into doses, it is very desirable to fold the packages neatly and of a uniform size. The powder folder represented in the figure is very useful for this purpose. It may be made of mahogany or other hard wood. It is important to the apothecary to ascertain the best means of combining substances which have no affinity for each other. This can often be done by means of a third substance. Water can be saturated with camphor by means of carbonate of magnesia, and an aqueous mixture of any strength may be made with it, by triturating the camphor with magnesia and shaking the mix- ture before using it. Camphor softens the gum-resins and solid fats and oils, and may be rendered permanently miscible with water, in considerable quan- tity, by trituration with a fifth part of myrrh. In preparing oily emulsions in which gum Arabic or gum and sugar are the medium, a sufficient quan- tity of water must be added to convert them into a thick mucilage before adding the oil, which must then be thoroughly mixed with it, and the re- maining water added gradually with great care. Sulphuric ether is rendered more soluble in water by trituration with spermaceti. The mixture should be filtered to separate the superfluous spermaceti. Mixtures that contain the resinous tinctures, should also contain syrup, with which the tincture should first be mixed, and the water then added very gradually. If a mix- ture contains laudanum and a fixed oil, the former should be first mixed with the syrup, and the oil afterwards incorporated, and lastly the water. The mixture will not otherwise be uniform. In ordering pills, care must be taken to avoid the use of deliquescent salts, and to deprive those which are efflorescent of their water of crystalli- zation. The mass must be thoroughly incorporated previously to being divided; and this is particularly important when extracts of different degrees of hardness enter into the composition. A section of the mass should be throughout of uniform colour and consistency. Pills are to be rolled and preserved in powdered liquorice root, which ought to be kept for use in a tin box with a perforated lid, like a pepper-box. When pills are of too soft a consistence, a little liquorice powder may be incorporated with them to render them more firm. Pills, into the composition of which gum Arabic enters, should be softened with syrup and not with water, as the latter renders the mass difficult to roll. The proper cleanliness of his vessels is an object of great importance to the apothecary. Open vessels, as mortars and measures, are easily cleansed, and part ii. Dispensing of Medicines. 767 should be wiped dry immediately after being washed. Fats and resins are easily removed by pearlash, or tow and damp ashes, or sand. Red precipitate and other metallic substances may be removed by a little nitric or muriatic acid. Bottles may be cleansed from the depositions which accumulate on their sides and bottom from long use in the shop, by a few shreds of grocers' paper and a little clean water. They are to be shaken so as to give the paper and water a centrifugal motion, which effectually removes the dirt from the sides. They may be freed from oil by means of a little strong nitric acid, after the action of which, water will thoroughly clean them. Long.sticks, with sponge or dry cloth at the end, should be provided for wiping dry the interior of flasks and bottles.* A wire, bent at the end into a sort of hook, will be found useful for getting corks out of bottles. A loop of twine will also be found a very con- venient means of effecting the same object. When the glass stopper of a bottle is fast, it may often be loosened by gently tapping its sides alternately with the handle of a pallet knife. Sometimes a drop or two of oil, alcohol, or water, will soften or dissolve the cementing substance. It will sometimes answer to wrap the stopper in a cloth, insert it in a crevice or hole in a table or door, and twist the bottle gently and dexterously. Sometimes the stopper may be loosened by quickly expanding the neck in the flame of a lamp, and tapping the stopper before the heat has reached it. When the stopper of a bottle containing caustic alkali adheres in consequence of the neck not having been wiped thoroughly dry, it is almost impossible to loosen it, and the neck must be cut off. The apothecary should be provided with pallet knives of wood, bone, and horn, as well as of steel. It should be an invariable rule to clean every knife and graduated measure immediately after it is used, and to put the dirty mor- tars apart from those which are clean. Too much particularity and order in all the minute details of the shop cannot be practised. The counters and scales should be cleaned once a day, and brushed as often as they become dusty. The bottles should be replaced as soon after being taken down and used as possible, and should on no account be changed from their accustomed place on the shelf. For the proper preservation of leaves, flowers, aromatic powders, calomel, and other medicines to which light is injurious, the bottles should be coated with tin foil or black varnish. No apothecary should be destitute of a set of troy weights; as without them he will find it difficult to comply with the officinal directions for the prepara- tion of his medicines. In dispensing medicines, no vial or parcel should be suffered to leave the shop without its appropriate label; and this, in the case of prescriptions, should always be the physician's direction as to the manner of taking it, and not the name of the medicine, unless it be so directed by him. The prescription or a copy of it should be retained and numbered, and the same number marked on the bottle or parcel. Every thing connected with the shop, and the dispensing and putting up of medicines and parcels, should be characterized by neatness, accuracy, system, and competent knowledge. The apprentice who desires to qualify himself for his business should care- fully study Turner's Elements of Chemistry, and Faraday's invaluable treatise on Chemical Manipulation, which may be termed the hand-books of his pro- fession. D. B. S. * The odour of volatile oils, and other strong-smelling substances, such as musk, may be removed from bottles, mortars, &c, by means of the pulp of bitter almonds or peach kernels, bruised peach leaves, or other substances containing hydrocyanic acid. But fatty matters should first be removed by an alkaline solution, and resin by alcohol, (Journ. de Chim. Blvd., 1845, p. 535.) It is asserted that the powder of black mustard haa the same eflect. (Ibid., 2e ser., iii. 727.) 768 Cfeneral Officinal Directions. part ii. General Officinal Directions. As all the processes of the United States and British Pharmacopoeias are either described or fully detailed in the following pages, it is proper that the prefatory explanations of the several Pharmacopoeias should be introduced in this place, in order that the reader may be prepared to understand the precise signification of the terms employed. The Pharmacopoeias recognised in this work unite in the use of the troy or Apothecaries' pound, and its divisions of ounces, drachms, scruples, and grains, for the expression of weights. Upon this subject the United States Pharma- copoeia has the following note, to which the attention of Apothecaries is par- ticularly invited. " It is highly important that those engaged in preparing or dispensing medicines should be provided with Troy weights of all denomi- nations; but, when these are not to be had, the same end may be attained by calculating the Avoirdupois pound at 7000 Troy grains, and the Avoirdupois ounce at 437-5 grains, and making the Requisite allowance. Thus 42-5 grains added to the Avoirdupois ounce will make it equal to the Troy ounce, and 1240 grains deducted from the Avoirdupois pound will reduce it to the Troy pound." As the common weights of the country are the avoirdupois weights, and every apothecary is in possession of the lower denominations of the Apothecaries' weight, viz. grains, scruples, and drachms, there can be no difficulty in complying with the officinal directions. Both in the United States and British Pharmacopoeias, the quantity of fluids is generally indi- cated by the liquid measure, consisting of the gallon and its divisions of pints, fluidounces, fluidrachms, and minims. It is highly necessary that the apothe- cary should understand that this distinction is rigidly observed in all the details which follow, and that whenever the simple terms pound, ounce, and drachm are employed, they must be considered as belonging to the denomi- nation of troy weight. This caution is the more necessary, as these terms are often confounded with the corresponding divisions of liquid measure, viz. the pint, fluidounce, and fluidrachm. (See tables of weights and measures in the Appendix.) The London and Edinburgh Colleges, in the last edition of their Pharma- copoeias, have adopted the imperial gallon and its divisions, instead of the wine gallon which they before employed. In the United States and Dublin Pharmacopoeias the wine gallon is still retained. This discrepancy is very unfortunate, as no one denomination of the imperial measure corresponds exactly with the same denomination of the wine measure; and the formulae, therefore, of the London and Edinburgh Colleges, so far as measures are con- cerned, when they agree in terms with those of the United States and Dublin Pharmacopoeias, differ from them in reality; while in other cases, though dif- fering in terms, they may be quite or very nearly identical. It is very im- portant that the apothecary should bear this distinction in mind; and, when he has occasion to carry into effect one of the London or Edinburgh formulae, that he should make the due allowances. He will find, among the Tables in the Appendix of this work, a statement of the relative value of the several denominations of the imperial and wine measures, and by consulting this statement will be enabled to convert the former into the latter without diffi- culty. The measures kept in the shop should be graduated according to the divisions of the wine gallon; as this is recognised by our own officinal standard. In the Pharmacopceia of the United States, and in those of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges, when the specific gravity of a body is given, it is con- part ii. G-eneral Officinal Directions. 769 sidered to be at the temperature of 60° of Fahrenheit; in the London Phar- macopaia, at 62°. The United States and London Pharmacopoeias explain the term gentle heat as signifying a temperature between 90° and 100°. The Dublin Col- lege employs the terms superior, medium, and inferior heat, the first signify- ing a temperature between 200° -and 212°, the second between 100° and 200°, and the third between 90° and 100°. Fahrenheit's scale is referred to by all the officinal standards. Maceration, according to the Dublin College, is performed at a temperature between 60° and 90°, digestion at their u inferior heat." The London College directs that acid, alkaline, and metallic preparations, and salts of every kind, be kept in stopped glass bottles, which, for certain substances, should be of black or green glass; the Dublin College, that mor- tars, measures, funnels, and other vessels in which medicines are prepared, should be made of materials containing neither copper nor lead. Earthen vessels, glazed with lead, are therefore improper. Whenever, in the United States and, London Pharmacopoeias, an acid or an alkali is directed to be saturated, the point of saturation is to be ascer- tained by means of litmus or turmeric. For this purpose litmus or turmeric paper is usually employed, the latter being rendered brown by the alkalies, the former being reddened by the acids, and having its blue colour restored by the alkalies. (See Lacmus and Curcuma.) The London College directs that, unless otherwise ordered, bibulous paper should be used both for filter- ing liquors and drying crystals. Filtration by displacement, or Percolation. In relation to this process, the following directions are given in the United States Pharmacopceia. " The kind of filtration commonly called displacement, which is employed in many of the processes of this Pharmacopoeia, is to be effected in the following manner, unless otherwise specially directed. A hollow cylindrical instrument is to be used, somewhat conical towards the inferior extremity, having a funnel-shaped termination so as to admit of being inserted into the mouth of a bottle, and provided internally, near the lower end, with a transverse par- tition or diaphragm pierced with numerous minute holes, or, in the absence of such a partition, obstructed with some insoluble and inert substance, in such a manner that a liquid poured into the cylinder may percolate slowly. (Seepage 763.) The substance to be acted upon, having been reduced to a coarse powder, and mixed with enough of the menstruum to moisten it thoroughly, is, after a maceration of some hours, to be introduced into the instrument, and slightly compressed upon the diaphragm. Any portion of the macerating liquid which may not have been absorbed by the powder, is afterwards to be poured upon the mass in the instrument, and allowed to percolate. Sufficient of the menstruum is then to be gradually added to drive before it, or displace, the liquid contained in the mass; the portion introduced is in like manner to be displaced by another portion; and so on till the required quantity of filtered liquor is obtained. If the liquor which first passes should be turbid, it is to be again introduced into the instrument. Care must be taken that the powder be not, on the one hand, too coarse or loosely pressed, lest it should allow the liquid to pass too quickly, nor, on the other, too fine or compact, lest it should offer an unnecessary resistance. Should the liquor flow too rapidly, it is to be returned to the instrument, which is then to be closed beneath for a time, in order that the finer parts of the powder may subside, and thus cause a slower percolation." 49 770 Q-eneral Officinal Directions. part ii. The Edinburgh College gives directions for percolation under the head of Tinctures. According to that College, " the solid materials, usually in coarse or moderately fine powder, are moist- ened with a sufficiency of the solvent to form a thick pulp; in twelve hours, or frequently without any delay, the mass is put into a cylinder of glass, porcelain, or .tinned iron, open at both ends, but obstructed at the lower end by a piece of calico or linen, tied tightly over it as a filter (see figure in the margin); and the pulp being packed by pressure, varying as to degree with various articles, the remainder of the solvent is poured into the upper part of the cylin- der, and allowed gradually to percolate. In order to obtain the portion of the fluid which is kept in the residuum, an additional quantity of the solvent is poured into the cylinder, until the tincture which has passed through, equals in amount the spirit originally prescribed." The advantages of the process of percolation or displacement are, that the active soluble principles of medicinal substances are in general extracted by it more speedily, thoroughly, and economically than by any other mode; that concentrated solutions of these principles are more easily obtained; and that no portion of the impregnated menstruum need be lost by remaining in the solid mass. It is, however, liable to the objection, that considerable experience and skill are necessary to carry it properly into effect, and that, if improperly performed, it must often result in preparations very different from those contemplated in the formulae. It should not, therefore, be resorted to in the fulfilment of officinal directions, when any alternative is given, unless by individuals who have acquired the requisite skill by much practice. Hence, both the United States and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, when direct- ing displacement in any particular case, frequently give another mode of accomplishing the same object, better adapted to inexperience in the operator. The sources of failure in this process are chiefly an improper degree of comminution in the substance to be acted upon, and an improper condition of the mass after it has been introduced into the instrument. If the material be in too fine a powder, it resists or obstructs the passage of the fluid; if too coarse, it allows the fluid to pass too rapidly, and at the same time opposes its cohesion to the solvent power of the menstruum. If merely bruised, especially if fibrous pieces of some length are intermixed, it causes the fluid to make irregular channels, and thus to act upon it partially. An improper packing of the material occasions similar inconveniences. If too compact it impedes, if too loose it injuriously facilitates the passage of the solvent, and if not uniform, it produces an irregular flow which necessarily vitiates the result. The liquid, finding an easier passage at one part than another, flows more rapidly in that direction, and thus makes channels by which it may in great measure or wholly escape, with little influence upon the mass. Be- sides, the uniform progression by which each superadded portion displaces that immediately beneath it is broken, the successive layers become inter- mingled, and thus one of the peculiar advantages of the process is lost. The following observations may be of some use in assisting the operator to avoid these consequences. The solid material should in general be in the state of a uniform coarse powder, to which it is most conveniently brought by grinding in a common coffee-mill. If its texture, however, be very hard, firm, and not easily permeable by moisture, as in certain barks, woods, and ligneous roots, it should be rather finely powdered. If, on the contrary, the texture be loose and spongy, and especially if the material be disposed to swell up and form part ii. General Officinal Directions. 771 a viscid mass with water, so as to impede percolation, as in the case of gentian and squill, it may be advisable merely to bruise it in a mortar; though care should be taken to do this as equably as possible; and the sub- stances which require this treatment when water is used, may come under the general rule with another solvent, as alcohol or ether. It is generally advisable, before introducing the material into the instru- ment, to mix it with a portion of the solvent, and allow it to stand for some time in another vessel. It thus becomes more penetrable and more easily acted on by the menstruum, admits of a more uniform packing, and, if liable to swell with water, undergoes this expansion where it cannot have the effect of checking percolation. The quantity of liquid should be sufficient to form a soft pulp-like mass with the powder. In general, a weight about half that of the solid material will be sufficient, though a much larger quantity may be used, if on any account deemed advisable. The maceration may continue on the average about twelve hours; but a much shorter time will often answer. It has sometimes been recommended to perform this preliminary maceration in the displacement filter, its lower orifice being closed for a time. With some substances this may be done without disadvantage; but in all those in- stances in which the material is liable to swell considerably with water, and thus to choke the passage, the maceration should take place in another vessel. The packing of the material in the instrument is that part of the process which most requires experience in the operator, and about which the least precise rules can be given. When mixed with a considerable portion of fluid, it will often subside of itself into the proper state; but generally it requires some shaking or pressure, and the degree of the latter must be in proportion to the looseness of texture in the material; reference, however, being always had to its disposition to swell with water. Certain substances in which this property is found, such as gentian and rhubarb, must not be pressed com- pactly, when water is the solvent. As the percolation advances, and portions -of the substance acted on are dissolved, the mass often becomes too loose, and requires to be again pressed down. Substances which are apt to form with the menstruum an adhesive and impermeable mass, such as the resins and gum-resins, may be advantageously mixed, in the state of coarse powder, with about half their weight of perfectly clean white sand, as suggested by the late Mr. Duhamel. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., x. 15.) The sand separates the particles of the mass, and allows the menstruum a readier access. After the moistened material has been properly packed, the upper surface should be made quite level, and then covered with a circular disk of tin or filtering paper pierced with numerous minute holes; and, if the disk be of' paper, it should be kept in its place by pieces of glass rod. The solvent is thus made to enter into the mass equably, and prevented from forming par- tial passages by bearing upon one or a few points. The liquid is now to be introduced in successive portions, as stated in the officinal directions above given, and in the general account of the process given at page 763. The fluid which first passes is generally turbid. This should be returned into the instrument; and the same thing should be done with the portions which pass successively, until the liquid comes away perfectly clear. If the percolation be too rapid, pressure may be made upon the upper diaphragm so as to render the mass more compact, or the instrument may be closed below for a time, as stated in the officinal directions. Hence the advantage of hav- ing a stop-cock near the lower end for regulating the discharge. When the percolation is too slow, it may be increased by the pressure of a column of liquid, and this plan may sometimes be advantageously resorted to when the powder is very fine, or large masses of material are operated upon. (See page 772 G-eneral Officinal Directions. part ii. 763.) When the object is to keep up a constant supply of the percolating fluid, it may be accomplished by filling a long-necked bottle or matrass with the fluid, and inverting it over the filtering instrument, with its mouth be- neath the surface of the liquid in the latter. Hot liquids may be used in the process as well as cold, and are sometimes preferable when the substance yields its active principles more largely at an elevated temperature. But there is often an inconvenience in employing hot water; as it dissolves or renders glutinous substances not affected by cold water, which are not requisite, and may even be injurious in the preparation, and which tend to embarrass the process by filling up the interstices of the mass, and thus rendering it less permeable. The first portion of filtered liquid is very strongly impregnated, and the portions which subsequently come away, are successively less so. It is some- times desirable to obtain the whole of the particular solvent employed. This end may be very nearly attained by adding, at the close of the process, enough of another liquid to supply the place of that retained in the mass. It was Boullay's idea that the whole of the liquid contained in the moist material might be thus driven out of it or displaced by the one added, without any admixture of the two. This, however, has been ascertained not to be exactly true; and, however carefully the process may be conducted, some mixture will take place. Hence, it is recommended, when one liquid is added in order to displace another, to introduce first a shallow layer of the same liquid with that contained in the mass. In some instances, the solvent, if consisting of two liquids, is resolved into these in the process. Thus, when myrrh is sub- jected to percolation with proof spirit, the first liquid which comes away is alcohol holding the oil and resin of the myrrh in solution. There are very few substances to which the mode of filtration by displace- ment will not be found applicable, if due attention be paid to the circum- stances which require variations in the process. Distillation. In the preface to the last edition of the Edinburgh Pharma-' copceia, the following remarks are made in relation to this process. " In the process of distillation, complete success cannot be easily attained, especially on the small scale, without the substitution of a different apparatus for the retort and receiver commonly used. In all operations, except where inorganic acids are to be distilled, it is greatly preferable to use a globular matrass (a), to which is fitted with a cork a tube (6c), cut obliquely at its lower end (6), curved above at a somewhat acute angle, and fitted at the other end to a re- frigeratory. This refrigeratory consists of a long narrow cylinder (df) slightly inclined to the horizon, and of a tube (ce) which passes along the centre of the cylinder, and is fixed at each end, so that the space between them is air- tight- and by means of a funnel (gh) entering at the lower end of this inter- PART II. Aceta. 773 space, and an exit tube (di) from its upper extremity, a stream of cold water may be kept constantly running, by which refrigeration and the condensation of vapours within the inner tube are far more effectually accomplished than by any other mode that has hitherto been devised." The object of the oblique ending of the tube at b, is to prevent any of the fluid which may be driven against it, during the ebullition, from passing along the tube. The inner tube of the refrigeratory should be made of glass or block-tin, the outer may consist of glass, brass, copper, or common tinned iron. The end e of the central tube is either straight, or curved downward so that it may be inserted into a bottle, when the liquid distilled is very volatile. By connecting the funnel with a cistern by means of a syphon, and allowing the water to flow out from the bent tube di into a bucket or sink, the distillation may be al- lowed to go on for a long time without supervision. Dr. Christison states that a refrigeratory, with the outer tube a foot long, and an inch and a quarter in diameter, will be sufficient to condense the whole vapour from a matrass holding two pints of alcohol briskly boiling. W. ACETA. Vinegars. Under this title, in the United States Pharmacopoeia, are included both Distilled Vinegar and those preparations usually denominated Medicated Vinegars. The latter are infusions or solutions of various medicinal sub- stances in vinegar or acetic acid. The advantage of vinegar as a menstruum is that, in consequence of the acetic acid which it contains, it will dissolve substances not readily soluble, or altogether insoluble, in water alone. It is an excellent solvent of the organic alkalies, which it converts into acetates, thereby modifying, in some measure, though not injuriously, the action of the medicines of which they are ingredients. As ordinary vinegar contains prin- ciples which promote its decomposition, it should be purified by distillation before being used as a solvent. Infusions prepared with it, even in this state, are apt to spoil in a short time; and a portion of alcohol is usually added to contribute to their preservation. A small quantity of acetic ether is said to result from this addition; and, on the continent of Europe, the place of the alcohol is frequently supplied by an equal amount of concentrated acetic acid. In consequence of their liability to change, the medicated vinegars should be made in small quantities, and kept but for a short time. W. ACETUM DESTILLATUM. U.S., Lond., Ed.; Acetum Dis- tillatum. Dub. Distilled Vinegar. " Take of Vinegar a gallon. Distil the Vinegar, by means of a sand-bath, from a glass retort into a glass receiver. Discontinue the process when seven pints shall have been distilled, and keep these for use." U. S. The London process is the same as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The Edinburgh process is as follows. "Take of Vinegar (French by preference) eight parts: distil over with a gentle heat, seven parts: dilute the product, if necessary, with distilled water till the density is 1-005." The Dublin Col- lege distils wine vinegar. The first tenth which comes over is rejected, the next seven-tenths are the "distilled vinegar," having the sp. gr. 1005, and two-tenths are left behind in the retort. Vinegar is a very heterogeneous liquid, containing colouring matter, gum, sugar, alcohol, &c.; and the object of its distillation is to purify it. (See 774 Aceta. PART II. Acetum.) The first portion which distils contains alcohol and pyroacetic spirit (acetone), these being the most volatile ingredients; next the acetic acid comes over much purified, but weaker than it exists in the vinegar, on account of its being less volatile than water; and, if the distillation be stopped when the pure vinegar ceases to come over, there will be found in the retort a liquid of a deep-brown colour, very sour and empyreumatic, and containing free tartaric and malic acids, bitartrate of potassa, and other substances. This statement explains why the last portion is not distilled. The proportion pre- served is seven-eighths according to the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Phar- macopoeias, and seven-tenths according to the Dublin. The residuary liquid in the retort, if diluted with an equal bulk of hot water, may be made to yield, by a fresh distillation, a quantity of weak acetic acid equal to the resi- duary liquid, and of about the strength and purity of officinal distilled vinegar. Wine vinegar furnishes a stronger and more aromatic distilled vinegar than malt or cider vinegar. The Dublin College gives 1-005 as the density of dis- tilled vinegar; but the product of different vinegars is by no means necessarily of the same strength or density. The Edinburgh College, assuming that dis- tilled vinegar will have the sp. gr. of at least 1-005, directs that its density, when above that number, shall be reduced to it. When brought to this standard, the College states that 100 minims of it neutralize 8 grains of car- bonate of soda. In the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, the strength of distilled vinegar is indicated exclusively by its saturating power. According to our national standard, a fluidounce is saturated by about 35 grains of the crystals of bicarbonate of potassa; and by the London College 100 grains of it are stated to be saturated by 13 grains of the crystals of carbonate of soda. The saturating power of the different officinal distilled vinegars indicates the following proportions of dry acetic acid per cent.;—U S. Pharmacopoeia 3-9, London 4-6, Edinburgh 3-07. Considering the ordinary pharmaceutical uses of distilled vinegar, variations in its strength, limited as they are by the qualities of different vinegars, are not very important Its purity is the point of import- ance. If, however, precision be attempted, the saturating power and not the density must be indicated; and directions should be given for bringing a dis- tilled vinegar, which varies from the standard of saturating power, to that standard by the addition either of pure acetic acid, or of distilled water. The reason why densitvcannot be depended upon, is that the specific gravity is not in proportion to the strength. If the vinegar contain a good deal of alco- hol and pyroacetic spirit, the distilled product will be light, but not necessa- rily weak. This remark applies particularly to distilled wine vinegar. The Dublin College removes in part the ambiguity of density as an indication of strength, by rejecting the first tenth which distils over; but by this rejection, the more agreeable and aromatic part of the vinegar is lost. The different Pharmacopoeias, except the Edinburgh, direct the distillation of vinegar to be conducted in glass vessels; but it is generally distilled in a copper alembic furnished with a pewter worm. The use of these metals, however, is hazardous, on account of the danger of metallic impregnation. Mr. Brande has suggested that the condenser might be made of very thin silver, a metal not acted on by acetic acid of any strength. If this cannot be procured, the head and worm should be of glass or earthenware. Empy- reuma is effectually prevented by distilling by means of steam. Properties. Distilled vinegar is a limpid, colourless liquid, of a weak acetous taste and smell, less agreeable than those of common vinegar. It is wholly volatilized by heat. It is not a perfectly pure solution of acetic acid in water; but contains a portion of organic matter which rises in the distilla- PART II. Aceta. 775 tion. It is on account of the partial decomposition of this impurity that dis- tilled vinegar, when saturated with an alkali, is liable to become of a reddish or brownish colour. When distilled in metallic vessels, it is apt to contain traces of copper, lead, and tin. Copper is detected, after saturating with ammonia, by the addition of ferrocyanuret of potassium, which produces a brown cloud; lead by iodide of potassium, which occasions a yellow precipi- tate ; and tin by a solution of chloride of gold, which causes a purplish appear- ance. The two latter metals are discovered also by sulphuretted hydrogen, which occasions a dark-coloured precipitate. The non-action of this gas proves the absence of metals generally. Distilled vinegar should have neither an empyreumatic taste nor a sulphurous smell. As usually prepared, however, it is somewhat empyreumatic. British malt vinegar is allowed by law to con- tain one-thousandth of sulphuric acid; but, when it is distilled, this acid does not come over. If, however, sulphuric acid should be accidentally present in distilled vinegar, it may be detected by chloride of barium or acetate of lead. If muriatic acid be present, it may be shown by a precipitate being formed with nitrate of silver; and if nitric acid be an impurity, the vinegar will possess the property, by digestion, of dissolving silver, which may be detected afterwards by muriatic acid. Medical Properties and Uses. The medical properties of distilled vinegar are the same as those of common vinegar (See Acetum); but the former, being purer, and not liable to spontaneous decomposition, is preferable for pharma- ceutical purposes. It is employed as the basis, with but few exceptions, of the two classes of preparations called "Vinegars" and "Oxymels." Off. Prep. Emplastrum Ammoniaci, Lond., Ed.; Hydrargyri Acetas, Dub.; Liquor Ammoniae Acetatis, Lond., Ed., Did).; Oxymel, Dub.; Plumbi Acetas, Dub.; Plumbi Subacetatis Liquor, Dub.; Potassae Acetas, Dub.; Sodae Acetas, Dub.; Syrupus Allii, U S.; Unguentum Plumbi Compositum, Lond. B. ACETUM CANTHARIDIS. (Epispasticum.) Lond. Acetum Cantharidis. Ed. Vinegar of Spanish Flies. "Take of Spanish Flies, in powder, two ounces; Acetic Acid a pint (Im- perial measure). Macerate the Spanish Flies with the Acid for eight days, occasionally shaking. Finally express and filter." Lond. " Take of Cantharides, in powder, three ounces; Acetic Acid five fluid- ounces; Pyroligneous Acid fifteen fluidounces; Euphorbium, in coarse pow- der, lialf an ounce. Mix the acids, add the powders, macerate for seven days, strain and express strongly, and filter the liquor." Ed, This preparation is intended exclusively for external use, as a speedy epis- pastic. It is said, when lightly applied by a brush, to act as a rubefacient; and, when rubbed freely upon the skin for three minutes, to be followed, in two or three hours, by full vesication. The pain produced by the application, though more severe, is also more transient than that occasioned by the blis- tering cerate. From experiments made by Mr. Redwood, it may be inferred that the preparation proves epispastic chiefly if not exclusively in consequence of its acetic acid, and that it contains little of the active principle of the flies. (Lond. Pharm. Trans., Oct., 1841.) W. ACETUM COLCHICI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Vinegar of Colchicum. "Take of [dried] Colchicum Root, bruised, two ounces; Distilled Vinegar two pints; Alcohol a fluidounce. Macerate the Colchicum Root with the Distilled Vinegar, in a close glass vessel, for seven days; then express the 776 Aceta. PART II. liquor, and set it by that the dregs may subside; lastly, pour off the clear liquor, and add the Alcohol. "Vinegar of Colchicum may also be prepared by macerating the Colchicum Root, in coarse powder, with a pint of Distilled Vinegar for two days, then putting the mixture into an apparatus for displacement, gradually pouring in Distilled Vinegar until the quantity of filtered liquor equals two pints, and lastly adding the Alcohol. " In the above processes, Diluted Acetic Acid may be substituted for Dis- tilled Vinegar." U.S. The London and Edinburgh Colleges direct an ounce of the fresh bulb, sixteen fluidounces of distilled vinegar, and a fluidounce of proof spirit; the Dublin College, an ounce of the fresh bulb, a pint of distilled vinegar, and a fluidounce of proof spirit; all macerate for three days, and proceed as directed in the first process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that the Edinburgh College filters the expressed liquid, instead of clarifying it by rest and de- cantation. The resulting preparations may be considered as identical with each other, and with the American; as the dried bulb of our shops is probably not on an average much stronger than the fresh bulb in Europe, and the proof spirit of the British Colleges is equivalent to little more than half its bulk of our officinal alcohol. Vinegar is an excellent solvent of the active principle of colchicum; and the organic alkali of the latter loses none of its efficacy by combination with the acetic acid of the former. The use of the alcohol is simply to retard the spontaneous decomposition to which this, like most of the other medicated vinegars, is liable. 31edical Uses. This preparation has been extolled as a diuretic in dropsy, and may be given in gout, rheumatism, and neuralgia; but the wines of col- chicum are usually preferred. It is recommended by Scudamore to be given in connexion with magnesia, so as to neutralize the acetic acid of the men- struum. The dose is from thirty drops to two fluidrachms. W. ACETUM OPII. U.S., Ed., Dub. Vinegar of Opium. Black Drop. "Take of Opium, in coarse powder, eight ounces; Nutmeg, in coarse pow- der, an ounce and a half; Saffron half an ounce; Sugar twelve ounces; Dis- tilled Vinegar a sufficient quantity. Digest the Opium, Nutmeg, and Saffron with a pint and a half of Distilled Vinegar, on a sand-bath, with a gentle heat, for forty-eight hours, and strain. Digest the residue with an equal quantity of Distilled Vinegar, in the same manner, for twenty-four hours. Then put the whole into an apparatus for displacement, and return the fil- tered liquor, as it passes, until it comes away quite clear. When the filtration shall have ceased, pour Distilled Vinegar gradually upon the materials remain- ing in the instrument, until the whole quantity of filtered liquor equals three pints. Lastly, add the Sugar, and, by means of a water bath, evaporate to three pints and four fluidounces. " In the above process, Diluted Acetic Acid may be substituted for Dis- tilled Vinegar." U S. "Take of Opium four ounces; Distilled Vinegar sixteen fluidounces. Cut the Opium into small fragments, triturate it into a pulp with a little of the Vinegar, add the rest of the Vinegar, macerate in a closed vessel for seven days, and agitate occasionally. Then strain and express strongly, and filter the liquor." Ed, The Dublin process is essentially the same as the Edinburgh, which was adopted from it. PART II. Aceta. 777 The vinegar of opium has been introduced into the Pharmacopoeias as an imitation of, or substitute for a preparation which has been long in use under the name of Lancaster or Quaker's blade drop, or simply black drop. The formula of the first edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia was so deficient in pre- cision, and consequently'so uncertain in its results, that it was abandoned in the second edition; but, as this objection was obviated in a process by Mr. Charles Ellis, published in the American Journal of Pharmacy (vol. ii. page 202), and as the preparation continued to enjoy a considerable degree of pro- fessional and popular favour, it was deemed proper to restore it to its officinal rank at the last revision of the Pharmacopoeia. The U. S. formula above given is essentially that of Mr. Ellis. It is, we think, preferable to the Edinburgh and Dublin formula. In the latter we cannot but suspect that there is some waste of opium; as Dr. Montgomery, in his observations on the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, states that twenty drops are equivalent to thirty of the common tincture of opium, though, in the preparation of the latter, some- what less than one-third the quantity of opium is used. As common distilled vinegar is often very weak, it would be best to employ white wine vinegar, as directed by Mr. Ellis. The chief advantage of the black drop over lau- danum is, probably, that the meconate of morphia is converted by the acetic acid into the acetate; though this has not been positively proved. In the original process, published by Dr. Armstrong, who found it among the papers of a relative of the proprietor in England, verjuice, or the juice of the wild crab, was employed instead of vinegar. Other vegetable acids also favourably modify the narcotic operation of opium; and lemon juice has been employed in a similar manner with vinegar or verjuice, and perhaps not less advantageously.* The vinegar of opium may sometimes be advantageously used when opium itself, or the tincture, in consequence of peculiarity in the disease or in the constitution of the patient, occasions so much headache, nausea, or nervous disorder, as to render its employment inconvenient if not impossible. It exhibits all the anodyne and soporific properties of the narcotic, with less tendency to produce these disagreeable effects, at least in many instances. It is of about double the strength of laudanum, six and a half minims contain- ing the soluble parts of about one grain of opium, supposing the drug to be completely exhausted by the menstruum. The dose may be stated at from seven to ten drops or minims. W. ACETUM SCILLA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Vinegar of Squill. "Take of Squill, bruised, four ounces; Distilled Vinegar two pints; Alco- hol a fluidounce. Macerate the Squill with the Distilled Vinegar, in a close glass vessel, for seven days; then express the liquor, and set it by that the dregs may subside; lastly, pour off the clear liquid, and add the Alcohol. " Vinegar of Squill may also be prepared by macerating the Squill, in coarse powder, with a pint of distilled Vinegar for two days, then putting the * The following is the formula given in the first edition of the U. S. Pharmacoposia. "Take of Opium half a pound; Vinegar three pints; Nutmeg, bruised, one ounce and a half; Saffron half an ounce. Boil them to a proper consistence; then add Sugar four ounces; Yeast one fluidounce. Digest for seven weeks, then place in the open air until it becomes a syrup; lastly, decant, filter, and bottle it up, adding a little sugar to each bot- tle." The boiling to a proper consistence, the digestion in the open air until a syfup is formed, and the addition of a little sugar to each bottle, are all indefinite directions, which must lead to uncertain results. Independently of this want of precision, the point in which the old process chiefly differs from that at present officinal is, that, in the former, fermentation is induced by the addition of yeast. But fermentation is of very doubtful value in the process; at least its advantages have not been proved. 778 Aceta. PART II. mixture into an apparatus for displacement, gradually pouring in Distilled Vinegar until the quantity of filtered liquor equals two pints, and lastly add- ing the alcohol. " In the above processes, Diluted Acetic Acid may be substituted for Dis- tilled Vinegar." U.S. The London College directs fifteen ounces of recently dried squill, six pints (Imperial measure) of distilled vinegar, half a pint (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit, and maceration with a gentle heat for twenty-four hours. The Edin- burgh College directs five ounces of dried squill, two pints (Imp. meas.) of dis- tilled vinegar, three fluidounces of proof spirit, and maceration for seven days. The Dublin College takes half a pound of recently dried squill, three pints of distilled vinegar, and four fluidounces of rectified spirit; and macerates for seven days. In the United States process by displacement, the whole of the vinegar em- ployed in the maceration, and introduced with the squill into the instrument, should be allowed to enter the mass, before the fresh portion of vinegar is added. The preparations of the several Pharmacopoeias are so nearly the same that, for all practical purposes, they may be considered identical. The proportion of alcohol is rather less in the United States formula than in either of the others. In the formula of the French Codex there is none; but the vinegar is stronger than ours. The only object of the alcohol is to retard the decomposition of the vinegar of squill; while its presence is medically injuri- ous by rendering the preparation too stimulating. It is best, therefore, to prepare the vinegar of squill frequently, and in small quantities, so as to re- quire little alcohol for its preservation. In the preparation of the oxymel and syrup of squill, for which purpose the vinegar is chiefly used in this country, it should be employed without alcohol. The vinegar of squill deposits, upon standing, a precipitate which consists, according to Vogel, of citrate of lime and tannic acid. Medical Uses. This preparation has all the properties of the squill in sub- stance, and is occasionally prescribed as a diuretic and expectorant in various forms of dropsy and of pulmonary disease; but the oxymel and syrup are usually preferred, as they keep better, and are less unpleasant to the taste. The dose is from thirty minims to two fluidrachms; but the latter quantity would be apt to produce vomiting. It should be given in cinnamon-water, mint-water, or some other aromatic liquid calculated to conceal its taste and obviate its nauseating effect. Off. Prep. Mistura Cascarillae Composita, Lond.; Oxymel Scillae, U S., Lond., Dub.; Syrupus Scillae, U. S., Ed. W. ACIDUM ACETICUM CAMPHORATUM. Ed., Dub. Cam- phorated Acetic Acid. " Take of Acetic Acid six fluidounces [six fluidounces and a half, Ed.~\; Camphor half an ounce; Rectified Spirit a sufficient quantity. Reduce the camphor to powder by means of the spirit; then add the acid, and dissolve." Dub. The use of the alcohol is simply to facilitate the pulverization of the cam- phor, and a few drops are sufficient. Acetic acid in its concentrated state readily dissolves camphor. In this preparation, the whole of the camphor is take'n up by the acid. In consequence of the powerful chemical agency of the solution, and its extreme volatility, it should be kept in glass bottles ac- curately fitted with ground stoppers. Camphorated acetic acid is an exceedingly pungent perfume, which, when snuffed up the nostrils, produces a strongly excitant impression, and may be PART II. Aceta.—Acida. 779 beneficially resorted to in cases of fainting or nervous debility. It is an offi- cinal substitute for Henry's aromatic spirit of vinegar. At Apothecaries' Hall, in London, an aromatic vinegar is prepared by dis- solving the oils of cloves, lavender, rosemary, and calamus, in highly concen- trated acetic acid. It is used for the same purpose as the officinal camphorated acetic acid, being dropped on sponge and kept in smelling bottles. A similar preparation may be made extemporaneously by adding to a drachm of acetate of potassa, contained in a stoppered bottle, three drops of one or more of the aromatic volatile oils, and twenty drops of sulphuric acid. (Pereira's 3Iat. Med.) A preparation called 31arsctiles vinegar, or thieves' vinegar (vinaigre des quatres voleurs), consisting essentially of vinegar impregnated with aromatic substances, was formerly esteemed a prophylactic against the plague and other contagious diseases. It is said to have derived its name and reputation from the circumstance, that four thieves, who, during the plague at Marseilles, had plundered the dead bodies with impunity, confessed, upon the condition of a pardon, that they owed their safety to the use of it. The aromatic acetic acid, of the former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia was intended as a simplification of this nostrum. It was made by macerating for a week an ounce of rosemary, an ounce of sage, half an ounce of lavender, and half a drachm of cloves, with two pounds of distilled vinegar, then expressing the liquor and filtering. Ori- ganum was afterwards substituted for sage, and thirty fluidounces of acetic acid for the two pounds of distilled vinegar. In the last edition of the Phar- macopoeia the preparation was abandoned. In the present state of know- ledge, it is hardly necessary to observe that neither the original nostrum, nor its substitute, has any other power of protecting the system against disease than such as may depend on its slightly stimulant properties, and its influence over the imagination. W. ACIDA. Acids. Acids, in chemical classification, are compounds which are capable of uniting in definite proportions with alkalies, earths, and ordinary metallic oxides, with the effect of producing a combination, in which the properties of its constitu- ents are mutually destroyed. Such combinations are said to be neutral, and are denominated salts. Most acids have a sour taste, and possess the power of changing vegetable blues to red; and, though these properties are by no means constant, yet they afford a ready means of detecting acids, applicable in practice to most cases. The above explanation of the nature of an acid is that usually given; but, according to strict definition, acids are compounds having a strong electro-negative energy, and, therefore, possessing a powerful affinity for electro-positive compounds, such as alkalies, earths, and ordinary oxides. It is this antagonism in the electrical condition of these two great classes of chemical compounds that gives rise to their mutual affinity, which is so much the stronger as the contrast in this respect is greater. In the majority of cases, the electro-negative compound or acid is an oxidized body, but by no means necessarily so. When an acid does not contain oxygen, hydrogen is usually present. These peculiarities in composition have given rise to the division of acids by some writers into oxacids and hydracids. Vegetable acids, for the most part, contain both oxygen and hydrogen. The number of acids used in medicine is small; but among these are to be found examples of the three kinds above mentioned. B. 780 Acida. PART II. ACIDUM ACETICUM. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Acetic Acid. " Take of Acetate of Soda, in powder, a pound; Sulphuric Acid half a pound; Red Oxide of Lead a drachm. Pour the Sulphuric Acid into a glass retort, and gradually add the Acetate of Soda; then, by means of a sand-bath, distil with a moderate heat, into a glass receiver, till the residuum becomes dry. Mix the resulting liquid with the Red Oxide of Lead, and again distil, with a moderate heat, to dryness." U. S. The sp. gr. of this acid is 1-06, and 100 grains of it saturate 83-5 grains of crystallized bicarbonate of potassa. "Take of Acetate of Soda two pounds; Sulphuric Acid nine ounces; Dis- tilled Water nine fluidounces [Imperial measure]. Add the Sulphuric Acid, first mixed with the Water, to the Acetate of Soda put into a glass retort; then let the acid distil from a sand-bath. Care is to be taken that the heat be not too great towards the end." Lond. The specific gravity of this acid is 1-048, and 100 grains of it saturate 87 grains of crystallized carbonate of soda. "Take of Acetate of Potassa one hundred parts ; Sulphuric Acid fifty-two parts. Put the acid into a tubulated retort, and, at different intervals of time, add the Acetate of Potassa, waiting after each addition until the mixture be- comes cool. Lastly, with a moderate heat, distil the acid until the residuum is dry. The specific gravity of this acid is 1-074." Dub. " Take of Acetate of Lead any convenient, quantity; heat it gradually in a porcelain basin, by means of a bath of oil or fusible metal (8 tin, 4 lead, 3 bismuth), to 320° F.; and stir till the fused mass concretes again: pulverize this when cold, and heat the powder again to 320°, with frequent stirring, till the particles cease to accrete. Add six ounces of the powder to nine flui- drachms and a half of Pure Sulphuric Acid, contained in a glass matrass; attach a proper tube and refrigeratory, and distil from a fusible metal bath with a heat of 320° to complete dryness. Agitate the distilled liquid with a few grains of Red Oxide of Lead to remove a little sulphurous acid, allow the vessel to rest a few minutes, pour off the clear liquor and redistil it. The density is commonly from 1-063 to 1-065, but must not exceed 1-0685." Ed. These processes are intended to furnish a strong acetic acid. The United States, London, and Dublin formulae are similar, consisting in the decomposi- tion of the acetate either of soda or potassa by sulphuric acid. A sulphate of the alkali is formed, and the disengaged acetic acid distils over. The acetate of soda, however, is on several accounts the best salt for decomposition. Its advantages are, its uniform composition in the crystallized state, its giving rise to a residuary salt (sulphate of soda) easily washed out of the retort, and the abundance in which it can be obtained from the manufacturers of pyroligneous acid. (See Sodse Acetas.) On the other hand, acetate of potassa is a deliques- cent salt, and, therefore, liable to contain a variable quantity of water, and to yield an acid of variable strength. Besides, the residue of the process (sul- phate of potassa) is not so easily removed from the retort. In either process, the acetic acid is apt to pass over contaminated with a small quantity of sul- phurous acid, which, however, may be removed by redistillation from a little red oxide of lead, as directed in the U.S. process. In the Edinburgh process, acetate of lead is first freed from water of crystallization by heat, and then distilled with sulphuric acid, which combines with the protoxide of lead, and sets free the acetic acid which distils over. As a boiling temperature is not convenient for drying, nor sufficient for decomposing the acetate of lead, the requisite temperature is obtained by a bath of oil or fusible metal. The red oxide of lead removes the sulphurous acid by combining with it in such a way as to form sulphate of protoxide of lead, by a transfer of oxygen from the oxide to the acid. This process, when carefully conducted, furnishes an acid PART II. Acida. 781 of the maximum strength, consisting of one eq. of dry acid, and one of water. Acetic acid may likewise be obtained by distilling bin acetate of potassa at a heat between 390° and 570°. One eq. of monohydrated acetic acid distils over, and neutral acetate of potassa is left. The binacetate may be formed by distilling the neutral acetate with an excess of watery acetic acid. In this process, the same acetate of .potassa serves repeatedly for conversion into bina- cetate, and subsequent decomposition. Before proceeding to compare the different officinal acetic acids as to dens- ity, it is necessary to explain the nomenclature adopted in the several Phar- macopoeias, which is somewhat confused. All these acids may be arranged in three divisions, according as their density is high, low, or intermediate. The following table presents a view of their names and densities. Acetic Acid. U.S. Lond. Ed. Dub. Highest off. ! strength. j J Intermediate f strength. 1 Lowest do. > Acidum Acetic-um. Sp. gr. 1-06. Acidum Acetic- Acidum Acetic-um. Sp. gr. 1063 to 1-065. Acidum Pyrolig-neum. Sp. gr. 1-034. Acidum Acetic-um. Sp. gr. 1-048. Acidum Acetic-um. Sp. gr. 1-074. um Dilutum. By this table it is shown that the name "Acidum Aceticum" means in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia the acid of maximum strength, and in the other Pharmacopoeias, the acid diluted with water in various degrees. The acid of full strength was injudiciously adopted, as an officinal preparation, by the Edinburgh College. It is too powerful for convenient medicinal employment, and unnecessary in the formulas for camphorated acetic acid, vinegar of Span- ish flies, and creasote mixture, the only ones in which it is employed by the College. Its density is given with great want of precision. This is stated to vary commonly from 1-063 to 1-065, but must not exceed 1-0685 ! In other words, the acid may vary from maximum strength to containing 3 per cent. of water. The intermediate acid varies in density, as seen by the table, ac- cording to the following numbers—1-074 Dub., 1-06 U £.,1-048 Lond., 1-034 Ed. Dr. Christison considers the name "Acidum Aceticum" as belong- ing only to the strongest possible acid, and objects to its application to the intermediate acid (injudiciously called pyroligneous acid by the Edinburgh College), because it contains water of dilution. It is impossible to attain entire precision in pharmaceutical nomenclature; and hence the name of an acid may be conveniently applied to it, when not of full strength, just as the name " Acidum Hydrocyanicum" is given to medicinal prussic acid by the Edinburgh College, without meaning the anhydrous acid. The weak acid (Acidum Aceticum Dilutum) is peculiar to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and will be noticed in the next article. The specific gravity of acetic acid increases with the strength up to the density of 1-0735 (maximum), after which it decreases until it reaches 1-063, the density of the strongest acid. The following table, condensed from one given by Pereira, on the authority of Mohr, as containing the most recent ex- periments, exhibits the sp. gr. of acetic acid of different strengths. The offi- 782 Acida. part II. cinal and commercial acids are noted opposite to their several densities, and the corresponding number in the column on the left gives the percentage of protohydrated acid in each. Per cent. of acid. Specific gravity. Per cent. of acid. Specific gravity. 100 99 97 90 80 70 60 54 50 40 1-063 ) 1-065 > Acetic acid, Ed. 1-068 ) 1-073 1-0735 Maximum density. 1-070 1-067 1-063 1-060 Acetic acid, U. S. 1-051 39 37 32 SO 25 20 10 5 4 1-050 English pyroligneous acid. 1-048 Acetic acid, Lond. 1-042 ) Scotch pyroligneous acid ) (strongest). . 1-040 1-034 Pyroligneous acid, Ed. 1-027 1015 1006 I 005 Distilled vinegar, Ed., Dub. The maximum density here given on the authority of Mohr (1-0735), is considerably lower than that fixed by Mollerat (1-079), and agrees best with the determination of Dr. T. Thomson (1-0713), which is still lower. Up to the specific gravity 1-062, the density of acetic acid is a pretty accurate index of its strength; but, above that specific gravity, two acids of different strengths may coincide in density. Thus, by the table, it is seen that an acid weighing 1-063 may be either the strongest possible liquid acid, or an acid containing only 54 per cent, o^such acid. The ambiguity may be re- moved by diluting the acid with a portion of water, when, if the density be increased, the given specimen is the stronger acid of the two having the same density. A note referring to the Dublin acetic acid is excluded from the table, on account of its density being given at 1-074, a higher number than even the maximum of Mohr. The density of English and Scotch pyrolig- neous acid (pure acetic acid from wood) is given on the authority of Dr. Christison. The process, adopted in the French Codex for obtaining acetic acid, is the distillation to dryness of the acetate of copper (crystals of Venus). The dis- tillation must be performed in a stoneware retort, and is described in detail by Thenard. The water of crystallization of the salt being evaporated be- fore the acid begins to rise, there is a deficiency of the former liquid, neces- sary to hold the elements of the acetic acid together. Accordingly, a part of the acid is decomposed, being resolved into water, and a compound called pyroacetic spirit or acetone, which gives to the acid a peculiar fragrant smell. For an account of pyroacetic spirit, see Appendix. Properties. The acetic acid of the United States, London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias is a colourless, inflammable, volatile liquid, having an acrid taste, and fragrant, pungent smell. It unites in all proportions with water, and dissolves to a certain extent in alcohol. It is incompatible with the alka- lies and alkaline earths, both pure and carbonated, with metallic oxides, and most substances acted on by other acids. It is wholly volatilized by heat, and yields no precipitate with chloride of barium or nitrate of silver. The presence of copper, lead, or tin may be detected by neutralizing the acid with ammonia, and testing successively with ferrocyanuret of potassium, iodide of potassium, and sulphuretted hydrogen, in the manner explained under Acetum Destillatum. This officinal acid consists of the strongest liquid acetic acid, diluted with a variable quantity of water. As is shown by the table just given, the United States acid contains 50 per cent, of water of dilution, part ii. Acida. 783 and the London 63 per cent. The water in the Dublin acid cannot be estimated from Mohr's table, but, calculated from Mollerat's results, it amounts to 33J per cent. The saturating strength of the United States and London acids is given under their respective formulas. The correspond- ing acid of the Edinburgh College, called pyroligneous acid by the College, is described at p. 41. Protohydrated acetic acid (Acidum Aceticum, Ed., glacial acetic acid, or radical vinegar) is a colourless, volatile, inflammable liquid, possessing a cor- rosive taste, and an acid, pungent, and refreshing smell. At the temperature of about 40° it becomes a crystalline solid. Its sp. gr. is 1-063. The anomaly of its having first an increasing and then a decreasing density upon dilution with water, has been already noticed. Acetic acid possesses the property of dissolving a number of substances, such as volatile oils, camphor, resins and gum-resins, fibrin, albumen, &c. As it attracts humidity from the atmosphere, it should be preserved in well-stopped bottles. Its combinations with salifiable bases are called acetates. It consists of one eq. of dry acid 51, and one of water 9 = 60. The dry acid is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, its formula being C4H303. 3Icdical Properties and Uses. Acetic acid acts as a stimulant and rube- facient. Owing to its volatility and pungency, its vapour is frequently applied to the nostrils as an excitant in syncope, asphyxia, and headache. When em- ployed in this manner, it is generally added to a small portion of sulphate of potassa, so as to moisten the salt, and the mixture is put in small glass bottles with ground stoppers. The concentrated acid is only used externally, and acts as a rubefacient, vesicant, or caustic, according to the length of time it is ap- plied. It is sometimes employed as a substitute for cantharides, when a speedy blister is desired; as, for example, in croup, sorethroat, and other cases of in- ternal inflammation. It may be applied by means of blotting paper or cambric moistened with the acid. It is a good application to warts and corns, the. vitality of which it frequently destroys. It is also a valuable remedy in scald- head. The different officinal acetic acids are necessarily different in their medical applications. For producing a blister, the Edinburgh acid is un- necessarily strong, and the London too weak. Off. Prep. Acetum Cantharidis, Lond.; Acidum Aceticum Camphoratum, Dub.; Acidum Aceticum Dilutum, U S.; Extraetum Colchici Aceticum, Lond.; Morphiae Acetas, U S., Lond.; Oxymel, Lond.; Plumbi Acetas, Lond.; Potassae Acetas, U S., Lond,; Zinci Acetas, U. S. Off. Prep, of Acidum Aceticum, Ed. Acetum Cantharidis; Acidum Ace- ticum Camphoratum; Mistura Creasoti. B. ACIDUM ACETICUM DILUTUM. U. S. Diluted Acetic Acid. " Take of Acetic Acid half a pint; Distilled Water five pints. Mix them." The acid resulting from the above formula is peculiar to the United States Pharmacopoeia. The object of having this preparation, is to possess a weak solution of pure acetic acid, which may be substituted for distilled vinegar in all formulae in which nicety is required. Distilled vinegar contains a portion of organic matter, which is always darkened or precipitated when this acid is saturated with an alkali, an occurrence which does not take place when the diluted acetic acid of our Pharmacopoeia is employed. As the Acidum Ace- ticum (U. S.) contains 50 per cent, of the strongest liquid acid, it is easy to determine by calculation that the Diluted Acetic Acid will contain 4-54 per cent, of the same acid. Fifteen parts by weight of the London acetic acid, mixed with eighty-five of water, will form an acid, having, according to Mr. 784 Acida. PART II. Phillips, the strength of the London College distilled vinegar, and containing about 4-6 per cent, of dry acid. Off. Prep. Liquor Ammoniae Acetatis, U. S. B. ACIDUM BENZOICUM. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Benzoic Acid. " Take of Benzoin, in coarse powder, a pound. Put the Benzoin, pre- viously thoroughly mixed with an equal weight of fine sand, into a suitable vessel, and, by means of a sand-bath, with a gradually increasing heat, sub- lime until vapours cease to rise. Deprive the sublimed matter of oil by pres- sure in bibulous paper, and again sublime." U S. The London College proceeds as above directed, except that it does not mix the benzoin with sand before subliming. The Edinburgh College puts a convenient quantity of benzoin into a glass matrass, and operates in the same manner. The Dublin College directs five parts of benzoin, triturated with one part of fresh quicklime, to be boiled in one hundred and thirty parts of water for half an hour, the mixture being constantly stirred with a rod. After having cooled, the clear liquor is decanted, and the residue is boiled with seventy parts of water, which is also decanted when cold. The liquors having been mixed are evaporated to one-half, and filtered through paper; and one part of muriatic acid is gradually added. The precipitate produced is sepa- rated from the supernatant liquid, washed with a small quantity of cold water, dried with a gentle heat, and submitted to sublimation. Of the two processes above described, the first is most simple and easy. The acid,, which exists in the benzoin combined with resin, is volatilized by the heat, and condensed in the upper part of the apparatus. Unless the tem- perature is very carefully regulated, a portion of the resin is decomposed, and an oily substance generated, which rises with the acid and gives it a brown colour, from which it cannot be entirely freed by bibulous paper; and this result sometimes takes place even with the greatest caution. The process for subliming benzoic acid is usually conducted in a glazed earthen vessel, sur- mounted by a cone of paper, or by another vessel with a small opening at top, and a band of paper pasted round the place of junction. After the heat has been applied for an hour, the process should be suspended till the condensed acid is removed from the upper vessel or paper cone, when it may be renewed, and the acid again removed, and thus alternately till coloured vapours rise. Mohr, after many experiments, recommends the following plan as unobjection- able. He considers the addition of sand useless, and even injurious by favour- ing the production of empyreumatic substances. In a round cast-iron pot, eight or nine inches in diameter, and two inches deep, a pound or less of coarsely powdered benzoin is placed, and uniformly strewed over the bottom. The top of the pot is closed by a sheet of bibulous paper, which is secured to the sides by paste. A cylinder of thick paper in the form of a hat, just large enough to fit closely around the sides of the pot, is then placed over it, and in like manner secured by paste. A moderate heat is now applied by means of a sand-bath, and continued for three or four hours. The vapours pass through the bibulous paper, which absorbs the empyreumatic oil, and are condensed in the inside of the hat in brilliant white flowers, having an agreeable odour of benzoin. (Annal. der Pharm., xxix. 178.) The remaining acid of the benzoin may be extracted, if deemed advisable, by treating the residue of the balsam with lime or carbonate of soda. From the mode of preparing benzoic acid by sublimation, it was formerly called flowers of benzoin. By the Dublin process, the acid is extracted from the benzoin by combining it with a salifiable base, and is subsequently precipitated by an acid. It is PART II. Acida. 785 purified by sublimation, which gives it the peculiar silky lustre which distin- guishes it. The process of the Dublin College is essentially that of Scheele. Carbonate of soda may be substituted for the lime, and sulphuric for the mu- riatic acid; and the precipitated benzoic acid may be purified by dissolving it in boiling water, which will deposit it upon cooling. Stenhouse unites the process of Scheele with one proposed by Liebig. After concentrating the solution of benzoate of lime, procured by boiling equal parts of benzoin and hydrate of lime with water, he adds a strong solution of chloride of lime, and subsequently a slight excess of muriatic acid, and boils till the chlorine is dis- sipated. The bleaching effect of the chlorine on the crystals of benzoic acid is thus obtained. The acid, however, requires to be still further purified by repeated crystallization from small portions of boiling water. A little animal charcoal may be employed to render the crystals quite colourless. These pro- cesses afford a purer product than that obtained by sublimation, but not pre- ferable in a medicinal point of view; as the small quantity of oil present in the sublimed acid adds to its stimulant properties, and at the same time ren- ders it pleasant to the smell. Several other modes of extracting the acid have been recommended. The following is the process of Stolze. One part of the balsam is dissolved in three parts of alcohol, the solution filtered and introduced into a retort, and the acid saturated by carbonate of soda dissolved in a mixture of eight parts of water and three of alcohol. The alcohol is distilled off; and the benzoate of soda contained in the residuary liquid is decomposed by sulphuric acid, which precipitates the benzoic acid. This is purified by solution in boiling water, which lets fall the acid when it cools. By this process Stolze obtained 18 per cent, of acid from benzoin containing 19425 per cent. By the pro- cess of Scheele (that of the Dublin College) he obtained 13-5 per cent.; by the agency of carbonate of soda, 12 per cent.; by sublimation only 7-6 per cent. Nevertheless, Mr. Brande says that the last process is on the whole the most economical. According to this author, good benzoin affords by sublimation from 10 to 15 per cent, of the acid contaminated with empyreu- matic oil, and about 9 per cent, of the purified acid. Properties. Sublimed benzoic acid is in white, soft, feathery crystals, of a silky lustre, and not pulverulent. From solution the acid crystallizes in transparent prisms. When quite pure it is inodorous; but, prepared by sub- limation from the balsam, it has a peculiar agreeable aromatic odour, depend- ent on the presence of an oil, which may be separated by dissolving the acid in alcohol, and precipitating it with water. Its taste is warm, acrid, and acidulous. It is unalterable in the air, but at 230° melts, and at a somewhat higher temperature rises in suffocating vapours. It is inflammable, burning without residue. It is very sparingly soluble in cold, but is dissolved by about twenty-four parts of boiling water, which deposits it upon cooling. It is soluble in alcohol, and in concentrated sulphuric and nitric acids, from which it is precipitated by water. The fixed oils also dissolve it. It is en- tirely dissolved by solution of potassa, and precipitated from the solution by muriatic acid. Its solution reddens litmus paper, and it forms salts with salifiable bases; but its acid properties are not powerful. Benzoic, acid is supposed to consist of a peculiar hypothetical body called benzyle, and oxygen; and in the uncombined state it always contains water. Benzyle consists of fourteen equivalents of carbon 84, five of hydrogen 5, and two of oxygen 16 = 105. The crystallized acid contains one equiv. of benzyle 105, one of oxygen 8, and one of water 9 = 122. It cannot be deprived of its water by heat, but sometimes loses it in combination. Benzoic acid is a characteristic 50 786 Acida. PART II. constituent of the balsams, and has been found in various other vegetable, and some animal products. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Benzoic acid is irritant to the alimentary mucous membrane, and stimulant to the system, and has been thought to be expectorant; but it is seldom used internally except as a constituent of one or two officinal preparations. It was proposed by Dr. Alexander Ure as a remedy for uric acid deposites in the urine, and for the chalk-like concre- tions, consisting of urate of soda, in the joints of gouty individuals. He supposed it to operate by converting the uric into hippuric acid, and con- sequently the insoluble urates into soluble hippurates. It appears, however, from the observations of Mr. Baring-Garrod and Mr. Keller, that such a transformation of uric acid does not take place, but that the benzoic acid is itself converted into hippuric acid, which is always found in the urine, when the former acid is taken freely. The quantity of uric acid in the urine re- mains undiminished. In consequence of the acid state of urine produced by the benzoic acid, it has been found useful in the phosphatic variety of gravel; though its beneficial influence, being purely chemical, continues only during its use. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e s4r., ii. 327, iii. 41, iv. 397.) It is said to have cured nocturnal incontinence of urine. A convenient mode of exhibi- tion is to give the acid with four parts of phosphate of soda, or one part and a half .of biborate of soda, which enable it to be readily dissolved by water. The dose is from 10 to 30 grains. It is an ingredient in' some cosmetic washes, and has been employed by way of fumigation as a remedy in affec- tions of the skin. Off. Prep. Tinctura Opii Ammoniata, Ed.; Tinctura Opii Camphorata, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum, U S. W. ACIDUM HYDROCYANICUM. U.S., Ed. Acidum Hydro- cyanicum Dilutum. Lond. Acidum Prussicum. Dub. Hydrocy- anic Acid. Prussic Acid. Cyanohydric Acid. " Take of Ferrocyanuret of Potassium two ounces; Sulphuric acid an ounce and a half; Distilled Water a sufficient quantity. Mix the acid with four fluidounces of distilled water, and pour the mixture, when cool, into a glass retort. To this add the Ferrocyanuret of Potassium, previously dissolved in ten fluidounces of Distilled Water. Pour eight fluidounces of Distilled Water into a cooled receiver, and, having attached this to the retort, distil, by means of a sand-bath, with a moderate heat, six fluidounces. Lastly, add to the product five fluidounces of Distilled Water, or as much as may be sufficient to render the Hydrocyanic Acid of such strength, that 127 grains of nitrate of silver, dissolved in distilled water, may be accurately saturated by 100 grains of the acid. " Hydrocyanic Acid may be prepared, when wanted for immediate use, in the following manner. " Take of Cyanuret of Silver fifty grains and a half; Muriatic Acid forty- one grains; Distilled Water a fluidounce. Mix the Muriatic Acid with the Distilled Water, add the Cyanuret of Silver, and shake the whole in a well- stopped vial. When the insoluble matter has subsided, pour off the clear liquor and keep it for use. Hydrocyanic Acid should be kept in closely stopped bottles, from which the light is excluded." U S. The processes of the London College for medicinal hydrocyanic 'acid, and for that extemporaneously obtained, are the same as those of the U. S. Phar- macopoeia; the latter having been adopted from the former. " Take of Ferrocyanide of Potassium three ounces; Sulphuric Acid two fluidounces; Water sixteen fluidounces [Imp. meas.]. Dissolve the salt in PART II. Acida. 787 eleven fluidounces of the water, and put the solution in a matrass with a little sand: add the acid, previously diluted with five fluidounces of the water and allowed to cool: connect the matrass with a proper refrigeratory: distil with a gentle heat, by means of a sand-bath or naked gas flame, till fourteen fluid- ounces pass over, or till the residuum begins to froth up. Dilute the product with distilled water till it measures sixteen fluidounces." Ed. "Take of Cyanuret [Bicyanuret] of mercury an ounce; Muriatic Acid seven fluidrachms; Water eight fluidounces. From a glass retort, distil into a refrigerated receiver, eight fluidounces, to be kept in a well stopped bottle, in a cool and dark place. The sp. gr. of this acid is 0 998." Dub. Hydrocyanic acid was admitted as an officinal into the French Codex in 1818, into the first edition of the United States Pharmacopoeia in 1820, into the Dublin Pharmacopoeia in 1826, info the London in 1836, and into the Edinburgh in 1839. It is now made by two officinal processes,—from the ferrocyanuret of potassium in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmaco- poeias, and from the bicyanuret of mercury in the Dublin. It is also obtained by an extemporaneous process, when wanted for immediate use, in the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, by decomposing the cyanuret of silver. When ferrocyanuret of potassium is decomposed by sulphuric acid, the residue in the retort is bisulphate of potassa, mixed with a compound of two eqs. of cyanuret of iron and one of cyanuret of potassium (Everitt's salt). Two eqs. of ferrocyanuret, 2(FeCy+2KCy), react with six eqs. of hydrated sulphuric acid 6(S03 + HO), and produce three eqs. of hydrated bisulphate of potassa, 3(KO,2S03+HO), together with one eq. of Everitt's salt, 2FeCy+KCy, which remain in the retort, and three eqs. of hydrocyanic acid, 3HCy, which distil over. Everitt's salt, so named from its discoverer, called biferrocyanuret of potassium by Dr. Pereira, is yellow .according to Mr. Everitt; but Dr. Pereira, who prepared it with the greatest care, always found it white. Its constitution (2FeCy+KCy) is precisely the converse of that of ferrocyanuret of potassium (FeCy-f 2KCy). According to Mr. Phillips, the proportion of sulphuric acid, directed by the Edinburgh College, is so large that there is great risk of the production of formic acid. (Observations on the Ed. Pharm., &c.) The acid, instead of exceeding the weight of the ferrocyanuret, should only form three-fourths of its weight. In relation to the most convenient method of bringing the hy- drocyanic acid to the standard strength, and to some other points in its pre- paration by the officinal formula, the reader is referred to a paper by Prof. Procter, contained in the Amer. Journ. of Pharmacy, xix. 259. The rationale of the U. S. and London process for obtaining hydrocyanic acid extemporaneously is exceedingly simple. The reacting materials are single equivalents respectively of cyanuret of silver and muriatic acid. These, by double decomposition, generate hydrocyanic acid which dissolves in the water, and chloride of silver which subsides, and from which the acid is poured off when clear. (See Argenti Cyanuretum.) As the cyanuret of silver is obtained by the use of hydrocyanic acid, it seems, at first view, a useless procedure to expend the acid to make the cyanuret, with the intention of de- composing this afterwards to get the acid. But the extemporaneous process is useful to country practitioners ; because the acid will not generally keep. A portion of hydrocyanic acid, if procured by a practitioner, may spoil on his hands, before he has occasion to use it; but if he supplies himself with a portion of cyanuret of silver, he may readily at any moment prepare a small portion of the acid, by following the directions of the formula. The Dublin process is that of Gray-Lussac, with the use of a certain amount of water of dilution. Two equivalents of hydrogen, from two equivalents of 788 Acida. PART II. muriatic acid, form two equivalents of hydrocyanic acid with the two equiva- lents of cyanogen in the bicyanuret of mercury; while the two equivalents of chlorine form one equivalent of bichloride of mercury, or corrosive sublimate, with the one equivalent of mercury. The French Codex of 1837 gives the following process for hydrocyanic acid, in place of the three formerly contained in that work. Take of bicyanuret of mercury thirty parts; muriatic acid (sp. gr. 1-17) twenty parts. Reduce the bicyanuret to powder, and introduce it into a small tubulated glass retort, placed over a furnace. Adapt to its neck a tube about 13 inches long, and half an inch in diameter, and filled one-half with pieces of marble, and the remainder with chloride of calcium. To this tube, arranged nearly horizon- tally, adapt a smaller one, bent at a right angle, and plunging into a graduated tube, surrounded with a mixture of common salt and pounded ice. The ap- paratus being thus arranged, and the junctures well luted, add the muriatic acid; and, having allowed the action to take place for a few moments in the cold, apply the heat gradually. When the action is over, drive forward any acid which may have condensed in the large tube, by means of a live coal brought near to it and passed along its whole length. The quantity of acid found in the graduated tube is mixed with either six times its bulk, or eight and a half times its weight of distilled water. The above process is Gray-Lussac's, and, therefore, the same in principle as the Dublin. In the first part of it, Gay-Lussac's strong acid is obtained in S the graduated tube, and this is afterwards diluted to a given extent with water. The object of the marble and chloride of calcium is to detain, the former muriatic acid, the latter water. Another process for obtaining medicinal hydrocyanic acid, proposed by Dr. Clarke, and adopted by Mr. Laming, is by the reaction of tartaric acid on cyanuret of potassium in solution. Mr. Laming's formula is as follows. Dis- solve twenty-two grains of the cyanuret in six fluidrachms of distilled water, and add to this solution fifty grains of crystallized tartaric acid dissolved in three fluidrachms of rectified spirit. Crystallized bitartrate of potassa preci- pitates, and each fluidrachm of the clear decanted liquor contains one grain of pure hydrocyanic acid. The reaction in this process takes place between two eqs. of tartaric acid, one of cyanuret of potassium, and one of water. The water is decomposed, and the tartaric acid, potassium, and oxygen unite to form the bitartrate, and the cyanogen and hydrogen to form the hydrocyanic acid. Although Dr. Pereira considers this process to have several advantages, yet he very properly objects to it on account of the trouble and expense of obtaining the cyanuret of potassium pure, and its liability to undergo spon- taneous decomposition. (See Potassii Cyanuretum.) Liebig recommends the decomposition of cyanuret of potassium with hy- drated sulphuric acid. In this case the products of the double decomposition are sulphate of potassa and hydrocyanic acid. Any cyanate of potassa present as an impurity is at the same time decomposed, and the ammonia resulting from the cyanic acid unites with the sulphuric acid, so as to form a supersul- phate. The mode of proceeding is to distil one part of the cyanuret, dissolved in two parts of water, with one part of sulphuric acid, diluted with three parts of water. The hydrocyanic acid obtained is much stronger than the medicinal acid; but it may be reduced to any desired standard by the addition of the proper proportion of distilled water. The processes, thus far given, are intended to furnish a dilute hydrocyanic acid for medicinal purposes. The methods of obtaining the anhydrous or pure acid are somewhat different. Vauquelin's process is to pass a current of hy- drosulphuric acid gas over the bicyanuret of mercury contained in a glass tube, connected with a receiver kept cold by a freezing mixture of ice and salt. PART II. Acida. 789 The first third only of the tube is filled with the bicyanuret; the remaining two-thirds being occupied, half with carbonate of lead, and half with chloride of calcium. Another process for the anhydrous acid is that of Gautier, the details of which are thus given by Berzelius. The ferrocyanuret of potassium is fused without access of air, whereby it is converted into a mixture of cya- nuret of potassium and carburet of iron. The mass obtained, after having been pulverized and placed in a flask, is slightly moistened with water, and acted on with muriatic acid, added by small portions at a time. By a double decomposition between the cyanuret and muriatic acid, chloride of potassium and hydrocyanic acid are formed. The flask is then plunged into hot water, which causes the hydrocyanic acid to be disengaged in the form of vapour. This is passed through a tube containing chloride of calcium, and finally re- ceived in a small flask kept cool by a freezing mixture. The process of Wohler for the anhydrous acid is substantially the same as that of Liebig. The cyanuret of potassium selected is a black cyanuret, formed by fusing together 8 parts of dry ferrocyanuret, 3 of ignited cream of tartar, and 1 of charcoal in fine powder in a covered crucible. This is better than Liebig's cyanuret, which contains a large amount of cyanate of potassa. The cyanuret, while still warm, is exhausted by 6 parts of water, and the clear solution, placed in a retort, is decomposed by cold dilute sulphuric acid, gradually added. The hydrocyanic acid is condensed first in a U-shaped tube, containing chloride of calcium, and surrounded with ice-cold water, and after- wards in a small bottle, connected with the U-shaped condenser by a narrow tube, and immersed up to the neck in a mixture of ice and salt. After the acid has condensed and been dehydrated in the U-tube, the cold water sur- rounding it is withdrawn by a siphon, and replaced by water at a temperature between 85° and 90° Fahr., whereby the anhydrous acid is made to distil over into the small bottle. Properties of the Medicinal Acid. Hydrocyanic acid, in the medicinal dilute state, is a transparent, colourless, volatile liquid, possessing a taste at first cooling, afterwards somewhat irritating, and a peculiar smell. It im- parts a slight and evanescent red colour to litmus. If it reddens litmus strongly and permanently, the fact shows the presence of some acid impurity. It is liable to undergo decomposition if exposed to the light, but is easily kept if the bottle containing it is covered with black paint, or black paper. Its most usual impurities are sulphuric and muriatic acids; the former of which may be detected by evaporating a small portion of the suspected acid, when this impurity will remain; and the latter, by precipitating with nitrate of silver, when so much of the precipitate as may be chloride of silver will be insoluble in boiling nitric acid, while the cyanuret of silver is readily soluble. The presence of these acids in slight amount is injurious, only in so far as they render the strength of the acid uncertain. Indeed, Mr. Barry, of Lon- don, adds a small portion of muriatic acid to all his medicinal hydrocyanic acid, in order to preserve it. (Pereira.) In opposition to the idea that the mineral acids are preservative, Dr. Christison remarks that he has known medicinal hydrocyanic acid from ferrocyanuret of potassium to keep perfectly well, although nitrate of baryta, added to it, did not produce the slightest muddiness. If lead be present, it may be detected by hydrosulphuric acid gas, which will cause a blackish precipitate. Hydrocyanic acid is incompati- ble in prescriptions with nitrate of silver, the salts of iron and copper, and most of the salts of mercury. The medicinal acid is of different strengths, as ordered by the different phar- maceutical authorities. Formerly its strength was indicated by its specific gra- vity, which is lower in proportion as it is stronger; but this unprecise mode of estimate has been generally abandoned. The Pharmacopoeias now, with the 790 Acida. PART II. exception of the Dublin, rely on the saturating power as an index of strength. According to the United States and London formula, 100 grains of the acid must accurately saturate 12-7 grains of nitrate of silver, dissolved in distilled water, and produce a precipitate (cyanuret of silver), which, when washed and dried, shall weigh ten grains, and be wholly soluble in boiling nitric acid. An acid of this strength contains two per cent, of the pure anhydrous acid. The test of entire solubility in boiling nitric acid, applied to the precipitate obtained by nitrate of silver, is intended to verify its nature; for, if the hydro- cyanic acid contain muriatic acid, part of this precipitate would be chloride of silver, not soluble in the boiling acid. The Edinburgh acid is directed to contain about 3-22 per cent, of anhydrous acid. The mode laid down by the College for testing its strength by nitrate of silver, admits of a variation in this particular; the stronger allowable acid being one-tenth stronger than the weaker. The Dublin acid, according to Dr. Barker, contains 1-6 per Cent. of the anhydrous acid. The hydrocyanic acid of the French Codex is evi- dently much stronger than any of these acids. Properties of the Anhydrous Acid. Hydrocyanic acid, perfectly free from water, is a colourless, transparent, inflammable liquid, of extreme volatility, boiling at 80°, and congealing at 5°. Its sp. gr. as a liquid is 0-6969, at the temperature of 64°; and as a vapour 0-9423. Its taste is at first cooling, afterwards burning, with an after-taste in the throat like that of bitter almonds; but, from its extremely poisonous nature, it must be tasted with the utmost caution. Its odour is so strong as to produce immediate headache and giddi- ness; and its vapour so ^deleterious that it cannot be inhaled without the greatest danger. Both water and alcohol dissolve it readily. It is much more prone to undergo decomposition than the dilute acid. In the course of a few hours it sometimes begins to assume a reddish-brown colour, which be- comes gradually deeper, till at length the acid is converted into a black liquid, which exhales a strong smell of ammonia. It is a very weak acid in its che- mical relations, and reddens litmus but slightly. It does not form solid com- pounds with metallic oxides, but a cyanuret of the metal, the elements of water being exhaled. According to Sobrero, hydrocyanic acid is generated, in sensible quantities, by the action of weak nitric acid on the volatile oils and resins. Though a product of art, it exists in some plants. It is, how- ever, a matter of doubt, in many cases in which it is extracted from vegeta- bles, whether it is an educt or a product. (See Amygdala Amara.) Composition, dec. Hydrocyanic acid consists of one eq. of cyanogen 26, and one of hydrogen 1 = 27; or in volumes, of one volume of cyanogen and one volume of hydrogen without condensation. Cyanogen is a colourless gas, of a strong and penetrating smell, inflammable, and burning with a beautiful bluish-purple flame. Its sp. gr. is 1-815J- It was discovered in 1815 by Gay-Luss_ac, who considers it a compound radical, which, when acidified by hydrogen, becomes hydrocyanic acid. It consists of two eqs. of carbon 12, and one of nitrogen 14=26; or, in volumes, of two volumes of carbon vapour, and one volume of nitrogen, condensed into one volume. The ultimate con- stituents of hydrocyanic acid are, therefore, two eqs. of carbon, one of nitro- gen, and one of hydrogen. Hydrocyanic acid, in a dilute state, was discovered in 1780 by Scheele, who correctly stated its constituents to be carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen; but the peculiar way in which they are combined was first ascertained by Gay-Lussac, by whom also the anhydrous acid was first obtained. Medical and, Toxicological Properties. Hydrocyanic acid is the most deadly poison known, proving, in many cases, almost instantaneously fatal. According to Dr. Meyer, it acts by paralysing the heart, being conveyed PART II. Acida. 791 into the blood, and operating directly on the organ. One or two drops of the pure acid are sufficient to kill a vigorous dog in a few seconds. Not- withstanding its tremendous energy as a poison, it has been ventured upon in a dilute state as an anodyne and antispasmodic. Though occa- sionally resorted to as a remedy previously to 1817, it did not attract much attention until that year, when Magendie published his observations on its use in diseases of the chest, and recommended its employment to the pro- fession. When given in medicinal doses gradually increased, it produces the following symptoms in different cases:—peculiar bitter taste; increased secre- tion of saliva; irritation in the throat; nausea; disordered respiration; pain in the head; giddiness; faintness; obscure vision; and tendency to sleep. The pulse is sometimes quickened, at other times reduced in frequency. Oc- casionally salivation and ulceration of the mouth are produced. It has been most highly recommended and extensively used in complaints of the respira- tory organs, and is supposed to exert a control over pulmonary inflammation, after the excitement has been diminished by blood-letting; and there is no doubt that, in some instances, it has been found beneficial under such circum- stances. In tubercular phthisis it has no power whatever, except as a pallia- tive for the cough. In the various affections of the chest, however, attended with dyspnoea or cough, such as asthma, hooping cough, and chronic catarrh, it has often been decidedly beneficial, by allaying irritation or relaxing spasm. In hypertrophy of the heart, and aneurism of the aorta, it has also been used with advantage. In various affections of the stomach, characterized by pain and spasm, and sometimes attended with vomiting, but unconnected with in- flammation, hydrocyanic acid has proved beneficial in the hands of several practitioners. It has also been administered as an anodyne in several painful affections, as cancer, tic douloureux, &c, but with doubtful advantage. Some- times it is used externally, diluted with water, as a wash in cutaneous dis- eases. Dr. A. T. Thomson, from his personal observation, insists particularly on its efficacy in allaying the itching in impetiginous affections. The dose of medicinal hydrocyanic acid is from one to six or eight drops, dissolved in distilled water, or mixed with gum water or syrup. It requires to be administered with the greatest caution, on account of the minuteness of the dose, and the great variableness in strength of the acid as found in the shops. The proper plan, therefore, is to begin with a small dose, one drop, for example, and gradually to increase the quantity until some obvious im- pression is produced. If giddiness, weight at the top of the head, sense of tightness at the stomach, or faintness come on, its use should be discontinued. In all cases in which a fresh portion of medicine is used, the dose should be lowered to the minimum, lest the new sample should prove stronger than that previously employed. When resorted to as a lotion, from thirty minims to a fluidrachm may be dissolved in a fluidounce of distilled water. Hydrocyanic acid is so rapidly fatal as a poison that physicians have sel- dom an opportunity to treat its effects. When not immediately fatal, the symptoms produced are sudden loss of sense, trismus, difficult and rattling respiration, coldness of the extremities, smell of the acid proceeding from the mouth, smallness of the pulse, swelling of the neck, dilatation, immobility, and sometimes contraction of tbe pupils, convulsions, &c. The antidotes and remedies most to be relied on, are chlorine, ammonia, cold affusion, and arti- ficial respiration. Chlorine in the form of chlorine water, or weak solutions of chlorinated lime or soda, may be exhibited internally, or applied externally. When chlorine is not at hand, water of ammonia, largely diluted, may be given, and the vapour arising from it cautiously inhaled. A case is related in the Dublin Med. Journal, for Nov., 1835, of poisoning by this acid, in 792 Acida. PART II. which the diluted aromatic spirit of ammonia applied to the mouth, and the solid carbonate assiduously applied to the nostrils, produced speedy beneficial effects. Cold affusion was first proposed in 1828 by Herbst, and its utility was subsequently confirmed by Orfila. Its efficacy is strongly supported by experiments performed in 1839 by Dr. Robinson and M. Lonyet,who quickly resuscitated rabbits, apparently dead from hydrocyanic acid, by pouring on their head and spine a stream of water artificially refrigerated. Messrs. T. & H. Smith, of Edinburgh, have recommended as an antidote, a mixture of the sulphates of the protoxide and sesquioxide of iron, associated with carbonate of potassa. So soon as the antidote comes in contact with hydrocyanic acid, sulphate of potassa is formed, and the poison is converted into Prussian blue. This antidote is proposed by the Messrs. Smith for the medicinal acid only. It may be prepared extemporaneously, according to the same chemists, by adding ten grains of sulphate of protoxide of iron and a drachm of the tincture of chloride of iron to a fluidounce of water, contained in one vial, and twenty grains of carbonate of potassa to a fluidounce or two of water in another vial. The patient is made to swallow the solution of carbonate of potassa, and im- mediately afterwards the mixed ferruginous solution. The quantity of anti- dote, here mentioned, is estimated to render insoluble nearly two grains of the anhydrous acid. After death from suspected poison, it is sometimes necessary to ascertain whether the event was caused by this acid. If death has taken place a long time, it would be needless to search for so volatile a poison; but it has been recognised in one instance seven days after death. The best test is that pro- posed by Liebig in January 1847, consisting in the conversion of the hydro- cyanic acid into sulphocyanate of ammonia, which salt is then tested with a sesquioxide salt of iron. Two drops of the acid, so dilute as not to afford the least blue tint with the salts of iron, upon being mixed with a drop of bihydro- sulphate of ammonia, and heated upon a watch-glass until the mixture is colour- less, yields a solution of sulphocyanate of ammonia, which becomes of a deep blood-red colour upon the addition of the sulphate of sesquioxide of iron, in consequence of the formation of the sulphocyanuret of iron. (Chem. Gaz., April 1,1847, from Liebig's Annalen.) This test is praised by Mr. A. S. Taylor, who found it to act characteristically on two grains of dilute hydrocyanic acid, containing only l-3930th of a grain of anhydrous acid. To render the test thus delicate, Mr. Taylor deems it necessary to evaporate the liquid gently to dryness, after the addition of the bihydrosulphate of ammonia, in order to bring the sulphocyanate to the solid state, before adding the iron test, a frac- tional part of a drop of which will commonly suffice to produce the charac- teristic colour. In case the acid is mixed with organic matters, Mr. Taylor proposes a modification of Liebig's test as follows. Place the contaminated acid in a watch-glass, and invert over it another, holding in its centre a drop of the bihydrosulphate of ammonia. In from half a minute to ten minutes, without the application of heat, the bihydrosulphate will be converted into the sulphocyanate of ammonia; and upon removing the upper glass, and evaporating its contents to dryness, the addition of the iron test will produce the blood-red colour. Off. Prep. Argenti Cyanuretum, U. S., Lond.; Hydrargyri Bicyanidum, Lond. B. ACIDUM MURIATICUM DILUTUM. U.S., Ed., Dub. Acid- um Hydrochloricum Dilutum. Lond. Diluted Muriatic Acid. " Take of Muriatic Acid four fluidounces; Distilled Water twelve fluid- PART II. Acida. 793 ounces. Mix them in a glass vessel. The specific gravity of this acid is 1046." U.S. The London and Edinburgh directions are the same as those of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The U. S. and London diluted acids are identical; but the Edinburgh diluted acid is somewhat stronger (1-050), in consequence of the pure muriatic acid of that College having a density of 1-17, instead of 1-16 (U. S., Lond.). The Dublin College mixes ten measures of Muriatic Acid with eleven of Distilled Water, and states the density of the acid to be 1-080. It is convenient to have an officinal diluted muriatic acid, and, at present, all the Pharmacopoeias give a formula for it. The acids of the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias virtually agree in strength; that of the Dub- lin College is nearly twice as strong. For an account of the medicinal pro- perties of muriatic acid, see Acidum Muriaticum. The dose of the diluted acid is from twenty to sixty drops; of the Dublin acid, about half that quan- tity, mixed with water or other convenient vehicle. The Dublin College employs this acid, as a chemical agent, in the preparation of Calcis Phosphas Prsecipitatum. B. ACIDUM NITRICUM DILUTUM. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Diluted Nitric Acid. " Take of Nitric Acid a fluidounce; Distilled Water nine flxddounces. Mix them in a glass vessel. The specific gravity of this acid is 1-08." U. S. The London formula is the same as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. " Mix together one fluidounce of Pure Nitric Acid (D. 1-500), and nine fluidounces of Distilled Water. If the Commercial Nitric Acid of D. 1-390 be used, one fluidounce and fire fluidrachms and a half are required. The density of this diluted acid is 1-077." Ed. "Take of Nitric Acid by measure, three parts; Distilled Water by measure, four parts. Mix, avoiding the noxious vapours. The specific gravity of this acid is 1-280." Dub. At present all the Pharmacopoeias embrace Diluted Nitric Acid, for con- venience in prescribing. The acids of the U.S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias are of the same strength, being, for equal volumes with the strong acid, a little more than one-tenth its strength. The acid of the Dublin College is somewhat less than half as strong as the concentrated acid, and is, therefore, nearly five times as strong as the other officinal acids. The medicinal properties of the diluted acid are the same as those of the strong acid. (See Acidum Nitricum.) The dose of the U.S., Lond., and Ed. acid is from twenty to forty drops three times a day, sufficiently reduced with water at the time of taking it; of the Dublin acid, from five to ten drops. Diluted nitric acid is used by the Dublin College, as a chemical agent merely, in preparing Calomelas Praecipitatum, Hydrargyri Acetas, and Hy- drargyri Oxydum Nitricum. A diluted nitric acid is used by the Edinburgh College for preparing the red oxide of mercury; but it is directed to have the density of 1-280, and is, therefore, not the officinal diluted acid of that College. Off. Prep. Argenti Nitras Fusum, Dub.; Argenti Nitratis Crystalli, Dub.; Bismuthi Subnitras, Dub.; Plumbi Nitras, Ed. B. ACIDUM NITROMURIATICUM. U.S., Dub. Kitromuriatie Acid, " Take of Nitric Acid four fluidounces; Muriatic Acid eight fluidounces. Mix them in a glass vessel, and, when effervescence has ceased, keep the pro- duct in a well stopped glass bottle, in a cool and dark place." U. S. The Dublin formula need not be given, as it is the original of that intro- duced into the U. S. Pharmacopceia. 794 Acida. part ii. Nitromuriatic acid is the aqua regia of the earlier chemists, so called from its property of dissolving gold. Nitric and muriatic acids, when mixed toge- ther, mutually decompose each other. According to the recent researches of Gay-Lussac (June 1848), the reaction gives rise to two compounds, in varia- ble proportions, of nitric oxide and chlorine (N02C13 and NOaCl), mixed with free chlorine; the former being analogous in constitution to nitrous, the latter to hyponitrous acid. The power, however, of nitromuriatic acid to dis- solve gold, and similar metals having a weak affinity for oxygen, is owing exclusively to the free chlorine present, and is in nowise dependent on the compounds above referred to, which remain entirely passive during the solu- tion of the metal. (Journ. de L'harm., Aug. 1848.) Adopting the views of Gay-Lussac, the proportion of the aCids for total mutual decomposition would be one eq. of nitric and three of muriatic acid; and the products would be the two compounds of nitric oxide and chlorine, free chlorine, and water. The proportions directed in the formula being about single equivalents of the two acids, it follows that a large excess of nitric acid is employed. Accord- ing to the same views, the proportion of free chlorine must be variable, de- pendent upon the relative proportion of the nitric oxide compounds to each other. For every eq. of N02C12 formed, one eq. of chlorine will be set free; while for every eq.of NOaCl, two eqs. of chlorine will be evolved. The pre- cise circumstances that determine the simultaneous formation of the two nitric oxide compounds, and their constantly varying proportion to each other, have not been pointed, out by Gay-Lussac in the paper above referred to. When nitromuriatic acid is made from strong acids, there is always a loss of the nitric oxide compounds and of free chlorine by effervescence. This loss may, in a great measure, be avoided, by employing the ordinary acids of commerce, which react slowly on each other, and contain sufficient water to hold the gaseous products in solution. Properties. Nitromuriatic acid has a golden-yellow colour, and emits the smell of chlorine. It possesses the power of dissolving gold and platinum. It should be kept in a cool dark place, on account of its liability to lose chlorine by heat, or to have it converted, by the action of light, into muriatic acid, in consequence of the decomposition of water. On account of its liabili- ty to decomposition, it should not be made by the apothecary until it is wanted for use, and then only in the quantity ordered; the formula being introduced merely as a guide for the proportions. The nitric and muriatic acids, as sold in the shops, are sometimes so weak that when mixed they will not readily act on gold-leaf. When this is the case, their solvent power may be rendered effective by the addition of a little sulphuric acid, which, by its superior attraction for water, concentrates the other acids, and causes an immediate action.* 3tedical Properties and Uses. Nitromuriatic acid was brought into notice as a remedy, in consequence of the favourable report of its efficacy as an ex- ternal remedy in hepatitis, made by Dr. Scott, formerly of Bombay. When thus employed, it produces a tingling sensation in the skin, thirst, a peculiar taste in the mouth, and occasional soreness of the gums and plentiful ptyalism; and at the same time stimulates the liver, as is evinced by an increased flow of bile. It is used either by sponging, or in the form of a local or general bath. When applied by sponging, the acid is first diluted so as to have the acidity of strong vinegar. When used as a foot-bath, three gallons of water, contained in a deep narrow wooden tub, may be acidulated with six fluid- • In relation to nitromuriatic acid, see a paper in the third volume of the Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, by Daniel B. Smith. PART II. Acida. 795 ounces of the acid. In this the feet and legs are to be immersed for twenty minutes or half an hour. The bath may be employed at first daily, and after- wards twice or thrice a week; and the sponging may be used at the same time. The bath is said to be effective in promoting the passage of biliary calculi. The acid may be used also internally, principally in hepatic and syphilitic diseases. The dose in this case is three or four drops, sufficiently diluted with water. B. ACIDUM PHOSPHORICUM DILUTUM. Lond. Diluted Phosphoric Acid. "Take of Phosphorus an ounce; Nitric Acid four fluidounces; Distilled Water ten fluidounces. Add the Phosphorus to the Nitric Acid, mixed with the Water in a glass retort placed in a sand-bath; then apply heat until eight fluidounces are distilled. Put these again into the retort, that eight fluid- ounces may distil, which are to be rejected. Evaporate the remaining liquor in a platinum capsule until only two ounces and six drachms remain. Lastly, add to the acid, when it is cold, as much distilled water as may be sufficient to make it accurately measure twenty-eight fluidounces." Lond, The specific gravity of this acid is 1-064. One hundred grains of it saturate forty-two grains of carBonate of soda. Imperial measure is to be understood in this formula. The process for this new officinal of the London College may be thus ex- plained. Phosphorus, when added to strong nitric acid, decomposes it with explosion and rapid combustion; but when distilled with the diluted acid the action takes place slowly, the phosphorus gradually melts and becomes oxid- ized, and nitric oxide is evolved. Before, however, the whole of the phos- phorus is acidified, the nitric acid will have distilled over; and hence the necessity of returning it into the retort, as directed by the College, in order to complete the acidification of the phosphorus. When this has been com- pleted, all remains of nitric acid are driven off by the evaporation in the pla- tinum capsule; and the residue, which contains all the phosphoric acid that can be generated from as ounce of phosphorus, is brought to a standard degree of dilution, by the addition of sufficient distilled water to make it measure twenty-eight fluidounces. (See Acidum Nitricum and Phosphorus.) Phosphoric acid may be obtained more economically than by the above process, by decomposing phosphate of lime (calcined bones) by sulphuric acid, saturating the superphosphate formed with carbonate of ammonia, which generates phosphate of ammonia in solution with precipitation of phosphate of lime, and finally decomposing the phosphate of ammonia by a red heat in a platinum crucible. The ammonia is thus expelled, and the solid residuum will be the phosphoric acid. Wackenroder has given another process for medicinal phosphoric acid, which requires the use of alcohol, and is, therefore, ineligible. Gregory finds that the process for phosphoric acid, given in his " Outlines," in which alcohol is used to separate the phosphate of magnesia, will not answer. He accordingly gives an amended process, which may be found described in the Chem. Gaz., No. 62, p. 216. Properties. Diluted phosphoric acid is a colourless, inodorous, sour liquid, acting strongly on litmus, and possessing powerful acid properties. Although evaporated so as to become dense, it is not powerfully corrosive like the other mineral acids. From its saturating power it is shown to contain 10-5 per cent, of real phosphoric acid. With chloride of barium and nitrate of silver it forms precipitates (the phosphates of baryta and silver), which are readily soluble in nitric acid. If the tests mentioned give a precipitate not soluble in this acid, they prove the presence—the chloride of barium, of sulphurio 796 Acida. PART II. acid or a sulphate; the nitrate of silver, of muriatic acid or a chloride. If carbonate of soda causes a precipitate, phosphate of lime, or some other phos- phate insoluble in water, is probably held in solution. The presence of one- tenth of phosphorous acid, or of a minute quantity of arsenic acid, renders the medicinal acid poisonous. ( Weigel and Krug.) When the diluted acid is evaporated to dryness and heated to redness, it becomes a transparent, white, brittle, fusible solid, formerly called glacial phosphoric acid, now denominated metaphosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid consists of one eq. of phosphorus 32, and five of oxygen 40=72. 31edical Properties and Uses. Diluted phosphoric acid is deemed tonic and refrigerant. It is preferable in point of flavour to the diluted sulphuric acid, and is less apt to disturb the digestive functions. Various powers have been ascribed to it, such as allaying pain and spasm, strengthening the sexual organs, preventing the morbid secretion of bony matter, and correcting phos- phatic deposits in the urine, on the ground of its power of dissolving phos- phate of lime. It has been recommended in leucorrhcea, when the secreted fluid is thin and acrid, in hysteria, and diabetes. In the latter disease, Dr. Paris found it to allay the thirst more effectually than any other acid drink. The dose is from twenty drops to a teaspoonful, diluted with water. B. ACIDUM SUCCINICUM. Dub. Succinic Acid. " Take of Amber reduced to coarse powder, and of pure sand, each, one part. On the application of heat gradually increased, an acid liquor, an oil, and the acid in a crystallized form will distil over. The latter should be re- ceived on bibulous paper, and exposed to a strong pressure to expel the oil, and again sublimed. By filtration through bibulous paper, the oil may be obtained separate from the acid liquor." Dub. The above formula has for its'object to obtain the oil of amber, as well as succinic acid; but our remarks will be confined in this place to the acid, the oil being described under another head. (See Oleum Succini.) Amber con- tains succinic acid ready formed, associated with volatile oil, certain resins, and other substances. (See Succinum.) When distilled, it swells consider- ably, and a yellow liquid, consisting of a solution of impure succinic acid, first comes over; after which a concrete substance sublimes containing the same acid. (See page 693.) It is this concrete substance separated from contaminating oil and re-sublimed, which constitutes the succinic acid of the Dublin College. The College directs the admixture of sand, to prevent the amber from swelling too much by the heat. Several processes have been proposed to purify succinic acid. The best is that of Morveau, which consists in dissolving the acid in twice its weight of nitric acid, and evaporating the solution to dryness. In this way the oil is decomposed, while the succinic acid remains unaltered. This is then washed in a little ice-cold water, next dissolved in boiling water, and crystallized. Properties. Succinic acid, when pure, is a white, transparent solid, crys- tallizing in prisms, and having a somewhat acrid taste. It reddens litmus strongly. It exists in the resins of certain coniferae, and is a product of the oxidation of stearic and margaric acids. One of its salts, succinate of ammo- nia, has been used with great alleged success in delirium tremens. (Journ, de Pharm., Se sir., v. 241.) Exposed to heat it melts, and above the boiling point of water is partly sublimed and partly decomposed. It dissolves in five times its weight of cold, and twice its weight of boiling water. It is soluble also in cold alcohol, and much more so in boiling alcohol. According to Wackenroder it is sometimes adulterated with tartaric acid, soaked in oil of amber. When anhydrous it consists of four eqs. of carbon 24, two of hy- PART II. Acida. 797 drogen 2, and three of oxygen 24=50 (C4H203). It differs, therefore, from acetic acid, only in containing one eq. less of hydrogen. The sublimed acid consists of two eqs. of dry acid and one of water (2C4H203-f-HO). Succinic acid is at present never used in medicine, and ought to be ex- punged from the officinal catalogue. It has been abandoned by the Edin- burgh College in the last revision of its Pharmacopoeia. B. ACIDUM SULPHURICUM AROMATICUM. U.S.,Ed.,Dub. Aromatic Sulphuric Acid. Elixir of Vitriol. " Take of Sulphuric Acid three fluidounces and a half; Ginger, bruised, an ounce ; Cinnamon, bruised, an ounce and a half; Alcohol two pints. Add the Acid gradually to the Alcohol, and digest, in a close vessel, for three days; then add the Ginger and Cinnamon, and macerate for a week; lastly, filter through paper." U S. " Take of Sulphuric Acid (commercial) three fluidounces and a half; Rec- tified Spirit a pint and a half [Imp. meas.] ; Cinnamon, in moderately fine powder, an ounce and a half; Ginger, in moderately fine powder, an ounce. Add the acid gradually to the spirit, let the mixture digest at a very gentle heat for three days in a closed vessel; mix the powders, moisten them with a little of the acid spirit, let the mass rest for twelve hours, and then put it into a percolator and transmit the rest of the acid spirit. This preparation may also be made by digesting the powders for six days in the acid spirit, and then straining the liquor." Ed. The Dublin process is substantially the same as those of the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, and therefore need not be copied. The original of the formulas here given for elixir of vitriol was the process contained in the former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, which was adopted, with slight alteration, in the U. S. and Dublin standards. The present formula of the Edinburgh College differs from its original one, in substituting for the weights of the acid and spirit, the nearest equivalent measures, and in giving the alternative of preparing by displacement. The same substitution was made in the formula when it was first adopted in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, and hence the two formulas are virtually the same. The only difference is in the pro- portion of the spirit, which is 32 wine fluidounces in the U. S. formula, and 30 Imperial fluidounces in the Edinburgh. This circumstance makes the U. S. preparation somewhat weaker in acid than the Edinburgh, because more di- luted with spirit. Properties. Aromatic sulphuric acid is a reddish-brown liquid, of a peculiar aromatic odour, and, when sufficiently diluted, of a grateful acid taste. It has been supposed by some to be a kind of ether, its main ingredients justifying such a suspicion; but the late Dr. Duncan, who originally held this opinion, satisfied himself that the alcohol and sulphuric acid, in the proportions here employed, do not produce a single particle of ether. It must, therefore, be viewed merely as sulphuric acid diluted with alcohol, and containing the essen- tial oils of ginger and cinnamon. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. This valuable preparation, commonly called elixir of vitriol, is a simplification of 3Iynsicht's acid elixir. It is tonic and astringent, and affords the most agreeable mode of administering sulphuric acid. It is very much employed in debility with night sweats, in loss of ap- petite, and in the convalescence from fevers, especially those of the intermit- tent type. It is often given in conjunction with cinchona, the taste of which it serves to cover, and, by increasing the solubility of the febrifuge principles of the bark, appears to increase its efficacy. (See Infusum Cinchonse Compo- sition^) In haemoptysis and other hemorrhages, when not attended with ob- 798 Acida. PART II. vious inflammation, it frequently proves useful in stopping the flow of blood. The dose is from ten to thirty drops in a wineglassful of water, repeated two or three times a day. Care must be taken that the teeth are not injured by the acid. Off. Prep. Infusum Cinchonse Compositum, U. S. B. ACIDUM SULPHURICUM DILUTUM. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Diluted Sulphuric Acid. " Take of Sulphuric Acid a fluidounce ; Distilled Water thirteen fluidounces. Add the Acid gradually to the Water, in a glass vessel, and mix them. The specific gravity of this acid is 1-09." U S. "Take of Sulphuric Acid a fluidounce and a half; Distilled Water four- teen fluidounces and a half. Add the Acid gradually to the Water, and mix them." Lond, " Mix together one fluidounce of Sulphuric Acid and thirteen fluidounces of Water. The density of this preparation is about 1-090." Ed. " Take of Pure Sulphuric Acid one part; Distilled water seven parts. Gradually add the Acid to the Water. The specific gravity of this acid is 1-084." Dub. This preparation is sulphuric acid, diluted to such an extent as to make it convenient for prescription. The U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias agree in making the strong acid to the water as one to thirteen in volume, equivalent nearly to one to seven in weight, the ratio adopted by the Dublin College. There is, accordingly, a virtual agreement in the strength and density of the acid by these three processes; but unfortunately the formula of the London College gives an acid considerably stronger. The coincident processes afford an acid containing about 13 per cent, of the strong liquid acid; while the London acid contains 16 per cent., and has a specific gravity as high as 1-11. According to Mr. Phillips, a fluidrachm (Imp. meas.) of the London acid contains about ten grains of the strong acid, and will saturate twenty-eight grains of crystallized carbonate of soda. The strong acid is added gradually to the water, to guard against the too sudden production of heat, which might cause the fracture of the vessel. During the dilution, when commercial sul- phuric acid is used, the liquid becomes slightly turbid, and in the course of a few days deposits a grayish-white powder which is sulphate of lead, and from which the diluted acid should be poured off for use. This noxious salt is thus got rid off, but sulphate of potassa, another impurity in the strong acid, still remains in solution. To avoid these impurities, the Dublin College directs the dilution of pure sulphuric acid. The presence of a small portion of sul- phate of potassa will do no harm; but if it should be fraudulently introduced into the strong acid to increase its specific gravity, its amount may be ascer- tained by saturating the acid, after dilution, with ammonia, and expelling, by a red heat, the sulphate of ammonia formed. Whatever sulphate of potassa is present will remain behind. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Diluted sulphuric acid is tonic, refrigerant, and astringent. It.is given in low typhoid fevers, and often with advantage. In the convalescence from protracted fevers, it often acts beneficially as a tonic, exciting the appetite and promoting digestion. As an astringent, it is employed in colliquative sweats, passive hemorrhages, and diarrhoeas depend- ent on a relaxed state of the mucous membrane of tbe intestines. In calcu- lous affections attended with phosphatic sediments, it is the proper remedy, being preferable to muriatic acid, as less apt, by continued use, to disorder the stomach. Externally it is used as an ingredient in gargles for ulcerated sorethroat and for checking excessive ptyalism, and as a wash for cutaneous PART II. Acida. 799 eruptions and ill-conditioned ulcers. The dose is from ten to thirty drops three times a day, in a wineglassful of plain or sweetened water. It is added with advantage to infusions of cinchona, the organic alkalies of which it tends to hold in solution. As it is apt to injure the teeth, it is best taken by sucking it through a quill. It is much less used in the United States than the elixir of vitriol, which possesses nearly the same medical properties. An elegant form for giving it is the compound infusion of roses. (See Acid- um Sulphuricum Aromaticum and Infusum Rosas Compositum.) Diluted sulphuric acid is used as a chemical agent to prepare Acidum Citricum, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Acidum Tartaricum, Lond., Ed.; Aconitina, Lond,; Antimonii Sulphuretum Praecipitatum, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Strychnia, U.S., Lond.; Veratria, U S., Lond. Off. Prep. Infusum Rosae Compositum, U S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Mor- phiae Sulphas, U S.; Quininae Sulphas, Dub.; Zinci Sulphas, Lond., Ed. B. ACIDUM SULPHURICUM PURUM. Ed., Dub. Pure Sul- phuric Acid. " If Commercial Sulphuric Acid contain nitrous acid, heat eight fluid- ounces of it with between ten and fifteen grains of sugar, at a temperature not quite sufficient to boil the acid, till the dark colour at first produced shall have nearly or altogether disappeared. This process removes nitrous acid. Other impurities may be removed by distillation, which on the small scale is easily managed by boiling the acid, with a few platinum chips, in a glass re- tort by means of a sand-bath or gas flame, rejecting the first half ounce." Ed. " Take of Commercial Sulphuric Acid a pound. Put the acid into a re- tort of flint glass, attach a receiver of the same kind, and with the junctures of the vessels left open, let heat be applied to the retort until one-twelfth part of the liquor shall have distilled over: this, as it contains water, should be rejected. The receiver being again applied, the residuum is to be distilled to dryness. A few slips of platinum, put into the acid in the retort, will restrain the ebullition, which otherwise would be too violent. The specific gravity of this acid is 1-845. Let the acid be kept in well closed vessels." Dub. The object of these processes is the purification of commercial sulphuric acid. This acid contains the sulphates of lead and potassa, amounting not unfrequently to three or four per cent.; and nitrous acid is almost always present. The salts mentioned, not being volatile, are effectually got rid of by distillation, as directed in the formula. The manner of conducting the distillation is explained at page 48, under the head of Acidum Sulphuricum. The mode of detecting nitrous acid is pointed out at page 46. If present in the commercial acid, the Edinburgh College directs, before distilling it, that it should be heated with a small proportion of sugar, according to the plan of Wackenroder. The acid impurity and sugar mutually decompose each other, and the products are dissipated by the heat. The acid is at first rendered dark and opaque, but gradually becomes pale yellow, if kept for two hours near the boiling point. Nitrous acid is hurtful to the sulphuric, when the latter is used to obtain muriatic acid, which consequently becomes contami- nated with chlorine. Hence the Edinburgh College uses pure sulphuric acid in the formula for preparing muriatic acid. If the commercial sulphuric acid contain arsenic, it should not be distilled, but rejected. The tests for this impurity are given at page 47. The following tests are given by the Ed. College for pure sulphuric acid. "Density 1-845: colourless: dilution causes no muddiness: solution of sul- phate of iron shows no reddening at the line of contact, when poured over it." 800 Acida. PART II. The negative indication of the last mentioned test shows the absence of nitrous acid. It is, perhaps, an advantage to have an officinal pure sulphuric acid; for the least danger of introducing lead into the system, when exhibiting the pre- parations containing sulphuric acid, should be carefully guarded against. It is true that the commercial acid, upon dilution, lets fall the sulphate of lead; but can we be certain that the precipitate is always removed from the prepa- rations into which the acid enters ? When the acid is required as a mere chem- ical agent, or for forming sulphates, the commercial acid is sufficiently pure. There is a want of precision in the nomenclature of the officinal sulphuric acids in the Edinburgh and Dublin Pharmacopoeias. The Edinburgh Col- lege adopts the names " Acidum Sulphuricum" and " Acidum Sulphuricum Purum," and translates them in three ways in the formulas,—" commercial sulphuric acid," " pure sulphuric acid," and " sulphuric acid." The last name is ambiguous, and may mean either the commercial or pure acid. The Dublin College adopts the names " Acidum Sulphuricum Venale" and " Acidum Sulphuricum Purum," but, in the formulas, frequently uses the indefinite term " Acidum Sulphuricum." We shall assume that the inde- finite expressions of both Pharmacopoeias mean the commercial acid. According to the views here taken, pure sulphuric acid should be used especially in forming "diluted sulphuric acid" and " aromatic sulphuric acid." Nevertheless in neither of these preparations is it employed by the Edinburgh College, and only to form the diluted acid by the Dublin. Where a dilute acid is required as a chemical agent, and not as a medicine, it might be di- rected, in the formula, to be formed by the addition of a determinate quantity of water to the commercial acid. While the Edinburgh College has omitted to order the " pure sulphuric acid" in making preparations into which the acid enters as an ingredient, it has, with useless refinement, directed it, though acting merely as a chemical agent, for preparing Acidum Aceticum and Acid- um Muriaticum Purum. Off. Prep. Acidum Sulphuricum Dilutum, Dub. B. ACIDUM TANNICUM. U. S. Tannic Acid. Tannin. " Take of Galls, in powder, Sulphuric Ether, each, a sufficient quantity. Put into a glass adapter, loosely closed at its lower end with carded cotton, sufficient powdered Galls to fill about one half of it, and press the powder slightly. Then fit the adapter accurately to the mouth of a receiving vessel, fill it with the Sulphuric Ether, and close the upper orifice so as to prevent the escape of the ether by evaporation. The liquid which passes separates into two unequal portions, of which the lower is much smaller in quantity and much denser than the upper. When the ether ceases to pass, pour fresh portions upon the Galls, until the lower stratum of liquid in the receiver no longer increases. Then separate this from the upper, put it into a capsule, and evaporate with a moderate heat to dryness. Lastly, rub what remains into powder. " The upper portion of liquid will yield by distillation a quantity of ether, which, when washed with water, may be employed in a subsequent opera- tion." U.S. This is the process of M. Pelouze. It may be conducted in an ordinary displacement apparatus. The sulphuric ether employed should be that of the shops, containing a small proportion of water, which is necessary to the success of the operation. Should the ether contain no water, it should be washed with this fluid, which answers the double purpose of depriving it of alcohol and rendering it sufficiently hydrous. To obtain the tannic acid quite PART II. Acida. 801 pure, the lower stratum may be washed with ether after the separation of the upper, and evaporated in a vacuum with sulphuric acid. The explanation of the process first given was that the water in the ether dissolves the tannic acid, to the exclusion of all the other principles of the galls, and forms a saturated solution, which separates from the ether,'and constitutes the lower stratum in the receiver. From the experiments of M. Beral, there is reason to believe that the tannic acid is not merely dissolved by the water, but forms with it and a portion of the ether a definite compound, which is essentially liquid, and is decomposed during the evaporation; the ether and water escaping, and the solid tannic acid being left behind. The upper and larger stratum in the receiver consists of ether, holding colouring matter with a small proportion of gallic and tannic acids in solution. From 30 to 35 per cent, of tannic acid may be obtained from galls by this process, if properly conducted. For valuable remarks on the process, the reader is referred to a paper by Dr. Robert Bridges, in the American Journal of Pharmacy, xiv. 40. For practical purposes it is unnecessary to obtain the tannic acid quite pure. It is probably sufficiently so when extracted by the following simple process of Leconnet, given in Christison's Dispensatory. The powder of galls is macerated in a bottle, with just enough ether to moisten it, for twenty-four hours, and then expressed in a powerful press; and the process of maceration and expression is repeated, in the same way, until the powder is exhausted. The liquors are mixed, the ether distilled off, and the residue dried by means of a vapour bath. It is stated that 60 per cent, of tannic acid, but very slightly coloured, may be got in this way. As gallic acid exists but in small proportion in galls, being chiefly produced by the reaction of atmospheric air upon tannic acid in the process for extracting it, very little of that principle is found in the ethereal extract, and the amount of colouring matter taken up by the ether, will scarcely interfere with the medicinal efficacy of the preparation. The term tannin was originally applied to a principle or principles exist- ing in many vegetables, having a very astringent taste, and the property of producing a white- flocculent precipitate with the solution of gelatin, and a black precipitate with the salts of the sesquioxide of iron. As obtained, however, from different plants, tannin was found to exhibit some difference of properties, and chemists have recognised two kinds, one existing in oak bark, galls, &c, distinguished by producing a bluish-black precipitate with the salts of the sesquioxide of iron, and the other existing in Peruvian bark, catechu, &c, and characterized by producing a greenish-black or dark-olive precipitate with the same salts. The former is the one which has received most attention, and from an examination of which the characters of tannin have generally been given. It is the substance described in this article. It will probably be found that the latter is essentially distinct from the tannin of galls, and probably different in different vegetables. One striking pecu- liarity of the tannin of galls is its facility of conversion into gallic acid, which is wanting in some at least of the other varieties. Since the publica- tion of the experiments of M. Pelouze in relation to tannin, this substance has been universally admitted to rank with the acids, and is now, therefore, denominated tannic acid. Dr. Kane calls the ordinary variety procured from galls, for the sake of distinction, gallo-tannic acid, Properties. Pure tannic acid is solid, uncrystallizable, white or slightly yellowish, inodorous, strongly astringent to the taste without bitterness, very soluble in water, much less soluble in alcohol and ether, especially when anhydrous, and insoluble in the fixed and volatile oils. It may be kept 51 802 Acida. PART II. unchanged in the solid state; but its aqueous solution, when exposed to the air, gradually becomes turbid, and deposits a crystalline matter, consisting chiefly of gallic acid. During the change, oxygen is absorbed, and an equal volume of carbonic acid disengaged. Exposed to heat it partly melts, swells up, blackens, takes fire, and burns with a brilliant flame. Its solution red- dens litmus, and it combines with most of the salifiable bases. With potassa it forms a compound but slightly soluble-, and is, therefore, precipitated by this alkali or its carbonates from a solution which is not too dilute, though a certain excess of alkali will cause the precipitate to be redissolved. Its com- bination with soda is much more soluble; and this alkali affords no precipi- tate unless with a very concentrated solution of tannic acid. With ammonia its relations are similar to those with potassa. Baryta, strontia, lime, and magnesia, added in the state of hydrates, form with it compounds of little solubility. The same is the case with most of the metallic oxides, when presented, in the state of salts, to a solution of the tannate of potassa. Many of the metallic salts are precipitated by tannic acid even in the uncombined state, especially those of lead, copper, silver, uranium, chromium, mercury, and the protoxide of tin. With the salts of sesquioxide of iron it forms a black precipitate, which is a compound of tannic acid and the sesquioxide, and is the basis of ink. It does not disturb the solutions of the pure salts of protoxide of iron. Several of the alkaline salts precipitate it from its aqueous solution, either by the formation of insoluble compounds, or by simply ab- stracting the solvent. Tannic acid unites with all the vegetable alkalies, forming compounds which are for the most part of a whitish colour, and but very slightly soluble in water; though they are soluble in the vegetable acids, especially the acetic, and in alcohol, and in this latter respect differ" from most of the compounds which tannic acid forms with other vegetable prin- ciples. On account of this property of tannic acid, it has been employed as a test of the vegetable alkalies; and it is so delicate, that it will throw down a precipitate from their solution, even when too feeble to be disturbed by ammonia. It has an .affinity for several acids, and when in solution affords precipitates with the sulphuric, nitric, muriatic, phosphoric, and arsenic acids, but not with the oxalic, tartaric, lactic, acetic, or citric. The precipitates are compounds of tannic acid with the respective acids mentioned, and are soluble in pure water, but insoluble in water with an excess of acid. Plence, in order to insure precipitation, it is necessary to add the acid in excess to the solution of tannic acid. It precipitates also solutions of starch, albumen, and gluten, and forms with gelatin an insoluble compound, which is the basis of leather. Its ultimate constituents are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; and its formula, according to Liebig, is C13H8Oia, or C^HsOn+SIIO. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Tannic acid, being the chief principle of vegetable astringents, is capable of exerting on the system the same effects with this class of medicines, and may be given in the same complaints. It has an advantage over the astringent extracts in the comparative smallness of its dose, which renders it less apt to offend an irritable stomach. In. most of the vegetable astringents, it is associated with more or less bitter extractive, or other principle which modifies its operation, and renders the medicine less applicable than it otherwise would be to certain cases, in which there is an indication for pure astringency without any tonic power. Such is particularly the case with the active hemorrhages; and tannic acid, in its separate state, is in these cases preferable to the native combinations in which it ordinarily exists. Dr. Porta, an Italian physician, employed it with great success in the treatment of uterine hemorrhage, and published the results of his expe- PART II. Acida.—Aconitina. 803 rience in 1827. M. Cavalier afterwards used it successfully in the same com- plaint, and found it effectual also in a case of bleeding from the rectum. It has been highly recommended by Dr. Charvet for checking excessive sweats. There is no doubt that it would be found a useful remedy in most forms of hemorrhage, after a sufficient reduction of arterial action by depletory mea- sures. In diarrhoea also it would probably be more beneficial than ordinary astringents, as less liable to irritate the stomach and bowels. It has been given, with asserted advantage, in the advanced stages of hooping-cough. The dose is from two to five grains. The only disadvantage which has been ex- perienced from it, when taken in excess, is obstinate constipation. Mr. Druitt has employed it locally, with much success, in excoriations, phagedenic ulcers, leucorrhcea, aphthae of the mouth, severe salivation, sorethroat, and tooth- ache. As a wash it may be used in solution, in the proportion of five grains to a fluidounce of water. (Am. Journ. of 3Ied. Sci., A7! S., ix. 192.) Given largely to a dog, it caused the urine to become dark-brown and opaque; and this secretion gave evidences of the presence of gallic and pyrogallic acids. (Chem. Gaz., No. 136, p. 231.) W. ACONITINA. Lond. Aconitina. "Take of Aconite Root, dried and bruised, two pounds; Rectified Spirit three gallons [Imp. meas.]; Diluted Sulphuric Acid, Solution of Ammonia, Purified Animal Charcoal, each, a sufficient quantity. Boil the Aconite with a gallon of the Spirit, for an hour, in a retort with a receiver fitted to it. Pour off the liquor, and again boil the residue with another gallon of the Spirit and with the spirit recently distilled, and pour off the liquor also. Let the same be done a third time. Then press the Aconite, and having mixed all the liquors and filtered them, distil the spirit. Evaporate the remainder to the proper consistence of an extract. Dissolve this in water and filter. Eva- porate the solution, with a gentle heat, to the consistence of syrup. To this add of Diluted Sulphuric Acid, mixed with distilled water, sufficient to dis- solve the aconitina. Next drop in Solution of Ammonia, and dissolve the precipitated aconitina in Diluted Sulphuric Acid, mixed as before with water. Then mix in the Animal Charcoal, occasionally shaking for a quarter of an hour. Lastly filter, and having again dropped in Solution of Ammonia, so as to precipitate the Aconitina, wash and dry it." Lond. The name adopted Jby the London College for the alkaline principle ex- tracted from aconite, is objectionable, as of unnecessary length. Aconiti a is a preferable name. The principle probably exists in the plant combined with a vegetable acid, forming a soluble salt. In the above process, this is first extracted by alcohol, then taken up from the alcoholic extract by water, and afterwards converted into a sulphate by the addition of dilute sulphuric acid. The sulphate is decomposed by ammonia, which precipitates the aco- nitia, and this is purified by being once more combined with sulphuric acid, then decolorized by animal charcoal, and again precipitated by ammonia. Care is requisite, in conducting the process, not to add too great an excess of the water of ammonia, which diminishes the product probably by dissolving the aconitia. Properties. Aconitia, when freshly precipitated, is said to be white and in the form of a hydrate; but it speedily parts with its water, and forms a brown- ish, brittle mass. (Soubeiran, Trait, de Pharm., ii. 716.) It is thought not 804 Aconitina. part II. to be crystallizable. v Obtained by evaporating its alcoholic solution, it is de- scribed as being in the form of a transparent, colourless mass, having a glassy lustre. In powder, it is white with a yellowish tinge. It is inodorous, and of a bitter and acrid taste, producing a benumbing impression on the tongue. The acrimony, however, is ascribed by some to a distinct principle associated with it, from which it may be freed by repeated solution in dilute acids and subsequent precipitation. It is unalterable in the air, and fusible by a gentle heat. At a high temperature it is decomposed and entirely dissipated. It is sparingly soluble in water, requiring for solution 150 parts of cold and 50 of boiling water. (Phillips.) Alcohol and ether dissolve it readily. It neutral- izes the acids; but its' salts are not crystallizable. That it contains nitrogen is proved by the evolution of ammonia, when it is decomposed by heat. A spurious substance has sometimes been sold under the same name, which was nearly or quite inert. It wanted some of the properties above mentioned as characteristic of aconitia. Medical Properties and Uses. This vegetable principle exercises a power- ful influence over the animal economy. One-fiftieth of a grain dissolved in alcohol destroyed a sparrow in a few minutes; and the same quantity admin- istered to an elderly female is said to have nearly proved fatal. In a case of poisoning by aconitia, recorded by Dr. Golding Bird, though two grains and a half were taken, the patient ultimately recovered. But, as vomiting almost immediately ensued, there is reason to believe that much of the poison was thus discharged from the stomach. Besides extreme general prostration, indicated by a cold pale surface, and a scarcely perceptible action of the heart, the prominent symptoms were convulsive vomiting, recurring every minute or two, and fearful spasms of the throat, resembling those of hydrophobia, upon any attempt at swallowing. There was no paralysis, the pupils were sensible to light, and the intellect remained perfectly clear. The remedies were the hot bath, mustard to the epigastrium, and enemata of oil of turpentine, lau- danum, and nutriment. (Loud. 31ed. Gaz., Jan. 1847.) Aconitia is not used internally as a remedy ; but Dr. Turnbull has advantageously resorted to its external application. According to this writer, it produces in the skin a sen- sation of heat and prickling, followed by numbness and a feeling of constric- tion ; and the effect continues, according to the quantity applied, from two to twelve hours or more. He found it not to act as a rubefacient, or at least but slightly so. Applied very much diluted and in minute quantity to the eye, it causes contraction of the pupil, with an almost intolerable sense of heat and tingling. The affections in which Dr. Turnbull employed it with benefit, were neuralgia, gout, and rheumatism. He recommends it either in alcoholic solution, in the proportion of a grain to a fluidrachm, or in the form of an ointment, made by rubbing up two grains of the alkali first with six drops of alcohol and then with a drachm of lard. These proportions are suf- ficiently large to begin with, but may be gradually increased to four or five, or even eight grains to the drachm. The preparation should be applied by friction over the part affected, which should be continued till the peculiar sen- sation above described is produced, and may be repeated three or four times, or more frequently, during the day. No good can be expected unless the sensation alluded to be experienced in a greater or less degree. Care should be taken not to apply the medicine to an abraded surface, or to a mucous mem- brane, for fear of dangerous constitutional effects. It is very seldom used, and all its beneficial effects can be obtained from safer and cheaper prepara- tions of aconite. W. PART II. uffltherea. 805 .ETHEREA. Ethers. Ethers are peculiar, fragrant, sweetish, very volatile, and inflammable liquids, generated for the most part by the action of acids on alcohol. Their composition varies with the acid employed in their formation. Sometimes this merely acts as a chemical agent on the alcohol, without entering into the composition of the ether generated; in which case the ether consists of ether- ine and water. In other instances the acid employed unites with etherine and water (the ether .just mentioned), or with etherine only. On the basis of these differences of composition, the medicinal ethers may be divided into three kinds : 1. those consisting of etherine and water; 2. those consisting of an acid, etherine, and water; and 3. those composed of an acid and ether- ine only. Sulphuric ether is an example of the first kind, hyponitrous ether of the second, and muriatic ether of the third. In medicine, the sulphuric and hyponitrous ethers, and their modifications, are those most commonly employed; though occasionally the acetic and muriatic have been used. Ethers, from their extreme inflammability, should never be decanted in the vicinity of flame. Hence it is prudent not to pour them out near a lighted candle. They should be kept in accurately stopped bottles in a cool place; otherwise they are liable to considerable loss by evaporation. B. LIQUOR iETHEREUS SULPHURICUS. Dub. Sulphuric Ethereal Liquor. Unrectified Sulphuric Ether. " Take of Rectified Spirit and of Sulphuric Acid, each, thirty-two ounces. Pour the Spirit into a glass retort adapted to bearing a sudden heat, and then pour on the acid in a continued stream; mix them gradually, and let twenty fluidounces of the liquor be distilled, with a sudden and sufficiently strong heat, info a receiver kept cold. If sixteen ounces of Rectified Spirit be poured upon the acid remaining in the retort, Sulphuric Ethereal Liquor will again come over by distillation." Dub. The preparation obtained by this process is sulphuric ether, contaminated with alcohol, water, sulphurous acid, and oil of wine. In this state it is proper only for external use. For internal exhibition, it requires to be freed from these impurities, when it becomes a distinct preparation, called rectified sulphuric ether, or, simply, sulphuric ether, described in the next article. Off. Prep. Mihex Sulphuricus, Dub. B. iETHER SULPHURICUS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Sul- phuric Ether. Ether. "Take of Alcohol four pints; Sulphuric Acid a pint; Potassa six drachms; Distilled Water three fluidounces. To two pints of the Alcohol, in an open vessel, add gradually fourteen fluidounces of the Acid, stirring them frequently. Pour the mixture, while still hot, into a tubulated glass retort, placed upon a sand-bath, and connected by a long adapter with a receiver kept cold by ice or water; then raise the heat quickly until the liquid begins to boil. When about half a pint of ethereal liquid shall have passed over, introduce gradually into the retort the remainder of the alcohol, previously mixed with two fluidounces of the Acid, taking care that the mixture shall enter in a continuous stream, and in such quantity as shall supply the place, as nearly as possible, of the liquid which distils over. This may be accom- plished by connecting a vessel containing the alcoholic liquid with the retort, by means of a tube provided with a stop-cock to regulate the discharge, and 806 uEtherea. PART II. passing nearly to the bottom of the retort, through a cork accurately fitted into the tubulure. When all the Alcohol has been thus added, continue the dis- tillation until about three pints shall have passed over, or until white vapour shall appear in the retort. " To the product thus obtained add the potassa previously dissolved in the Distilled Water, and shake them frequently. At the end of twenty-four hours, pour off from the alkaline solution the supernatant ether, introduce it into a retort, and, with a gentle heat, distil until two pints shall have passed over, or until the distilled liquid shall have the specific gravity of 0.750." U S. "Take of Rectified Spirit fifty fluidounces; Sulphuric Acid ten fluid- ounces. Pour twelve fluidounces of the Spirit gently over the Acid contained in an open vessel, and then stir them together briskly and thoroughly. Trans- fer the mixture immediately into a glass matrass connected with a refrigera- tory, and raise the heat quickly to about 280°. As soon as the ethereal fluid begins to distil over, supply fresh spirit through a tube into the matrass in a continuous stream, and in such quantity as to equal that of the fluid which distils over. This is best accomplished by connecting one end of the tube with a graduated vessel containing the spirit,—passing the other end through a cork fitted into the matrass,—and having a stop-cock on the tube to regu- late the discharge. When forty-two [fluid] ounces have distilled over, and the whole spirit has been added, the process may be stopped. Agitate the impure ether with sixteen fluidounces of a saturated solution of muriate of lime, containing about half an ounce of lime recently slaked. When all odour of sulphurous acid has been thus removed, pour off the supernatant liquor, and distil it with a gentle heat so long as the liquid which passes over has a density not above 0-735. More ether of the same strength is then to be obtained from the solution of muriate of lime. From the residuum of both distillations a weaker ether may be obtained in small quantity, which must be rectified by distilling it gently again." Ed. "Take of Rectified Spirit three pounds; Sulphuric Acid two pounds; Car- bonate of Potassa, previously ignited^ an ounce. Pour two pounds of the spirit into a glass retort, add the acid to it, and mix. Afterwards place it on sand, and raise the heat so that the liquor may quickly boil, and the Ether pass into a receiver cooled with ice or water. Let the liquor distil until some heavier portion begins to pass over. To the liquor which remains in the retort, after the heat has subsided, add the remainder of the Spirit, that Ether may distil in the same manner. Mix the distilled liquors, then pour off the supernatant portion, and add to it the Carbonate of Potassa, shaking them frequently during an hour. Lastly, distil the Ether from a large retort, and keejt. it in a stopped vessel." Lond. The specific gravity of this ether is 0-750. ■ "Take of Sulphuric Ethereal Liquor twenty fluidounces; Carbonate of Potassa, dried and powdered, two drachms. Mix them, and from a very high retort, distil, by a very gentle heat, twelve fluidounces into a receiver kept cold. The specific gravity of the liquor is 0.765." Dub. The object of these processes is to obtain a pure sulphuric ether. The Dublin formula is intended to purify the unrectified sulphuric ether (sulphu- ric ethereal liquor), which is officinal only with that College. In the other processes the ether is formed and purified at one operation. The preparation of sulphuric ether embraces two stages; its generation, and its subsequent rectification to remove impurities. The formulas all agree in obtaining it by the action of sulphuric acid on alcohol. In the United States process, which is adopted, with modifications, from that of the French Codex, half the alcohol taken is mixed with seven-eighths of the acid, and, PART II. jEtherea. 807 while still hot from the reaction, distilled from a glass retort, by a heat quickly applied, into a refrigerated receiver. When the distilled product equals one-fourth of this portion of the alcohol, the remainder of it, mixed with the reserved eighth of the acid, is allowed to enter the retort in a con- tinuous stream, the supply being so regulated as to equal the amount of the liquid which distils over. By a complicated reaction which will be explained presently, the acid converts the alcohol into ether, and, were it not that the acid becomes more and more dilute as the process proceeds, it would be able to etherize an unlimited quantity of alcohol. Although the acid, before it becomes too dilute, is capable of determining the decomposition of a certain amount of alcohol, yet it is not expedient to add this amount at once; as a considerable portion of it would distil over undecomposed with the ether. The proper way of proceeding, therefore, is that indicated in the formula; namely, to commence the process with the use of part of the alcohol; and, when the decomposition is fully established, and a portion of ether has dis- tilled, to add the remainder in a gradual manner, so as to replace that which, every moment during the progress of the distillation, is disappearing by its conversion into ether. As, however, the acid in the retort has already be- come somewhat weaker, it is considered advantageous to mix a small portion of acid with the alcohol which is thus gradually added. When a portion of ether has distilled, equal to about three-fourths of the alcohol employed, or when white vapours appear in the retort, the process is discontinued. These vapours indicate the commencement of a series of reactions different from those which generate the ether. The Et I in burgh process for the generation of sulphuric ether is the same, in its general features, with that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. Less than a fourth of the alcohol is placed in the distilling vessel, previously thoroughly mixed with the whole of the acid, which forms one-fifth of the bulk of the alcohol, instead of one-fourth as in the U. S. formula. As soon as the ether begins to distil by a quick heat, the remainder of the alcohol is added in a continuous stream as in the U. S. process, and the distillation is continued until a quantity of ether has come over, equal to somewhat less than six- sevenths of the bulk of all the alcohol. The ether is condensed by means of Liebig's excellent refrigeratory, described and figured at page 772. The quantities of the alcohol and acid, in the London formula, are incon- veniently taken by weight instead of by measure. The improvement of adding the reserved portion of alcohol gradually is not adopted; but the old method is pursued of performing a second distillation with this alcohol, added to the residue in the retort. The Dublin College generates the ether, and rectifies it by separate for- mulas, giving the crude and rectified product different officinal names. The process of the College for generating the ether is given in the last article, and, being substantially the same as that of the London College, need not be par- ticularly explained. The appearance of white vapours in the retort, or the passing over of a heavier portion in the distillation, is the signal for discontinuing the process. If it were continued afterwards, the boiling point would gradually rise, very little ether would be obtained, and at the temperature of 320° there would be generated, in consequence of new reactions, sulphurous acid, heavy oil of wine, olefiant gas, and a large quantity of resino-carbonaceous matter, blackening and rendering thick the residuary liquid; all products arising from the de- composition of a portion of sulphuric acid, alcohol, and ether. Notwithstand- ing the process may be stopped in time, yet the ether obtained is contami- nated with sulphurous acid, heavy oil of wine, alcohol, and water; and hence 808 JEtherea. part II. its purification becomes necessary. This is conducted in various ways, ac- cording to the different Pharmacopoeias. The U. S. Pharmacopoeia directs for this purpose an aqueous solution of potassa, the London and Dublin Colleges carbonate of potassa, and the Edinburgh a saturated solution of chloride of calcium (muriate of lime), to which a portion of recently slaked lime has been added. In all cases, the crude ether is agitated with the purifying agent, and submitted to a new distillation at a gentle heat, called the'rectification. The purifying substances are potassa for sulphurous acid and water, and water for alcohol in the U. S. formula; carbonate of potassa for acid and water in the London and Dublin processes; and lime for acid, and a saturated solu- tion of chloride of calcium for alcohol and water, in the Edinburgh. The Edinburgh substances for purifying are stated by Dr. Christison to be conve- nient, and to act perfectly and promptly. The chloride of calcium solution, after having been used, yields, on distillation, a further portion of ether of the officinal density; and by concentrating it, filtering while hot, and separat- ing crystals of sulphite of lime which form on cooling, the chloride may be recovered for future operations. In the London and Dublin processes, the ether is distilled from the purifying agent; in the U.S. and Edinburgh, after having been poured off from it. The process for forming ether is conducted with most advantage on a large scale. At Apothecaries' Hall, where the operation is performed in this way, the apparatus employed is thus described by Mr. Brande. It " consists of a leaden still, heated by means of high pressure steam carried through it in a contorted leaden pipe. A tube enters the upper part of the still, for the pur- pose of suffering alcohol gradually to run into the acid. The still-head is of pewter, and is connected, by about six feet of tin pipe, with a very capacious condensing-worm, duly cooled by a current of water. The receivers are of pewter, with glass lids, and have a side tube to connect them with the deli- vering end of the worm-pipe." (3Ianual of Chemistry, 5th ed.) Properties. Sulphuric ether is a colourless very limpid liquid, of a strong and sweet odour, and hot pungent taste. As prepared for medicinal use, it usually reddens litmus slightly, though this is not a property belonging to the pure substance; but if it reddens litmus strongly, it shows that the ether has been imperfectly prepared or too long kept. When perfectly pure it has the specific gravity of 0-713, boils at 95°, and forms a vapour which has the density of 2586. It is not frozen by a cold of 166° below zero. (Faraday, Phil, 31ag. and Journ of Sci. for March, 1845.) The officinal strength of the United States and London ether is 0-750; of the Dublin, 0-765; of the Edinburgh, 0735, or under. That sold in the shops varies from 0-733 to 0-765. Its sp. gr., as directed by the French Codex, is 0-758. For medicinal purposes, its density should not be greater than 0-750. In the opinion of Dr. Christison, it should not exceed 0735; because, according to that writer, commercial ether is generally of this density, and may be obtained of such purity without difficulty. It is a very volatile liquid, and, when of the sp. gr. 0-720, boils at about 98°. Its extreme volatility causes it to evaporate speedily in the open air, with the production of a considerable degree of cold. When good it evaporates from the hand without leaving a disagreeable odour. Its inflammability is very great, and the products of its combustion are water and carbonic acid. In consequence of this property the greatest caution should be used not to bring it in the vicinity of flame, as, for example, a lighted candle, for fear of its taking fire. One of the great advantages of using steam as the source of heat is that it obviates, in a great measure, the danger of its accidental inflammation. When too long kept it undergoes decomposition, and is converted in part into acetic acid. It dissolves iodine and bromine, PART II. JEtherea. 809 and sulphur and phosphorus sparingly. The latter substance is generally exhibited in ethereal solution. (See Phosphorus.) Its power to dissolve cor- rosive sublimate makes it a useful agent in the manipulations for detecting that poison. It is also a solvent of volatile and fixed oils, many resins and balsams, tannic acid, caoutchouc, and most of the organic vegetable alkalies. It does not dissolve potassa and soda, in which respect it differs from alcohol. Water dissolves a tenth of its volume of ether, and reciprocally ether takes up about the same proportion of water. It unites in all proportions with alcohol. Impurities and Tests. The impurities found in ether, besides acids and fixed substances, are alcohol, water, and heavy oil of wine. Acids are detected by litmus and removed by agitation with potassa; and fixed substances, by their remaining upon the evaporation of the ether. Alcohol is an admissible substance in the officinal ethers; for it is contained in the Edinburgh ether, which has the lowest density of them all. If, however, it is present in too large a quantity, the density of the ether will be too high. It may be sepa- rated by washing the ether, as it is called; that is, agitating it with twice its bulk of water, which will unite with the alcohol, forming a heavier stratum after rest, from which the ether may be poured off. The ether by this treatment dissolves about a tenth of its bulk of water, from which it may be purified by agitation with fresh burnt lime, and subsequent distilla- tion. An easy method for detecting and measuring any alcohol which may be present in ether, is that given by the Edinburgh College; namely, to agitate it, in a minim measure, with half its volume of a concentrated solu- tion of chloride of calcium. This will remove the alcohol, and the reduction of the volume of the ether, when it rises to the surface, will indicate the amount of the former. Heavy oil of wine may be discovered by the ether becoming milky upon being mixed with water. Composition, and Theory of its Production. Sulphuric ether consists of four eqs. of carbon, five of hydrogen, and one of oxygen, and its empirical formula is C4H0. In volumes it consists of four volumes of carbon vapour, five volumes of hydrogen, and half a volume of oxygen, condensed into one volume of ether vapour. Its proximate constituents may be considered to be one eq. of etherine and one of water; or, in volumes, one volume of etherine vapour and one volume of aqueous vapour, condensed into one volume. This view makes it a hydrate of etherine (C4H4-f-H0). The sp. gr. of its vapour, calculated on this constitution in volume, is 2-5817, which is very near 2-586, the number obtained by experiment. By the generality of chemists, how- ever, the constituents of the etherine, together with the hydrogen of the alleged water, are supposed to form a peculiar hypothetical radical, consisting of C4H5, to which the .name of ethyle has been given. On this view, ether is an oxide of ethyle (C4H5-fO), and alcohol, a hydrated oxide of ethyle. (See page 62.) By this statement of the composition of sulphuric ether, it is per- ceived that it contains no sulphuric acid, contrary to what its name would seem to imply. The fact is, that it is called sulphuric ether, merely in allu- sion to the agency of the acid usually employed in its preparation; but an identical ether may be obtained by the action of other acids on alcohol. In allusion to the water which it is supposed to contain, it is sometimes called hydric ether. Etherine, considered as a constituent of ether, is a hypothetical 4-4 carbohydrogen (C4H4). With a view to determine in what manner sulphuric acid acts upon alcohol in order to convert it into ether, it is necessary that a comparison should be instituted between the composition of the two latter. Now alcohol is a hydrated oxide of ethyle, and ether, oxide of ethyle without water. It fol- 810 JEtherea. PART II. lows, therefore, that to convert alcohol into ether, it is only necessary to abstract the water of the former. The agent in effecting this abstraction is evidently the sulphuric acid, which is known to have a strong affinity for water; but its action is not direct as originally supposed, but intermediate, as was first pointed out by the late Mr. Ilennell. This chemist found that, when two eqs. of sulphuric acid and one of alcohol were merely mixed, the acid lost a portion of its saturating power, and a new acid was formed, to which he gave the name of sulphovinic acid (the etherosulphuric acid of Liebig). In view of its composition it may be called a bisulphate of alcohol, or, which is the same thing, a bisulphate of ether with one eq. of water, that is, a double sulphate of ether and water. When one eq. of this acid is heated it is decomposed; two eqs. of sulphuric acid with one eq. of water remain in the retort, while one eq. of ether distils over. If the original proportion of acid and alcohol continued the same through- out the whole of the distillation, all the alcohol would be resolved into ether and water; but, during the progress of the process, the alcohol is constantly diminishing, and of course the relative excess of the acid becoming greater; and at last a point of time arrives when the excess of acid is so great that the generation of ether ceases. As these results depend upon the relative deficiency of the alcohol, while the acid remains but slightly changed in amount, it is easy to understand why it is advantageous to add alcohol gradually to the distilling vessel during the progress of the distillation; for, by this addition, the proper proportion of the alcohol to the acid is maintained. But the decomposing power of the acid has its limit; as it becomes at last too dilute to act upon the alcohol, notwithstanding a considerable portion of water, towards the close of the distillation, distils over with the ether. Medical Properties and Uses. Ether is a powerful diffusible stimulant, possessed also of expectorant, antispasmodic, and narcotic properties. In low fevers, attended with subsultus tendinum, it proves beneficial as a stimulant and antispasmodic. In these cases it is frequently conjoined with laudanum. It is useful also in nervous headache unattended with vascular fulness, and generally in nervous and painful diseases which are unaccompanied by in- flammation. In nausea it is given as a cordial; and in cramp of the stomach and flatulent colic, it sometimes acts with singular efficacy. It is also useful, given alone, or mixed with" oil of turpentine, in relieving the pain and spasm caused by the passage of biliary calculi. According to Mr. Brande, a small teaspoonful of ether, mixed with a glass of white wine, is often an effectual remedy in sea-sickness. When externally applied it may act either as a stimulant or refrigerant. If its evaporation be repressed, it operates as a powerful rubefacient, and may even vesicate; but, when this is allowed to take place freely, it is refrigerant in consequence of the cold which it pro- duces. In the latter way it is sometimes employed in strangulated hernia, dropped on the tumour and allowed to evaporate. It sometimes produces immediate relief when dropped into the ear in earache. For external use, the unrectified ether may be employed. The dose of sulphuric ether is from fifty drops to a teaspoonful, to be repeated frequently when the full effect of the remedy is desired. When used habitually the dose must be much larger, to produce a given effect. It may be perfectly incorporated with water or any aqueous mixture, by first rubbing it up with spermaceti, employed in the proportion of two grains for each fluidrachm of the ether. (Durand.) Ether may be exhibited by inhalation. Many years ago, its use in this way was proposed by Drs. Beddoes, Pearson, and Thornton, in England, as a remedy in certain diseases of the lungs. As early as 1805, Dr. Warren, of Boston, employed ethereal inhalation to relieve the distress attending the PART II. JEtherea. 811 last stage of pulmonary inflammation. Between thirty and forty years ago, in Philadelphia, at a time when the nitrous oxide was the subject of popular lectures, the vapour of ether was frequently breathed from a bladder for experi- ment or diversion; and its effects in producing a transient intoxication, analo- gous to that caused by the nitrous oxide, were observed. It was not, however, until October, 1846, that attention was particularly drawn to ethereal inha- lation as a remedy for pain. In that month, Dr. Warren, of Boston, was applied to by Dr. W. T. G. Morton, of the same" city, to test the power of an agent which he had successfully employed to render painless the extract- ing of teeth, for the prevention of pain in surgical operations. This agent is now known to have been the vapour of ether. Dr. Warren acceded to this request, and shortly afterwards, at the Massachusetts General Hospital, per- formed a severe operation, without pain to the patient, under the influence of ether, administered by Dr. Morton. A few days subsequently, Dr. Warren was informed by Dr. C. T. Jackson, of Boston, that he had first made known to Dr. Morton the use of ethereal vapour for the prevention of pain in dental operations. From this beginning, the employment of ether by inhalation for the pre- vention and removal of pain, has spread throughout the civilized wOrld. The effect produced, called etlterization, probably takes place through the medium of the blood. It is sometimes partial, suspending sensibility, without abo- lishing intelligence; so that the patient, without feeling pain, is aware of everything that is passing around him. At other times, a perfect uncon- sciousness is produced. Etherization is usefully resorted to in all severe operations, not merely as a remedy for pain, but as a means of preventing the shock which the system would otherwise suffer as a consequence of pain. Under full etherization, even the actual cautery may be extensively applied, without causing the least suffering. In many cases, the incidental power of ethereal vapour as a re- laxing agent is usefully brought into play; as in the treatment of strictures of the urethra and oesophagus, strangulated hernia, retention of urine, dis- locations, fractures, anchylosis, &c. In all these cases, the necessary surgical manipulations are very much interfered with by the muscular contractions ex- cited by pain. This is particularly the case in dislocations, and in fractures attended with shortening of the limb. In partial anchylosis, etherization enables the surgeon in many cases to break up the adhesions, without pain to the patient, or resistance from the muscles. Even in lithotomy and lithotrity, the incidental advantage is gained of preventing or lessening the inordinate contraction of the muscular coat of the bladder. In short, in most cases in which the necessary surgical measures are likely to involve severe pain, or to encounter resistance^ as in children, etherization may be- usefully employed. Etherization has been employed for the detection of feigned diseases, as a means of suspending the operation of the will; in neuralgia, as a palliative; in tetanus and the spasms produced by an over-dose of strychnia, as an anti- spasmodic; in asthma and chronic bronchitis, as an expectorant; and in dys- menorrhoea, as an anodyne and relaxing remedy. Dr. Warren found it use- ful in relieving the agonizing sufferings which often attend the latter complaint. In vivisections, humanity calls for the use of either vapour or other anaes- thetic agent. Etherization, employed in midwifery as an anaesthetic, is growing in fa- vour as a safe agent; and, while it does not seem materially to interfere with the due contraction of the uterus, it promotes the relaxation and lubricating secretions of the soft parts. Ethereal vapour is most conveniently inhaled through a soft sponge, hoi- 812 JEtherea. PART II. lowed out on one side to receive the projection of the nose, and saturated with ether of the purest quality. The sponge, thus prepared, is applied over the nostrils, through which the inhalation should be made in preference to the mouth. When the inhalation is thus conducted through a sponge, the ethe- real vapour is copiously mixed with air, and there is no fear of producing asphyxia. At first a short cough is generally produced, but this soon disappears; and after a lapse of from two to five minutes, and the expenditure of about two fluidounces of ether, the quantity being very variable in different cases, the patient becomes insensible, and appears as if in a deep, almost apoplectic sleep. The usual signs of the full effect of the ether are the closure of the eyelids, muscular relaxation, and inability to answer questions. During the whole process of etherization, the fingers should be kept on the pulse; and in case it becomes feeble and very slow, the sponge should be removed until the circulation becomes more free. At first there is redness, afterwards paleness of the face and neck, succeeded by cold perspirations. In case the etheriza- tion proves excessive, or convulsions supervene, an event which rarely hap- pens, the ether must be immediately withdrawn, and cold water freely ap- plied. This is the mode of proceeding in surgical operations; in midwifery cases, partial etherization is often sufficient. . In a few cases persons become unmanageable under the operation of the ethereal vapour; and hence the propriety of a preliminary trial of its effects on a patient, before submitting him to a surgical operation. (See the Treatise on Etherization, hy John C. Warren, M. D., Boston, 1848.) Sulphuric ether is used in the preparation of Morphiae Acetas, U S. Off. Prep. Spiritus iEtheris Sulphurici, Ed.; Spiritus iEtheris Sulphurici Compositus, U. S., Lond. B. OLEUM iETHEREUM. U.S.,Lond. Liquor ^thereus Oleo- sus. Dub. Ethereal Oil. Heavy Oil of Wine. Sulphate of Ether and Etherine. "Take of Alcohol two pints; Sulphuric Acid three pints ; Solution of Po- tassa half a fluidounce; Distilled Water a fluidounce. Mix the Acid cau- tiously with the Alcohol, allow the mixture to stand twelve hours, then pour it into a large glass retort, to which a receiver kept cool by ice or water is adapted, and distil by means of a sand-bath until a black froth rises, when the retort is to be removed immediately from the sand-bath. Separate the lighter supernatant liquid in the receiver from the heavier, and expose it to the-air for a day; then add to it the Solution of Potassa previously mixed with the Distilled Water, and shake them together. Lastly, separate the Ethereal Oil as soon as it shall have subsided. The specific gravity of this liquid is 1-096." U.S. " Take of Rectified Spirit two pounds ;. Sulphuric acid four pounds; Solu- tion of Potassa, Distilled Water, each, a fluidounce [Imperial measure], or as much as may be sufficient. Mix the Acid cautiously with the Spirit. Let the liquor distil until a black froth arises; then immediately remove the retort from the fire. Separate the lighter supernatant liquor from the heavier one, and expose the former to the air for a day. Add to it the Solution of Potassa first mixed with the Water, and shake them together. Lastly, when suffi- ciently washed, separate the Ethereal Oil which subsides." Lond. The spe- cific gravity of this oil is 1-05. " Take what remains in the retort after the distillation of Sulphuric Ether. Distil down to one-half with a moderate heat." Dub. When alcohol is distilled with a large excess of sulphuric acid, the same products are generated as those mentioned in the last article as being formed « PART II. JEtherea. 813 towards the close of the distillation of ether. These were stated to be sulphur- ous acid, heavy oil of wine, olefiant gas, and carbonaceous matter. In the U. S. process such an excess of sulphuric acid is employed, for the purpose of obtaining the oil. The product of the distillation is in two layers, a heavier one, consisting of water holding sulphurous acid in solution, and a lighter, formed of ether containing the oil of wine. The lighter liquid is separated and exposed for twenty-four hours to the air, in order to dissipate the ether by evaporation ; and the oil, which is left, is shaken with a solution of potassa to deprive it of all traces of water or acid; after which, as soon as it subsides, it is to be separated. The London process is substantially the same as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The differences are, that the London College omits to direct a prolonged contact between the alcohol and acid, and dispenses with a refrigerated receiver. The Dublin formula is altogether defective. By distilling the residue of the sulphuric ether process " down to one-half with a moderate heat," the oil of wine is no doubt distilled over; but it is mixed with various substances, for the separation of which no directions are given in the formula. The nature and mode of formation of heavy oil of wine are not well under- stood. It has been explained, in the preceding article, that, in the early stage of the distillation of a mixture of sulphuric acid and alcohol, sulphovinic acid, or double sulphate of ether and water is formed. During its progress this is decomposed so as to yield ether. When, however, the alcohol is distilled with a large excess of sulphuric acid, the sulphovinic acid is decomposed so as to form a small quantity of the heavy oil of wine, now considered to be a double sulphate of ether and etherine, having the formula C4H50,S03-fC4H4,S03. It is conceived to be generated from two eqs. of sulphovinic acid (double sul- phate of ether and water), which are resolved into one eq. of heavy oil of wine, two of sulphuric acid, and three of water. When the heavy oil is gently heated with four parts of water, it is resolved into sulphovinic acid which dis- solves, and an oily substance which floats on the surface, called etherole or light oil of wine, and which is isomeric with hypothetical etherine. Ether- ole, as thus obtained, is not pure. When left for a long time at a low tem- perature, it is resolved into pure etherole, and a concrete substance in crystals, isomeric with it, called concrete oil of wine, or oil of wine camphor, injudi- ciously denominated etherine by some chemists. Properties. The officinal ethereal oil (heavy oil of wine) is a yellowish liquid, possessing an oleaginous consistency, a peculiar and slightly acrid odour, and rather sharp and bitter taste. It boils at 540°. Its sp. gr. is, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, 1-096, according to the London College, after Mr. Hennell's results, 1-05. By Dumas and Serullas its density*is stated to be as high as 1-133, which is probably the more correct number for the pure oil. It.is sparingly soluble in water, but readily so in alcohol and ether. It is devoid of acid reaction, the sulphuric acid present in it being completely neu- tralized by the ether and etherine united with it. The sulphuric acid present is not precipitated by the usual reagents; because they furnish a base, which, replacing the etherine, gives rise to one of the salts of sulphovinic acid, all of which are soluble in water and hydrous alcohol. The process by which the heavy oil of wine is formed yields but a small product, being only about one part in weight to thirty-one of the alcohol employed, even when performed on the large scale; and, when conducted on the small scale of the Pharmacopoeias, the product is only one part of the oil to about seventy-five of the alcohol. Pure etherole, ox pure light oil of wine, is a colourless oily liquid, having an aromatic odour. Its sp. gr. is between 0917 and 0-920, boiling point 536°, and freezing point 31° below zero. It communicates a greasy stain to paper. 814 JEtherea. PART II. Concrete oil of wine crystallizes in long, transparent, brilliant, tasteless prisms, soluble in alcohol and ether, insoluble in water, fusible at 230°, boiling at 500° and having the sp. gr. of 0-980. Composition, dec. The officinal oil of wine (heavy oil of wine) has already been stated to be a double sulphate of ether and etherine. The discrepancies in the densities, assigned to it by different authors, no doubt arise from its containing more or less of the concrete oil, the presence of which would neces- sarily lower its specific gravity. The officinal oil is not used in medicine in a separate state, but forms an ingredient of Hoffmann's anodyne. Off. Prep. Spiritus iEtheris Sulphurici Compositus, U S., Lond. B. SPIRITUS IETHERIS SULPHURICI. Ed. Spirit of Sul- phuric Ether. "Take of Sulphuric Ether a pint; Rectified Spirit tiro pints. Mix them. The density of this preparation ought to be 0-809." Ed. This preparation is merely ether diluted with twice its volume of alcohol. When prepared with materials of proper strength, its sp. gr. is 0-809. Its medical properties are similar to those of ether. The dose is from one to three fluidrachms, given with a sufficient quantity of water. Off. Prep. Tinctura Lobeliae ^Etherea. Ed. B. SPIRITUS iETHERIS SULPHURICI COMPOSITUS. U.S., Lond. Compound Spirit of Sulphuric Ether. Hoffmann's Anodyne Liquor. "Take of Sulphuric Ether half a pint; Alcohol a pint; Ethereal Oil three fluidrachms. Mix them." U S. " Take of Sulphuric Ether eight fluidounces; Rectified Spirit sixteen fluid- ounces; Ethereal Oil three fluidrachms. Mix them." Lond. Compound spirit of sulphuric ether is a volatile liquid, having a burning, slightly sweetish taste, and the peculiar odour of ethereal oil. Its sp. gr. is 0-816, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. When pure it is wholly vola- tilized by heat, and devoid of acid reaction. It becomes milky on being mixed with water, owing to the precipitation of the ethereal oil; but this change does not prove its goodness, as the same property may be given to the spirit of sulphuric ether by the addition of various oils. One of the authors has been informed by Dr. Hotchkiss, that castor oil is sometimes added to the spirit of sulphuric ether, in order to give it the character of Hoffmann's anodyne, of becoming milky when diluted with water. This sophistication may be de- tected, as ascertained by Prof. Procter, by mixing the suspected preparation with water, drawing a piece of paper over the surface of the liquid to absorb the oily globules, and exposing the paper to heat. If the globules are castor oil, the greasy stain will be permanent; if ethereal oil, the stain will disap- pear. 31edical Properties. This preparation is intended as a substitute for the anodyne liquor of Hoffmann, which it closely resembles. In the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, it has been made exactly after the London formula. In addition to the stimulating and antispasmodic qualities of the ether which it contains, it possesses anodyne properties, highly useful in nervous irritation, and want of sleep from this cause. These additional virtues it derives from the officinal or heavy oil of wine, which is a more important substance than is generally supposed. Mr. Brande supposes that the only effect of it, in the preparation under notice, is to alter the flavour of the sulphuric ether. In this opinion he is certainly in error. Dr. Hare, in his Chemical Compendium, reports the opinion of Drs. Physick and Dewees in favour of the efficacy of PART II. JEtherea. 815 the officinal oil of wine, dissolved in alcohol, in certain disturbed states of the system, as a tranquillizing and anodyne remedy. Such indeed are the gene- rally admitted effects of Hoffmann's anodyne, when made with a due admixture of the ethereal oil; but a preparation very deficient in oil is often improperly sold for it, which, instead of becoming milky, is merely rendered opalescent when mixed with water. Hoffmann's anodyne is on many occasions a useful adjunct to laudanum, to prevent the nausea which is excited by the latter in certain habits. Its dose is from half a fluidrachm to two fluidrachms, given in water sweetened with sugar. B. iETllER NITROSUS. Dub. Nitrous Ether. Nitric Ether. Hyponitrous Ether. " Take of Purified Nitrate of Potassa, dried and coarsely powdered, a pound and a half; Sulphuric Acid a pound; Rectified Spirit nineteen fluidounces. Put the Nitrate of Potassa into a tubulated retort, placed in a bath of cold water, and pour on it, by degrees and at intervals, the Sulphuric Acid and Spirit, previously mixed, and cooled after their mixture. Without almost any external heat, or at most a very gentle one (as of warm water added to the bath), the ethereal liquor will begin to distil without the application of fire. In a short time, the heat in the retort will increase spontaneously, and a con- siderable ebullition will take place, which must be moderated by reducing the temperature of the bath with cold water. The receiver must also be kept cold with water or snow, and furnished with a proper apparatus for transmitting the highly elastic vapour (bursting from the mixture with great violence if the heat be too much increased) through a pound of Rectified Spirit contained in a cooled bottle. " The ethereal liquor, thus spontaneously distilled, is to be received into a bottle with a ground glass stopper; and then must be added by degrees (closing the bottle after each addition) as much very dry and powdered carbonate of potassa as will suffice to saturate the excess of acid, using litmus as the test. This is effected by the addition of about a drachm of the salt. In a short time the Nitrous Ether will rise to the surface, and is to be separated by means of a funnel. " If the ether be required very pure, distil it again to one-half, from a water-bath at a temperature of 140°. Its specific gravity is 0-900." Dub. Of the Pharmacopoeias commented on in this work, the Dublin is the only one which embraces among its preparations hyponitrous ether (called also nitrous and, nitric ether) under a distinct name; but the Edinburgh College prepares it as the first step of the process for sweet spirit of nitre. The mutual reaction of nitric acid and alcohol is so violent, that the formation of this ether has justly been regarded as a process of difficulty. The method adopted by the Dublin College was contrived by AVolfe, and is commended by Pelletier as well adapted for obtaining this ether with facility and safety. The alcohol is not mixed directly with nitric acid, but with the materials necessary for generating it. Upon the addition of the mixture of sulphuric acid and alcohol to the nitre, this salt is decomposed, and the disengaged nitric acid gradually reacts upon the alcohol, and generates the ether in question. The heat evolved upon mixing the materials is so considerable, that the application of extraneous heat is unnecessary and even hazardous. Indeed, as the action advances, the temperature of the mixture must be moderated by the application of cold water. The violent action arises from the vast quantity of gases and vapours suddenly extricated. These are nitrogen, nitrous and nitric oxides, carbonic acid, and the vapours of water, nitrous acid, and hyponitrous ether itself. Notwithstanding the cold employed, a portion of the ether escapes condensa- 816 JEtherea. PART II. tion in the receiver, and hence the Dublin College, to save this portion, directs a cooled bottle to be connected with it, containing a pound of alcohol, into which the uncondensed ether is allowed to pass. The alcohol thus impreg- nated is subsequently employed in the Dublin formula for sweet spirit of nitre. (See Spiritus iEtheris Nitrici.) The ether condensed in the receiver is not pure, but contains a little nitrous, nitric, and acetic acids. To remove these, the ethereal product is shaken with carbonate of potassa, which has the effect of saturating them. Liebig recommends the following process for obtaining hyponitrous ether in a state of purity. One part of starch and ten of nitric acid (sp. gr. 1-3) are introduced into a capacious retort, which is connected with a two-necked bottle by means of a wide tube two or three feet long, bent at right angles, and reaching to its bottom. This bottle contains a mixture of two parts of alcohol of 85 per cent, and one of water, and is surrounded with cold water. The second neck is connected, by means of a long and wide tube, with Liebig's refrigeratory. (For a figure of this apparatus, see page 772.) The retort is heated by a water-bath, and, by the reaction of the starch and nitric acid, pure hyponitrous acid is disengaged, which, passing through the alcohol, forms with its ether hyponitrous ether, which distils in a continuous stream. It is then freed from alcohol by means of water, and from water by standing over chloride of calcium. This process is stated to be very productive. (Turner's CJiemistry, 7th ed., p. 849.) Dr. Hare has devised an ingenious process for obtaining this ether, in which he avails himself of a hyponitrite ready formed. When nitre is exposed to heat, as in the process for obtaining oxygen from it, about one-third is con- verted into hyponitrite of potassa. This may be obtained separate by crystal- lizing the nitrate from it." Fourteen parts of the hyponitrite, thus procured, are dissolved in seven parts of water, and mixed, in a tubulated retort, with eight parts of alcohol. The beak of the retort is made tapering and bent downwards, and enters a tube, occupying the axis and descending through the neck of an inverted bell glass, so as to terminate within a tall vial. Both the tube and vial are kept cold by ice and water. Seven parts of sulphuric acid, diluted with its weight of water, are gradually added to the retort, and the ether is distilled by means of a water-bath, kept blood-warm. ( Trans, of the Amer. Phil. Soc, vii. 277; also Proceedings of the Society, ii. 143, Jan., 1842.) Theory of (lie Production of Hyponitrous Ether, &c. In the process of Dr. Hare, the hyponitrous acid, ready formed, is liberated from a hyponitrite in contact with alcohol, with the ether of which the acid unites. In Liebig's process hyponitrous acid is formed by the agency of starch, by which two eqs. of oxygen are detached from each eq. of nitric acid, and is passed into alcohol contained in a separate vessel. When nitric acid is mixed directly with the alcohol, the reaction is different. Here one eq. of nitric acid, by reacting with one eq. of alcohol, forms one eq. of hyponitrous acid, one eq. of aldehyd, and two eqs. of water. Thus N05 and C4H603=N03 and C4H403 and 2HO. The hyponitrous acid, as soon as formed, reacts with a second eq. of alcohol, so as to form one eq. of hyponitrous ether, with separation of one eq. of water. It has, however, been shown by Dr. Golding Bird, that, when an excess of alcohol is used, oxalhydric (saccharic) acid is first formed, and that, when the forma- tion of the hyponitrous ether has nearly ceased, aldehyd makes its appearance in the distilled product, and simultaneously oxalic acid in the contents of the retort, before which time the latter cannot be discovered. All these products result from the oxidizing action of the nitric acid upon the alcohol, increasing the proportion of oxygen in the substances formed, either by removing the PART II. JEtherea. 817 hydrogen, or by abstracting this element and adding directly to the oxygen at the same time. The reader who may wish to pursue this subject, is referred to an interesting paper by Dr. Bird, contained in the Lund. & Ed. Phil. Mag., xiv. 324, for 31 ay, 1839. Properties. Pure hyponitrous ether is pale yellow, has the smell of apples and Hungary wines, boils at 62° (below 65° Hare), and has the sp. gr. of 0-947 at 60°. The density of its vapour is 2-627. Litmus is not affected by it. When it is mixed with an alcoholic solution of potassa, hyponitrite of potassa and alcohol are formed, without producing a brown colour, showing the absence of aldehyd. It is soluble in 48 parts of water, and in all propor- tions in alcohol or rectified spirit. It is highly inflammable, and burns with a white flame without residue. The impure ether obtained by the ordinary processes boils at 70°, and has the density of 0886 at 40°. The officinal specific gravities of it are 0-900 Dub., 0-899 Ed., (See the next article for the Edinburgh ether.) Mixed with an alcoholic solution of potassa, it becomes dark brown, with production of aldehyd resin. (Seepage 15.) This discolora- tion shows the presence of aldehyd. When kept it becomes acid in a short time, as shown by litmus; and nitric oxide is given off, which often causes the bursting of the bottle. Its tendency to become acid is rendered greater by the action of the air, and depends on the absorption of oxygen by the aldehyd, which thereby becomes acetic acid. These facts show the propriety of pre- serving this ether in small, strong bottles, kept full and in a cool place. Hy- ponitrous ether consists, as already explained, of one eq. of hyponitrous acid and one of ether, and its formula is C4H50 + N03. It is, therefore, improperly called nitrous and nitric ether. In its pure or concentrated state it is never used in medicine. Diluted with alcohol (rectified spirit) it forms the spirit of nitric ether, or sweet spirit of nitre, described in the next article. B. SPIRITUS JETHERIS NITRICI. U.S., Lond., Ed. Spiritus iETHEREus Nitrosus. Dub. Spiritus Nitri Dulcis. Spirit of Nitric Ether. Sweet Spirit of Nitre. " Take of Nitrate of Potassa, in coarse powder, two pounds; Sulphuric Acid a pound and a half; Alcohol nine pints and a half; Diluted Alcohol a pint; Carbonate of Potassa an ounce. Mix the Nitrate of Potassa and the Alcohol in a large glass retort, and having gradually poured in the Acid, digest with a gentle heat for two hours; then raise the heat and distil a gallon. To the distilled liquor add the Diluted Alcohol and Carbonate of Potassa, and again distil a gallon." U S. " Take of Rectified Spirit three pounds; Nitric Acid four ounces. Add the acid gradually to the Spirit and mix them; then distil thirty-two fluidounces [Imperial measure]." Lond. " Take of Rectified Spirit two pints and six fluidounces [Imperial measure]; Pure Nitric Acid (D. 1-500) seven fluidounces [Imp. meas.]. Put fifteen fluidounces of the Spirit, with a little clean sand, into a two-pint matrass, fitted with a cork, through which are passed a safety-tube terminating an inch above the Spirit, and another tube leading to a refrigeratory. The safety-tube being filled with Pure Nitric Acid, add through it gradually three fluidounces and a half of the acid. When the ebullition which slowly rises is nearly over, add the rest of the acid gradually, half a fluidounce at a time, waiting till the ebullition caused by each portion is nearly over before adding more, and cool- ing the refrigeratory with a stream of water, iced in summer. The ether thus distilled over, being received in a bottle, is to be agitated first with a little milk of lime, till it ceases to redden litmus paper, and then with half its volume of concentrated solution of muriate of lime. The pure hyponitrous ether thus 52 818 JEtherea. PART II. obtained, which should have a density of 0-899, is then to be mixed with the remainder of the Rectified Spirit, or exactly four times its volume. " Spirit of Nitric Ether ought not to be kept long, as it always undergoes decomposition, and becomes at length strongly acid. Its density by this pro- cess is 0-847." Ed. " Add to the matter which remains after the distillation of Nitrous Ether, the Rectified Spirit employed in that operation for condensing the elastic vapour, and distil till the residuum be dry, with the superior heat of a water-bath. Mix the distilled liquor with the alkaline liquor which remains after the separation of the Nitrous Ether, and add, moreover, as much well dried Carbonate of Potassa as shall be sufficient to saturate the predominant acid. This is made evident by the test of litmus. Lastly, distil as long as any drops come over by the medium heat of a water-bath. The specific gravity of this liquor is 0-850. "Nitrous Ethereal Spirit may also be prepared by adding gradually two ounces of Nitric Acid to a pint of Rectified Spirit, and distilling twelve ounces with a proper apparatus and the application of a gentle heat." Dub. The officinal spirit of nitric ether is a mixture, in variable proportions, of hyponitrous ether and alcohol (rectified spirit). Hyponitrous ether is always generated by the reaction of nitric acid and alcohol; and it matters not whether the alcohol be mixed with nitric acid directly, or with the materials for generat- ing it, namely, nitre and sulphuric acid. When the materials for forming the ether contain an excess of alcohol, this distils over with the ether, and forms the preparation under consideration. The processes of the Pharmacopoeias differ considerably. The IT. S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias obtain the requisite nitric acid by using the materials for generating it; while the London and Edinburgh Colleges mix the acid ready formed with the alcohol. The London and Edinburgh processes, how- ever, differ in one important particular; namely, that while the London College distils the nitric acid with an excess of alcohol, which comes over in large proportion with the ether, forming, at once, the sweet spirit of nitre; the Edin- burgh College forms a concentrated hyponitrous ether in the distillation, and dilutes it with a determinate quantity of alcohol. The United States formula is modeled after a recipe communicated by Mr. John Carter, manufacturing chemist, to the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and recommended for adoption by a committee of that body. It is in fact the Dublin process for obtaining hyponitrous ether, explained in the preceding article, with the use of alcohol in excess. The nitre and alcohol being mixed in the retort, the sulphuric acid is gradually added, and a gentle heat applied. Nitric acid is set free, and by reacting with a part of the alcohol produces the hyponitrous ether, as explained in the last article. Upon the subsequent in- crease of the heat, the ether and the remainder of the alcohol distil over as the sweet spirit of nitre. The distilled product, however, contains some acid, and hence is rectified by a distillation from carbonate of potassa. The diluted alcohol is added before commencing this distillation, to enable the operator to obtain a quantity of distilled product equal to that procured at first, without distilling to dryness, which would endanger the production of empyreuma. The alcohol is first mixed with the nitre, and the sulphuric acid afterwards gradually added. If the alcohol and sulphuric acid are previously mixed, the risk would be run of generating some sulphuric ether, before they are added to the nitre in the retort. The retort should be of such a capacity as to be capable of holding twice the amount of the materials employed. The above process, as conducted by Mr. Carter on a large scale, is performed in a copper still of about twenty gallons capacity, and furnished with a pewter head and worm. The materials for the first distillation are 18 pounds of puri- fied nitre, 12 gallons of alcohol of 34° Baume (0-847), and 12 pounds of PART II. JEtherea. 819 sulphuric acid; and 10 gallons are drawn off. The distilled product is then mixed with a gallon of diluted alcohol, and rectified by a new distillation from lime or a carbonated alkali; the same quantity being distilled as at first. When large quantities of this preparation are thus obtained, the several portions require to be mixed in a large glass vessel, to render the whole of uniform strength; as the portion which first comes over in the rectification is strongest in hyponitrous ether. Previously to the redistillation, the head and worm must be washed thoroughly with water to remove a little acid which comes over in the first distillation. (Journ. of the Phil, Col, of Pharm., i. 30S.) In order to understand the process of the Dublin College for preparing sweet spirit of nitre, it will be necessary to revert to their formula for ob- taining hyponitrous ether, explained in the last article. The residue of this process consists of sulphate of potassa, free nitric acid not consumed in the generation of the ether, and certain products resulting from the oxidation of the alcohol by the nitric acid, as mentioned in the last article. To this resi- due is added the pound of alcohol, which had been employed in the process for the purpose of absorbing the ether which escapes condensation in the re- ceiver. Of course, after this addition, all the conditions: are fulfilled which are necessary for the generation of sweet spirit of nitre, namely, nitric acid in contact with more alcohol than is necessary to form hyponitrous ether. Accordingly, upon distillation, the ether comes over mixed with a certain proportion of alcohol, forming the sweet spirit of nitre. But, at the same time, a portion of acid is distilled over, to separate which the product is redistilled from an alkaline.carbonate at a medium heat (between 100° and 200°) as long as any drops come over. To save the alkaline solution used in purify- ing the ether described in the last article, it is directed to be applied, as far as it will go, to the purpose of saturating the free acid of this preparation. From the explanations here and previously given, it is obvious that the formulas for hyponitrous ether and sweet spirit of nitre of the Dublin College form in fact but one process; and whenever it is desirable to obtain hyponi- trous ether, it is no doubt expedient to use the residue and part of the pro- ducts of the process, for procuring sweet spirit of nitre, provided the latter preparation can be obtained from them of good quality. But when it is re- collected that the residue is loaded with newly formed acids, and that the quantity of free nitric acid in it cannot be estimated, it may be well doubted whether the process of the Dublin College for sweet spirit of nitre is an eligi- ble one. As hyponitrous ether is never employed in medicine in a pure state, and has very few uses, it is an objection to the Dublin formula for sweet spirit of nitre that it requires the preparation of another substance which may not be wanted. It is, no doubt, on this account that the College has appended to its process another formula, similar to that of the London College, by which the medicine may be obtained independently of any other product. In the Ldndon process, nitric acid, ready formed, is mixed with the alco- hol; the proportion of acid to the spirit being as 1 to 9 in weight. The pro- portion -of nitric acid to the alcohol in the U. S. formula, is nearly the same as that in the London process, if we suppose that the nitre, by its decomposi- tion, yields a pound and a quarter of acid, which is about the quantity ob- tained in practice. This coincidence may be assumed with the greater con- fidence, as the preparation obtained by the two processes has the same specific gravity. The proportion of sweet spirit of nitre drawn off to the alcohol employed is a little over two-thirds in the London formula, and five-sixths in that of the IT. S. Pharmacopoeia. When the distillation is pushed too far, the product is high-coloured, specifically heavier than it should be, very acid so as to act strongly on litmus paper, decomposes the alkaline carbonates with effervescence, and contains aldehyd, which gives it a pungent odour. (Dr. 820 JEtherea. PART II. Golding Bird.) The impurities arising from a distillation carried too far are, according to Dr. Bird, entirely avoided by following the directions of the London Pharmacopoeia. The residue of the process, if further distilled, will yield a small additional portion of sweet spirit of nitre, nearly pure, of higher specific gravity than the officinal portion; but, on continuing the process, the hyponitrous ether ceases to come over, and about the same time aldehyd ap- pears in the distilled product, and in the residue, oxalic acid, which seems to replace the oxalhydric acid, formed at an earlier stage of the reaction. (See last article.) Admitting Dr. Bird's results, it is probable that the sweet spirit of nitre which comes over in the first distillation of the U. S. process will contain aldehyd; as one-fourth more of liquid is drawn over than is dis- tilled in the London process. Supposing this to be the case, it is presumable that this impurity would be separated, together with any contaminating acid, by the second distillation from carbonate of potassa. According to Mr. Alsop and Mr. Scanlan, of London, the process of the London College is a precarious one, and at the same time not economical. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iii. 425.) It is probably not economical, but it gives a good preparation when the London College directions are strictly complied with. The Edinburgh process for sweet spirit of nitre consists of two steps: first the formation of hyponitrous ether, and secondly, its dilution with four times its volume of alcohol. Dr. Christison, commenting on this process, states that it may be conducted with safety and despatch, when the precautions are attended to which are enjoined by the Edinburgh College. The conditions for success are to add no more acid to the spirit at first than what is necessary to commence the action; to wait until the ebullition thus arising shall have ceased; to add the rest of the acid in small successive portions; to let the acid drop from the height of about an inch into the spirit; to have some clean sand in the bottom of the matrass; and to employ a refrigeratory, such as that figured at page 772. Should the ebullition increase too rapidly, it may be repressed by blowing cool air across the matrass. The presence of the sand prevents the dangerous succussions arising from the sudden liberation of ethereal vapour. The ethereal product is first agitated with milk of lime to separate acid, and then with half its volume of a concentrated solution of chloride of calcium, to remove water and alcohol. The density given for this hyponitrous ether is 0-899, which is lower than that of the pure ether. The last step in the process is to mix this ether with the prescribed quantity of alcohol, which gives a sweet spirit of nitre of the density of 0-847. The hyponitrous ether of this process may be presumed to measure, on an average, 71 fluidounces, and, consequently, the sweet spirit of nitre obtained from it, 38f fluidounces. The degree of dilution was fixed, so as to make it conform in ethereal strength with the same preparation of the former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. The preparation is intended to contain one-fifth of its volume of ether, and is probably twice or thrice as strong as the sweet spirit of nitre of the IT. S. and London Pharmacopoeias For making this preparation, Dr. Christison prefers the present plan of the Edinburgh College, of diluting the pure ether to a determinate degree, on the ground that it secures a pure and uniform preparation. Many years ago the same plan was proposed by Dr. Hare. Properties. Spirit of nitric ether is a colourless volatile liquid, of a fra- grant ethereal odour, and pungent, aromatic, sweetish, acidulous taste. The Edinburgh preparation is yellow, and contains twenty per cent, of pure hypo- nitrous ether. If perfectly pure it is devoid of acid reaction, but it generally reddens litmus slightly. Its officinal sp.gr. is 0-834 U.S., Lond.; 0-847 Ed.; and 0-850 Dub. High density is not necessarily an index of deficient strength; as it may arise, as in the Edinburgh preparation, from containing a PART II. JEtherea. 821 large proportion of the pure ether. If heated by means of a water-bath, the U.S. sweet spirit of nitre begins to boil at 160°. It mixes with water and alcohol in all proportions. It is very inflammable, and burns with a whitish flame. Impurities and Tests. Sweet spirit of nitre, when the product of a distilla- tion too long continued, at first contains aldehyd, which afterwards becomes acetic acid by the absorption of oxygen—rapidly if the preparation be inse- curely kept. The presence of aldehyd may be detected by its imparting a pungent odour and acrid flavour, and by the preparation containing it assum- ing a yellow tint on the addition of a weak solution of potassa, owing to the formation of aldehyd resin. Another test for aldehyd is the addition of an equal volume of sulphuric acid to the sweet spirit of nitre. If the sample be good, the change of colour will be slight, and the mixture will become con- siderably viscid; but if it contain much aldehyd, it will become dark-coloured. If water or spirit be present in undue proportion, the viscidity will be less. (Phillips.) As aldehyd appears to be the chief source of impurity in sweet spirit of nitre, and as it is detected by producing a characteristic colour with a solution of potassa, it would seem easy to make this test available as an index when the distillation should be discontinued. For if the distilled pro- duct were made to pass through a small portion of this alkaline solution, It would probably give indications of the first appearance of aldehyd, and thus enable the operator to stop the distillation in time. Acetic acid, as well as other acids (usually nitrogen acids) that may happen to be present, may be discovered by the taste, by their acting on litmus strongly, and by their de- composing the alkaline carbonates or bicarbonates with effervescence. These acids often operate injuriously by their chemical reactions with other sub- stances, when associated in mixtures. Thus they liberate iodine from iodide of potassium, gradually decolorize infusion of roses, and, in the compound mixture of iron, hasten the conversion of the protoxide into the sesquioxide of iron. To obviate these effects, Mr. Harvey, of Leeds, keeps the sweet spirit of nitre standing on crystals of bicarbonate of potassa, and states that, if the preparation be of full strength, no appreciable portion of the alkali will be dissolved. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Jan., 1842.) When acid sweet spirit of nitre is rectified from calcined magnesia, it becomes acid again in a short time; but, according to M. Klauer, when rectified from neutral tartrate of potassa, it continues unchanged for months. The rationale of the action of this salt, however, is not obvious. A deep olive colour being produced with the sulphate of protoxide of iron, shows the presence of a nitrogen oxide or acid, and a blue tint with tincture of guaiac, passing through various shades of green, a nitrogen acid. According to Mr. Bastick, sweet spirit of nitre contains about one-fifth of one per cent, of anhydrous bydrocyanic acid, when made from hyponitrous ether, generated by Liebig's process, namely, the action of nitric acid on starch, &c. (See page 816.) The same contaminating acid has been detected, by M. Dalpaiz, in the preparation when made according to the London Pharmacopoeia, though not detected in it by Mr. Bastick. Alcohol and water are often fraudulently added to sweet spirit of nitre. When in undue proportion, they may be detected in the Edinburgh pre- paration, as stated by the College, by agitating it with twice its volume of a concentrated solution of chloride of calcium. If the sweet spirit of nitre be of the full strength of this College, twelve per cent, of ether will slowly sepa- rate; showing that the chloride of calcium has taken up eight per cent., together with eighty per cent, of alcohol and water. If less ether sepa- rates, it shows the presence of too much alcohol and water. This test is hardly applicable to the U. S. and London preparation, which is much weaker 822 JEtherea.—A Icohol. PART II. than the Edinburgh. Dr. Christison states that the London sweet spirit of nitre, when subjected to it, has never yielded in his trials more than four per cent, of ether. But it must be recollected that, when it yields by this treatment four per cent., it really contains twelve per cent.; for eight per cent, has been absorbed by the chloride of calcium test. Specific gravity is no criterion of the goodness of the preparation as obtained by any formula. The addition of water will raise its density; and so will the addition of hypo- nitrous ether. A high density, in connexion with deficient ethereal qualities, would, of course, show the presence of free acids, or an excess of water, or both. A specific gravity lower than the U. S. and London standard would probably indicate the presence of alcohol stronger than it should be, which might be either in proper amount or in too large proportion. The fraudulent dilution of sweet spirit of nitre with alcohol and water is a great evil, considering the extensive use of the medicine, and its valuable remedial powers when pure. We have been informed, on good authority, that it is variously diluted, according to the views of the vender, with twice, thrice, and even four times its weight of alcohol and water. In some shops a strong and a weak preparation are kept, to suit the views of customers as to price. Some of the wholesale druggists are in the habit of diluting it, either upon the plea that the physician's prescriptions are written in view of the use of a weak preparation, or for the purpose of affording it at a low price. All these evils would be corrected, if the different manufacturing chemists in the Union would comply with the recommendation of the Philadelphia College of Phar- macy, and adopt for preparing it the formula of the United States Pharma- copoeia. A uniform preparation being in this way furnished to the druggists, all that would be necessary on their part, would be to abstain from weakening it by the admixture of alcohol and water. Medical Properties and Uses. Sweet spirit of nitre is diaphoretic, diuretic, and antispasmodic. It is deservedly much esteemed as a medicine, and is extensively employed in febrile affections, either alone, or in conjunction with tartar emetic, for the purpose of promoting the secretions, especially those of sweat and urine. It often proves a grateful stimulus to the stomach, relieving nausea and removing flatulence, and not unfrequently quiets restlessness and promotes sleep. On account Of its tendency to the kidneys, it is often con- joined with other diuretics, such as squill, digitalis, acetate of potassa, nitre, &c, for the purpose of promoting their action in dropsical complaints. The late Dr. Duncan praised a combination of it with a small proportion of aromatic spirit of ammonia, as eminently diaphoretic and diuretic, and well suited to certain states of febrile disease. The dose is about a teaspoonful, given every two or three hours in a portion of Water. When used as a diuretic, it should be given in larger doses. B. ALCOHOL. Prepara tions of A Icohol ALCOHOL DILUTUM. U.S.. Spiritus Tenuior. Lond., Ed., Dub. Diluted Alcohol. Proof Spirit. "Take of Alcohol, Distilled water, each, a pint. Mix them. The specific gravity of Diluted Alcohol is 0-935." U S. "Take of Rectified Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]; Distilled Water a pint [Imp. meas.]. Mix them. The density of the product should be 0-912." Ed. The London and Dublin Colleges have placed diluted alcohol or proof spirit in the list of the Materia Medica. The Edinburgh College has ordered PART II. Alcohol.—Alumen. 823 the strongest diluted alcohol, its density being 0-912, which is 7 over proof. It contains 52 per cent, of absolute alcohol, and is considerably stronger than the corresponding spirit of the former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. The London College directs the sp. gr. to be 0-920. When of this strength, it contains. 49 per cent, of pure alcohol, and may be formed by mixing five measures of the rectified spirit of that College with three of distilled water at the temp, of 62°. In the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, it is ordered of the sp. gr. 0-919, and the statement is made in a note, that spirit of nearly the same specific gravity may be formed by mixing five and a quarter measures of the rectified spirit of that work with three of distilled water. Such a spirit will contain a little more than 49 per cent, of absolute alcohol (49-24 Drinkwater), and will agree very nearly in strength with the corresponding spirit of the London College. The diluted alcohol of the U.S. Pharmaco- poeia has the sp. gr. 0935, and contains only 42 per cent, of absolute alcohol. It, therefore, forms the weakest officinal proof spirit. Afedical and Pharmaceutical Uses. The medicinal effects of alcohol in a diluted and modified state, as it exists in brandy and other ardent spirits, have been detailed under other heads. (See Alcohol and Vinum.) As a pure diluted spirit, however, consisting solely of alcohol and water in determinate proportions, its use is exclusively pharmaceutical. It is employed as an addition to some of the distilled waters and preparations of vinegar, in order to preserve them from decomposition; as a menstruum for extracting the virtues of some plants, preparatory to their being brought to the state of ex- tracts and syrups; and in preparing many of the spirits. But it is in form- ing the tinctures that diluted alcohol is principally employed. Many of these are formed with the officinal alcohol (rectified spirit), but the majority, with diluted alcohol (proof spirit) as the menstruum. As the latter contains more than half its weight of water, it is well fitted for acting on those vegetables, the virtues of which are partly soluble in water and partly in alcohol. The apothecary, however, is, on no account, to substitute the commercial proof spirit for diluted alcohol, even though it should be of the same strength. On this point, the authors of the Dublin Pharmacopceia have very correctly re- marked, that "almost all the spirit which is sold under the name of proof spirit, is contaminated with empyreumatic oil, and unfit for medical use." But when it is recollected how variable the so called proof spirits are in strength, the objection to their use in pharmacy becomes still stronger. Thus, according to Mr. Brande, gin contains 51-6 per cent, of alcohol of 0-825; and the percentage of the same alcohol is 53-39 in brandy, 53-68 in rum, 53-90 in Irish whisky, and 54-32 in Scotch whisky. The alcohol on which these results are based already contains 11 per cent, of water. B. ALUMEN. Preparations of Alum. ALUMEN EXSICCATUM. U.S., Lond., Ed. Alumen Sic- v catum. Dub. Dried Alum. "Take of Alum any quantity. Melt it in an earthen or iron vessel over the fire, and continue the heat till it becomes dry; then rub it into powder." U.S. " Melt Alum in an earthen vessel over the fire; then increase the heat until ebullition has ceased." Lond. The Edinburgh and Dublin processes agree with that of the U. S. Phar- macopoeia. When alum is heated, it quickly dissolves in its water of crystal- lization, which, if the heat be continued, is gradually driven off; and the salt 824 A lumen.—Ammonia. PART II. swells up exceedingly, so as to make it expedient to use a vessel, the capacity of which is at least equal to three times the bulk of the alum operated on. When the boiling up has ceased, it is a sign that all the water has been driven off. Properties. Dried alum, sometimes called alumen ustum or burnt alum, is in the form of an opaque white powder, possessing a more astringent taste than the crystallized salt. Before pulverization, it is a light, white, opaque, porous mass. During the exsiccation, it loses from 41 to 46 per cent, of its weight in dissipated water. If, however, the heat be strongly urged, some of the acid is driven off, and the loss becomes still greater. Dried alum re- sists the action of water for a long time, showing that the process to which it has been subjected has altered its state of aggregation. In composition, it differs from crystallized alum merely in the absence of water. Medical Properties and Uses. Dried alum has occasionally been given in obstinate constipation, with the effect of gently moving the bowels, and of affording great relief from pain. (See Alumen.) The dose is from five to ten grains or more. Its principal medical use is as a mild escharotic for destroying fungous flesh. B. LIQUOR ALUMINIS COMPOSITUS. Lond. Compound So- lution of Alum. " Take of Alum, Sulphate of Zinc, each an ounce; boiling water three pints [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Alum and Sulphate of Zinc together in the Water, and afterwards strain." Lond. This was formerly called aqua aluminosa Bateana, or Bates's alum water. It is a powerful astringent solution, and is employed for cleansing and stimu- lating foul ulcers, and as an injection in gleet and leucorrhcea. It is also sometimes employed as a collyrium in ophthalmia after depletion; but when used in this way it must be diluted. A convenient formula is half a fluid- ounce of the solution, mixed with six and a half fluidounces of rose water. B. AMMONIA. Preparations of Ammonia. AMMONLE BICARBONAS. Dub. Bicarbonate of Ammonia. " Take of Water of Carbonate of Ammonia any quantify. Expose it, in a suitable apparatus, to a stream of carbonic acid gas, evolved during the solution of white marble in Diluted Muriatic Acid, until the alkali is satu- rated. Then let it rest to form crystals, which are to be dried without heat, and kept in a closely stopped vessel." Dub. This salt is officinal only in the Dublin Pharmacopoeia. The process by which it is formed consists in saturating the sesquicarbonate (officinal car- bonate) with carbonic acid, whereby this salt becomes a bicarbonate. The sesquicarbonate consists of three eqs. of acid and two of ammonia; and, by gaining one eq. of carbonic acid, becomes two eqs. of bicarbonate, consisting of four eqs. of acid and two of ammonia. Each eq. of the crystallized salt contains two eqs. of water. Bicarbonate of ammonia, as prepared by this process, is in the form of crystals, which have a faint ammoniacal taste and smell, and are permanent in the air. It is less soluble in water than the sesquicarbonate, requiring eight times its weight of that liquid to dissolve it. It possesses, though in an inferior degree, the medical properties of the latter salt. As it furnishes the practitioner with the means of prescribing ammonia in a convenient and palatable form, Dr. Barker deems its introduction into the officinal list of the PART II. Ammonia. 825 Dublin College a valuable improvement. It ought to have been shown, how- ever, in what respect the Dublin preparation differs from the bicarbonate, obtained by exposing the sesquicarbonate to the air; for if they be identical, it cannot be necessary to resort to the Dublin formula for preparing this bisalt. The dose of bicarbonate of ammonia is from six to twenty-four grains, dis- solved in cold water, as hot water decomposes it. The curious fact has been ascertained by Mr. L. Thompson, of Newcastle- on-Tyne, that bicarbonate of ammonia is exhaled, in the amount of about three grains in twenty-four hours, by the human lungs. (Phil. 3Iag. for Feb. 1847.) B. AMMONITE CARBONAS. U.S., Ed., Dub. Ammonia Ses- quicarbonas. Lond. Carbonate of Ammonia. Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia. Mild Volatile. Alkali. " Take of Muriate of Ammonia a pound; Chalk, dried, a pound and a half. Pulverize them separately; then mix them thoroughly, and sublime with a gradually increasing heat." U. S. " Take of Muriate of Ammonia, pulverized and well dried, Dried Carbonate of Soda, each, one part. Put the mixture into an earthenware retort, and with a heat gradually increased, sublime the Carbonate of Ammonia into a refrigerated receiver." Dub. The London and Edinburgh processes are the same as that of the U. S. Pharmacopceia. In the above processes, by the reciprocal action of the salts employed, the carbonic acid unites with the ammonia, generating carbonate of ammonia, and the muriatic acid with the lime or soda, so as to form water and chloride of calcium, or the same liquid and chloride of sodium. The carbonate and water sublime together as a hydrated carbonate of ammonia, and the residue is chloride of calcium in the U.S., London, and Edinburgh processes, and chloride of sodium, or common salt, in the Dublin. In conducting the pro- cess, the retort should be of earthenware, and have a wide cylindrical neck; and the receiver should be cylindrical, to facilitate the extraction of the sub- limate. The relative quantities of chalk and muriate of ammonia, for mutual decomposition, are 5051 of the former and 5342 of the latter, or one eq. of each. The Pharmacopoeias use a great excess of chalk. An excess is desira- ble to ensure the perfect decomposition of the muriate of ammonia, any re- dundancy of which would sublime along with the carbonate, and render it impure. The employment of carbonate of soda, in the Dublin process, affords a product of greater whiteness, but is objectionable on the score of expense. The proportions of the muriate and alkaline carbonate, directed by this Col- lege, correspond almost precisely with the equivalents; but in practice the quantity of carbonate of soda is found insufficient. Carbonate of ammonia is obtained, on the large scale, generally by subliming the proper materials from an iron pot into a large earthen or leaden receiver. Sulphate of ammonia may be substituted for the muriate with much economy, as was shown by Payen. Large quantities of this carbonate are manufac- tured indirectly from gas liquor and bone spirit; the ammoniacal products in these liquors being successively converted into sulphate, muriate, and carbon- ate of ammonia. (See Ammonise 31urias.) The salt as first obtained has a slight odour of tar, and leaves a blackish carbonaceous matter when dissolved in acids. Hence it requires to be refined, which is effected in iron pots, sur- mounted with leaden heads. Properties. Carbonate (sesquicarbonate) of ammonia, recently prepared, is in white, moderately hard, translucent masses, of a fibrous and crystalline appearance, a pungent ammoniacal smell, and a sharp penetrating taste. It 826 Ammonia. PART II. possesses an alkaline reaction, and when held under a piece of turmeric paper changes it to brown, owing to the escape of monocarbonate of ammonia. When long or carelessly kept, it gradually passes into the state of bicarbonate, becoming opaque and friable, and falling to powder. It is soluble without residue in about four times its weight of cold water, and is decomposed by boiling water with effervescence. According to Dr. Barker (Observations on the Dublin Pharmacopceia), it dissolves abundantly in diluted alcohol, as also in heated alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-836, with effervescence of carbonic acid. When heated on a piece of glass, it should evaporate without residue, and, if turmeric paper held over it undergoes no change, it has passed into bicarbon- ate. When saturated with nitric acid, neither chloride of barium nor nitrate of silver causes a precipitate. The non-action of these tests shows the ab- sence of sulphate and muriate of ammonia. It is decomposed by acids, the fixed alkalies and their carbonates, lime-water and magnesia, solution of chloride of calcium, alum, acid salts, such as bitartrate and bisulphate of potassa, solutions of iron (except the tartrate of iron and potassa), corrosive sublimate, the acetate and subacetate of lead, and the sulphates of iron and zinc. Composition. It consists of three eqs. of carbonic acid 66, two of ammonia 34, and two of water 18 = 118; or, which comes to the same thing, of one eq. of bicarbonate 61, and one of monocarbonate 39, combined with the same quantity of water. The medicinal carbonate of ammonia is, therefore, when perfect, a hydrated sesquicarbonate, as it is called by the London College. Dalton and Scanlan, however, have rendered it probable that it is a double salt; for, when treated with a small quantity of cold water, monocarbonate is dissolved and bicarbonate left. When converted into bicarbonate by expo- sure to the air, each eq. of the medicinal salt loses one eq. of monocarbonate, a change which leaves the acid and base in the proper proportion to form the bisalt. The mutual decomposition of the salts, employed in its preparation, would generate, if no loss occurred, the monocarbonate, and not the sesqui- carbonate. The way in which the latter salt is formed may be thus explained. By the mutual decomposition of three eqs. of muriate of ammonia and of chalk respectively, three eqs. of monocarbonate of ammonia, three of water, and three of chloride of calcium are generated. During the operation, how- ever, one eq. of ammonia and one of water, forming together oxide of ammo- nium, are lost; so that there remain to be sublimed, three eqs. of carbonic acid, two of ammonia, and two of water; or, in other words, the exact con- stituents of the hydrated sesquicarbonate. When this is re-sublimed in the process of refining, two eqs. of the salt lose one eq. of carbonic acid, and become one eq. of 5-4 carbonate of ammonia. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Carbonate of ammonia is stimulant, dia- phoretic, antispasmodic, powerfully antacid, and in large doses emetic. Under certain circumstances it may prove expectorant; as when, in the last stages of phthisis, it facilitates, by increasing the muscular power, the excretion of the sputa. As a stimulant, it is exhibited principally in typhus fever, and very frequently in connexion with wine whey. Its principal advantage, in this disease, is its power to increase the action of the heart and arteries with- out unduly exciting the brain. It is employed, with a view to the same effect, and as an antacid, in certain stages of atonic gout, and in the derange- ments of the stomach supervening on habits of irregularity and debauchery. As a diaphoretic, it is resorted to in gout and chronic rheumatism, particu- larly the latter, in conjunction with guaiac. Dr. Pereira has employed it in many cases of epilepsy with benefit. In diabetes it has been recommended by Dr. Barlow in England, and Bouchardat in France. In cases of scrofula attended with languid circulation and dry skin, it is said to produce excellent effects. It is very seldom used as an emetic; but is supposed to act with PART II. Ammonia. 827 advantage, in this way, in some cases of paralysis. As an external application, it is rubefacient, and may be employed in several ways. Reduced to finel powder, and mixed with some mild ointment, it is useful in local rheumatism/ One part of it incorporated with three parts of extract of belladonna, forms a plaster very efficacious in relieving local and spasmodic pains. Coarsely bruised, and scented with oil of lavender, it constitutes the common smelling salts, so much used as a nasal stimulant in syncope and hysteria. The ordi- nary dose is from five to twenty grains, every two, three, or four hours, in the form of pill, or dissolved in some aqueous vehicle; and as an emetic, thirty grains, to be repeated if necessary, and assisted by free dilution': It should never be given in powder, on account of its volatile nature. Pills of it may be made up with some vegetable extract, as of gentian for example, and should be dispensed in a wide-mouthed vial, and not in a box. Carbonate of ammonia is used as a chemical agent in preparing Zinci Ox- idum, U. S., Lond., Ed,, and Ferrum Tartarizatum, Ed. It is sometimes employed to make effervescent draughts, 20 grains of the salt requiring for this purpose, 6 fluidrachms of lemon juice, 24 grains of citric acid, or 25£ grains of tartaric acid. Off. Prep. Cuprum Ammoniatum, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Am-, moniae Acetatis, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Ammoniae Sesquicarbonatis, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassae Bicarbonas, Ed.; Spiritus Ammoniae. Dub. B. LIQUOR AMMONLE SESQUICARBONATIS. Lond. Am- monia Carbonatis Aqua. Ed., Dub. Solution of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia. Water of Carbonate of Ammonia. " Take of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia four ounces ; Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia in the Water, and strain." Lond. "Take of Carbonate of Ammonia four parts; Distilled Water fifteen parts. Dissolve the Carbonate of Ammonia in the Water, and filter through paper. The specific gravity of this solution-is 1-090." Dub. The Edinburgh solution is of the same strength as the London. This preparation may be viewed as a saturated aqueous solution of carbon- ate of ammonia. The, wine pint of water, formerly ordered by the London College, was not, according to Mr. Phillips, sufficient to dissolve the salt. The pint now directed is the Imperial (20 fluidounces), and is adequate for that purpose. This preparation is very properly omitted in the United States Pharmacopoeia; as It is liable to change by keeping. The dose is from half a fluidrachm to a fluidrachm, given in any bland liquid. This solution is used by the London College in preparing the tartrate of iron and potassa. Off. Prep. Ammoniae Bicarbonas, Dub.; Linimentum Ammoniae Sesquicar- bonatis, Lond.; Pilulae Cupri Ammoniati. Ed. B. AMMONLE HYDROSULPHURETUM. Dub. Hydrosulphuret of Ammonia. Solution of Hydrosulphate of Ammonia. "Take of Sulphuret of Iron, in coarse powder, five parts ; Sulphuric Acid seven parts ; Water thirty-two parts; Water of Caustic Ammonia four parts. Put the Sulphuret into a retort; then gradually pour on the Acid, previously diluted with the Water, and in a suitable apparatus, transmit the gas evolved through the Water of Ammonia. Towards the end of the process, apply a gentle, heat to the retort." Dub. This preparation is a solution of hydrosulphate of ammonia in water, and is formed by passing a stream of hydrosulphuric acid gas (sulphuretted hy- drogen) through a portiou of water of ammonia, usually contained in a Wolfe's 828 Ammonia. PART II. bottle. The hydrosulphuric acid is generated by the action of dilute sul- phuric acid on sulphuret of iron. The water yields its oxygen to the iron (forming protoxide of iron, with which the sulphuric acid combines; while the hydrogen of the water, uniting with the sulphur, generates the hydrosulphuric ^Properties. Solution of hydrosulphate of ammonia is a liquid of a greenish- yelflpw colour, very fetid smell, and acrid, disagreeable taste. It is charac- teri*jd by giving coloured precipitates with neutral metallic solutions, for whim it is much used as a test. It is decomposed by acids, which cause the escawe of hydrosulphuric acid with effervescence, and the deposition of sul- phun, The salt present in it appears to be a bihydrosulphate, consisting of two ejqjs. of hydrosulphuric acid 34, and one of ammonia 17 = 51. 31edical Properties and Uses. This preparation operates on the system as a sedative, lessening the action of the heart and arteries in a remarkable de- gre^,"and producing nausea, vomiting, vertigo, and drowsiness, It has been us$d in diabetes mellitus, in which disease it was proposed as a remedy by Dr. Cruickshank, for the purpose of lessening the morbid appetite which often attends that affection, and has been employed by Dr. Rollo and others. fllie dose is from five to six drops in a tumblerful of water three or four times a day, to be gradually increased until giddiness is produced. This solution has been expunged from the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias. B. LIQUOR AMMONLE. U. S., Lond. Ammonue Aqua. Ed. Ammonue Caustics Aqua. Dub. Aqua Ammonle. Solution of Ammonia. Water of Ammonia. " Take of Muriate of Ammonia, in fine powder, Lime, each, a pound; Dis- tilled Water a pint; Water nine fluidounces. Break the Lime in pieces, and pour the Water upon it in an earthen or iron vessel; then cover the vessel, and set it aside till the Lime falls into powder and becomes cold. t Mix this thoroughly with the Muriate of Ammonia in a mortar, and immediately intro- duce the mixture into a glass retort. Place the retort upon a sand-bath, and adapt to it a receiver, previously connected, by means of a glass tube, with a quart bottle containing the Distilled Water. Then apply heat, to be gradu- ally increased till the bottom of the iron vessel containing the sand becomes red-hot; and continue the process so long as ammonia comes over. Remove the liquor contained in the quart bottle, and for every fluidounce of it add three and a half fluidrachms of Distilled Water, or so much as may be neces- sary to raise its specific gravity to 0-96. Keep the solution in small bottles well stopped. " Solution of Ammonia may also be prepared by mixing one part, by mea- sure, of Stronger Solution of Ammonia with two parts of Distilled Water." U.S. " Take of Hydrochlorate [Muriate] of Ammonia ten ounces; Lime eight ounces; Water two pints [Imperial measure]. Put the Lime slaked with Water into a retort; then add the Hydrochlorate of Ammonia broken into small pieces, and the remainder of the Water. Distil fifteen fluidounces [Imp. meas.] of Solution of Ammonia." Lond. The specific gravity of this Solu- tion is 0-960. " Take of Muriate of Ammonia, in powder, three parts; Lime, recently burnt, two parts; Water ten pails. Pour one part of the "Water, previously heated, on the Lime, placed in an earthen vessel, and cover it. Dissolve the salt in the remainder of the Water, also heated. When the Lime has fallen into powder and become cool, put it into a retort, and add to it the saline solution also cold. Then distil five parts with a medium heat into a refrige- rated receiver. The specific gravity of this Solution is 0-950." Dub. PART II. Ammonia. 829 The Edinburgh process includes the formation of Liquor Ammonise Fortior and this preparation at one operation. The process has been quoted at length and explained at page 82. (See Liquor Ammonias Fortior.) The Liquor Ammoniae of this College is directed to have the sp. gr. 0-960. The object of the above processes is to obtain a weak aqueous solution of the alkaline gas ammonia. The muriate of ammonia is decomposed by the superior affinity of the lime for its acid, ammonia is disengaged, and the lime, combining with the acid, forms chloride of calcium and water. The ammonia is either evolved from the dry materials and passed into water, by which it is absorbed, as in the U. S. and Edinburgh processes, or distilled over in con- nexion with water, as directed by the London and Dublin Colleges. The lime is slaked to render it pulverulent, in which state it acts more readily on the muriate of ammonia. The receiver directed in the United States process is intended to retain any water holding in solution undecomposed muriate, or the oily matter sometimes contained in this salt, as well as other impurities, which may be driven over by the heat; while the pure gas passes forward through the glass tube into the bottle containing the distilled water, which should not more than half fill it, on account of the increase of bulk which the water acquires during the absorption of the gas. The tube should continue down to near the bottom of the bottle, and pass through a cork, loosely fitting its mouth. To prevent the regurgitation of the water from the bottle into the receiver, the latter should be furnished with a Welter's tube of safety. Large bottles are improper for keeping the water of ammonia obtained; as, when they are partially empty, the atmospheric air contained within them is apt to furnish a little carbonic acid to the ammonia. In the process of the London Pharmacopoeia, which was very much changed in the revision of 1836, a given measure of water of ammonia is distilled over from the materials employed. The muriate of ammonia, instead of being pulverized, is directed to he broken into small pieces, in order' to avoid the loss of gas which the powdered form of the salt is apt to occasion from the too sudden extrication of the ammonia. The present is a decided improvement on the last London process. Time is saved in conducting it, the boiling of part of the water is omitted, straining the mixed solution is dispensed with, and a larger proportional amount of water of ammonia is obtained from the materials. By the old process, Mr- Phillips states that " at least fifty measures of a mixed solution of ammonia and chloride of calcium were subjected to distillation in order to procure twelve measures of product." In the present Pharmacopoeia, the same quantity is obtained by heating only thirty-two mea- sures of the mixed solution. The general plan of the Dublin process is the same as that of the London. The differences consist in heating the portions of water intended to slake the lime and dissolve the muriate, and in adding the saline solution instead of the solid salt to the lime. Dr. Barker objects to the Dublin formula that the am- monia is apt to be generated in the retort faster than the water present can take it up, which circumstance causes a loss. He, therefore, believes it would be an improvement to direct that part of the water should be placed in the receiver. Another objection to the formula is the use of hot water; for cold water will readily slake lime, and dissolve powdered muriate of ammonia. The proportion of lime varies in the different formulae. The equivalent proportions are 53-42 of salt and 28-5 of lime, a quantity of the latter only a little more than half the weight of the former. _ By comparing these num- bers with those expressing the proportions of the ingredients employed, it will be seen that all the Pharmacopoeias use an excess of lime, the excess being least in the Dublin. The earth is most in excess in the U. S. and Edinburgh processes, where equal parts are used, and Mr. Phillips alleges that its bulk 830 Ammonia. PART II. is an inconvenience by requiring large vessels; but the late Dr. Hope contend- ed that the excess of lime is useful by accelerating the disengagement of the ammonia, and by rendering a less elevated temperature necessary. The excess of lime, to the extent directed by the Dublin College, is stated by Dr. Barker to be necessary to compensate for the impurities in ordinary lime. The use of no more lime than is absolutely required to produce complete decomposi- tion, has the incidental advantage of rendering the residual solution of chloride of calcium less impure; an object of some importance where it is reserved for purification, as is done by the Dublin College. Solution of ammonia is obtained on the large scale by manufacturing che- mists with greater economy, from the sulphate instead of the hydrochlorate of ammonia. The three Pharmacopoeias which include Liquor Ammonias Fortior ( U S., London, and Edinburgh) give directions for its dilution so as to bring it to the strength of Liquor Ammonise. This is effected by mixing one measure of the stronger preparation with two measures of distilled water (U S., Lond,), or with two and a half measures (Ed.). By dilution to this extent the stronger solution is brought uniformly to the sp. gr. of 0-960; the Edinburgh solution requiring more water, because more concentrated. Properties. The properties of " Stronger Solution of Ammonia" have already been indicated. (See page 83.) Those of the officinal solution of ammonia, described in this place, are the same in kind, but weaker in degree. Its sp. gr. in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias is the same, 0-960; in the Dublin, 0950. When of the density 0-960, 100 grains of it saturate 30 grains of officinal sulphuric acid. It is incompatible with acids, and with acidulous and most earthy and metallic salts; but it does not decom- pose the salts of lime, baryta, or strontia, and those of magnesia only partially. If precipitated by lime-water, the ammonia is partly carbonated. When saturated with nitric acid, it should give no precipitate with carbonate of ammonia or nitrate of silver. A precipitate with the former shows earthy matter; with the latter muriatic acid or a chloride. Commercial solution of ammonia sometimes contains pyrrol, naphthaline, and other soluble impurities. These may be detected by the solution being reddened by nitric acid, and by its tinging a slip of fir wood of a rich purple colour, characteristic of pyrrol, after having been supersaturated with muriatic acid. (3Iaclagan). The source of these impurities is coal-gas liquor, from which a large part of the ammonia of commerce is now obtained. Composition. Water is capable of absorbing 670 times its volume of am- moniacal gas at 50°, and increases its bulk about two-thirds. But the officinal solution of ammonia is by no means a saturated one. Thus, the ammonia contained in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh preparations is about 10 per cent.; in the Dublin, about 12£ per cent. The following table gives the per centage of ammoniacal gas in aqueous solutions of different specific gravities. Specific Ammonia Specific Ammonia Specific Ammonia Gravity. per cent. Gravity. per cent. Gravity. per cent. 08750 32-50 0-9326 17-52 0-9545 11-56 0-8875 29-25 09385 15-88 0-9573 1082 0-9000 2600 0 9435 14-53 09597 10 17 0-9054 25-37 09476 13-46 0-9619 9-60 0-9166 22-07 0-9513 12-40 0-9692 9-50 0-9255 19-54 1 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Solution of ammonia is stimulant, sudorific, antacid, and rubefacient. It stimulates more particularly the heart and arte- PART II. Ammonia. 831 ries, without unduly exciting the brain. It is rarely used internally, other ammoniacal preparations being preferred. As a stimulant, it is occasionally employed in paralysis, hysteria, syncope, asphyxia, and similar affections. In the same complaints it is oftemapplied to the nostrils with advantage; but, in cases of insensibility, care must be taken not to carry the application too far, for fear of inducing dangerous and even fatal bronchitis. As an antacid, it is one of the best remedies in heartburn, and for the relief of sick headache when dependent on acidity of stomach. In these cases it acts usefully also by stimulating the stomach. It has been recommended by Dr. Guerard as an application to burns, proceeding to the extent of rubefaction or raising the cuticle, as a means of relieving the pain and hastening the cure. (Journ. de Pharm., Jan. 1849.) As a rubefacient it is employed united with oil in the form of volatile liniment. (See Linimentum Ammoniae.) The dose is from ten to thirty drops, largely diluted with water to prevent its caustic effect on the mouth and throat. When swallowed in an over-dose, its effects are those of a corrosive poison. The best antidotes are vinegar and lemon-juice, which act by neutralizing the ammonia, and must be promptly applied to be useful. The consecutive inflammation must be treated on general principles. Pharm. Uses. To prepare Aconitina, Lond.; Calcis Phosphas Praecipi- tatum, Dub.; Ferri Oxidum Hydratum, U S.; Morphia, U S., Lond.; Morphiae Acetas, Ed,; Morphiae Hydrochloras, Lond.; Quiniae Disulphas, Lond,; Strychnia, U S., Lond.; Veratria, U S., Lond,, Ed. Off. Prep. Ammoniae Hydrosulphuretum, Dub.; Hydrargyrum Ammo- niatum, U. S., Lond,, Ed,, Dub.; Linimentum Ammoniae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Linimentum Camphorae Compositum, Lond., Dub.; Linimentum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond. B. LIQUOR AMMONIiE ACETATIS. U.S., Lond. Ammonia Acetatis Aqua. Ed., Dub. Spiritus Mindereri. Solution of Acetate of Ammonia. Spirit of Mindererus. " Take of Diluted Acetic Acid two pints; Carbonate of Ammonia, in powder, a sufficient quantity. Add the Carbonate of Ammonia gradually to the Acid until it is saturated." U S. " Take of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia four ounces and a half, or as much as may be sufficient; Distilled Vinegar four pints [Imperial measure]. Add the Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia to the Vinegar to saturation." Lond. " Take of Distilled Vinegar (from French Vinegar in preference) twenty- four fluidounces [Imperial measure]; Carbonate of Ammonia an ounce. Mix them and dissolve the salt. If the solution has any bitterness, add by degrees a little Distilled Vinegar till that taste be removed. The density of the Distilled Vinegar should be 1-005, and that of the Aqua Acetatis Ammo- nise 1-011." Ed. "Take of Carbonate of Ammonia one part. Add gradually, and with frequent agitation, as much warm Distilled Vinegar as may be necessary to saturate the ammonia, namely, about thirty parts. The saturation may be ascertained by means of litmus." Dub. This preparation is an aqueous solution of acetate of ammonia. The pro- cess by which it is*formed constitutes a case of single elective affinity. The acetic acid decomposes the carbonate, combines with the ammonia, forming the acetate of ammonia, and disengages the carbonic acid with effervescence. The British Colleges employ distilled vinegar, while, according to the United States Pharmacopoeia, the saturation is effected with a pure acetic acid, diluted to a determinate extent with distilled water. (See Acidum Aceticum Dilutum.) The use of the acid in the latter form is a decided improvement; 832 Ammonia. PART II. for, besides furnishing the solution of the acetate of uniform strength, a result which cannot be attained by the employment of distilled vinegar, unless it be carefully brought to a given density, it avoids the production of a brownish solution, which uniformly follows the use of the latter, especially when it has been condensed in a metallic worm. The quantity of carbonate of ammonia, necessary to saturate a given weight of the acid of average strength, cannot be laid down with precision, on account of the variable quality of the salt. The preparation, when made with the diluted acetic acid of the U. S. Phar- macopoeia, contains six per cent, of acetate of ammonia. The addition of the salt to the acid, as directed in the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, is more convenient than the contrary order; as the point of saturation is thus more easily attained. This point is best ascertained by the alternate use of tur- meric and litmus paper; and it is a good rule to allow rather a slight acidity to prevail, which will be due to carbonic acid dissolved in the liquid, and will disappear as soon as this acid is dissipated by time. Properties. Solution of acetate of ammonia, when made of pure materials, is a limpid and colourless liquid. Its taste is saline, and resembles that of a mixture of nitre and sugar. When it contains an excess of alkali, its taste is bitterish. It should not be made in large quantities at a time; as its acid becomes decomposed, and a portion of carbonate of ammonia is generated. As formerly prepared, under the name of spiritus Mindereri, it was made from the impure carbonate of ammonia containing animal oil, which modified the preparation by giving rise to a portion of ammoniacal soap. When pure it is not coloured by hydrosulphuric acid, nor precipitated by nitrate of silver or chloride of barium. When evaporated to dryness, the residue is wholly dissipated by heat, with the smell of ammonia. It is incompatible with acids, the fixed alkalies and their carbonates, lime-water, magnesia, sulphate of magnesia, corrosive sublimate, the sulphates of iron, copper, and zinc, and nitrate of silver. When it contains free carbonic acid, it produces with the acetate or subacetate of lead a precipitate of carbonate of lead, which, being mistaken for the sulphate, has sometimes led to the erroneous conclusion that sulphuric acid was present in the distilled vinegar, when this has been em- ployed. Acetate of ammonia, the salt in solution in this preparation, is difficultly crystallizable, and very deliquescent. It may be obtained by sub- limation from a mixture of equal parts of dry acetate of potassa or of lime, and muriate of ammonia. It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, and one of ammonia 17=68. When crystallized it contains seven eqs. of water 63. Medical Properties and Uses. Solution of acetate of ammonia is a valuable diaphoretic, much employed in febrile and inflammatory diseases. According to the indications to be answered by its use, it is variously combined with nitre and antimonials, camphor and opium. If, instead of promoting its determination to the skin by external warmth, the patient walk about in a cool air, its action will be directed to the kidneys. It is sometimes used externally as a discutient. Mr. Brande speaks of it as an excellent applica- tion in mumps, applied hot upon a piece of flannel. In the hydrocele of children, it is strongly recommended by Dr. Maushner, applied by means of compresses kept constantly moist. (Journ. de Pharm., Se s6r., v. 317.) Mixed in the quantity of a fluidounce with seven fluidounces of rose-water, and two fluidrachms of laudanum, it forms a useful collyrium in chronic ophthalmia. Dr. A. T. Thomson has used it as a lotion with good effect in porrigo affecting the scalp. The dose is from ,half a fluidounce to a fluid- ounce and a half, every three or four hours, mixed with water and sweetened with sugar. It proves sometimes very grateful to febrile patients, when prescribed with an equal measure of carbonic acid water. B. PART II. Ammonia. 833 SPIRITUS AMMONITE. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Spirit of Ammonia. "Take of Muriate of Ammonia, in fine powder, Lime, each, a pound; Alcohol twenty fluidounces ; Water nine fluidounces. Slake the lime with the Water, mix it with the Muriate of Ammonia, and proceed in the manner directed for Solution of Ammonia, the Alcohol being introduced into the quart bottle instead of Distilled Water. When all the Ammonia has come over, remove the liquor contained in the quart bottle, and keep it in small bottles well stopped." U S. "Take of Rectified Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]; fresh-burnt Lime twelve ounces [a pound]; Muriate of Ammonia, in very fine powder, eight ounces; Water six fluidounces and a half [Imp. meas.]. Let the Lime be slaked with the water in an iron or earthenware vessel, and cover the vessel till the powder be cold; mix the Lime and Muriate of Ammonia quickly and thoroughly in a mortar, and transfer the mixture at once into a glass retort; adapt to the retort a tube which passes nearly to the bottom of a bottle con- taining the Rectified Spirit; heat the retort in a sand-bath gradually, so long as anything passes over, preserving the bottle cool. The bottle should be large enough to contain one-half more than the spirit used." Ed, " Take of Hydrochlorate [Muriate] of Ammonia ten ounces; Carbonate of Potassa sixteen ounces; Rectified Spirit, Water, each, three pints [Imperial measure]. Mix them, and distil three pints [Imp. meas.]." Lond. "Take of Rectified Spirit three pints; Carbonate of Ammonia, coarsely powdered, three ounces and a half. Mix them, and dissolve the salt with a medium heat; then filter the solution." Dub. The spirit of ammonia of the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias is a solution of ammonia in rectified spirit; that of the London and Dublin Col- leges, a saturated solution of monocarbonate of ammonia in the same men- struum. The proportions of the ingredients of the United. States formula are so adjusted as to give a preparation, containing between 10 and 11 per cent. of ammonia, and capable of saturating about 30 per cent, of officinal sulphuric acid. Accordingly it agrees, as it was intended it should, in ammoniacal strength, with the U. S. Liquor Ammoniae. Its sp. gr. is 0-831, or there- abouts. The Edinburgh spirit may be roughly estimated to be not quite one-third as strong as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia; for the ammonia ex- tricated from the same quantity of muriate of ammonia, is passed into three times as much rectified spirit. The density of the Edinburgh spirit of am- monia is " about 0-845." As rectified spirit becomes lighter by the absorp- tion of ammoniacal gas, it is evident that the alcoholic menstruum, in the Edinburgh preparation, gains water as well as ammonia in the distillation. This addition of water to the product is prevented by the intermediate re- ceiver used in the U. S. process, and consequently the spirit of ammonia obtained has a less specific gravity than that of rectified spirit. In the Lon- don process a double decomposition takes place between the muriate of am- monia and carbonate of potassa, resulting in the formation of the monocar- bonate of ammonia which distils over with the spirit, and chloride of potassium which remains behind in solution. This process is somewhat wasteful; as part of the carbonate of ammonia formed remains undissolved in the receiver, in an imperfectly crystalline state, the spirit not being capable of dissolving the whole which comes over. The Dublin process consists in merely dissolving the officinal carbonate in heated rectified spirit. The officinal carbonate is a sesquicarbonate; and, during its solution in the spirit, just so much carbonic acid is disengaged with effervescence as is necessary to convert it into mono- carbonate, of which thirty grains dissolve in each fluidounce. The spirit thus 53 834' Ammonia. PART II. obtained, therefore, contains the ammonia, carbonated to the same extent in which it exists in the London preparation. Properties. The U. S. spirit of ammonia, formerly called ammoniated alcohol, is a transparent colourless liquid, having a strong ammoniacal odour, and acrid taste. When good it does not effervesce-with diluted muriatic acid; but if old or carelessly kept, it is apt to be partially carbonated, as shown by this test. It, however, absorbs carbonic acid more slowly than Liquor Am- moniae. The Edinburgh preparation agrees in nature with the U. S. spirit, but is only of one-third its strength. The London and Dublin spirits have a weaker odour of ammonia. The former has the officinal density 0-860. Both effervesce with acids. Though carbonated, they are more pungent and alka- line than if they contained the sesquicarbonate; as the ammonia present in them is combined with one-third less of carbonic acid. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Spirit of ammonia is stimulant and anti- spasmodic, and is given in hysteria, flatulent colic, and nervous debility. It is, however, not much used ; the aromatic spirit, which is pleasanter and has similar properties, being preferred. The dose of the U. S. preparation is from ten to thirty drops in a wineglassful of water; of the Edinburgh and London, from thirty drops to a fluidrachm. All these spirits dissolve resins, gum- resins, camphor, and the volatile oils; but the caustic are more powerful solvents than the carbonated preparations. The Edinburgh College uses its spirit for making the aromatic and fetid spirits of ammonia, and the ammo- niated tinctures, as is seen by the subjoined list. Off. Prep. Spiritus Ammonise Aromaticus, Ed,; Spiritus Ammoniae Fos- tidus, Ed.; Tinctura Castorei Ammoniata, Ed.; Tinct. Guaiaci Ammoniata, Ed.; Tinct. Opii Ammoniata, Ed.; Tinct. Valerianae Ammoniata, Ed., Dub. B. SPIRITUS AMMONITE AROMATICUS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia. " Take of Muriate of Ammonia five ounces; Carbonate of Potassa eight ounces; Cinnamon, bruised, Cloves, bruised, each, two drachms; Lemon Peel four ounces; Alcohol, Water, each, five pints. Mix them and distil seven pints and a half." U. S. The London formula is the original of the above, and, therefore, need not be given. "Take of Spirit of Ammonia eight fluidounces; Volatile Oil of Lemon Peel a fluidrachm ; Volatile Oil of Rosemary a fluidrachm and a half. Dis- solve the Oils in the Spirit by agitation." Ed. "Take of Spirit of Ammonia two pints; Essential Oil of Lemons two drachms; Nutmegs, bruised, half an ounce; Cinnamon bark, bruised, three drachms. Macerate in a covered vessel for three days, shaking occasionally; then distil a pint and a half." Dub. The London and U S. aromatic spirit of ammonia is made on the same plan as the London carbonated simple spirit; namely, by impregnating the menstruum with monocarbonate of ammonia, formed by double decomposition between muriate of ammonia and carbonate of potassa. Thus the product is a spirituous solution of the monocarbonate, impregnated with aromatics. From the relation between the muriate of ammonia and the quantity of liquid' distilled, it will be found that this aromatic spirit is only one-fourth as ammo- niated as the corresponding simple spirit. This aromatic spirit is aL j weaker in the density of the alcohol present in it; for, while in the corresponding simple spirit the distilled product is just equal to the rectified spirit employed, in the aromatic spirit it is half as much again; the proportional excess being part ii. Ammonia.—Antimonium. 835 water. Hence it is that the aromatic spirit of this process is so much heavier than the corresponding simple spirit; the former having the specific gravity 0-914 (0-911 Phillips), the latter 0860, according to the London College. The aromatic spirit of the Edinburgh College is a mere solution of certain volatile oils in the caustic simple spirit of that College. The omission to distil is a defect in this process; for if the volatile oils contain impurity, the preparation will be coloured and turbid. The Dublin College makes the pre- paration by distilling its carbonated simple spirit with the aromatics. Medical Properties and Uses. Aromatic spirit of ammonia is fitted to fulfil the same indications as the simple spirit; but is much more used, on account of its grateful taste and smell.- It is advantageously employed as a stimulant antacid in sick headache. The dose is from thirty drops to a fluidrachm or more, sufficiently diluted with water. This spirit is compatible with sulphate of magnesia, and may be usefully added to aperient draughts of that salt, to render them less offensive to'the stomach. Off. Prep. Tinctura Colchici Composita, Lond.; Tinct. Guaiaci Ammoniata, U S., Dub., Lond. ; Tinct. Valerianae Ammoniata, U S., Lond. B. SPIRITUS AMMONITE FCETIDUS. Lond., Ed., Dub. Fetid Spirit of Ammonia. "Take of Hydrochlorate [Muriate] of Ammonia ten ounces; Carbonate of Potassa sixteen ounces; Rectified Spirit, Water, each, three pints [Im- perial measure]; Assafetida five ounces. Mix them; then with a slow fire distil three pints [Imp. meas.]." Lond. " Take of Spirit of Ammonia ten fluidounces and a half [Imp. meas.]; Assafetida half an ounce. Break the Assafetida into small fragments, digest it in the Spirit for twelve hours, and distil over ten fluidounces and a half by means of a vapour-bath heat." Ed, "Take of Spirit of Ammonia two pints; Assafetida an ounce, and a quarter. Macerate in a close vessel for three days, shaking occasionally; then pour off the clear liquor, and distil a pint and a half." Dub. These preparations differ from the corresponding spirits of ammonia of the several Colleges, only in containing a small proportion of the volatile oil of assafetida, which has little other effect than to communicate an unpleasant odour and taste to the spirit. It is colourless at first, but becomes brownish with age. It is given in hysteria in doses of from thirty drops to a fluidrachm. W. ANTIMONIUM. Preparations of Antimony. ANTIMONII OXIDUM. Ed. Oxide of Antimony. Teroxide of Antimony. "Take of sulphuret of Antimony, in fine powder, four ounces; Muriatic Acid (commercial) a pint [Imperial measure]; Water five pints [Imp. meas.]. Dissolve the Sulphuret in the Acid With the aid of a gentle heat; boil for half an hour; filter; pour the fluid into the Water; collect the precipitate on a calico filter; wash it well with cold water, then with a weak solution of Car- bonate of Soda, and again with cold water till the water ceases to affect red- dened litmus paper. Dry the powder over the vapour bath." Ed. This is a new officinal of the Edinburgh College. It is formed precisely on the same principles as the powder of Algaroth, described in the next arti- cle. According to Mr. Phillips, the muriatic acid is used in large excess; 836 Antimonium. PART II. less than half the quantity ordered being sufficient to dissolve four ounces of sulphuret of antimony. As the object of the process is to obtain a pure oxide, the precipitate is washed with a weak solution of carbonate of soda to remove terchloride, and afterwards with water to separate any remains of alkali. The soda removes the terchloride, by forming with it teroxide of an- timony and chloride of sodium. Teroxide of antimony is a snow-white, heavy powder, permanent in the air, insoluble in water, but readily soluble in mu- riatic or tartaric acid, or in a boiling solution of bitartrate of potassa. When heated in close vessels, it becomes yellow, fuses at a full red heat, and finally sublimes in crystalline needles. When cooled from a state of fusion, it forms a fibrous crystalline mass. Heated in open vessels, it suddenly becomes red- hot, and, by the absorption of oxygen, changes into antimonious acid, which differs from the teroxide in being insoluble in muriatic acid, less fusible, and not volatile. This oxide is the active ingredient of all the medicinal prepara- tions of antimony. It is frequently impure from containing antimonious acid, in which case it will not be entirely soluble in muriatic acid. If it contain terchloride, which it is apt to do from the imperfect action of the solution of carbonate of soda, its solution in tartaric acid will be precipitated by nitrate of silver. When antimonious acid is substituted for it, the fraud may he detected by the spurious preparation being entirely insoluble in muriatic acid. It consists of one eq. of antimony and three of oxygen (Sb03). Medical Properties. This oxide possesses the general therapeutic proper- ties of the antimonials. It deserves more attention than has been paid to it; and its effects, comparatively with those of tartar emetic, should be carefully studied. It is probable that its sedative operation would be found the same, with less nausea and disturbance of the stomach. Like antimonial powder, it is very unequal ia its effects, sometimes vomiting, at other times being appa- rently inert. In the case of the French Codex oxide, prepared by boiling the powder of Algaroth with a solution of bicarbonate of potassa, these differences are attributed by M. Durand, of Caen, to the presence of more or less ter- chloride, which is separated with difficulty. Objecting to the Codex oxide, M. Durand proposes to obtain it by precipitating tartar emetic with ammonia in excess. The oxide, thus obtained, contains no terchloride, and does not vomit. (Journ. de Pharm., Be se"r., ii. 364.) The dose of the oxide is from three to ten grains, repeated every two or three hours, and given in powder with syrup or molasses, or in pill made up with confection of roses. B. ANTIMONII OXYDUM NITROMURIATICUM. Dub. Ni- tromuriatic Oxide of Antimony. Powder of Algaroth. "Take of Prepared Sulphuret of Antimony twenty parts; Muriatic Acid one hundred parts; Nitric Acid one part. Add the Sulphuret gradually to the Acids, previously mixed in a glass vessel, avoiding the vapours. Digest with a heat gradually increased, until the effervescence ceases, and then boil for an hour. Receive the cooled and filtered.liquor in a gallon of water. Wash the Oxide of Antimony, after it has subsided, repeatedly, in a sufficiently large quantity of water, until the liquor poured off is perfectly free from acid, as known by the test of litmus. Lastly, dry the oxide on bibulous paper." Dub. The object of this process is to obtain the oxychloride of antimony, con- sisting of the teroxide and terchloride, and formerly called powder of Alga- roth. When tersulphuret of antimony is dissolved, by the aid of heat, in muriatic acid, a double decomposition takes place, resulting in the formation of terchloride of antimony (butter of antimony), and hydrosulphuric acid (sulphuretted hydrogen), which by its evolution causes the effervescence. PART ii. Antimonium. 837 When the terchloride is poured into a large quantity of water, the greater part of it is converted into muriatic acid and teroxide, the former remaining in solution, and the latter falling in union with a portion of undecomposed terchloride as a white flocculent precipitate, constituting the oxychloride of antimony, or powder of Algaroth. The precipitate is washed for the purpose of freeing it from adhering muriatic acid. The heat should be applied mode- rately, at first, for fear the materials should unduly swell; but towards the close of the process it should be increased, to ensure the complete action of the acid. The small portion of nitric acid used by the College is not neces- sary to assist the muriatic acid in dissolving the tersulphuret: but it acts usefully by decomposing any remains of hydrosulphuric acid which may exist in the solution, and which, by its presence, would impair the whiteness of the oxychloride, when precipitated in the next step of the process by the water. There exists a defect in the formula; inasmuch as the ingredients are taken in parts, which are relative quantities, while the water is directed in the absolute quantity of a gallon. Properties. Oxychloride of antimony is a white powder, having a crys- talline appearance if left long in contact with the solution from which it is precipitated. When exposed to a red heat, it enters into fusion, and forms a yellow liquid, which, on cooling, concretes into a grayish crystalline mass of a pearly aspect. It consists mainly of teroxide, being composed of nine eqs. of teroxide, and two.of terchloride. (Malaguttl and Johnston.) Pereira makes it consist of five eqs. of teroxide, and one of terchloride, which is probably its true composition. Medical Properties and Uses. The powder of Algaroth was formerly used in medicine, but, owing to its unequal operation from its being more or less perfectly washed, has been laid aside. It is liable to contain tersulphuret of arsenic (orpiment), unless when obtained from the distilled concrete terchlo- ride of antimony. (Larocque, Journ. de Pharm., March 1849.) It is em- ployed in pharmacy in the preparation of tartar emetic, for which purpose it is placed among the preparations of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia. It is also applied to the same use in the United States and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, but without being recognised under a distinct name; being formed as the first step of the process for preparing tartar emetic, adopted in those works. The name given to this oxide by the Dublin College is very objectionable. It is not formed on correct chemical principles; neither has it any pharmaceutical convenience to recommend it. Off. Prep. Antimonii et Potassae Tartras, Dub. B. ANTIMONII ET POTASSAE TARTRAS. U.S. Antimonii et Potassae Tartras sive Tartarum Emeticum. Dub. Anti- monii Potassio-Tartras. Lond. Antimonium Tartarizatum. Ed. Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa. Tartarized Antimony. Tartar Emetic. "Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in fine powder, four ounces; Muriatic Acid twenty-five ounces; Nitric Acid two drachms; Water a gallon. Having mixed the Acids together in a glass vessel, add by degrees the Sulphuret of Antimony, and digest the mixture, with a gradually increasing heat, till effer- vescence ceases; then boil for an hour. Filter the liquor when it has become cold, and pour it into the Water. Wash the precipitated powder frequently with water, till it is entirely freed from acid, and then dry it. Take of this powder two ounces; Bitartrate of Potassa, in very fine powder, two ounces and a ludf; Distilled Water eighteen fluidounces. Boil the Water in a glass ves- sel; then add the powders previously mixed together, and boil for an hour; 838 Antimonium. part ii. lastly, filter the liquor while hot, and set it aside to crystallize. By further evaporation, the liquor may be made to yield an additional quantity of crys- tals, which should he purified by a second crystallization." U S. " Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in fine powder, four ounces; Muriatic Acid (commercial) a pint [Imperial measure]; Water five pints [Imp. meas.]. Dissolve the Sulphuret in the Acid with the aid of a gentle heat; boil for half an hour; filter; pour the liquid into the Water; collect the precipitate on a calico filter, wash it with cold water till the water ceases to redden lit- mus paper, dry the precipitate over the vapour-bath. Take of this precipitate three ounces; Bitartrate of Potash, four ounces and two drachms; Water twenty-seven fluidounces [Imp. meas.]. Mix the powders, add the Water, boil for an hour, filter, and set the liquid aside to crystallize. The mother- liquor, when concentrated, yields more crystals, but not so free of colour, and, therefore, requiring a second crystallization." Ed. " Take of Nitromuriatic Oxide of Antiihony four parts; Bitartrate of Po- tassa, in very fine powder, five parts; Distilled Water thirty-four parts. Boil the Water in a glass vessel; then gradually throw into it the Oxide and Bi- tartrate of Potassa, previously mixed, and boil for half an hour; then filter the liquor through paper, and crystallize by slow cooling." Dub. " Take of Sesquisulphuret of Antimony, rubbed to powder, Nitrate of Potassa, powdered, each, two pounds ; Bitartrate of Potassa, powdered, fourteen ounces; Hydrochloric [Muriatic] Acid four fluidounces [Imperial measure]; Distilled Water a gallon [Imp. meas.]. Mix the Sesquisulphuret of Anti- mony, accurately, with'the Nitrate of Potassa; the Hydrochloric Acid being then added, and the powder spread upon an iron plate, ignite it. Rub what remains, when it is cold, to very fine powder, and wash it frequently with boiling water until it is free from taste. Mix the powder thus prepared with the Bitartrate of Potassa, and boil for half an hour in a gallon of Distilled Water. Strain the liquor while yet hot, and set it aside that crystals may form. These being removed and dried, let the liquor again evaporate that it may yield crystals." Lond, This preparation is a double salt, consisting of tartrate of potassa, united with tartrate of the teroxide of antimony. The principle of its formation is exceedingly simple, being merely the saturation of the excess of acid in the bitartrate (cream of tartar) with teroxide of antimony. The officinal pro- cesses all consist in boiling a mixture of cream of tartar and some form of teroxide with water. The U.S., Edinburgh, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias now all agree in using the form of teroxide, called oxychloride of antimony or powder of Algaroth, which is officinal under a distinct name in the Dublin Pharmacopoeia only, where it is called nitromuriatic oxide of antimony. (See Antimonii Oxydum Nitromuriaticum, under which title it is described.) In the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, the same substance is formed as the first step of the tartar emetic process. The London College employs for making tartar emetic, the crocus of antimony. This substance was used for the same purpose in the former Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia; but, upon the last revision of that work, the oxychloride was judiciously substituted for it. The Pharmacopoeias which use the oxychloride agree in the same general plan of making it. The tersulphuret of antimony is dissolved in from five to six times its weight of muriatic acid, assisted by a hundredth of nitric acid, in the U. S. and Dublin formulas, but without this acid in the Edinburgh. The solution is thrown into a large quantity of water, equal to about twenty-five or thirty times the weight of the sulphuret employed, and the oxychloride is precipitated. This is mixed with from one and a quarter to about one and a half times its weight of cream of tartar, and boiled, from half an hour to an part ii. Antimonium. 839 hour, with about eight and a half times its weight of distilled water; and the liquor obtained is filtered while hot and set aside to crystallize. By further evaporation the mother-liquor may be made to yield a second crop of crystals, which, not being free from colour, must be purified by a second crystallization. When no more crystals can be obtained, the liquor which is left contains, according to Knapp, a gummy salt which consists of tartrate of potassa, united to the tertartrate of teroxide of antimony. If this liquor be boiled with a fresh portion of oxychloride, as long as this is taken up, it will furnish an additional quantity of crystals of tartar emetic; and, finally, if the new mother-liquor be saturated with carbonate of potassa, it will furnish a fresh portion of the anti- monial salt, after which the liquor is entirely exhausted. (Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 136, from the Annal. der Pharm.) The oxychloride, as its name im- ports, contains a portion of terchloride. This is decomposed during the boil- ing, by means of the elements of water, into additional teroxide, which helps to form the tartar emetic, and muriatic acid which serves to hold in solution iron and other metallic impurities, which otherwise would fall and contami- nate the crystals. Hence it is that the pure teroxide is not so well fitted for making tartar emetic as the oxychloride, in which the teroxide is usefully combined with some terchloride. In the London formula, the crocus is not prepared by a separate formula, but formed in the first part of the process. It is generated during the defla- gration of equal weights of tersulphuret of antimony and nitrate of potassa. The nitric acid. of the nitre is decomposed, nitrogen and nitric oxide being given off, and, by furnishing oxygen to part of the tersulphuret, converts its constituents into sulphuric acid and teroxide of antimony. The sulphuric acid then combines with the potassa of the nitre, to form sulphate of potassa; while the teroxide unites or mixes with the undecomposed portion of the ter- sulphuret to constitute the crocus. From its constituents, therefore, the cro- cus may be called an oxysulphuret of antimony; but its composition is not uniform. The London formula is peculiar in directing the addition of a por- tion of muriatic acid, to the materials for deflagration; the object of which is to neutralize some free potassa, and either to prevent the formation of a portion of sulphuret of potassium, or immediately to decompose it, if generated, with the result of forming chloride of potassium. (Phillips.) The product of the deflagration is reduced to a very fine powder, and washed to remove the sulphate of potassa and chloride of potassium. The old plan of fusing this product before reducing it to powder, is very properly avoided; as the fused crocus, from the difficulty of reducing it to fine powder, is not readily soluble in the bitartrate of potassa. Crocus of antimony, as obtained by this process, is in the form of a saffron-brown powder, and contains only about fths of its weight of teroxide, the rest being tersulphuret, which is not avail- able in the process for forming the tartar emetic. From the quantities of tersulphuret of antimony and nitre taken in the formula, it may be calculated that 9 ounces of the washed crocus will be obtained, which is boiled with a little more than one and a half times its weight of cream of tartar, and the solution filtered while hot. On the supposition that 9 ounces of crocus are formed, the quantity of water directed is large, being about 16 times the weight of the former. This amount may be necessary on account of the large proportion of insoluble tersulphuret of antimony present in the crocus. Having given a sketch of the several officinal formulas, and of the propor- tions employed, it may be useful to present them in a tabular form. The ter- oxide is reduced to the same quantity, and the measures of water in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias are converted into the nearest corre- sponding weights. 840 Antimonium. part ii. authority. Form of Teroxide Proportion of Proportion of Cream of Proportion of employed. Teroxide. Tartar. Water. U. S. Pharmacopceia. Dublin do. Oxychloride. Do. 4 4 5 5 34 34 Edinburgh do. Do. 4 5-7 33 London do. Crocus. 4 6-2 65 It is seen by the table that the proportions of the U. S. and Dublin Phar- macopoeias are identical. The proportion of cream of tartar increases some- what in the Edinburgh formula, and still more in the London. It must be admitted, however, that the quantity of crocus generated by the London pro- cess is not precisely known, and may have been under-estimated. If so, the proportion of cream of tartar is given at too high a number. In judging of the relative eligibility of these processes, several circumstances are to be taken into view. The cream of tartar should not be in excess; as in that case it is apt to crystallize upon cooling with the tartar emetic formed. To avoid such a result it is better to have a slight excess of antimonial oxide; and we are assured by Dr. Barker that the proportion of 4 of oxide to 5 of cream of tartar (U. S. and Dublin proportion) furnishes such an excess. Ac- cording to Dr. Christison, however, the excess is too great; for upon making the experiment he found that there was a slight excess of antimonial oxide, even when using the larger proportion of cream of tartar directed in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. No rule is applicable to the determination of the proper proportion of water, except that it should be sufficient to dissolve the tartar emetic formed. The London Pharmacopoeia employs a large quantity, and the probable reason why it is necessary has been suggested. The hot filtration directed may be conveniently performed by means of the tin appa- ratus, devised by Dr. Hare for filtering liquids at the point of ebullition. (See page 757 for a figure of this apparatus.) The U. S. and Edinburgh Pharma- copoeias boil for an hour; the London and Dublin, for half an hour. In all cases the salt should be obtained in well-defined crystals, unmixed with those of cream of tartar, as the best index of its purity. The practice of some manufacturing chemists of boiling the filtered liquor to dryness, whereby an impure mass is obtained, consisting in part only of the antimonial salt, is very reprehensible. The London College formerly used the glass of antimony for making tar- tar emetic; but has very properly laid it aside, on account of the difficulty of procuring it, and its liability to be adulterated with glass of lead. The College, on the last revision of its Pharmacopoeia, substituted the crocus, using a process which is characterized by Mr. Phillips as economical and easy of execution. Its economy, compared with the Edinburgh oxychloride process, is called in question by Dr. Christison, who tries it by the test of the relation of the cream of tartar expended to the tersulphuret employed. But here Dr. Christison has inadvertently made a miscalculation, by assuming that 4 to 4| ounces is in the proportion of 100 to 125. The true ratio between the tersulphuret and cream of tartar in the Edinburgh formula is as the numbers 100 to 106; while the ratio of the same substances in the London process is as 100 to 58. Thus with the same expenditure of tersulphuret, the London College uses less cream of tartar, and consequently obtains less tartar emetic. But, in making this comparison, the cost of all the materials must be taken into con- sideration ; and if the London College uses a portion of nitre, and nearly twice as much tersulphuret as the Edinburgh College; on the other hand, it must be recollected that the latter College uses nearly 17 times as much PART II. Antimonium. 841 muriatic acid as the former. Though tiie use of the crocus may not be ob- jectionable on the score of expense, yet we think that the London College would have made a better choice, if it had substituted for the glass the oxy- chloride rather than the crocus. The preference is given to the oxychloride by Berzelius; and M. Henry, an eminent Pharmaceutist of Paris, after a careful comparison of the different processes in use for preparing tartar emetic, declares in favour of the one in which this oxide is employed. This testimony in favour of the Dublin process induced the revisers of our national Pharma- copoeia to adopt it in 1830 ; and the Edinburgh College has judiciously sub- stituted it for the crocus process in its revision of 1839. It has been already mentioned that M. Henry prefers the use of the oxy- chloride (powder of Algaroth) for making tartar emetic; in other words, the Dublin process. He has thought, however, that it was susceptible of some improvements, and has given a process on a large scale, which he prefers. As this formula may be useful to the manufacturing chemist, we subjoin it, turning the French weights into the nearest apothecaries' weights and mea- sures. Take of prepared sulphuret of antimony, in very fine powder, three pounds four ounces; muriatic acid, marking 22° (sp. gr. 1-178), eighteen pounds and a half; nitric acid two ounces and a half. Introduce the sulphu- ret into a glass matrass, of a capacity double the volume of the mixture to be formed, and add to it from three to five pounds of the acids previously mixed, so that the sulphuret may be thoroughly penetrated by them; then add the remainder of the acids. Place the matrass on a sand-bath, and heat the mix- ture gradually to ebullition, avoiding the vapours, which are disengaged in large quantity. Continue the heat until the vapours given off are so far deprived of sulphuretted hydrogen as not to blacken white paper moistened with solution of acetate of lead; after which allow the liquor to cool, and to remain at rest until it has become clear. Decant the clear liqujd, and, to obtain the portion of it which may be retained by the moist residue, mix this with a small portion of muriatic acid, and again decant. Mix the decanted liquids, which consist of a solution of terchloride of antimony, and add them to a large quantity of water, in order that the oxychloride may be precipitated; taking care, during their addition, to stir constantly in order that the preci- pitated powder may be more minutely divided, to facilitate its subsequent washing. To determine whether the water has been sufficient to decompose the whole of the terchloride, a part of the supernatant liquid, after the subsidence of the powder, is to be added to a fresh portion of water; and, if a precipitate take place, more water must be added to the mixture, so as to obtain the largest possible quantity of the oxychloride. The precipitation being completely effected, wash the powder repeatedly with water, until this no longer affects litmus, and then place it on linen to drain for twenty-four hours. The quantity of oxychloride thus obtained will be about three pounds and a half in the moist state, or two pounds nine ounces when dry. Assuming it to be this quantity, mix it with three pounds eleven ounces of cream of tartar, in fine powder, and add the mixture to two gallons and five pints of boiling water, contained in an iron kettle. Concentrate the liquor rapidly until it marks 25° of Baume's hydrometer for salts, and then filter. By repose, the liquor furnishes a crop of very pure crystals, which require only to be dried. The mother waters are treated in the following manner. Saturate the excess of acid with chalk, filter, and concentrate to 25°. By cooling, a second crop of crystals will be obtained; and by proceeding in a similar manner, even a third crop. But these crystals are somewhat coloured, and must be purified by recrystallization. In relation to the above process, it may be observed that the proportion 842 Antimonium. PART II. of the cream of tartar and oxychloride must be adjusted according to the numbers given, on the assumption that the latter is dry; but it by no means follows that the whole of the oxide should be dried. To proceed thus would be a waste of time. The mode of proceeding is to weigh the whole of the moist oxide, and afterwards to weigh off a small part of it, and ascertain how much this loses in drying. Then by a calculation it is easy to determine how much the whole of the moist oxide would weigh in the dry state. Tartar emetic is not usually prepared by the apothecary, but made on a large scale by the manufacturing chemist. Different processes are pursued in different manufactories; and it is not material what plan is adopted, pro- vided the crystals of the antimonial salt are carefully purified. In an exten- sive manufactory in London, antimony ash (see page 105) is employed for boiling with the cream of tartar, and it is stated to form the cheapest material for making tartar emetic. (Pereira, 31at. 3Ied.) As early as 1811 Mr. Phillips recommended the teroxide, prepared by boiling metallic antimony with twice its weight of sulphuric acid to dryness, and washing the product with water. A great improvement in this process was the substitution of the tersulphuret for metallic antimony, as suggested by the late Dr. Babing- ton; and the oxide has been made in this way for a long time in England, for preparing tartar emetic. This process, which has the merit of being economical, has been recently brought forward as something new by Hornung. (See Journ. de Pharm., May 1848.) Mohr prefers the use of a moist oxide, prepared by adding gradually an intimate mixture of one part, each, of ter- sulphuret of antimony and nitrate of potassa, to a boiling mixture of one part of sulphuric acid with two of water. The liquid is boiled down nearly to dryness and allowed to cool. The grayish-white mass, thus formed, is then washed thoroughly with water. The details of this process are given by Soubeiran,,by whom it is praised, in the Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., iii. 227. Properties, dec. Tartrate of antimony and potassa was discovered in 1631 by Adrian de Mynsicht. It is in the form of transparent, colourless crystals, which possess a nauseous, metallic, styptic taste, and have usually the form of rhombic octohedrons. When prepared from the oxychloride, it crystallizes in tetrahedrons. As it occurs in the shops it is in the form of a white pow- der, resulting from the pulverization of the crystals. The crystals, when exposed to the air, effloresce slightly and become white and opaque. They are insoluble in alcohol, but dissolve in proof spirit or wine. (See Yinum Antimonii.) They are soluble in about fifteen parts of water at 60°, and in between two and three parts of boiling water. The late Dr. Perceval, of Dublin, alleged that good tartar emetic dissolves in twelve parts of water; and this statement agrees nearly with the results of Brandes, who found it to be soluble in 12-65 parts of water at 70°. Its aqueous solution slightly reddens litmus, and undergoes decomposition by keeping. It is incompatible with acids, with alkalies and their carbonates, with some of the earths and metals, with chloride of calcium, and with acetate and subacetate of lead. It is incompatible also with astringent vegetable infusions and dococtions, such as of rhubarb, cinchona, catechu, galls, &c.; but these substances, unless galls be an exception, do not render it inert, though they lessen its activity to a greater or less extent. Characteristics and Tests of Purity. Tartar emetic, when pure, exhibits its appropriate crystalline form. A crystal or two, dropped into a solution of hydrosulphuric acid, will become covered with an orange-coloured deposit of tersulphuret of antimony. Entire solubility in water is not a character belonging exclusively to the pure salt; for, according to the late Mr. Hennell, tartar emetic may contain ten per cent, of uncombined cream of tartar, and PART II. Antimonium. 843 yet be wholly soluble in the proper proportion of water. (Phillips.) This being the case, the character, given in the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmaco- poeias, of entire solubility in twenty parts of water is not to be depended upon. A dilute solution is not precipitated by chloride of barium or nitrate of silver, nor rendered blue by ferrocyanuret of potassium. A solution, con- taining one part of tartar emetic in forty of water, is not disturbed by an equal volume of a solution of eight parts of acetate of lead in thirty-two of water and fifteen of acetic acid. This test is adopted in the U. S. Pharma- copoeia from the Edinburgh, and is intended to show the absence of uncom- bined bitartrate of potassa; for when the acidulated acetate is used as here directed, it does not form the white tartrate of lead with the pure antimonial salt, but only with the bitartrate, when this happens to be present as an im- purity. The acidulated acetate is a delicate test of this impurity, capable of detecting one per cent, of it in tartar emetic; but Dr. Christison finds difficulties in using it which render it too precarious for practice. Mr. Hennel's method of detecting uncombined bitartrate, is to add a few drops of a solution of car- bonate of soda to a boiling solution of the antimonial salt, and, if the pre- cipitate formed is not redissolved, no bitartrate is present. The impurities found in tartar emetic are uncombined cream of tartar from faulty preparation or fraudulent admixture, tartrate of lime, iron, sul- phates, and chlorides. The mode of detecting cream of tartar has been in- dicated above. Tartrate of lime is derived from the cream of tartar, which always contains this impurity. It is apt to form on the surface of the crys- tals of tartar emetic in crystalline tufts, which are easily brushed off. Iron is sometimes present, especially when the antimonial salt has been prepared from glass of antimony. It is detected by a blue colour being immediately produced by ferrocyanuret of potassium, added after a little acetic acid. If the blue colour be slowly produced, it may arise from reactions on the iron of the ferrocyanuret itself. If much iron be present, the solution of the tar- tar emetic will be yellow instead of colourless. Sulphates are detected by chloride of barium. The presence of a chloride is shown by a precipitate being produced by nitrate of silver, added to a dilute solution. According to Serullas, tartar emetic, except when well crystallized, and all the other anti- monial preparations, usually contain a minute proportion of arsenic, derived from the native tersulphuret of antimony, which almost always contains this dangerous metal. (For the mode of detecting it, see Acidum Arseniosum.) Tartar emetic is sometimes sold in powder to conceal its imperfections. It should never be bought in this state by the apothecary, but always in crys- tals, in which state the salt is pure, or very nearly so, and entirely free from arsenic. Its powder is perfectly white, and when yellowish-white, iron is pro- bably present. It is said that some druggists ignorantly prefer a tartar eme- tic which is yellowish-white in powder. It has been already stated, in general terms, that tartar emetic in solution is incompatible with acids and alkalies, and with some of the earths; but this salt is so important, that some details in regard to the effects of particular reagents, included under these titles, seem to be necessary. Muriatic and sul- phuric acids, added to a solution of the antimonial salt, not too dilute, throw down a white precipitate of subchloride or subsulphate of antimony, mixed with cream of tartar, which is redissolved by an excess of the precipitant. Nitric acid throws down a subnitrate, which is taken up by an excess of it. This effect of nitric acid is given by the London College as a character of good tartar emetic, but is certainly not very distinctive. When caustic po- tassa is added to a tolerably concentrated solution of the antimonial salt, it produces at first no effect, then a precipitate of teroxide, and afterwards the 844 Antimonium. PART II. solution of this precipitate, if the addition of the alkali be continued. Lime- water acts in a weaker solution, and throws down a white precipitate, consist- ing of the mixed tartrates of lime and antimony. Carbonate of potassa affects still weaker solutions, throwing down a white precipitate of teroxide; but this test does not act in solutions, containing less than a quarter of a grain of the antimonial salt to the fluidounce. Ammonia, both pure and carbon- ated, precipitates a solution of tartar emetic, throwing down a pure teroxide. Dr. Barker, of Dublin, has proposed the carbonate of ammonia as a precipi- tant for obtaining the oxide, when wanted as a medicine. (See page X36.) To these reagents may be added the infusion of galls, which, when fresh and strong, causes a dirty, j'ellowish-white precipitate of tannate of the teroxide of antimony. Composition. Tartar emetic consists of two eqs. of tartaric acid 132, one of potassa 47-15, one of teroxide of antimony 153, and three of water 27 = 35915. It is evident that it contains tartaric acid and potassa in the precise proportion to form bitartrate of potassa or cream of tartar; and, accordingly, it may be viewed as a compound of one eq. of cream of tartar, and one of antimonial teroxide. The excess of acid in the bitartrate may be considered as united with the teroxide; and in that view it is a double salt, composed of the tartrate of potassa, united with the tartrate of teroxide of antimony. The name, therefore, of the U. S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias is correct. 31edical Properties and Uses. Tartrate of antimony and potassa is the most important of the antimonials, and is capable of fulfilling numerous in- dications in disease. Its general action is that of a sedative upon the circu- lation ; while, on the contrary, it excites most of the secretions. According to the dose, and the peculiar circumstances under which it is administered, it acts variously, as an alterative, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, purgative, and emetic. In minute doses it is employed, either alone or conjoined with calomel, with a view to its alterative effects, and has been found useful in diseases of the skin. In small doses, mostly associated with saline remedies, such as nitre or sulphate of magnesia, and assisted by copious dilution, it is frequently resorted to in febrile complaints, for the purpose of producing per- spiration, which is often copiously induced, especially if the remedy creates nausea. If the surface be exposed to cool air, so as to constrict the pores, the tendency will be to the kidneys, with the effect of producing an increased flow of urine. On the principle of exciting the secretions, it proves useful, on many occasions, in pulmonary and bronchial disease as an expectorant; and with a view to its action in this way, it is frequently conjoined with squill, ammoniac, and similar remedies. In full doses it acts as an emetic, and as such is characterized by certainty, strength, and permanency of ope- ration. It remains longer in the stomach than ipecacuanha, produces more frequent and longer continued efforts to vomit, and exerts a more powerful impression upon the system generally. The nausea and attendant prostration are often very considerable. As an emetic, its use is indicated where the ob- ject is not merely to evacuate the stomach, but to agitate and compress the liver and other abdominal viscera. By the extension of its action to the duo- denum, it often causes copious discharges of bile, and hence forms an appro- priate remedy in those diseases in which there is an accumulation of that secretion. It is employed as an emetic in the commencement of fevers, especially those of an intermittent or bilious character, in 'jaundice, hooping cough, and croup, and in several diseases of the nervous system, such as mania, amaurosis, tic douloureux, &c. In efforts to reduce old dislocations, its relaxing power over the muscles, when acting as a nauseant, is taken advan- tage of, in order to facilitate the operation. As an incidental effect to its PART II. Antimonium. 845 diaphoretic and emetic operation, tartar emetic often produces purging. Taking advantage of this tendency, practitioners are frequently in the habit of adding it to purgatives, the operation of which it promotes in a remark- able degree. It is contra-indicated in diseases of great debility, in the ad- vanced stages of febrile affections, and in fevers attended with extreme irrita- bility of stomach. Of late years, on the continent of Europe, and to a certain extent in Great Britain and this country, tartar emetic has been given in large doses, with a view to its sedative, or, as it is usually termed, controstimulant operation. This practice originated with Rasori, professor of clinical medicine at Milan, who published his views in 1800. The principal diseases in which it has been thus used, are peripneumony, pleurisy, bronchitis, acute rheumatism, especially of the joints, articular dropsies, chorea, hydrocephalus, and apo- plexy. The medicine is directed in doses, varying from a grain to two grains or more, every two hours, dissolved in a small quantity of water; the patient being restricted in the use of drinks whilst under its operation. It is stated that when the remedy is thus given in diseases of high action, it seldom pro- duces vomiting, an effect which the authors of the practice wish to avoid. The power of the system to bear large doses of tartar emetic, during the ex- istence of acute disease, was considered by Rasori to depend upon the coex- istent high morbid excitement, and the capability of bearing them was ex- pressed by the term tolerance. It is in peripneumony especially that the controstimulant practice has most advocates. It is admitted to have the effect of lowering the force and frequency of the pulse, and the rapidity of the respirations; and, in not a few instances, it produces marked remedial effects. In pleurisy and bronchitis, the advantages of the same practice are less de- cided. Though we are disposed to admit the controlling influence of tartar emetic, when thus exhibited, in the diseases named; yet we by no means think that its use should supersede bloodletting, or even form our chief reliance. In cases, however, in which bloodletting, both general and local, has no effect, or has been carried as far as the circumstances of the case will warrant, tartar emetic, administered on the controstimulant plan, may be found useful. If the tolerance cannot be otherwise established, laudanum may be conjoined with the antimony, in order to bring it about. In the treatment of articular dropsies) the decided benefit derived from large doses of tartar emetic is fully shown by M. Gimelle, who has reported twenty-eight successful cases in sup- port of the practice. The medicine was gradually increased from four grains to sixteen or twenty daily, and, generally, the tolerance was established on the first day. The effusion was absorbed in a space of time varying from eight to sixteen days. Externally, tartar emetic is sometimes employed as a counter-irritant, mixed with lard or cerate, or sprinkled in very fine powder on adhesive plaster. (See Unguentum Antimonii.) It causes, after a longer or shorter interval, a burn- ing sensation, accompanied by a peculiar and painful pustular eruption. This mode of producing counter-irritation is serviceable in a number of diseases; but particularly in deep-seated pains, spinal irritation, hooping cough, and chronic inflammation of the chest threatening consumption. Care must be taken, when the salt is applied by means of a plaster, that the pustular in- flammation does not proceed too far; as, in that event, it produces deep and very painful ulcerations, difficult to heal. Tartar emetic is generally given in solution, and in an amount which varies with the intention in view in its administration. Its dose as an alterative is from the thirty-second to the twelfth of a grain; as a diaphoretic or expecto- 846 Antimonium. PART II. rant, from the twelfth to the sixth of a grain; and as a nauseating sudorific, from a quarter to half a grain; in each case, repeated once every one, two, or four hours. If required to act as a purgative, a grain may be dissolved in half a pint of water with an ounce of Epsom salt, and two tablespoonfuls of the solution given every two or three hours. As an emetic, the full dose is from two to three grains, though it is usually given in divided portions of a grain, dissolved in a tablespoonful of water, every ten or fifteen minutes until it vomits, the operation being aided by warm water, or warm chamomile tea. It is often conjoined with ipecacuanha, in the proportion of one or two grains to twenty of the vegetable emetic. For convenient administration in small doses, the Pharmacopoeias order it dissolved in wine. (See Vinum Antimonii.) It is given very conveniently to children in dilute aqueous solution, which, being nearly tasteless, is readily taken by them. Effects as a Poison. The effects produced by a poisonous dose of tartar emetic are an austere metallic taste; nausea; copious vomiting; frequent hickup; burning pain in the stomach ; colic; frequent stools and tenesmus; fainting; small, contracted, and accelerated pulse; coldness of the skin; sometimes intense heat; difficult respiration; loss of sense; convulsive move- ments ; very painful cramps in the legs; prostration ; and death. To these effects is sometimes added difficulty of deglutition. Vomiting and purging in a few instances do not take place; and when they are absent, the other symptoms are aggravated. A case of poisoning by tartar emetic is reported by Dr. J. T. Gleaves, of Tennessee, in which a pustular eruption, like that caused by the external application of the antimonial, was copiously produced. (Amer. Journ. of 31ed. Sci., xv. 573, from Western Journ. of 31ed. and Surg.) These are the effects produced on the healthy economy; but it has been fully proved that the doses, which in a state of health would prove fatal, are sometimes borne with safety in certain morbid states of the system, at- tended with internal acute inflammation. In treating a case of poisoning by tartar emetic, if it is found that the pa- tient has not vomited, immediate recourse must be had to tickling the throat with a feather, and the use of abundance of warm water. Usually, however, the vomiting is excessive and distressing, and here it is necessary to use reme- dies calculated to decompose the poison, and to allay the pain and irritation. To effect the former object, astringent decoctions and infusions, such as of bark and common tea, are recommended as antidotes. These, however, act but imperfectly, according to the experiments of M. Toulmouche, who found that a decoction of cinchona had usually no power in lessening the emetic effect of this antimonial. Similar observations have been made by Dr. Clut- terbuck. (Pereira.) The decoction of galls acts more decidedly; but M. Toulmouche accords the preference to the galls, given in substance, as an anti- dote in poisoning by tartar emetic. It no doubt acts by the tannic acid which it contains, and which forms, with the antimonial part of the salt, the insolu- ble and probably inert tannate of antimony. To stop the vomiting and relieve pain, laudanum should be given, either by the mouth or injection, and to combat consecutive inflammation, bleeding, both local and general, and other antiphlogistic measures should be resorted to. After death from suspected poisoning by tartar emetic, it is necessary to search for the poison in the body. The substances in the stomach should be digested in water, acidulated with a little muriatic and tartaric acid. The former acid will serve to coagulate some organic matter; the latter to, give complete solubility to the antimony. The solution obtained, after having been filtered, is subjected to a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen, which will PART II. Antimonium. 847 throw down the orange-red tersulphuret of antimony, distinguishable from the tersulphuret of arsenic, and all other precipitates, by its forming with hot muriatic acid a solution, from which, when added to water, a white curdy precipitate of oxychloride of antimony is thrown down. Sulphuretted hydro- gen is by far the most delicate test for tartar emetic. Sometimes the antimony cannot be found in the stomach and bowels, and yet may exist in other parts. When it leaves the alimentary canal, it has been found by Orfila especially in the liver and kidneys and their secretions. The mode of extracting the antimony, recommended^ by Orfila, is to carbonize the dried viscera with pure concentrated nitric acid in a porcelain capsule, to boil the charred mass obtained for half an hour with muriatic acid, assisted with a few drops of nitric acid, to filter the liquor, and introduce it into Marsh's apparatus. Antimoniuretted hydrogen will be formed, which, being inflamed, will deposit the antimony on a cold surface of porcelain, as a black stain, distinguishable from the similar stain produced by arsenic by its less volatility, and by its forming with hot muriatic acid a solution which affords a white precipitate when added to water. (See Arch. Gin., 3e sir., vii. 511.) Off. Prep. Syrupus Scillae Compositus, U. S.; Unguentum Antimonii, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Vinum Antimonii, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. B. VINUM ANTIMONII. U.S. Vinum Antimonii Potassio- Tartratis. Lond. Vinum Antimoniale. Ed. Liquor Tartari Emetici. Dub. Antimonial Wine. " Take of Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa a scruple; Wine [Sherry] ten fltiidounces. Dissolve the Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa in the Wine." U.S. The London and Edinburgh Colleges direct two scruples of the salt to be dissolved in a pint [Imperial measure] of Sherry Wine. The Dublin Col- lege dissolves one scruple of the salt in eight fluidounces of boiling distilled water, and adds two fluidounces of Rectified Spirit. In the first edition of the United States Pharmacopoeia, the proportion of tartar emetic was four grains to the fluidounce of wine. In the revision of 1830, the quantity was reduced to two grains; and, as this is very nearly the proportion directed by the British Colleges, the highly important object has been accomplished, of uniformity in the strength of this very popular preparation. The seeming discrepancy between the London and Edinburgh formulae, and that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, will disappear when it is considered that the imperial pint, adopted by the two British Colleges, contains twenty fluidounces, each very nearly equal to the fluidounce of the ordinary apothecaries' measure. The U. S. officinal name was adopted as most convenient, sufficiently expressive, and in accordance with the nomen- clature of several other metallic preparations, such as Emplastrum Ferri, 3Iistnra Ferri Composita, de. Difficulty is often experienced in effecting a solution of tartar emetic in wine; and precipitation is very apt to occur after the solution has been effected. These results are attributable either to impurity in the antimonial salt, which frequently contains bitartrate of potassa and various insoluble substances, or to inferiority in the character of the wine, which holds in solution vegetable principles that form insoluble compounds with the ter oxide of antimony. Dr. Paris states that he has seen the decomposition of the tartar emetic so complete, that no traces of the salt could be detected in the supernatant liquid. The difficulty is not avoided by the plan, at one time directed, of first dissolving the antimonial in water, and then adding the 848 Antimonium. PART II. wine; for, even allowing that the solution may be accomplished, the same ingredients are present, and their mutual reaction must ultimately result in the same effects. The proper course is to select perfectly pure crystallized tartar emetic, and sound Sherry or Teneriffe wine, which make a permanent solution. To obviate the risk of decomposition and consequent inequality of strength, the Dublin College directs water and rectified spirit in about the proportions in which these exist in the wines just mentioned. The only objection to this menstruum is the want of colour, which renders the pre- paration liable to be confounded with less active liquids. The advantages of antimonial wine are, that it affords the means of admin- istering minute doses of tartar emetic, and is more permanent than an aque- ous solution of that salt, which is liable to spontaneous decomposition. It is usually administered in small doses as a diaphoretic or expectorant, or as an emetic in infantile cases. Where a considerable quantity of tartar emetic is requisite, it should always be given in extemporaneous aqueous solution. The dose of the wine, as an expectorant or diaphoretic, is from ten to thirty drops, given frequently; as an emetic for children, from thirty drops to a fluidrachm, repeated every fifteen minutes till it operates. W. ANTIMONII SULPHURETUM PRiEPARATUM. Dub. Prepared Sulphuret of Antimony. " Take of Sulphuret of Antimony any quantity. Reduce it to powder, and separate for use the impalpable particles, in the manner directed for the pre- paration of Chalk." Dub. Sulphuret of antimony in mass is placed in the Materia Medica list of all the Pharmacopoeias noticed in this work. But for use in medicine, and for some pharmaceutical processes, it requires to be in powder, and the above process is intended to bring it to that state. But it is hardly necessary to have a distinct formula to indicate the mode of proceeding, and accordingly this preparation has been expunged from the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharma- copoeias. It was not included in the London. Properties. Prepared sulphuret of antimony is in the form of an insoluble powder, without taste or smell, usually of a dull blackish colour, but reddish- brown, when perfectly pure. By exposure to air, it absorbs, according to Buchner, a portion of oxygen, and becomes partially converted into teroxide. Its impurities and composition are mentioned under another head. (See An- timonii Sulphuretum.) 3Iedical Properties and Uses. This preparation is very uncertain in its operation; being sometimes without effect, at other times, if it meets with acid in the stomach, operating with extreme violence by vomiting and purging. The effects usually attributed to it are those of a diaphoretic and alterative; and the diseases in which it has been principally used, are scrofula, glandular obstructions, cutaneous diseases, and chronic rheumatism. It is not employed by physicians in the United States, its use in this country being exclusively confined to veterinary practice. The dose is from ten to thirty grains, given in powder or bolus. Off. Prep. Antimonii Oxydum Nitromuriaticum, Dub.; Pulvis Antirno- nialis, Dub.; Sulphur Antimoniatum Fuscum, Dub. B. ANTIMONII SULPHURETUM PRiECIPITATUM. U.S. Antimonii Oxysulphuretum. Lond. Antimonii Sulphuretum Aureum. Ed. Sulphur Antimoniatum Fuscum. Dub. Preci- pitated Sulphuret of Antimony. Oxysulphuret of Antimony. " Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in fine powder, six ounces; Solution of PART II. Antimonium. 849 Potassa four pints ; Distilled Water, Diluted Sulphuric Acid, each, a sufficient quantity. Mix the Sulphuret of Antimony with the Solution of Potassa and twelve pints of Distilled Water, and boil them over a gentle fire for three hours, constantly stirring, and occasionally adding Distilled Water so as to preserve the same measure. Strain the liquor immediately through a double linen cloth, and drop into it, while yet hot, Diluted Sulphuric Acid so long as it produces a precipitate; then wash away the sulphate of potassa with hot water, dry the Precipitated Sulphuret of Antimony, and rub it into a fine powder." U. S. "Take of Sesquisulphuret of Antimony, powdered, seven ounces; Solution of Potassa four pints [Imperial measure]; Distilled Water two gallons [Imp. meas.]; Diluted Sulphuric Acid a sufficient quantify. Mix the Sesquisul- phuret of Antimony, Solution of Potassa, and Water together, and boil with a slow fire for two hours, frequently stirring, Distilled Water being often added, that it may fill about the same measure. Strain the liquor, and gra- dually drop into it as much Diluted Sulphuric Acid as may be sufficient to throw down the Oxysulphuret of Antimony; then wash away the sulphate of potassa with water, and dry what remains with a gentle heat." Lond, "Take of Sulphuret of Antimony, in fine powder, an ounce; Solution of Potash eleven fluidounces [Imperial measure]; Water two pints [Imp. meas.]. Mix the Water and Solution of Potash, add the Sulphuret, boil for an hour, filter immediately, and precipitate the liquid, while hot, with an excess of Diluted Sulphuric Acid. Collect the precipitate ou a calico filter, wash it thoroughly with water, and dry it with a gentle heat." Ed. "Take of prepared Sulphuret of Antimony one part; Water of Caustic Potassa eighteen parts; Diluted Sulphuric Acid eleven parts, or a sufficient quantity. Add the Sulphuret of Antimony to the water of Caustic Potassa, and boil for an hour. Strain the hot liquor through a double linen cloth, and drop into it the Diluted Sulphuric Acid. Wash away the sulphate of potassa with warm water. Dry the Brown Antimoniated Sulphur, and rub it into fine powder." Dub. As the theory of the formation of the precipitated sulphuret of antimony is intimately connected with thatof the production of the substances called kermes mineral and golden sulphur, we shall first describe the latter preparations as introductory to our account of the former. Kermes mineral, according to Thenard, may be obtained by treating the tersulphuret of antimony in three ways; 1st with a boiling solution of the carbonated alkalies, 2d with a boiling solution of the caustic alkalies, and 3d with the carbonated alkalies at a red heat. These several processes give brown powders, which vary in their shade of colour, and which, though usually con- sidered as identical, differ in Composition. The kermes obtained by means of the carbonated alkalies in solution is an oxysulphuret, that is, a mixture of teroxide of antimony with hydrated tersulphuret; while the product, when either the caustic alkalies in solution, or the carbonated alkalies at a red heat are used, is essentially a hydrated tersulphuret, though containing occasionally a little oxysulphuret. In France the process by the use of the carbonated alkalies in solution is preferred for preparing kermes; and the alkali selected is soda as giving a handsomer product. The formula of Cluzel is to boil for half an hour one part of pulverized tersulphuret of antimony with twenty-two or twenty-three parts of crystallized carbonate of soda, in two hundred and fifty parts of water, to filter the liquor, and receive it in warm earthen pans, which must be covered, and allowed to cool slowly. At the end of twenty-four hours, the kermes is deposited. It is then collected on a filter, washed with boiled water, cooled 54 850 Antimonium. PART II. without contact of air, dried at the temperature of 77°, and kept in bottles well stopped. This formula is substantially the same with that given in the French Codex of 1837. The rationale of the formation of kermes by this process is as follows. A portion of the carbonate of soda is converted, by a transfer of carbonic acid, into caustic soda and sesquicarbonate. By a double decomposition taking place between a part of the tersulphuret of antimony and the caustic soda, teroxide of antimony, and sulphuret of sodium are formed. The teroxide then dis- solves in the solution of the remaining carbonate of soda, and the undecom- posed portion of the tersulphuret in that of the sulphuret of sodium. The teroxide and tersulphuret, being both more soluble in these menstrua hot than cold, precipitate together as the liquid cools, and constitute this variety of kermes. When thus obtained, it is light, velvety, of a dark reddish-purple colour, brilliant in the sun, and of a crystalline appearance. It consists, ac- cording to M. Henry, jun., of tersulphuret of antimony 62-5, teroxide 27-4, water 10, and soda a trace; proportions which correspond most nearly with two eqs. of tersulphuret, one of teroxide, and six of water. In consequence of the presence of a considerable amount of teroxide of antimony in this variety of kermes, it must be far more active than the other kinds, and might, therefore, to be preferred for medical use. Kermes, when obtained by means of the caustic alkalies, may be formed by boiling for a quarter of an hour, two parts of the tersulphuret of antimony with one part of caustic potassa dissolved in twenty-five or thirty parts of water, filtering the liquor, and allowing it to cool; whereupon the kermes pre- cipitates. In this process, one portion of the tersulphuret, by reacting with a portion of the potassa, gives rise to teroxide of antimony and sulphuret of potassium. A second portion dissolves in the solution of sulphuret of potas- sium formed, and a third forms an insoluble compound with a part of the ter- oxide. The remainder of the teroxide unites with the undecomposed potassa, forming a compound, which, being but sparingly soluble, is only in part dis- solved. The hot filtered liquor, therefore, contains this compound dissolved in water, and tersulphuret of antimony dissolved in the solution of sulphuret of potassium. By refrigeration, the tersulphuret in a hydrated state falls down, free or nearly free from teroxide, this latter being still held in solution by means of the caustic alkali with which it is united. Kermes is obtained by the third method, that is, in the dry way, by rub- bing together two parts of tersulphuret of antimony and one of the potash of commerce, fusing the mixture in a crucible by a red heat, reducing the fused mass to powder, and boiling it with water. As the liquor cools the kermes is deposited. The rationale of its formation is nearly the same with that of the formation of the second variety of kermes. An inferior kermes, prepared in the dry way, and intended for use in veterinary medicine, is directed in the French Codex to be prepared by fusing together, well mixed, 500 parts of tersulphuret of antimony, 1000 of carbonate of potassa, and 30 of washed sulphur, reducing the fused mass to powder, and boiling it with 10,000 parts of water. The liquor, upon cooling, lets fall the kermes, which must be washed with care and dried. Kermes mineral is an insipid, inodorous powder, of different shades of brown. By the action of air and light it gradually becomes lighter coloured, and at last yellowish-white. It first came into use as a remedy in France about the beginning of the last century. Its mode of preparation was possessed as a secret by a French surgeon named La Ligerie. In 1720, the recipe was purchased by the French government and made public. Golden sulphur is formed by the addition of an acid to the liquor which PART II. Antimonium. 851 remains after the precipitation of the kermes. According to the directions of the French Codex, acetic acid is employed for this purpose. The liquor, when caustic potassa has been used, consists at first chiefly of tersulphuret of anti- mony, dissolved in solution of sulphuret of potassium, but in part also of ter- oxide, dissolved in solution of potassa. By the action of the oxygen of the air on the liquor, however, the sulphuret of potassium has part of its potas- sium converted into potassa, and thus passes to a higher state of sulphuration; and, consequently, the addition of an acid, while it throws down the tersul- phuret and teroxide of antimony with disengagement of sulphuretted hydrogen, will precipitate at the same time the excess of sulphur which the sulphuret of potassium has gained. Agreeably to this explanation, golden sulphur is a mixed tersulphuret and teroxide of antimony, containing more or less free sulphur. It is in the form of a powder of a golden-yellow colour. As it is partially decomposed by light, it should be kept in opaque vessels. It may be worth while to mention that the kermes liquor, left after the use of the carbonated alkalies in solution, gives but little golden sulphur; while the liquors, resulting from the two other processes, yield it in abundance. M. Musculus (Journ. de Pharm., for May 1836,) recommends the fol- lowing process for preparing golden sulphur and kermes mineral by the me- thod of displacement. He takes 6 parts of slaked lime, 4 of carbonate of potassa or of dried carbonate of soda, 2 of finely powdered tersulphuret of antimony, 1 of flowers of sulphur, and 8 of well washed and dried sand. These are accurately mixed and put into a glass or stoneware displacement apparatus, the bottom of which is covered with little pebbles, or coarsely powdered glass. (See page 763.) The mixture being covered with a layer of sand, cold water is poured upon it until the liquor which passes is no longer precipitated by muriatic acid. The liquor obtained is then diluted with pure water, and treated with muriatic acid, which thrpws down the golden sulphur. This is carefully washed and dried, and amounts to about the quantity of ter- sulphuret employed. In preparing the kermes the same method is pursued, except that the sulphur is omitted, and the liquor obtained precipitated by a solution of bicarbonate of soda. From the explanations above given, the reader is prepared to understand that the method of preparing the precipitated sulphuret of antimony of the United States and British Pharmacopoeias, combines the process for forming the kermes mineral by means of a caustic alkali, with that for obtaining golden sulphur; for, while the refrigeration of the solution acting alone would cause the precipitation of this variety of kermes, which contains little or no antimonial oxide, the sulphuric acid added would throw down more or less of the golden sulphur. But the question here arises how far this golden sulphur would be identical with that obtained from the mother liquor of kermes which has been made for some time. From the explanations given above in relation to golden sulphur, it may be inferred as probable that the precipitate by acids, if thrown down immediately, while the solution is hot, as directed by the Pharmacopoeias, and before the air has had time to act, would consist exclu- sively of tersulphuret and teroxide; but, if thrown down from the kermes mother liquor, would contain more or less free sulphur, according as the liquor had been more or less subject to the influence of the air. If these views be admitted, it follows that the so-called golden sulphur must be a very variable preparation as to the free sulphur it contains, dependent upon the int. Having dissolved the Nitrate of Silver in the Water, add the Hydrocyanic Acid, and mix them. Wash the precipitate with Dis- tilled Water and dry it." U S. The London formula is the original of that above given. This preparation was introduced into the London Pharmacopoeia, and afterwards into that of the United States, for the purpose of being used in the extemporaneous preparation of diluted hydrocyanic acid. (See page 786.) Its formation is a case of double decomposition between the oxide of silver of the nitrate, and the hydrocyanic acid, resulting in the formation of water, and a white curdy precipitate of cyanuret or cyanide of silver. Ac- cording to Messrs. Glassford and Napier, a better way of obtaining it is to add cyanuret of potassium to a solution of nitrate of silver, so long as a precipitate is formed. Properties. Cyanuret of silver is a tasteless white powder, insoluble in water and cold nitric acid, but readily soluble, with decomposition, in that acid when boiling hot. It is decomposed by muriatic acid, exhaling the odour of hydrocyanic acid. It is not soluble in potassa or soda, but readily so in ammonia. Its best solvent is cyanuret of potassium. It consists of one eq. of cyanogen 26, and one of silver 108=134. It has no medical uses. Off. Prep. Acidum Hydrocyanicum, U. S., Lond. B. ARGENTI NITRAS. U.S., Lond., Ed. Argenti Nitras Fusum. Dub. Nitrate of Silver. Lunar Caustic. "Take of Silver, in small pieces, an ounce; Nitric Acid five fluidrachms ; Distilled Water ttco fliddounces. ■. Mix the Acid with the Water, and dis- solve the Silver in the mixture on a sand-bath; then gradually increase the heat, so that the resulting salt may be dried. Melt this in a crucible over a gentle fire, and continue the heat until ebullition ceases; then immediately pour it into suitable moulds." U S. " Take of Silver an ounce and a half; Nitric Acid a fluidounce [Impe- PART II. Argentum. 867 rial measure]; Distilled Water two fluidounces [Imp. meas.]. Mix the Nitric Acid with the Water, and dissolve the Silver in them on a.sand-bath. Then increase the heat gradually that the Nitrate of Silver may be dried. Melt this in a crucible with a slow fire, until, the water being expelled, ebullition has ceased; then immediately pour it into proper moulds." Lond. Take of pure Silver an ounce and a half; Pure Nitric Acid a fluidounce [Imperial measure]; Distilled Water two fluidounces [Imp. meas.]. Mix the Acid and A\rater, add the Silver, and dissolve it with the aid of a gentle heat; increase the heat gradually till a dry salt be obtained; fuse the salt in an earthenware or porcelain crucible, and pour the fused matter into Iron moulds, previously heated and greased slightly with tallow. Preserve the product in glass vessels." Ed. Dissolve Silver in Diluted Nitric Acid [in the manner directed in the for- mula for Crystals of Nitrate of Silver']; then evaporate the solution to dry- ness. Melt the residuum, placed in a crucible, over a slow fire; then pour it out into proper moulds, and keep it in a glass bottle." Dub. During the solution of silver in nitric acid, part of the acid is decomposed into nitric oxide which is given off and becomes red fumes by contact with the atmosphere, and oxygen which oxidizes the silver. The oxide formed then combines with the remainder of the acid, and generates the nitrate of silver in solution. The water is next driven off by heat, and the salt fused and cast into little cylinders about the size of a quill. The silver should be pure, and the acid diluted for the purpose of promoting its action. If the silver contain copper, the solution will have a greenish tint, not disappearing on the application of heat; and, if a minute portion of gold be present, it will be left undissolved as a black powder. The acid also should be pure. The commercial nitric acid, as it frequently contains both muriatic and sul- phuric acids, should never be used in this process. The muriatic acid gives rise to an insoluble chloride, and the sulphuric, to the sparingly soluble sul- phate of silver. In the former London and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias the nitric acid was used in excess; but it was reduced to the proper proportion upon the revision of those works in 1836 and 1839. As the salt sinks into a common crucible, the fusion should be performed in one of porcelain, as recommended by the Edinburgh College, the size of which should be sufficient to hold five or six times the quantity of the dry salt operated on, in order to prevent its overflowing in consequence of the ebullition. Sometimes small portions of the liquid are spirted out; and the operator should be on his guard against this occurrence. When the mass flows like oil, it is completely fused, and ready to be poured into the moulds. These should be warmed, but not greased as directed by the Edinburgh College; as grease furnishes organic matter which partially decomposes the salt. Properties. Nitrate of silver is a white salt, having an intensely metallic,. bitter taste. As prepared by the above process, it is in the form of hard, brittle sticks, at first white, but becoming gray and more or less dark under the influence of light, owing to the reduction of the silver, effected probably by organic matter, or sulphuretted hydrogen contained in the atmosphere. That the change does not depend on the sole action of light has been proved by Mr. Scanlan, who finds that nitrate of silver, in a clean glass^ tube her- metically sealed, undergoes no change by exposure to light; while on the other hand it is known that the solution of nitrate of silver is discoloured by the most minute portion of organic matter, of which it is a delicate test. Its affinity for animal matter is evinced by its forming definite compounds with albumen and fibrin. The surface of the sticks often becomes dark coloured and nearly black, and, when they are broken across, they exhibit a crystalline 868 Argentum. PART II. fracture with a radiated surface. Nitrate of silver is soluble in its own weight of cold water, and in four parts of alcohol. When perfectly pure it is wholly soluble in distilled water; but even good samples of the fused salt will not totally dissolve, a very scanty black powder being left of reduced silver, arising from the salt having been exposed to too high a heat in fusion. Its solution stains the skin of an indelible black colour. It also stains linen and muslin in a similar manner; and hence its use in making the so called indelible ink. To remove these stains, Mr. W. B. Herapath advises to let fall on the moist- ened spots a few drops of tincture of iodine, which converts the silver into iodide of silver. The iodide is then dissolved by a solution of hyposulphite of soda, made of the strength of half a drachm to a fluidounce of water, and the spots are washed out with warm water. When exposed to heat it fuses at 426°, and at about 600° undergoes decomposition with evolution of oxygen and nitrous acid, and reduction of the metal. This statement explains why it is necessary to guard against the application of too high a heat during the fusion of the salt. Nitrate of silver is incompatible with almost all spring and river water, on account of the common salt usually contained in it; with soluble chlorides; with sulphuric, hydrosulphuric, muriatic, and tartaric acids, and their salts; with the alkalies and their carbonates; with lime-water; and with astringent vegetable infusions. It is an anhydrous salt, and consists of one eq. of nitric acid 54 and one of protoxide of silver 116=170. Impurities and Tests. Nitrate of silver is liable to contain free silver from having been exposed to too high a heat, the nitrates of lead and copper from the impurity of the silver dissolved in the acid, and nitrate of potassa from fraudulent admixture. Free silver will be left undissolved as a black powder, after the action of distilled water. A very slight residue of this kind is hardly avoidable; but, if there be much free silver, it will be shown by the surface of a fresh fracture of one of the sticks presenting an unusually dark-gray colour. (Christison.) A solution of chloride of sodium in excess should throw down the whole of the silver as a white curdy precipitate, and nothing besides. This precipitate should be entirely soluble in ammonia. If not entirely solu- ble, the insoluble part is probably chloride of lead. If the supernatant liquid, after the removal of the above-mentioned precipitate, be discoloured or pre- cipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen, the fact shows the presence of metallic matter, which is probably copper or some remains of lead, or both. In order to detect nitre, a solution of the suspected salt should be precipitated by mu- riatic acid in excess, and sulphuretted hydrogen, to remove the silver, and other metals if they happen to be present. The filtered solution, if the salt be pure, will entirely evaporate by heat; if it contain nitre, this will be left, easily recognizable by its properties as a nitrate. This impurity sometimes exists in nitrate of silver in large amount, varying, according to different statements, from 10 to 75 per cent. According to Dr. Christison/it may be suspected if the sticks present a colourless fracture. A test is given in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia for indicating impurity in nitrate of silver, without determining its nature. It depends upon the fact, that the pure salt requires, for its conversion into chloride, a given quantity of a muriate or chloride; and that if a little less than this quantity be used to precipitate it, the super- natant liquid will be preeipitable by more of the test. Now this will not be the case with the impure salt, unless its impurity be minute. In applying this test, the Edinburgh College directs that 29 grains of the salt should be dissolved in a fluidounce of distilled water acidulated with nitric acid, preci- pitated with a solution of '9 grains of muriate of ammonia, briskly agitated for a few seconds, and then allowed to rest. If the salt be impure, it will not be precipitated on the addition of more of the test. PART II. Argentum. 869 31edical Properties and Uses. Nitrate of silver, as an internal remedy, is deemed tonic and antispasmodic. The principal diseases in which it has been employed are epilepsy, chorea, angina pectoris, and other spasmodic affections. In epilepsy it forms our most reliable remedy; but the kind of cases to which it is particularly applicable and its modus operandi are not understood. It is said to produce most good in this disease when it acts upon the bowels. Dr. James Johnson and other practitioners have found it useful as a palliative and sedative in chronic disease of the stomach attended with pain and vomit- ing. Dr. Boudin, of Marseilles, has employed it in typhoid fever as a remedy for the inflammation and ulceration of the ileum, which constitute the most constant lesion in that disease. When the gastric symptoms predominate, he gives the nitrate in pill, in doses of from the fourth to the half of a grain. When diarrhoea is the principal symptom, he administers, night and morning by injection, a solution of the salt containing three or four grains to six fluid- ounces of water. The injections appeared to be useful by promoting the cicatrization of the intestinal ulcers, and were found to extend their operation as high up as the small intestines. In chronic diarrhoea, especially in that kind attendant on phthisis, Dr. Macgreggor, of Dublin, has found the nitrate of silver, conjoined with opium, a valuable remedy^ Whatever may be the remedial value of this salt internally administered, its occasional effect of pro- ducing a slate-coloured discoloration of the skin, which can hardly be removed, is a great objection to its use. This effect proves the absorption of the medi- cine, and is alleged to show itself first on the tongue and fauces. According to Dr. Branson, an indication of the approach of discoloration is furnished by the occurrence of a dark blue line on the edges of the gums, very similar to that produced by lead, but somewhat darker. The discoloration of the skin is said to be removed by a steady course of cream of tartar. Externally, nitrate of silver is employed as a vesicant, stimulant, and es- charotic, either dissolved in water, or in the solid state. In the proportion of about half a grain to the fluidounce of water, it has been recommended as a mouth wash for healing ulcers produced by mercury. Dissolved to the extent of from one to five grains in the same quantity of water, it is used for the purpose of stimulating indolent ulcers, and as an injection for fistulous sores. A solution containing two grains to the fluidounce is an excellent application in ophthalmia with ulcers of the cornea, in fetid discharges from the ear, aphthous affections of the mouth, and spongy gums. It is, in gene- ral, most conveniently applied to ulcers by means of a camel's hair pencil. A drachm of the salt, dissolved in a fluidounce of water, forms an escharotic solution, which may often be resorted to with advantage. But nitrate of silver is most frequently employed in the solid state; and, as it is not deliquescent nor apt to spread, it forms the most manageable caustic that can be used. When thus employed, it is useful to coat the caustic, as recommended by M. Dumeril, by dipping it into melted engravers' sealing wax, which strengthens the stick, protects it from change, prevents it from staining the fingers, and affords facilities for limiting the action of the caustic to particular spots. If it is desired, for example, to touch a part of the throat with the caustic, it is prepared by scraping off the wax, with a penknife, to a suitable extent from one end. If the solid nitrate be rubbed gently over the moistened skin until it becomes gray, it generally vesicates, causing usually less pain than is pro- duced by cantharides. It is employed in the solid form to destroy strictures of the urethra, warts and excrescences, fungous flesh, incipient chancres, and the surface of other ulcers. Mr. Higginbottom considers its free application to ulcers, so as to cover them with an eschar, as an excellent means of expe- diting their cicatrization. He alleges that, if an adherent eschar be formed, 870 Argentum. PART II. the parts underneath heal before it falls off. The same writer recommends lunar caustic as a topical remedy in various external inflammations, but par- ticularly in erysipelas, applied both to the inflamed and to the surrounding healthy parts. In some cases it is sufficient to blacken the cuticle; in others it is best to produce vesication. It has also been used with good effect, in the solid state, by Dr. Jewell in leucorrhcea, and by Ricord, Hannay, and others in the gonorrhoea of women. In these cases the pain produced is much less than would be expected. It has been recommended in gonorrhoea in the male, even in the acute stage, used in solution containing 10 or 12 grains to the fluidounce; but, although some quick cures are well authenticated, the practice is extremely dangerous. In small-pox it has been proposed by Bre- tonneau and Serres to cauterize each pustule after its top has been removed, on the first or second day of the eruption, in order to arrest its development and prevent pitting. The solid nitrate also forms an efficacious application to certain ulcerations in the throat, to different forms of porrigo of the scalp and other skin diseases, to punctured and poisoned wounds, and to chilblains, slowly rubbed over the moistened part. If, unexpectedly, the pain produced by the external use of the nitrate should be excessive, it may be immediately allayed by washing the parts with a solution of common salt, which acts by decomposing the caustic. The dose of nitrate of silver is the fourth of a grain, gradually increased to four or five grains, three times a day. It should always be given in pill, in which form, according to Dr. Powell, the system bears a dose three times as large as when given in solution. In the treatment of epilepsy, this phy- sician recommends the exhibition at first of grain doses, to be gradually in- creased to six grains, three times a day. Its effects vary very much, owing no doubt to the salt being more or less decomposed by the substances used in preparing it in pill, or with which it comes in contact in the stomach. It should not be made up into pill with crumb of bread, as this contains com- mon salt, but with some" vegetable powder and mucilage. Considering that chloride of sodium is used in food, and exists, together with phosphates, in the secretions, and that free muriatic acid and albuminous fluids are present in the stomach, it is almost certain that, sooner or later, the whole of the nitrate of silver will be converted into the chloride, phosphate, and albuminate, compounds far less active than the original salt. The experiments of Keller, who analyzed the feces of patients under the use of this salt, confirm this view. Such being the inevitable result when the nitrate is given, the question arises how far it would be expedient to anticipate the change, and give the silver as a chloride ready formed. One of the authors of this work has tried the chloride in large doses, in two very unpromising cases of epilepsy, but without advantage. As the fused nitrate is often impure, it is safer to em- ploy the crystallized salt for internal exhibition. (See Argenti Nitratis Crys- talli.) Solutions intended for the eye should be made with distilled water. Nitrate of silver, in an over-dose, produces the effects of the corrosive poisons. The proper antidote is common salt, which acts by converting the poison into the insoluble chloride of silver. Off. Prep. Argenti Cyanuretum, U. S., Lond.; Liquor Argenti Nitratis, Lond. B. LIQUOR ARGENTI NITRATIS. Lond. Solution of Nitrate of Silver. "Take of Nitrate of Silver a drachm; Distilled Water a fluidounce [Im- perial measure]. Dissolve the Nitrate of Silver in the Water, and strain; then, the access of light being prevented, keep it in a well-closed vessel." Lond. part ii. Argentum.—Arsenicum. 871 The London College has made the above solution officinal in its revised Phar- macopoeia of 1836. According to Mr. Phillips, it is intended merely as a test for detecting the presence of muriatic acid and soluble chlorides, with which it gives a white curdy precipitate, insoluble in acids and the fixed alkalies, but readily soluble in ammonia. This solution, however useful as a test, is certainly out of place in a Pharmacopoeia. B. ARGENTI NITRATIS CRYSTALLI. Dub. Crystals of Ni- trate of Silver. " Take of Silver, laminated and cut in pieces, thirty-seven parts; Diluted Nitric Acid sixty parts. Put the Silver in a glass vessel, and pour upon it the Acid, previously diluted with water. Dissolve the metal with a heat gradually increased, and, by evaporation and refrigeration, let crystals be formed. Dry them without heat, and preserve them in a glass bottle in a dark place." Dub. The Dublin is the only Pharmacopoeia noticed in this work which has made the crystals of nitrate of silver officinal; and the motive for doing so is to have a purer salt for internal exhibition than the fused nitrate generally is. By an oversight in the process, the acid, though ordered to be the officinal diluted acid, is directed to be diluted in the body of the formula. The crystals are in colourless transparent rhomboidal plates, often of large size. Their other properties, as well as their medical applications, are the same as those of the fused nitrate, to the article on which the reader is referred. B. ARSENICUM. Preparations of Arsenic. ARSENICI OXYDUM ALBUM SUBLIMATUM. Dub. Sub- limed White Oxide of Arsenic. " Reduce the Oxide of Arsenic to a coarse powder, and, avoiding the va- pours, expose it to heat in a suitable vessel, that the White Oxide of Arsenic may sublime." Dub. The Dublin College, deeming the commercial white oxide of arsenic (Acid- um Arseniosum, U. S., Lond.) not sufficiently pure for medicinal employment, has given the above formula for its purification. But, as the commercial oxide itself has undergone a second sublimation, this process is superfluous. The only precaution necessary to be taken, on the part of the apothecary, is to purchase the oxide in lump; for when in powder it is apt to be adulterated with chalk or sulphate of lime. The chemical, medical, and toxicological properties of this substance have been given under the head of Acidum J±r- seniosum. Off. Prep. Liquor Arsenicalis, Dub. B. LIQUOR POTASSiE ARSENITIS. U.S., Lond. Liquor Arsenicalis. Ed., Dub. Solution of Arsenite of Potassa. Arseni- cal Solution. Fowler s Solution. " Take of Arsenious Acid, in small fragments, Pure Carbonate of Potassa, each, sixty-four grains; Distilled Water a sufficient quantify; Compound Spirit of Lavender half a fluidounce. Boil the Arsenious Acid and Carbon- ate of Potassa with twelve fluidounces of Distilled Water, in a glass vessel, till the Acid is entirely dissolved. To the solution, when cold, add the Spirit of Lavender, and afterwards sufficient Distilled Water to make it fill exactly the measure of a pint." U S. 872 Arsenicum. PART II. " Take of Arsenious Acid, broken into small pieces, Carbonate of Potassa, each, eighty grains ; Compound Tincture of Lavender five fluidrachms; Dis- tilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Boil the Arsenious Acid and Car- bonate of Potassa with half a pint of the Water in a glass vessel, until they are dissolved. Add the Compound Tincture of Lavender to the cooled liquor. Lastly, add, besides, sufficient Distilled Water, that it may accurately fill a pint measure." Lond. The Edinburgh formula is substantially the same with the London, from which it injudiciously varies by ordering the arsenious acid in powder, and water instead of distilled water. In it the lavender preparation is misnamed " tincture," it being recognised as a "spirit" in the nomenclature of the Edin- burgh College. The Dublin is the same as the U. S. formula, with the exception that the sublimed white oxide of arsenic of the College is used instead of the commer- cial oxide, and that the quantity of the arsenious acid and carbonate is re- duced from sixty-four to sixty grains. This preparation originated with Dr. Fowler, and was intended as a sub- stitute for the celebrated empirical remedy, known under the name of " the tasteless ague drop." It is an arsenite of potassa dissolved in water, and is formed by the combination of the arsenious acid with the potassa of the car- bonate, the carbonic acid being evolved.. The name, therefore, by which it is designated in the United States and London Pharmacopoeias, is obviously the most correct. The spirit of lavender is added to give it taste, in order to prevent its being mistaken for simple water. The United States preparation is of about the same strength as those of the London and Edinburgh Colleges; for, although one-fourth more acid and alkali is taken in the London and Edinburgh than in the U. S. formula, yet it is to be recollected that the Im- perial pint is nearly one-fourth larger than the wine pint. The Dublin solu- tion is one-sixteenth weaker, in consequence of the very injudicious alteration, from the standard formula, of substituting sixty instead of sixty-four grains of arsenious acid to the pint of liquid. Dr. Barker, in his " Observations on the Dublin Pharmacopoeia," gives the insufficient reason for this change, that less danger of error would arise in weighing out sixty than sixty-four grains; as the former quantity could be weighed by a single weight. In making this preparation, care should be taken that the arsenious acid is pure. This object is best secured by using the acid in small fragments, instead of in powder. Sulphate of lime is a common adulteration, and if present will remain undissolved, and cause the solution to be weaker than it should be. Hence, if the arsenious acid does not entirely dissolve, the prepa- ration must be rejected. Properties. Solution of arsenite of potassa is a transparent liquid, having the colour, taste, and smell of the spirit of lavender. It has a strong alkaline reaction. It is decomposed by the usual reagents for arsenic, such as nitrate of silver, the salts of copper, lime-water, and sulphuretted hydrogen; and is incompatible with infusions and decoctions of cinchona. Before sulpburetted hydrogen will act, the solution must be acidulated with some acid, as the muriatic or acetic. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. This solution has the general action of the arsenical preparations on the animal economy, already described under the head of Arsenious Acid. Its liquid form makes it convenient for exhibition and gradual increase; and it is the preparation generally resorted to, when arsenic is given internally. It is employed principally in intermittent fever. Dr. Thomas D. Mitchell has given the result of his experience, as to its effi- cacy and safety in this disease, when exhibited in the large dose of fifteen or PART II. Arsenicum.—Baryta. 873 twenty drops three times a day. It is a valuable resource in the intermit- tents of children, who are with difficulty induced to swallow bark or even sulphate of quinia. The late Dr. Dewees relates the case of a child only six weeks old, affected with a severe tertian, in which this solution was given with success. A fluidrachm was diluted with twelve fluidrachms of water; and of this six drops were given every four hours. Fowler's solution appears to be peculiarly adapted to the treatment of several diseases. It has been employed with encouraging success in lepra and other inveterate cutaneous affections. The late Dr. S. Calhoun published an account of five cases of nodes, successfully treated by it; and, in conse- quence of his success, Dr. Baer, of Baltimore, and the late Dr. Eberle were induced to give it a trial in this affection, and they obtained satisfactory re- sults. Several cases of cholera, cured by this remedy, are reported by Mr. Martin, Mr. Slater, and Dr. Gregory, in the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions of London. Two interesting cures of periodical headache, performed by the solution, are related by the late Dr. Otto, of Philadelphia, in the fourth and fifth volumes of the North American Med. and Surg. Journal. Mr. H. Hunt found it useful in menorrhagia, but prefers the use of arsenious acid, as less apt to produce unpleasant effects, requiring the discontinuance of the remedy. (See page 19.) A diluted solution, in the proportion of a fluidrachm to the fluidounce of water, has been used with advantage as a topical applica- tion to foul ulcers. Each fluidrachm of the solution contains half a grain of arsenious acid. The average dose for an adult is ten drops two or three times a day. For the peculiar effects which it produces in common with the other arsenical preparations, the reader is referred to the article on Arsenious Acid. Duflos's antidote to the poisonous effects of Fowler's solution, and of the other salts of the acids of arsenic, is the acetate of the sesquioxide of iron with excess of base, made by dissolving freshly precipitated sesquioxide in acetic acid, adding an equal quantity of the oxide to the solution, and diluting the whole with water to the consistence of cream. (See page 24.) B. BARYTA. Preparations of Baryta. BARII CHLORIDUM. U.S., Lond. Barytje Murias. Ed., Dub. Chloride of Barium. Muriate of Baryta. " Take of Carbonate of Baryta, in small fragments, a pound; Muriatic Acid twelve fluidounces ; Water three pints. Mix the Acid with the Water, and gradually add the Carbonate of Baryta. Towards the close of the effer- vescence apply a gentle heat, and, when the action has ceased, filter the liquor, and boil it down so that crystals may form when it cools." U S. "Take of Carbonate of Baryta, broken into small pieces, ten ounces; Hydrochloric [Muriatic] Acid half a pint [Imperial measure]; Distilled Water two pints [Imp. meas.]. Mix the Acid with the Water, and add the Carbonate of Baryta gradually to them. Then, heat being applied, and the effervescence finished, strain, and boil down the liquor that crystals may form." Lond. > The Edinburgh College gives two processes for obtaining this chloride; one in which the native carbonate of baryta, the other in which the native sulphate is employed. The process with the sulphate is as follows. " Take of Sulphate of Baryta two pounds; Charcoal, in fine powder, four 874 Baryta. PART II. ounces; Pure Muriatic Acid a sufficiency. Heat the sulphate to redness, reduce it to fine powder, mix the charcoal with it thoroughly, heat the mix- ture in a covered crucible for three hours at a low white heat. Pulverize the product, put it gradually into five pints [Imperial measure] of boiling water; boil for a few minutes; let it rest for a little over a vapour-bath; pour off the clear liquor, and filter it if necessary, keeping it hot. Pour three pints [Imp. meas.] of boiling water over the residuum, and proceed as before. Unite the two liquids; and, while they are still hot, or, if cooled, after heating them again, add Pure Muriatic Acid gradually so long as effervescence is occasioned. In this process the solutions ought to be as little exposed to the air as possible; and in the last step the disengaged gas should be discharged by a proper tube into a chimney or the ash-pit of a furnace. Strain the liquor, concentrate it, and set it aside to crystallize." Ed. The Dublin College obtains the chloride of barium by means of the native sulphate also; but, as the process is in principle the same as that just quoted from the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, it need not be given. When the carbonate of baryta is employed for obtaining chloride of barium, the reactions are exceedingly simple. The muriatic acid displaces the earbonic acid with effervescence; and, by reacting with the baryta, forms chloride of barium and water. A solution of chloride of barium being thus obtained, it yields crystals of the chloride by concentration and cooling. The reactions occurring in the process in which the sulphate is used are more complicated. The ignition with carbonaceous matter deoxidizes jts constitu- ents, converting it into sulphuret of barium, the oxygen escaping in combina- tion with the carbon as carbonic oxide and acid. The sulphuret of barium, when dissolved in water, is decomposed on the addition of muriatic acid, sulphuretted hydrogen being evolved in large quantities, and chloride of barium formed in solution, from which, in the usual manner, the solid salt is obtained. The direction to discharge the sulphuretted hydrogen into a chimney, or the ash-pit of a furnace, is intended to provide for its decomposi- tion by smoke; for if the gas is not disposed of in this or some similar way, it becomes exceedingly annoying to the operator. Of the officinal processes, that in which the native carbonate is used is the simplest and most convenient; but as it may happen that the operator possesses the native sulphate and not the carbonate, the additional process above given from the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia may be useful. Properties. Chloride of barium is a permanent white salt, possessing a bitter and disagreeable taste. It crystallizes in rhombic tables with beveled edges. It dissolves in about two and a half times its weight of cold water, and in a little more than its own weight at 222°, the boiling point of a saturated solution. It is scarcely soluble in absolute alcohol, but dissolves in rectified spirit. Alcohol, impregnated with it, burns with a yellow flame. When exposed to heat, it decrepitates and loses its water of crystallization, and at a red heat fuses. It is decomposed by the sulphates, oxalates, and tartrates, and the alkaline phosphates, borates, and carbonates; also by nitrate of silver, acetate and phosphate of mercury, and acetate of lead. When pure it does not deliquesce. Its solution is not affected by ammonia, which proves the absence of alumina and sesquioxide of iron, or by sulphur- etted hydrogen, which shows that neither copper nor lead is present. After the whole of the barium has been precipitated by an excess of sulphuric acid, the supernatant liquid is shown to be free from lime by the non-action of carbonate of soda. If strontia be present, its alcoholic solution will burn with a red flame. Like 'all the soluble salts of barium, it is poisonous. It PART II. Baryta.—Bismuthum. 875 consists of one eq. of chlorine 35-42, one of barium 68-7, and two of water 18 = 122-12. It is used in medicine only in solution. Off. Prep. Liquor Barii Chloridi, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. B. LIQUOR BARII CHLORIDI. U. S., Lond. Solutio Baryta Muriatis. Ed. Baryta Muriatis Aqua. Dub. Solution of Chloride of Barium. Solution of Muriate of Baryta. "Take of Chloride of Barium an ounce; Distilled Water three fluid- ounces. Dissolve the Chloride of Barium in the Water, and filter." U S. " Take of Chloride of Barium a drachm; Distilled Water a fluidounce [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Chloride of Barium, and strain." Lond, The Edinburgh formula is the same as the London. " Take of Muriate of Baryta one part; Distilled Water three parts. Dis- solve. The sp. gr. of this solution should be 1-230." Dub. Chloride of barium, not being used in the solid state, is here dissolved for convenient exhibition. The U. S. and Dublin solutions 'are of about the same strength. The London and Edinburgh preparations are much weaker, an ounce of the salt being dissolved in eight fluidounces of water, instead of three, as directed in the United States Pharmacopoeia. The solution should be limpid and colourless; and, to make it so, the salt in crystals, and not in powder, should be employed. The U. S. and Dublin solutions are nearly saturated ones, and are probably too strong for convenient use. 3 fed iced Properties and Uses. This solution is deobstruent and anthel- mintic, and in large doses poisonous; its action, according to some, being analogous to that of arsenic. It was introduced into practice by Dr. Craw- ford as a remedy for cancer and scrofula. Its value in the latter disease has been particularly insisted on by Hufeland. This physician considers it to act more particularly on the lymphatic system, in the irritated states of which he esteems it a valuable remedy. Hence he recommends it in the scrofulous affections of delicate and irritable organs, such as the eyes, lungs, &c. In the commencement of scrofulous phthisis, he views it as one of the best remedies to which we can have recourse. It is employed also in diseases of the skin, in ulcers, and ophthalmia. The dose for an adult of the U. S. solution is about five drops, given twice or thrice a day, and gradually but cautiously increased, until it produces nausea, or some other sensible impression. When taken in an over-dose it causes violent vomiting and purging, vertigo, and other dangerous symptoms. To combat its poisonous effects, recourse must be had immediately to a weak solution of sulphate of magnesia, which acts by converting the poison into the insoluble sulphate of baryta. If vomiting does not come on, it should be induced by tickling the fauces, or by the ad- ministration of an emetic. B. BISMUTHUM. Preparation of Bismuth. BISMUTHI SUBNITRAS. U.S., Dub. Bismuthi Trisxi- tras. Lond. Bismuthum Album. Ed. Subnitrate of Bismuth. Trisnitrate of Bismuth. White Bismuth. White Oxide of Bis- muth. "Take of Bismuth, in fragments, an ounce; Nitric Acid a fluidounce and a half; Distilled Water a sufficient quantity. Mix a fluidounce of Distilled Water with the Nitric Acid, and dissolve the Bismuth in the mixture. When the solution is complete, pour the clear liquor into three pints of Distilled 876 Bismuthum. PART II. Water, and set the mixture by that the powder may subside. Lastly, having poured off the supernatant fluid, wash the Subnitrate of Bismuth with Dis- tilled Water, wrap it in bibulous paper, and dry it with a gentle heat." U. S. " Take of Bismuth an ounce; Nitric Acid a fluidounce and a half [Im- perial measure]; Distilled Water three pints [Imp meas.]. Mix a fluidounce of the Distilled Water with the Nitric Acid, and dissolve the Bismuth in them. Then pour off the solution. To this add the remainder of the Water, and set by that the powder may subside. Afterwards, pour off the superna- tant liquor, wash the Trisnitrate of Bismuth with Distilled Water, and dry it with a gentle heat." Lond, "Take of Bismuth, in fine powder, an ounce; Nitric Acid [of commerce?] (D. 1-380) a fluidounce and a half [Imperial measure]; Water three pints [Imp. meas.]. Add the metal gradually to the acid, favouring the action with a gentle heat, and adding a very little Distilled Water so soon as crys- tals or a white powder may begin to form. When the solution is complete, pour the liquor into the Water. Collect the precipitate immediately on a calico filter, wash it quickly with cold water, and dry it in a dark place." Ed. "Take of Bismuth, in powder, seven parts; Diluted Nitric Acid twenty parts; Distilled Water one hundred parts. Add the Bismuth gradually to the Acid, and dissolve by the assistance of heat. Mix the solution with the Water, and set the mixture by that the powder may subside. Wash this with Distilled Water, and dry it on bibulous paper with a gentle heat." Dub. When bismuth is added to dilute nitric acid, red fumes are copiously given off, and the metal, oxidized by the decomposition of part of the nitric acid, is dissolved by the remainder, so as to form a solution of the nitrate of protoxide of bismuth. It is unnecessary to have the metal in powder, as it dissolves with great facility when added to the acid in fragments. When the solution is completed, the liquor should be added to the water, which should be distilled, and not the water to the solution, which is not so eligible a plan. Immediately on the contact of the solution with the water, four eqs. of the nitrate are resolved into one eq. of ternitrate of bismuth which remains in solution, and one eq. of trisnitrate which precipitates. In order to have a smooth light powder, which is most esteemed, the precipitate should be washed and dried as speedily as possible. Properties. Subnitrate of bismuth is a tasteless, inodorous, heavy powder, of a pure white colour. It is slightly soluble in water, and readily so in the strong acids, from which it is precipitated by water. The fixed alkalies dis- solve it sparingly, and ammonia more readily. It is darkened by hydrosul- phuric acid gas, but not by exposure to light, unless it contains a little silver, or is subjected to the influence of organic matter. If it dissolves in nitric acid without effervescence, it contains no carbonate, and if the nitric solution is not precipitated by diluted sulphuric acid, it is free from lead. By the earlier chemists it was called magistery of bismuth. The perfumers, by whom it is sold as a paint for the complexion, denominate it pearl white. It consists of one eq. of nitric acid 54, and three of protoxide of bismuth 237 = 291. Medical Properties and Uses. This preparation is tonic and antispasmo- dic. It was originally introduced into practice by Dr. Odier, of Geneva, and has been subsequently employed with advantage both in this country and in Europe. It has been recommended in epilepsy, palpitation of the heart, and spasmodic diseases generally; but more particularly in various painful affec- tions of the stomach, dependent on disordered digestion, such as cardialgia, pyrosis, and gastrodynia. Rayer employed it with great advantage in the diarrhoea, occurring in phthisis and in typhus. Its use always blackens the PART II. Bismuthum.—Calx. 877 stools, from the effect of the intestinal gases. The dose is five grains, gra- dually increased to twelve or fifteen, twice or thrice a day, and may be taken in pill, or mixed with an equal weight of aromatic powder. In an over-dose it produces alarming gastric distress, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipa- tion, colic, heat in the breast, slight rigors, vertigo, and drowsiness. The remedies are bland and mucilaginous drinks, and, in case of inflammation, bleeding by leeches or venesection, enemata, and emollient fomentations. B. CALX. Preparations of Lime. LIQUOR CALCIS. U.S., Lond. Aqua Calcis. Ed., Dub. Lime-water. " Take of Lime four ounces; Distilled Water a gallon. Upon the Lime, first slaked with a little of the Water, pour the remainder of the Water, and stir them together; then immediately cover the vessel, and set it aside for three hours. Keep the solution, together with the undissolved Lime, in stopped glass bottles, and pour off the clear liquor when it is wanted for use. Water free from saline or other obvious impurity may be employed in this process, though not distilled." U. S. The London College takes half a pound of lime, and twelve pints [Impe- rial measure] of distilled water, and proceeds as above directed. " Take any convenient quantity of Water, pour a little of it over about a twentieth of its weight of Lime; when the Lime is slaked, add to it the rest of the Water in a bottle; agitate well; allow the undissolved matter to sub- side ; pour off the clear liquor when it is wanted, replacing it with more water, and agitating briskly as before." Ed. " Take of fresh burnt Lime, boiling Water, each, one part. Put the Lime into an earthen vessel, and sprinkle the Water upon it, keeping the vessel closed while the Lime grows hot and falls into powder; then pour upon it thirty parts of cold water, and, having again closed the vessel, shake the mix- ture frequently for twenty-four hours; lastly, after the lime has subsided, pour off the clear solution, and keep it in closely stopped bottles." Dub. A solution of lime in water is the result of these processes. By the slak- ing of the lime it is reduced to powder, and rendered more easily diffusible through the water. According to all the Pharmacopoeias, except the Dublin, the solution is to be kept in bottles with a portion of undissolved lime, which causes it always to be saturated, whatever may be the temperature, and to whatever extent it may be exposed to the air. If care be taken to have a considerable quantity of the solution in the bottle, and to avoid unnecessary agitation, the upper portion will always remain sufficiently clear for use. The direction of the Edinburgh College, to replace by more water the clear liquid poured off, cannot, of course, be carried into effect indefinitely. By the ab- sorption of carbonic acid, the lime is gradually converted into a carbonate, and thus rendered insoluble. The employment of Distilled Water as the solvent may seem a useless refinement; and it certainly is unnecessary when pure spring or river water is attainable; but in many places the common water is very, impure, and wholly unfit for a preparation, one of the most fre- quenUuses of which is to allay irritation of stomach. Water dissolves but a minute proportion of lime, and, contrary to the general law, less when hot than cold. Hence the propriety of employing cold water in the process. According to Mr. Phillips, a pint of water (the wine pint of the U. S. Ph.) 878 Calx. PART II. at 212° dissolves 5-6 grains of lime, at 60°, 9-7 grains, and at 32°, 11-0 grains. When a cold saturated solution is heated, a deposition of lime takes place. Properties. Lime-water is colourless, inodorous, and of a disagreeable alkaline taste, changes vegetable blues to green, and forms an imperfect soap with oils. Exposed to the air it attracts carbonic acid, and becomes covered with a pellicle of insoluble carbonate of lime, which, subsiding after a time, is replaced by another, and so on successively* till the whole of the lime is exhausted. Hence the necessity of keeping lime-water either in closely corked bottles which should be full, or, what is more convenient, in bottles with an excess of lime. 31edical Properties and Uses. Lime-water is antacid, tonic, and astringent, and is very usefully employed in dyspepsia with acidity of stomach, diarrhoea, diabetes, and gravel attended with superabundant secretion of uric acid. Mixed with an equal measure of milk, which completely covers its offensive taste, it is one of the best remedies in our possession for nausea and vomiting dependent on irritability of stomach. We have found a diet exclusively of lime-water and milk to be more effectual than any other plan of treatment in dyspepsia accompanied with vomiting of food. In this case, one part of the solution to two or three parts of milk is usually sufficient. Lime-water is also thought to be useful by dissolving the intestinal mucus in cases of worms, and in other complaints connected with an excess of this secretion. Exter- nally it is employed as a wash in tinea capitis and scabies, as an application to foul and gangrenous ulcers, as an injection in leucorrhcea and ulceration of the bladder or urethra, and, mixed with linseed or olive oil, as a liniment in burns and scalds. The dose is from two to four fluidounces taken several times a day. When employed to allay nausea, it is usually given in the dose of a tablespoonful mixed with the same quantity of new milk, and repeated at intervals of half an hour, an hour, or two hours. If too long continued it debilitates the stomach. Off. Prep. Aqua Calcis Composita, Dub.; Infusum Sarsaparillae Composi- tum, Dub.; Linimentum Calcis, U.S., Ed,, Dub. W. AQUA CALCIS COMPOSITA. Dub. Compound Lime-water. " Take of Guaiacum Wood, rasped, half a pound; Liquorice Root, sliced and bruised, an ounce; Sassafras Bark, bruised, half an ounce; Coriander Seeds three drachms; Lime-water six pints. Macerate without heat, for two days, in a close bottle, occasionally shaking, and filter." Dub. This is a very inert preparation, and should be ranked among the infusions, as the lime-water can scarcely fail to be decomposed during the process. W. CALCIS CARBONAS PRiECIPITATUM. Dub. Precipitated Carbonate of Lime. " Take of Water of Muriate of Lime five parts. Add three parts of Car- bonate of Soda, dissolved in four times its weight of Distilled Water. Wash the precipitate three times with a sufficient quantity of water; then collect it and dry it on a chalk-stone, or on bibulous paper." Dub. In this process a mutual interchange of principles takes place, resulting in the production of chloride of sodium which remains in solution, and carbonate of lime which is deposited. Of crystallized carbonate of soda 143-3 parts de- compose 55-92 of chloride of calcium. The Dublin water of muriate of lime contains two parts in nine of chloride of calcium. From these data it may be deduced that the carbonate of soda in the formula is in very slight excess. Any peculiar advantage which this preparation may possess must depend on PART II. Calx. 879 the minute division of its particles. According to Dr. Bridges, this effect is best obtained by employing the solutions at the boiling temperature. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 163.) The preparation is said to be occasionally adulterated with sulphate of lime. When properly made, it is very pure car- bonate of lime, and very finely divided, but probably has no such superiority over prepared chalk as to counterbalance its greater expensiveness. Off. Prep. Hydrargyrum cum Creta, Dub. W. CRETA PRvEPARATA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Prepared Chalk. "Take of Chalk a convenient quantify. Add a little water to the Chalk, and rub it into a fine powder. Throw this into a large vessel nearly full of water, stir briskly, and, after a short interval, pour the supernatant liquor, while yet turbid, into another vessel. Repeat the process with the chalk remaining in the first vessel, and set the turbid liquor by, that the powder may subside. Lastly, pour off the water, and dry the powder." U. S. The London College takes a pound of chalk, and proceeds as above, except that it does not repeat the process with that which remains after the first operation. The processes of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges axe essen- tially the same as that of the United States Pharmacopoeia. Both Colleges direct the chalk to be powdered in a mortar. The Edinburgh orders it, after having been prepared, to be dried on a filter of linen or calico; the Dublin, on an absorbent stone or paper. The object of these processes is to reduce chalk to very fine powder. The mineral, previously pulverized, is rubbed with a little water upon a porphyry slab, by means of a rubber of the same material, and, having been thus very minutely divided, is agitated with water, which upon standing a short time deposits the coarser particles, and, being then poured off, slowly lets fall the remainder in an impalpable state. The former part of the process is called levigation, the latter clittriation. The soft mass which remains after the decanting of the clear liquor, is made to fall upon an absorbent surface in small portions, which when dried have a conical shape. 3iedical Properties and Uses. This is the only form in which chalk is used in medicine. It is an excellent antacid; and, as the salts which it forms in the stomach and bowels, if not astringent, are at least not purgative, it is admirably adapted to diarrhoea accompanied with acidity. It is also some- times used in acidity of stomach attending dyspepsia and gout, when a laxa- tive effect is to be avoided; is one of the best antidotes for oxalic acid; and has been recommended in rachitis. In scrofulous affections it may some- times do good by forming soluble salts with acid in the primae viae, and thus finding an entrance into the blood-vessels. It is frequently employed as an application to burns and ulcers, which it moderately stimulates, while it absorbs the ichorous discharge, and thus prevents it from irritating the dis- eased surface, or the sound skin. It is given internally in the form of pow- der, or suspended in water by the intervention of gum Arabic and sugar. (See 3Iistura Cretse.) The dose is from ten to forty grains or more. Off. Prep. Confectio Aromatica, Lond., Dub.; Hydrargyrum cum Creta, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Cretae, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Pulvis Cretae Compositus, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Trochisci Cretae, U S., Ed.; Un- guentum Plumbi Compositum, Lond. W. TESTA PRiEPARATA. U.S. Testae Tr^parat^. Lond. Prepared Oyster-shell. " Take of Oyster-shell a convenient quantity. Free it from extraneous 880 Calx. PART II. matter, wash it with boiling water, and reduce it to powder; then prepare it in the manner directed for Chalk." U. S. The London College gives similar directions. Prepared oyster-shell differs from prepared chalk in containing animal matter, which, being very intimately blended with the carbonate of lime, is supposed by some physicians to render the preparation more acceptable to a delicate stomach. It is given as an antacid in diarrhoea, in the dose of from ten to forty grains or more, frequently repeated. A preparation has been introduced, within a few years, into use in this country under the name of Castillon's powders, consisting of sago, salep, and tragacanth, each, in powder, a drachm, prepared oyster-shell a scruple, and sufficient cochineal to give colour to the mixture. A drachm of this is boiled in a pint of milk, and the decoction used ad libitum as a diet in chronic bowel affections. W. LIQUOR CALCII CHLORIDI. U.S., Lond. Calcis Mu- riatis Solutio. Ed. Calcis Muriatis Aqua. Dub. Solution of Chloride of Calcium. Solution of Muriate of Lime. " Take of Marble, in fragments, nine ounces; Muriatic Acid a pint; Dis- tilled Water a sufficient quantity. Mix the acid with half a pint of the Distilled Water, and gradually add the Marble. Towards the close of the effervescence apply a gentle heat, and, when the action has ceased, pour off the clear liquor and evaporate to dryness. Dissolve the residuum in its weight and a half of Distilled Water, and filter the solution." U. S. The London College dissolves four ounces of chloride of calcium in twelve fliudounces (Imperial measure) of distilled water, and filters through paper. The Edinburgh College dissolves eight ounces of muriate of lime (chloride of calcium) in twelve fluidounces (Imp. meas.) of water. The Dublin College dissolves two parts of the salt in seven parts of distilled water, and states the sp. gr. of the solution at 1-202. By the U. S. process chloride of calcium is first formed, and then, as in the other processes, is dissolved in a certain proportion of water. The U. S. and Edinburgh preparations agree very nearly in strength, containing 1 part of the chloride in about 2 5 parts of the solution. Those of the London and Dublin Colleges are only about half as strong; the latter containing 1 part of the chloride in 4-5 of the solution. The solution of chloride of calcium has a disagreeable, bitter, acrid taste. It is decomposed by sulphuric acid and the soluble sulphates; by potassa, soda, and their carbonates; by carbonate of ammonia, tartrate of potassa and soda, nitrate of silver, nitrate and acetate of mercury, and acetate of lead. The mode of preparing chloride of calcium, and its chemical properties, are detailed under the head of Calcii Chloridum in the first part of this work. Medical Properties and Uses. Chloride of calcium is considered tonic and deobstruent, and is said to promote the secretion of urine, perspiration, and mucus. It was first brought into notice as a remedy by Fourcroy, and was at one time much used in scrofulous diseases and goitre. It still continues to be a favourite with some physicians, but is less employed than formerly. It has been especially recommended in tabes mesenterica. When too largely taken it sometimes produces nausea, vomiting, and purging, and in excessive doses may even produce fatal effects; but it is a much safer remedy than chloride of barium, which has been recommended in the same complaints. The dose of the solution is from thirty minims or drops to a fluidrachm, to be repeated twice or three times a day, and gradually increased to two, three, or even four fluidrachms. It may be given in milk or sweetened water. Off. Prep. Calcis Carbonas Praecipitatum, Dub. W. PART II. Calx. 881 CALCIS PHOSPHAS PRiECIPITATUM. Dub. Precipitated Phosphate of Lime. " Take of Burnt Bones, in powder, one part; Diluted Muriatic Acid, Water, each, two parts. Digest together for twelve hours, and filter the solution. Add as much Water of Caustic Ammonia as will be sufficient to precipitate the Phosphate of Lime. Wash this with a large proportion of water, and finally dry it." Dub. The muriatic acid dissolves the phosphate of lime of the bones, and lets it fall on the addition of ammonia, in a state of minute division. The ablution is intended to free it from any adhering muriate of ammonia. The salt thus obtained is, for the sake of distinction, called bone-phosphate of lime. It is in the form of a white powder, without taste or smell, insoluble in water, but very soluble in nitric, muriatic, and acetie acids, from which it is precipi- tated unchanged on the addition of ammonia. By an intense heat it is fused, but is not otherwise changed. It consists, according to Berzelius, of three equivalents of phosphoric acid and eight of lime; according to Mitscherlich, of one of the former, and three of the latter. The chemical characteristics of bone-phosphate of lime, besides those men- tioned, are that with its solution in dilute nitric acid, oxalate of ammonia produces a white precipitate of oxalate of lime, and acetate of lead a white precipitate of phosphate of lead; and, if the nitric solution be neutralized as far as possible without causing a permanent precipitate of phosphate of lime, ammoniacal nitrate of silver throws down from it a lemon-yellow precipitate of phosphate of silver. (Christison's Dispensatory.) If this preparation possesses any advantage over burnt hartshorn, it must consist in the state of minute division to which it has been brought by pre- cipitation. It may be given in the same complaints, and in the same dose; but is probably quite inert. (See Cornu Ustum.) W. CORNU USTUM. Lond. Pulvis Cornu Cervini Usti. Dub. Burnt Hartshorn. " Burn pieces of Hartshorn in an open vessel until they are thoroughly white; then powder them, and prepare them in the manner directed for Chalk." Lond. The Dublin College gives similar directions. The horn must not only be heated, but also burnt, in order that the animal matter may be entirely consumed. The operation may be performed in a com- mon furnace or stove, the air being freely admitted. Care should be taken that the heat be not too violent; as otherwise the external surface of the horn may become vitrified, and prevent the complete combustion of the interior por- tion, while it is itself rendered less fit for use. Burnt hartshorn consists of bone-phosphate of lime, with a minute proportion of lime derived from the carbonate contained in the horns. It may be inferred, from the analysis of hartshorn by M. Guillot, that the proportion of free lime in this preparation is less than one per cent. (See Cornu.) Bone-earth is usually sold in the shops for burnt hartshorn. For the chemical characters of bone-phosphate of lime, see Calcis Phosphas Preecipitatum. Medical Properties and Uses. The opinion formerly entertained, that burnt hartshorn was antacid, has been abandoned since the discovery of its chemical nature. Its composition suggested its application to the cure of rachitis and mollifies ossium, of which the prominent character is a deficiency of phosphate of lime in the bones; and it is said to have been employed in some cases, in connexion with phosphate of soda, with apparent success. Experience, how- ever, has not confirmed the first report in its favour. It is probably altogether inert. The dose is twenty grains or more. W. 56 882 Carbo Animalis.—Cataplasmata. part ii. CARBO ANIMALIS. Preparation of Animal Charcoal. CARBO ANIMALIS PURIFICATUS. U.S., Lond.,Ed. Pu- rified Animal Charcoal. " Take of Animal Charcoal a pound; Muriatic Acid, Water, each, twelve fluidounces. Pour the Muriatic Acid, previously mixed with the Water, gra- dually upon the Charcoal, and digest with a gentle heat for two days, occasion- ally stirring the mixture. Having allowed the undissolved portion to subside, pour off the supernatant liquor, wash the Charcoal frequently with water until it is entirely free from Acid, and lastly dry it." U S. The London and Edinburgh formulae are essentially the same as the above. Animal charcoal, as it is made by charring bones, necessarily contains bone- phosphate and carbonate of lime, the presence of which does no harm in some decolorizing operations; but, in delicate chemical processes, these salts would be dissolved or decomposed, and thus be a source of impurity. It is for these reasons that animal charcoal requires to be purified from the calcareous salts which it contains; and this is accomplished by dilute muriatic acid, which dissolves the phosphate and decomposes the carbonate. Purified animal charcoal is a dark brownish-black powder. If it contain carbonate of lime, muriatic acid will cause effervescence, and the solution ob- tained will give a precipitate with carbonate of ammonia; and if phosphate of lime be present, the acid will dissolve the salt and yield it as a precipitate on the addition of ammonia. The Edinburgh College directs animal charcoal to be tested by incinerating it with its volume of red oxide of mercury; when, if good, it will be dissipated with the exception of a scanty ash. It has been shown by Mr. Warington that bitter vegetable substances, including the organic alkalies, are removed from solution by passing through purified animal charcoal, especially when the action is assisted by heat. F. Weppen finds that a similar effect is produced by it in removing resins from tinctures, tannic acid and bitter principles from astringent and bitter infu- sions, and certain metallic salts from their solutions. Purified animal charcoal, thus employed, has been resorted to by M. Lebourdais as a means of obtain- ing the active principles of plants. A decoction or infusion of the plant is either boiled with or filtered through the charcoal, which takes up, more or less completely, the bitter and colouring principles. The charcoal is then washed and dried, and treated with boiling alcohol, which dissolves the prin- ciples taken up. Finally, the alcohol is distilled off, and the principles are obtained in a separate state. In this way ilicin, scillitin, arnicin (cytisin), colombin, colocynthin, strychnia, quinia, and other principles were obtained more or less pure. (Chem. Gaz., Nov. 15, 1848, from Ann. de Chim. et de Phys.) Dr. A. B. Garrod has proposed purified animal charcoal as an anti- dote to the vegetable poisons. According to his experiments, common bone- black has not one-fifth the power of the purified substance. Mr. Taylor deems the results of Dr. Garrod inconclusive. Pharmaceutical Uses. As a decolorizing agent in preparing Aconitina, Lond.; Morphiae Hydrochloras, Lond., Ed.; Quinae Sulphas, Ed., Lond.; Strychnia, U. S.; Veratria, U S., Lond. B. CATAPLASMATA. Cataplasms. Cataplasms or poultices are moist substances intended for external appli- part II. Cataplasmata. 883 cation, of such a consistence as to accommodate themselves accurately to the surface to which they are applied, without being so liquid as to spread over the neighbouring parts, or so tenacious as to adhere firmly to the skin. As they are in this country scarcely ever prepared by the apothecary, they were not deemed by the compilers of the United States Pharmacopoeia proper ob- jects for officinal direction. W. CATAPLASMA ALUMINIS. Dub. Alum Cataplasm. " Take the Whites of two Eggs; of Alum a drachm. Shake them to- gether so as to make a coagulum." Dub. A common mode of preparing the alum poultice is to rub the whites of eggs briskly in a saucer with a lump of alum till the liquid coagulates. The curd produced by coagulating milk with alum is sometimes used as a sub- stitute. The alum cataplasm is an astringent application, occasionally employed in incipient, purulent, or chronic ophthalmia. It is placed over the eye en- closed between folds of cambric or soft linen. It is also esteemed useful in chilblains when the skin is not broken. W. CATAPLASMA CARBONIS LIGNI. Dub. Charcoal Cata- plasm. " Take a sufficient quantity of Wood Charcoal red hot from the fire, and having extinguished it by sprinkling dry sand over it, reduce it to very fine powder, and incorporate it with the Simple Cataplasm in a tepid state." Dub. Charcoal, recently prepared, has the property of absorbing those principles upon which the offensive odour of putrefying animal substances depends. In the form of poultice, it is an excellent application to foul and gangrenous ulcers, correcting their fetor, and improving the condition of the sore. It should be frequently renewed. W. CATAPLASMA CONII. Lond., Dub. Hemlock Cataplasm. "Take of Extract of Hemlock two ounces; Water a pint [Imperial mea- sure]. Mix, and add of bruised Flaxseed sufficient to produce a proper con- sistence." Lond. "Take of dried Hemlock Leaves an ounce; Water a pint and a half. Boil down to a pint, and having strained the liquor, add as much of the pow- dered leaves as may be sufficient to form a cataplasm." Dub. This cataplasm may be advantageously employed as an anodyne application to cancerous, scrofulous, syphilitic, and other painful ulcers : but its liability to produce narcotic effects, in consequence of the absorption of the active principle of the hemlock, should not be overlooked. W. CATAPLASMA DAUCI. Dub. Carrot Cataplasm. " Take of the root of the cultivated Carrot any quantity. Boil the root in water until it becomes sufficiently soft to form a cataplasm." Dub. Emollient poultices may be prepared from any of the tender culinary roots, from turnips and potatoes as well as carrots, by boiling them, removing the skin, and mashing them into a soft pulp, which may be rendered uniform by pressing it through a coarse sieve or colander. But these poultices possess no specific power, and act on the same principle with those made with bread and milk, or flaxseed meal. The carrot cataplasm, when designed to produce a peculiar impression, should be made by grating the fresh roots, Thus prepared, it is slightly stimulating, and is useful in weak, flabby, ill-conditioned, and offensive ulcers. By boiling, the stimulant property is diminished, if not lost; and the carrot becomes a mild and nutritious article of food. W. 884 Cataplasmata. PART II. CATAPLASMA FERMENTI. Lond. Cataplasma Fermenti Cerevisle. Dub. Yeast Cataplasm. "Take of Flour [wheat flour] a pound ; Yeast half a pint [half a pound, Dub.~\. Mix and expose the mixture to a gentle heat until it begins to rise." Lond., Dub. By exposing a mixture of yeast and flour to a gentle heat, fermentation takes place, and carbonic acid gas is extricated, which causes the mixture to swell, and is the source of its peculiar virtues. The yeast cataplasm is gently stimulant, and is sometimes applied with much benefit to foul and gangrenous ulcers, the fetor of which it corrects, while it is supposed to hasten the sepa- ration of the slough. W. CATAPLASMA LINI. Lond. Flaxseed Cataplasm. "Take of boiling Water a pint; Flaxseed, powdered, sufficient to produce a proper consistence. Mix them." Lond. CATAPLASMA SIMPLEX. Dub. Simple Cataplasm. "Take of the Powder for a Cataplasm any quantity; Boiling Water suf- ficient to form a tepid cataplasm, the surface of which should be covered with olive oil." Dub. The Dublin " Powder for a Cataplasm," consists of one part of flaxseed meal remaining after the expression of the oil, and two parts of oat meal. Flaxseed meal which has not been submitted to pressure is decidedly pre- ferable, and answers an excellent purpose when mixed with boiling water, without other addition, as in the London flaxseed cataplasm. Fresh lard or olive oil, spread upon the surface of the poultice, serves to prevent its adhe- sion to the skin, and to preserve its softness. The use of this and other emollient cataplasms is to relieve the tense condition of the vessels in inflammation, and to promote suppuration. They act simply by their warmth and moisture. The one most extensively employed, perhaps because its materials are always at hand, is that prepared by heating together milk and the crumb of bread. The milk should be quite sweet, and fresh lard should be incorporated with the poultice. Mush made with the meal of Indian corn also forms an excellent emollient cataplasm. W. CATAPLASMA SINAPIS. Lond., Dub. Mustard Cataplasm. "Take of Flaxseed, Mustard [seed], each, in powder, half a pound; boiling Vinegar, sufficient to produce the consistence of a cataplasm." Lond. The Dublin College orders the same seeds in the same proportion, and states that the cataplasm may be made more stimulating by the addition of two ounces of scraped horse-radish. The simplest and most effectual mode of preparing a mustard poultice, is to mix the powdered mustard of the shops with a sufficient quantity of warm water to give it a due consistence. When a weaker preparation is required, an equal portion or more of rye or wheat flour should be added. Vinegar never increases its efficiency, and, in the case of the black mustard seed, has been ascertained by MM. Trousseau and Blanc to diminish its rubefacient power. A boiling temperature is also injurious by interfering with the de- velopement of the volatile oil or acrid principle. (See Sinapis.) These poultices are frequently called sinapisms. They are powerfully rubefacient, exciting a sense of warmth in a few minutes, and usually be- coming insupportably painful in less than an hour. When removed, they leave the surface intensely red and burning; and the inflammation fre- quently terminates in desquamation, or even blistering, if the application has been too long continued. Obstinate ulcers and gangrene also sometimes result part ii. Cataplasmata.—Cerata. 885 from the protracted action of mustard, especially on parts possessed of little vitality. As a general rule, the poultice should be removed when the patient complains much of the pain; and in cases of insensibility should not, unless greatly diluted, be allowed to remain longer than one, or at most two hours; as violent inflammation, followed by obstinate ulceration, is apt to occur upon the establishment of reaction in the system. In children also particular care is necessary to avoid this result. The poultice should be thickly spread on linen, and may be covered with gauze or unsized paper in order to prevent its adhesion to the skin. If hairs are present they should be removed by the razor. Sinapisms may be employed in all cases in which it is desirable to produce a speedy and powerful rubefacient impression. W. CERATA. Cerates. These are unctuous substances consisting of oil or lard, mixed with wax, spermaceti, or resin, to which various medicaments are frequently added. Their consistence, which is intermediate between that of ointments and of plasters, is such that they may be spread at ordinary temperatures upon linen or leather, by means of a spatula, and do not melt or run when applied to the skin. In preparing them, care should usually be taken to select the oil or lard perfectly free from rancidity. The liquefaction should be effected by a very gentle heat, which may be applied by means of a water-bath; and during the refrigeration the mixture should be well agitated, and the portions which solidify on the sides of the vessel should be made to mix again with the liquid portion, until the whole assumes the proper consistence. When a large quan- tity is prepared, the mortar, or other vessel into which the mixture may be poured for cooling, should be previously heated by means of boiling water. W. CERATUM CANTHARIDIS.* U.S. Emplastrum Cantha- ridis, Lond., Ed., Dub. Emplastrum Epispasticum. Cerate of Spanish Flies. Blistering Plaster. "Take of Spanish Flies, in very fine powder, a pound; Yellow Wax, Resin, Lard, each, eight ounces.' To the Wax, Resin, and Lard, previously melted together, add the Spanish Flies, and stir the mixture constantly until cool." U.S. The London College orders a pound of Spanish flies, a pound and a half of wax plaster, and half a pound of lard; the Edinburgh, two ounces, each, of flies, resin, yellow wax, and suet; and the Dublin, a pound of flies, a pound of yellow wax, four ounces of yellow resin, half a pound of suet, and half a pound of lard. This is the common blistering plaster of the shops. As it can be readily spread without the aid of heat, it is properly a cerate, and is therefore correctly named in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. Though essentially the same in character as prepared by the different processes, it varies somewhat in strength. The U. S. and London preparations have the same proportion of flies, but are stronger than those of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges. One of the two former, therefore, is preferable, and our own has this advantage, that it does not require the previous preparation of the wax plaster. Care has usually been considered requisite, in making the cerate, not to injure the flies by heat. It has, therefore, been recommended that they should not be added to the * This is a different preparation from the London Ceratum Cantharidis. For an ac- count of this see Unguentum Cantharidis, Ed. 886 Cerata. part ii. other ingredients, until immediately before these begin to stiffen after having been removed from the fire. But from the experiments of Mr. Donovan (Dublin 3Ied. Press, Aug. 1840), and those of Mr. Wm. Procter (Am. Jour®. of Pharm., xiii. 302), it may be inferred that the vesicating principle of Spanish flies is not injured or dissipated by a heat under 300° F., and that an elevated temperature, instead of being hurtful, is positively advantageous in the preparation of the blistering cerate. The cantharidin is thus more thoroughly dissolved by the oleaginous matter, and consequently brought more efficiently into contact with the skin, than when retained in the interior of the tissue of the fly. Another advantage, stated by Donovan, is that the moisture, which usually exists to a certain extent in all the ingredients of the cerate, is thus dissipated, and the preparation is less apt to become mouldy, or otherwise to undergo decomposition. Instead, therefore, of waiting until the melted wax, resin, and lard begin to stiffen, it is better to add the powder before the vessel is removed from the fire. Mr. Donovan recommends that, as soon as the other ingredients are melted, the powdered flies should be added, and the mixture stirred until the heat is shown by a thermometer to have risen to 250°, when the vessel is to be removed from the fire, and the mixture stirred constantly until cool. At the heat mentioned, ebullition takes place in consequence of the escape of the moisture contained in the materials. In the cerate thus prepared, the active matter has been dissolved by the lard, and the powder may be separated, if deemed advisable, by straining the mix- ture before it solidifies. Care should be taken that the temperature be not so high as to decompose the ingredients; and it would be better to keep it within 212° by means of a water-bath, than to incur any risk from its excess. Vio- lent irritation and even vesication of the face of the operator are stated to have resulted from exposure to the vapours of the liquid, at a temperature of 250°. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., ii. 391.) It is desirable also that the flies should be very finely pulverized. Powdered euphorbium is said to be sometimes fraudulently substituted for a portion of the flies. The cerate will always raise a blister in ordinary conditions of the system, if the flies are good, and not injured in the preparation. It should be spread on soft leather, though linen or even paper will answer the purpose when that is not to be had. An elegant mode of preparing it for use is to spread a piece of leather, of a proper size, first with adhesive plaster, and afterwards with the cerate, leaving a margin of the former uncovered, in order that it may adhere to the skin. Heat is not requisite, and should not be employed in spreading the cerate. Some sprinkle powdered flies upon the surface of the plaster, press them lightly with a roller, and then shake off the portion which has not adhered; but, if the flies originally employed were good, this addition is superfluous. Upon the application of the plaster, the skin should be moistened with warm vinegar or other liquid; and a good rule is to cover the surface of the plaster closely with very thin gauze or unsized paper, which prevents any of the cerate from adhering to the cuticle, and is thought by some to diminish its liability to occasion strangury. In the cases of adults, when the full ac- tion of the flies is desired, and the object is to produce a permanent effect, the application should be continued for twelve hours, and on the scalp for twenty-four hours. In very delicate persons, however, or those subject to strangury, or upon parts of a loose texture, or when the object is merely to produce a blister to be healed as quickly as possible, the plaster should re- main no longer than is necessary for the production of full redness of the skin, which generally occurs in five or six hours, or even in a shorter time. It should then be removed, and followed by a bread and milk poultice, or some other emollient dressing, under which the cuticle rises, and a full blis- PART II. Cerata. 887 ter is usually produced. By this management the patient will generally escape strangury, and the blister will very quickly heal after the discharge of the serum.* In young children, cantharides sometimes produce alarming and even fatal ulceration, if too long applied. From two to four hours are usually sufficient for any desirable purpose. When the head, or other very hairy part is to be blistered, an interval of ten or twelve hours should, if pos- sible, be allowed between the shaving of the part and the application of the plaster; so that the abrasions may heal, and some impediment be offered to the absorption of the active principle of the flies. After the blister has been formed, it should be opened at the most depending parts, and, the cuticle being allowed to remain, should be dressed with simple cerate; but, if it be desirable to maintain the discharge for a short time, resin cerate should be used, and the cuticle removed, if it can be done without inconvenience. When it is desirable that the blistered surface should heal as soon as possible, and with the least inconvenience to the patient, Dr. Maclagan recommends a dress- ing of cotton wadding; an emollient poultice being first applied for two hours after the removal of the blistering cerate, the cuticle then cut, and the surface afterwards covered with the cotton, with its raw surface next the skin. Should the dressing become soaked with the serous discharge, so much of the cotton may be removed as can be done without disturbing the cuticle, and a new batch applied. The cotton is to be allowed to remain until the old cuticle spon- taneously separates. The effects of an issue may be obtained by employing savine ointment, or the ointment of Spanish flies, as a dressing. If much in- flammation take place in the blistered surface, it may be relieved by emollient poultices, or weak lead-water. Where there is an obstinate indisposition to heal, we have found nothing so effectual as the cerate of subacetate of lead, diluted with an equal weight of simple cerate. When deep and extensive ulceration occurs in consequence of general debility, bark or sulphate of quinia should be used, with nutritious aliment. Various preparations of cantharides have been proposed and employed as substitutes for the cerate. They consist for the most part of cantharidin, more or less pure, either dissolved in olive oil and applied to the skin by means of a piece of paper saturated with it, or incorporated with wax and spread in a very thin layer upon fine waxed cloth, silk, or paper, constituting the blistering cloth, blistering paper, vesicating taffetas, &c, of the shops. The advantages of these preparations are that they occupy less space, are more portable, and, being very pliable, are more easily adapted to irregularities of the surface. Absolutely pure cantharidin is expensive and not requisite; as extracts of cantharides, made with ether, alcohol, or boiling water, will answer every purpose. Henry and Guibourt give the following formula. Digest powdered cantharides in sulphuric ether, distil off the ether, evaporate the residue by means of a salt-water bath until ebullition ceases, melt the oily mass which remains with twice its weight of wax, and spread the mixture upon waxed cloth. The waxed cloth may be prepared by spreading upon linen or muslin a mixture composed of 8 parts of white wax, 4 of olive oil, and 1 of turpentine, melted together. An extract of cantharides, of a buttery consistence, said to act very efficiently when applied by means of paper * Dr. M.B. Smith, of Philadelphia, informed us that he had frequently employed uva ursi as a preventive of strangury from blisters, and had never found it to fail. He gave a small wineglassful of the officinal decoction (see Decoctum Uva Ursi) every hour, com- mencing two hours after the application of the blister. Camphor is sometimes incorpo- rated with the blistering cerate to prevent strangury, though with doubtful effect. A plan proposed by M. Vee is to spread over the surface of the plaster, when ready for delivery, by means of the finger, a saturated solution of camphor in ether. The ether evaporates, leaving a thin coating of camphor uniformly diffused. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., viii. 68.) 888 Cerata. part ii. greased with it, is prepared by digesting 4 parts of flies with 1 part of strong acetic acid and 16 of alcohol, straining, filtering, and evaporating at a mode- rate heat. A preparation which has received the favourable report of a com- mittee of the Society of Pharmacy, at Paris, is the following, proposed by M. Dubuison. Four parts of a hydro-alcoholic extract of the flies made by ma- ceration, is mixed with an aqueous solution of one part of pure gelatin, so as to obtain a solution of suitable consistence, which is then applied upon a piece of extended waxed cloth, care being taken that the brush should always have the same direction. When the first layer has dried, a second, and a third are to be applied in the same manner. The gelatin renders the cloth more adhesive and less deliquescent. The hydro-alcholic extract is preferred to the alcoholic, because it contains less of the green oil, which does not readily mix with the other ingredients. The committee, however, prefer the aqueous extract, as cheaper and more active. This taffeta has been tried, and found to raise blisters in four hours. (Journ. de Pharm., Se sir., viii. 67.) A strong decoction of the flies in olive oil or oil of turpentine, applied by means of pa- per, would probably answer a similar purpose with these more elaborate pre- parations. But none of them is likely to supersede the officinal cerate. For very speedy vesication, an infusion of the flies in strong acetic acid is some- times employed. (See Acetum Cantharidis.) It is said that the flies, by ebullition with water, are deprived of their pro- perty of producing strangury, while their vesicating powers remain unaltered. (Paris's Pharmacologia.) Dr. Theophilus Beasly, of Philadelphia, was in the habit of employing a cerate made with cantharides prepared in this man- ner, and never knew it to produce strangury in more than two or three in- stances. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iv. 185.) In a letter addressed to one of the authors by Dr. James Couper, of Newcastle, Delaware, a similar method of preparing the flies is recommended as an expedient against stran- gury, both from his own experience and that of the late Dr. Groom, of Elkton, Maryland, from whom he derived his knowledge of the plan. Off. Prep. Emplastrum Picis cum Cantharide, U S., Dub. W. CERATUM CETACEI. U.S., Lond. Ceratum Simplex. Ed. Unguentum Cetacei. Dub. Spermaceti Cerate. "Take of Spermaceti an ounce; White Wax, three ounces; Olive Oil six fluidounces. Melt together the Spermaceti and Wax : then add the Oil pre- viously heated, and stir the mixture until cool." U S. The London College directs two ounces of spermaceti, eight ounces of white wax, and a pint [Imp. meas.] of olive oil; the Edinburgh, six parts of olive oil, three parts of white wax, and one part of spermaceti; the Dublin, half a pound of white wax, a pound of spermaceti, and three pounds of lard. The direction to heat the oil before adding it to the other ingredients is peculiar to the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias. If added cold, it is apt to produce an irregular congelation of the wax and spermaceti, and thus to render the preparation lumpy. This cerate is employed as a dressing for blisters, excoriated surfaces, and wounds; and as the basis of more active preparations. When the ingredients are pure and sweet, it is perfectly free from irritating properties. Off. Prep. Ceratum Cantharidis, Lond.; Ceratum Calaminae, Ed. W. CERATUM HYDRARGYRI COMPOSITUM. Lond. Com- pound Cerate of Mercury. "Take of Strong Mercurial Ointment, Soap Cerate, each, four ounces; Camphor an ounce. Rub them together until they are incorporated." Lond. This cerate is used as a discutient application to indolent tumours. W. PART II. Cerata. 889 CERATUM PLUMBI SUBACETATIS. U.S. Ceratum Plum- bi Compositum. Lond. Cerate of Subacetate of Lead. (xoularaVs Cerate. "Take of Solution of Subacetate of Lead two fluidounces and a half; White Wax four ounces; Olive Oil nine fluidounces; Camphor half a drachm. Mix the Wax, previously melted, with eight fluidounces of the Oil; then remove the mixture from the fire, and, when it begins to thicken, gradually pour in the Solution of Subacetate of Lead, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula till it becomes cool. Lastly, add the Camphor dissolved in the remainder of the Oil and mix." U S. ^ The above process is that of the former London Pharmacopoeia. In tne last edition of that work, three fluidounces of the solution of subacetate of lead, and half a pint of olive oil, were substituted for the quantities before em- ployed, the process remaining in other respects unaltered. But, when it is con- sidered that the London College now employs the Imperial instead of the wine measure, the change will be seen to be less than it might otherwise appear. This preparation received the name by which it is commonly known from M. Goulard, by whom it was employed and recommended. It is used to dry up excoriations, to relieve the inflammation of burns, scalds, and chilblains, and to remove cutaneous eruptions. We have found it more effectual than any other application to blistered surfaces indisposed to heal; and, on the re- commendation of the late Dr. Parrish, have used it in the following combination with advantage in various cutaneous eruptions of a local character. Take of cerate of subacetate of lead, simple cerate, each, half an ounce; calomel, pow- dered opium, each, a drachm ; mix them. The same preparation, without the opium, was a favourite remedy with the late Dr. Wistar in similar complaints. W. CERATUM RESINiE. U.S., Lond. Unguentum Resinosum. Ed. Unguentum Resinae Alb,e. Dub. Resin Cerate. Basilicon Ointment. " Take of Resin five ounces; Lard eight ounces; Yellow Wax two ounces. Melt them together, strain through linen, and stir them constantly until cool." U.S. The proportions directed by the Edinburgh College are the same as the above. The London College orders of resin and wax, each, a pound, and of olive oil sixteen fluidounces. The resin and wax are melted together over a slow fire, the oil then added, and the mixture while hot strained through linen. By the Dublin process, four pounds of lard, two pounds of white resin, and one pound of yellow wax are made into an ointment, and strained while hot through a sieve. The straining is directed in consequence of the impurities which resin often contains. Resin cerate, commonly called basilicon ointment, is much used as a gently stimulant application to blistered surfaces, indolent ulcers, burns, scalds, and chilblains. We have found no application more effectual in dis- posing the ulcers which follow burns to heal. Off. Prep. Ceratum Sabinae, U S.; Linimentum Terebinthinae, U S., Ed., Dub.; Unguentum Cantharidis, U S., Lond., Ed,, Dub.; Unguentum Cupri Subacetatis, Dub., Ed. W. CERATUM RESINS COMPOSITUM. U.S. Compound Resin Cerate. " Take of Resin, Suet, Yellow Wax, each, a pound; Turpentine half a pound; Flaxseed Oil half a pint. Melt them together, strain through Unen, and stir them constantly until cool." U. S. 890 Cerata. part ii. This is somewhat more stimulating than the preceding, but is applicable to similar purposes, particularly to the treatment of indolent ulcers. Under the name of Deshler's salve, it is popularly employed in some parts of the United States. W. ■ CERATUM SABINiE. U.S., Lond., Ed. Unguentum Sabine Dub. Savine Cerate. " Take of Savine, in powder, two ounces; Resin Cerate a pound. Mix the Savine with the Cerate previously softened." U S. The London College orders one pound of fresh savine, bruised, to be mixed with half a pound of wax and two pounds of lard previously melted together, and the whole to be strained through linen. The Edinburgh College directs the same ingredients, in the same proportions, to be boiled together till the leaves become friable, and then strained. The Dublin College employs only half a pound of the leaves, which it directs to be boiled in the lard till they become crisp. The lard is then to be strained with expression, the wax added, and the whole melted together. As the savine used in this country is generally brought from Europe in the dried state, we are compelled to resort to the mode of preparing the cerate directed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. Nor have we found the preparation thus made to be " intolerably acrid and almost caustic," as Dr. Duncan describes it. On the contrary, it answers very well the purpose for which it is used, that of maintaining the discharge from blistered surfaces. A cerate prepared in the same manner from the leaves of the red cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) is sometimes substituted for that of savine, but is less efficient. Prepared according to the processes of the British Colleges, savine cerate has a fine deep-green colour, and the odour of the leaves. It should be kept in closely covered vessels, as its virtues are impaired by exposure. Savine cerate is preferable to the ointment of Spanish flies as a dressing for perpetual blisters, from the circumstance that it has no tendency to pro- duce strangury. The white coating which forms during its use upon the blistered surface should be occasionally removed, as it prevents the contact of the cerate. It is sometimes applied to seton cords, with the view of increas- ing the discharge. W. CERATUM SAPONIS. U.S., Lond. Soap Cerate. "Take of Solution of Subacetate of Lead two pints; Soap six ounces; White Wax ten ounces; Olive Oil a pint. Boil the Solution of Subacetate of Lead with the Soap, over a slow fire, to the consistence of honey; then transfer to a water-bath, and evaporate until all the moisture is dissipated; lastly add the Wax previously melted with the Oil, and mix." U S. " Take of Soap ten ounces ; Wax twelve ounces and a half; Oxide of Lead [litharge], in powder, fifteen ounces; Olive Oil a pint [Imperial measure]; Vinegar a gallon [Imp. meas.]. Boil the Vinegar with the Oxide of Lead, over a slow fire, constantly stirring until they unite; then add the Soap, and again boil in a similar manner, until all the moisture is dissipated; lastly, with these mix the Wax previously dissolved in the Oil." Lond. The present U. S. formula is that of Mr. Durand, given in the American Journal of Pharmacy (vol. 8, p. 27), and was substituted, in the last edition of the Pharmacopoeia, for the London formula, which had been adopted in the previous editions. It has the advantages of being more precise in the direc- tions, more easy of execution, and more uniform in its results. It yields a perfectly white cerate, having the same properties as the London, and a finer appearance. The solution of subacetate of lead, which in the U. S. process is taken already prepared, results, in the London, from the action of the vinegar upon the litharge. In both processes, the subacetate of lead is decomposed by part ii. Cerata.—Confectiones. 891 the soap, the soda of which unites with the acetic acid, and the oleaginous acids with the oxide of lead, in the same manner as in the formation of the Emplastrum Plumbi. The wax and oil subsequently added merely serve to give due consistence to the preparation. Soap cerate is thought to be cooling and sedative; and is sometimes used in scrofulous swellings and other instances of chronic external inflammations. It was formerly employed by Mr. Pott as a dressing for fractured limbs; but answers no other purpose in these cases than to yield mechanical support. Off. Prep. Ceratum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond. W. CERATUM SIMPLEX. U.S. Ceratum. Lond. Simple Ce- rate. "Take of Lard eight ounces; White Wax four ounces. Melt them toge- ther, and stir them constantly until cool." U. S. The London College directs that four fluidounces of olive oil be mixed with four ounces of wax previously melted. We prefer the formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. Lard is preferable to olive oil, as it may always be had perfectly sweet, and is the mildest appli- cation which can be made to irritated surfaces. In the preparation of this cerate, peculiar care should be taken that the oleaginous ingredient be entirely free from rancidity, and that the heat employed be not sufficient to produce the slightest decomposition; for the value of the preparation depends on its per- fect blandness. It is used for dressing blisters, wounds, &c, in all cases in which the object is to exclude the external air and preserve the moisture of the part, and at the same time to avoid all irritation. It is sometimes improperly employed as the vehicle of substances to be applied by inunction. For this purpose lard should be used in winter, and simple ointment in summer; the cerate having too firm a consistence. W. CERATUM ZINCI CARBONATIS. U.S. Ceratum Cala- mine. Lond., Ed. Unguentum Calamine. Dub. Cerate of Carbonate of Zinc. Cerate of Calamine. Turner s Cerate. "Take of Prepared Carbonate of Zinc, Yellow Wax, each, half a pound; Lard two pounds. Melt the Wax and Lard together, and, when upon cool- ing they begin to thicken, add the Carbonate of Zinc, and stir the mixture constantly until cool." U S. The London College orders half a pound of [prepared] calamine, half a pound of wax, and sixteen fluidounces of olive oil; the Edinburgh, one part of prepared calamine, and five parts of simple cerate \_Ceratum Cetacei, U £.]; the Dublin, one pound of calamine, and five pounds of ointment of yellow wax. This cerate is an imitation of that recommended by Turner. It is mildly astringent, and is much used in excoriations and superficial ulcerations, pro- duced by the chafing of the skin, irritating secretions, burns, or other causes. CONFECTIONES. U. S., Lond. Confections. Confectiones ; Conserve ; Electuaria. Dub. Conserves and Electuaries. Ed. Under the general title of Confections, the Pharmacopoeias of the United States and of London include all those preparations having the form of a soft solid, in which one or more medicinal substances are incorporated with saccharine matter, with a view either to their preservation or more conve- 892 Confectiones. PART II. nient administration. The Edinburgh College retains the old division into Conserves and Electuaries; and, as there is some ground for the distinction, we shall make a few general remarks upon each division, before proceeding to the consideration of the individual preparations. Conserves consist of recent vegetable substances and refined sugar beat into a uniform mass. By means of the sugar, the vegetable matter is ena- bled to resist for some time the decomposition to which it would otherwise be exposed in the undried state, and the properties of the recent plant are thus retained to a certain extent unaltered. But, as active medicines even thus treated undergo some change, and those which lose their virtues by desiccation cannot be long preserved, the few conserves now retained are intended rather as convenient vehicles of other substances than for separate exhibition. The sugar used in their preparation should be reduced to a fine powder by pounding and sifting, as otherwise it will not mix uniformly with the other ingredient. Electuaries are mixtures consisting of medicinal substances, especially dry powders, combined with syrup or honey, in order to render them less unpleasant to the taste, and more convenient for internal use. They are usually prepared extemporaneously; and it is only when their complex nature renders it convenient, to keep them ready made in the shops, or some peculiarity in the mode of mixing the ingredients requires attention, that they become proper objects for pharmaceutic direction. Their consistence should not be so soft, on the one hand, as to allow the ingredients to separate, nor so firm, on the other, as to prevent them from being swallowed without mastication. Different substances require different proportions of syrup. Light vegetable powders usually require twice their weight, gum-resins two- thirds of their weight, resins somewhat less, mineral substances about half their weight, and deliquescent salts not more than one-tenth. Should the electuary be found, after having been kept for a short time, to swell up and emit gas, it should be beat over again in a mortar, so that any portion of the sugar which may have crystallized may be again accurately incorporated with the other ingredients. Should it, on the contrary, become dry and hard from the mutual reaction of its constituents, more syrup should be added, so as to give it the requisite consistence. If the dryness result from the mere evapo- ration of the aqueous part, water should be added instead of syrup, and the same remark is applicable to the conserves. To prevent the hardening of electuaries, the French writers recommend the use of syrup prepared from brown sugar, which is less apt to crystallize than that made from the refined. Molasses would answer the same purpose; but its taste might be considered objectionable. Some persons employ honey, but this is not always acceptable to the stomach. W. CONFECTIO AMYGDALAE. Lond. Conserva Amygdalarum. Ed. Confectio Amygdalarum. Dub. Almond Confection. " Take of Sweet Almonds eight ounces; Gum Arabic, in powder, an ounce; Sugar four ounces. Having macerated the Almonds in cold water, and deprived them of their external coat, beat all the ingredients together till they are thoroughly incorporated. The confection may be kept longer, if the Almonds, Gum Arabic, and Sugar, separately rubbed, should be after- wards mixed. Then, whenever the confection is to be used, beat the whole together until incorporated." Lond. The directions of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges are essentially the same as the above, except that these Colleges do not admit the alternative of having the ingredients separately rubbed, and afterwards mixed. This preparation was adopted as affording a speedy method of preparing PART II. Confectiones. 893 the almond mixture, which when made immediately from the Almonds requires much time, and which cannot be kept ready made in the shops. But, from its liability to be injured by keeping, it has been omitted in the last edition of our Pharmacopoeia, which directs the almond mixture to be made imme- diately from the ingredients. (See 3listura Amygdalae.) W. CONFECTIO AROMATICA. U. S., Lond., Dub. Electuarium Aromaticum. Ed. Aromatic Confection. " Take of Aromatic Powder five ounces and a half; Saffron, in powder, half an ounce; Syrup of Orange Peel six ounces; Clarified Honey two ounces. Rub the Aromatic Powder with the Saffron; then add the Syrup and Honey, and beat them together until thoroughly mixed." U. S. "Take of Cinnamon, Nutmegs, each, two ounces; Cloves an ounce; Car- damom half an ounce; Saffron two ounces; Prepared Chalk sixteen ounces; Sugar two pounds. Rub the dry ingredients together to a very fine powder, and keep them in a closed vessel. But when the confection is to be used, add water gradually, and mix till a thorough incorporation is effected." Lond. The Dublin formula corresponds with that of the former London Pharma- copoeia, which directed the same ingredients as in the present formula, but added a pint of water to the dry materials, and incorporated the whole to- gether at one time. The Edinburgh College directs one part of their aromatic powder, and two parts of syrup of orange peel, to be mixed, and triturated into a uniform pulp. The preparation of the United States Pharmacopoeia contains cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and nutmeg, without carbonate of lime, which appears to us to be an unnecessary if not improper ingredient; as it is not always indi- cated in cases which call for the use of the confection, and may be added ex- temporaneously when required. The aromatic confection affords a convenient method of administering the spices which enter into its composition, and an agreeable vehicle for other medicines. It is given in debilitated states of the stomach, alone or as an adjuvant to other substances. The dose is from ten to sixty grains. Off. Prep. Pilulse Digitalis et Scillae, Ed. W. CONFECTIO AURANTII CORTICIS. U.S. Confectio Au- rantii. Lond. Conserva Aurantii. Ed. Confection of Orange Peel. " Take of Fresh Orange Peel, separated from the fruit by grating, a pound; Sugar [refined] three pounds. Beat the Orange Peel with the Sugar gradually added, till they are thoroughly mixed." U. S. The directions of the L/ondon and Edinburgh Colleges correspond with the above. The rind of the bitter orange is intended by these Colleges, that either of the bitter or sweet by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. By the London process, the beating is performed in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle. This confection is sometimes used as a grateful aromatic vehicle or adjunct of tonic and purgative powders. W. CONFECTIO CASSIA. Lond. Electuarium Cassie. Dub. Confection of Cassia. "Take of Cassia [pulp] half a pound; Manna two ounces; Tamarind [pulp] an ounce; Syrup of Roses eight fluidounces. Bruise the Manna, and dissolve it in the Syrup; then mix in the Cassia and Tamarind [pulps], and evaporate to a proper consistence." Lond, The formula of the Dublin College corresponds with that of the London, except that syrup of orange peel is substituted for the syrup of roses. The confection of cassia is slightly laxative; but is seldom if ever prepared 894 Confectiones. PART II. in this country, and might very properly be expunged from the catalogue of Preparations, as it is both feeble and expensive. W. ELECTUARIUM CATECHU. Ed. Electuarium Catechu Compositum. Dub. Electuary of Catechu. " Take of Catechu and Kino, of each, four ounces; Cinnamon and Nut- meg, of each, one ounce; Opium, diffused in a little Sherry, one drachm and a half; Syrup of Red Roses, reduced to the consistence of honey, one pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Pulverize the solids, mix the opium and syrup, then the powders, and beat them thoroughly into a uniform mass." Ed. " Take of Catechu four ounces ; Cinnamon Bark two ounces ; Kino three ounces. Rub these to powder, and add of Turkey Opium, diffused in Spanish White Wine, a drachm and a half; Syrup of Ginger, evaporated to the con- sistence of honey, two pounds and a quarter. Mix them." Dub. These preparations do not essentially differ. They are aromatic and astringent, containing one grain of opium in about two hundred grains of the mass; and may be advantageously given in diarrhoea and chronic dysentery, in the dose of half a drachm or a drachm more or less frequently repeated. They may be taken in the form of bolus, or diffused in water. W. CONFECTIO OPII. U.S.,Lond., Dub. Electuarium Opii. Ed. Confection of Opium. " Take of Opium, in powder, four drachms and a half; Aromatic Powder six ounces; Clarified Honey fourteen ounces. Rub the Opium with the Aro- matic Powder, then add the Honey, and beat them together until thoroughly mixed." U.S. " Take of Opium, in Powder, six drachms; Long Pepper an ounce; Ginger two ounces; Caraway three ounces; Tragacanth, in powder, two drachms; Syrup sixteen fluidounces [Imperial measure]. Rub them together to a very fine powder, and keep them in a covered vessel. But when the Confection is to be used, add sixteen fluidounces of Syrup previously heated, and mix." Lond The Dublin College takes the same dry materials, and in the same quan- tities as the London; but first rubs the opium with a pound of heated syrup, and then mixes with these the remaining articles reduced to powder. " Take of Aromatic Powder, six ounces; Senega, in fine powder, three ounces; Opium, diffused in a little Sherry, half an ounce; Syrup of Ginger a pound. Mix them together, and beat them into an electuary." Ed, This confection was intended as a substitute for those exceedingly complex and unscientific preparations which were formerly known by the names of the- riaca and mithridate, and which have been expelled from modern pharmacy. The seneka, directed in the last edition of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, was probably put inadvertently for serpentaria, directed in the old Latin edition. The former medicine has no property which adapts it to this position. The preparation is a combination of opium with spices, which render it more stimu- lant, and more grateful to a debilitated stomach. It is given in atonic gout, flatulent colic, diarrhoea unattended with inflammation, and in various other diseases requiring the use of a stimulant narcotic. Added to Peruvian bark or sulphate of quinia, it increases considerably the efficacy of this remedy in obstinate cases of intermittent fever. One grain of opium is contained in about thirty-six grains of the U. S. and London confections, in twenty-five grains of the Dublin, and in forty-three of the Edinburgh. W. CONFECTIO PIPERIS NIGRI. Lond., Dub. Electuarium Piperis. Ed. Confection of Black Pepper. " Take of Black Pepper, Elecampane, each a pound; Fennel [seeds] three pounds; Honey, Sugar [refined], each two pounds. Rub the dry ingredients PART II. Confectiones. 895 together into a very fine powder, and keep them in a covered vessel. But whenever the confection is to be used, add the Honey, and beat them until thoroughly incorporated." Lond. The Dublin College takes the same materials, in the same proportions, and in like manner reduces them to powder; but completes the process by imme- diately incorporating the honey with the other ingredients. The Edinburgh process agrees with the Dublin, except in substituting powdered liquorice root for elecampane. This preparation was intended as a substitute for Ward's paste, which ac- quired some reputation in Great Britain as a remedy in piles and ulcers of the rectum. To do good, it must be continued, according to Mr. Brodie, for two, three, or four months. The dose is from one to two drachms repeated two or three times a day. Its stimulating properties render it inapplicable to cases attended with much inflammation. W. CONFECTIO ROS^. U. S. Confectio Rose Gallice. Lond. Conserva Rose. Ed., Dub. Confection of Roses. Conserve of Roses. "Take of Red Roses, in powder, four ounces; Sugar [refined], in powder, thirty ounces; Clarified Honey six ounces; Rose Water eight fluidounces. Rub the Roses with the Rose Water at a boiling heat; then add gradually the Sugar and Honey, and beat them together until thoroughly mixed." U. S. " Take of Red Roses [fresh] a pound; Sugar [refined] three pounds. Beat the Rose petals in a marble mortar; then add the Sugar, and beat again until they are incorporated." Lond. The Dublin process is the same as the London. The Edinburgh College directs the petals to be beaten into a pulp with the gradual addition of twice their weight of white sugar. In the British processes, the unblown petals only are used, and these should be deprived of their claws; in other words, the rose buds should be cut off a short distance above their base, and the lower portion rejected. In the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, dried roses were substituted for the fresh, as the latter are not brought to our market. The process is very similar to that of the French Codex. This confection is slightly astringent, but is almost exclusively used as a vehicle of other medicines, or to impart consistence to the pilular mass. The Edinburgh College employs it in most of their officinal pills. Off. Prep. Pilulae Hydrargyri, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. CONFECTIO ROS^E CANINiE. Lond. Conserva Rose Fruc- tus. Ed. Confection of Dog Rose. " Take of Dog Rose [pulp] a pound; Sugar [refined], in powder, twenty ounces. Expose the Pulp to a gentle heat in an earthen vessel; then add the Sugar gradually, and rub them together until they are thoroughly mixed." Lond, " Take any convenient quantity of hips, carefully deprived of their carpels, beat them to a fine pulp, adding gradually thrice their weight of white Sugar." Ed. This preparation is acidulous and refrigerant, and is used in Europe for forming more active medicines into pills and electuaries. Off. Prep. Pilulae Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond. W. CONFECTIO RUT^. Lond. Conserva Rute. Dub. Con- fection of Rue. " Take of dried Rue, Caraway, Laurel Berries, each, an ounce and a half; Sagapenum half an ounce; Black Pepper two drachms; Honey [clarified] 896 Confectiones. part ii. sixteen ounces. Rub the dry ingredients together to a very fine powder, and preserve them. Then, as often as the Confection is to be used, add the Honey, and mix the whole together." Lond. The Dublin process differs only in the immediate addition of the honey to the other ingredients. The confection of rue is antispasmodic, and in Great Britain is employed in the form of enema in hysterical complaints and flatulent colic; but in this country it is not used. From a scruple to a drachm may be administered, diffused in half a pint of warm mucilaginous fluid. W. CONFECTIO SCAMMONII. Lond. Electuarium Scammonii. Dub. Confection of Scammony. " Take of Scammony, in powder, an ounce and a half; Cloves, bruised, Ginger, in powder, each, six drachms; Oil of Caraway half a fluidrachm; Syrup of Roses a sufficient quantity. Rub the dry ingredients into a very fine powder, and keep them; then, when the Confection is to be used, pour in the Syrup, and again rub them; finally add the Oil of Caraway, and mix them all." Lond. The Dublin College employs the same materials in the same quantities, but immediately incorporates the syrup and oil with the dry ingredients. This confection is actively cathartic in the dose of half a drachm or a drachm; but is very little used, and was omitted in the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopceia. The proportion of scammony is uncertain, from the indefinite quantity of syrup employed. W. CONFECTIO SENM1. U.S., Lond. Electuarium Senne. Ed., Dub. Confection of Senna. Lenitive Electuary. " Take of Senna eight ounces; Coriander [seed] four ounces; Liquorice Root, bruised, three ounces; Figs a pound; Pulp of Prunes, Pulp of Tama- rinds, Pulp of Purging Cassia, each, half a pound; Sugar [refined] two pounds and a half; Water four pints. Rub the Senna and Coriander together, and separate ten ounces of the powder with a sieve. Boil the residue with the Figs and Liquorice Root, in the Water, to one-half; then press out the liquor and strain. Evaporate the strained liquor, by means of a water-bath, to a pint and a half; then add the Sugar and form a syrup. Lastly, rub the Pulps with the syrup gradually added, and, having thrown in the sifted pow- der, beat all together until thoroughly mixed." U S. The London process corresponds with the above. The Edinburgh College directs a pound of the pulp of prunes, and omits the pulps of tamarinds and cassia fistula; but otherwise proceeds in the same manner. The Dublin Col- lege boils a pound of the pulp of prunes, and two ounces of the pulp of tama- rinds, in a pint and a halfof molasses, to the thickness of honey; then adds four ounces of senna in very fine powder, and, when the mixture cools, two drachms of oil of caraway; and, lastly, mixes the whole intimately. The confection of senna, when properly made, is an elegant preparation. The pulp of purging cassia is most conveniently obtained by boiling the bruised pods in water, straining the decoction, and evaporating to the consist- ence of an electuary. The pulp of prunes may be prepared by boiling the fruit in a small quantity of water to soften it, then pressing it through a hair sieve, and evaporating to a proper consistence. The tamarinds, when too dry for immediate use, may be treated in the same manner. In each case, the evaporation should be completed by means of a water-bath, in order to prevent the pulps from being burnt. It is common to omit the cassia pulp in the preparation of the confection, as the pods are not always to be found in the market. But as this is next to senna the most active ingredient, the part ii. Confectiones.—Cuprum. 897 omission is to be regretted; and there is no doubt that a steady demand for the fruit would be met by an abundant supply from the West Indies. This is one of our best and most pleasant laxatives, being admirably adapted to cases of habitual costiveness, especially in pregnant women and persons affected with piles. It is also very useful in the constipation which is apt to attend convalescence from fevers and other acute diseases. The mean dose is two drachms, to be taken at bed-time. W. CUPRUM. Preparations of Copper. CUPRI SUBACETAS PR^EPARATUM. Dub. Prepared Sub- acetate of Copper. " Let the Subacetate of Copper be ground to powder, and the finer parts separated in the manner directed for the preparation of chalk." Dub. The object of this process is, by levigation and elutriation, to reduce ver- digris to the state of a very fine powder. A chemical change is at the same time produced, which was not originally contemplated. The diacetate of copper which it contains, consisting of one equivalent of acid, two equiv. of protoxide, and six of water, is converted by the action of water into a soluble acetate and an insoluble trisacetate. The latter, consisting of one equiv. of acetic acid, three equiv. of protoxide of copper, and one and a half of water, is the Dublin prepared subacetate of copper, which, therefore, dif- fers from commercial verdigris in composition as well as in its state of aggre- gation. (See Cupri Acetas.) This preparation is used only as an escharotic and stimulant application to unhealthy ulcers and obstinate cutaneous erup- tions. Off. Prep. Oxymel Cupri Subacetatis, Dub.; Unguentum Cupri Subace- tatis, Dub. W. CUPRUM AMMONIATUM. U.S., Ed., Dub. Cupri Ammo- nio-Sulphas. Lond. Ammoniated Copper. " Take of Sulphate of Copper half an ounce; Carbonate of Ammonia six drachms. Rub them together in a glass mortar till the effervescence ceases; then wrap the Ammoniated Copper in bibulous paper, and dry it with a gentle heat. Let it be kept in a well-stopped glass bottle." U S. The processes of the British Colleges are essentially the same as the above, the ingredients, proportions, and general mode of operating being identical. The London College orders that the salt be dried in the air, and omits the direction as to the mode of keeping it; the Edinburgh directs that the pro- duct should be first dried in folds of blotting paper, and afterwards by ex- posure for a short time to the air; and the Dublin orders the ingredients to be triturated in an earthenware mortar. When the two salts above mentioned are rubbed together, a reaction takes place between them attended with the extrication of the water of crystalliza- tion of the sulphate of copper, which renders the mass moist, and the simul- taneous escape of carbonic acid gas from the carbonate (sesquicarbonate) of ammonia, which occasions an effervescence. The colour is at the same time altered, passing from the light blue of the powdered sulphate of copper to a beautiful deep azure. The nature of the chemical changes which take place is not precisely known. One of the views which have been taken is, that the blue vitriol parts with a portion of its acid to the ammonia of the carbonate, thus forming a subsulphate of copper and sulphate of ammonia, which are 57 898 Cuprum. PART II. either mixed together, or chemically united in the form of a double salt, the sulphate of copper and ammonia. According to Phillips, the sulphuric acid of the sulphate of copper unites with the ammonia of a portion of the ses- quicarbonate of ammonia; while the carbonic acid of the decomposed sesqui- carbonate partly escapes, and partly combines with the oxide of copper; so that the resulting preparation consists of sulphate of ammonia, carbonate of copper, and undecomposed sesquicarbonate of ammonia. It is highly pro- bable that the Cuprum Ammoniatum, independently of the excess of sesqui- carbonate of ammonia which it may contain, is identical with the crystallized salt obtained by dropping a solution of pure ammonia into a solution of sul- phate of copper till the subsalt first thrown down is dissolved, then concen- trating, and precipitating by alcohol. Now, from the analysis of this salt by Berzelius, it appears to contain one equivalent of sulphuric acid, one of oxide of copper, two of ammonia, and one of water, which may be supposed to be combined in the form of a double salt—the cupro-sulphate of ammonia— consisting of one equiv. of sulphate of ammonia, one of cuprate of ammonia, in which the oxide of copper acts the part of an acid, and one of water of crystallization (NH3,S03+NH3,CuO + HO). But as half an ounce of sulphate of copper would require for such a result somewhat less than the same weight of sesquicarbonate of ammonia, there must be a considerable excess of the latter salt, unless dissipated in the drying process. In the uncertainty which exists as to the precise nature of the preparation, the name of ammoniated copper appears to be as appropriate for a pharmaceutical title as any that could be adopted. This salt has a beautiful deep azure-blue colour, a strong ammoniacal odour, and a styptic, metallic taste. It is soluble in water, and the solution has an alkaline reaction on vegetable colours; but, unless there be an excess of sesquicarbonate of ammonia, the solution deposits subsulphate of copper if much diluted. When exposed to the air it parts with ammonia, and is said to be ultimately converted into sulphate of ammonia and carbonate of copper. This change is apt to occur to a greater or less extent while it is drying. It should not, therefore, be prepared in large quantities at a time, and should be kept in well-closed bottles. By heat, the whole of it is dissi- pated, except the oxide of copper. Arsenious acid precipitates a green arsenite of copper from its solution. Potassa, soda, lime-water, and the acids are incompatible with it. Medical Properties and Uses. Ammoniated copper is tonic, and is thought to exercise an influence over the nervous system which renders it antispas- modic. It has been much employed in epilepsy, in which it was recommended by Cullen. There is good reason to believe that it has occasionally effected cures; but like all other remedies in that complaint it very frequently fails. It has also been used in chorea, hysteria, and worms; and by Swediaur as an injection in gonorrhoea and leucorrhcea. In over-doses it produces vomiting, and the poisonous effects which result from the other preparations of copper. (See Cuprum.) It is said, however, to be less apt to excite nausea. The dose is a quarter or half a grain, repeated twice a day, and gradually in- creased to four or five grains. It may be given in pill or solution. The medicine should not be very long continued without interruption; according to Cullen, not longer than a month. Off. Prep. Cupri Ammoniati Aqua, Dub., Lond.; Pilulae Cupri Ammo- niati, Ed. W. part ii. Cuprum.—Decocta. 899 CUPRI AMMONIATI AQUA. Dub. Liquor Cupri Ammonio- Sulphatis. Lond. Cupri Ammoniati Solutio. Ed. Solution of Ammoniated Copper. " Take of Ammonio-Sulphate of Copper a drachm ; Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Ammonio-Sulphate of Copper in the Water, and filter." Loud. The Edinburgh formula is the same as the London. The Dublin College employs one part of the salt to one hundred parts of distilled water. By the quantity of water employed in these processes, the ammoniated cop- per, unless it contain an excess of carbonate of ammonia, which it probably does when recently prepared, is said by Mr. Phillips to be decomposed, with a precipitation of one-half of the oxide of copper. According to the same author, a smaller portion of water dissolves it perfectly. This solution is sometimes employed as a stimulant to foul and indolent ulcers, and, diluted with water, as an application to the cornea when affected with specks or opacity; but it is probably in no respect superior for these pur- poses to a solution of sulphate of copper, and scarcely deserves a place among the officinal preparations. W. DECOCTA. Decoctions. Decoctions are solutions of vegetable principles, obtained by boiling the sub- stances containing these principles in water. Vegetables generally yield their soluble ingredients more readily and in larger proportion to water maintained at the point of ebullition, than to the same liquid at a lower temperature. Hence decoction is occasionally preferred to infusion as a mode of extracting the virtues of plants, when the call for the remedy is urgent, and the greatest possible activity in the preparation is desirable. The process should be con- ducted in a covered vessel, so as to confine the vapour over the surface of the liquid, and thus prevent the access of atmospheric air, which sometimes exerts an injurious agency upon the active principle. The boiling, moreover, should not, as a general rule, be long continued ; as the ingredients of the vegetable are apt to react on each other, and thus lose, to a greater or less extent, their original character. The substance submitted to decoction, should if dry be either powdered or well bruised, if fresh should be sliced, so that it may pre- sent an extensive surface to the action of the solvent; and previous maceration for some time in water is occasionally useful by overcoming the cohesion of the vegetable fibre. All vegetable substances are not proper objects for decoction. In many the active principle is volatile at a boiling heat, in others it undergoes some change unfavourable to its activity, and in a third set is associated with inefficient or nauseous principles, which, though insoluble or but slightly soluble in cool water, are abundantly extracted by that liquid at the boiling temperature, and thus encumber, if they do not positively injure the preparation. In all these instances, infusion is preferable to decoction. Besides, by the latter process, more matter is often dissolved than the water can retain in solution, so that upon cooling a precipitation takes place, and the liquid is rendered turbid. When the active principle is thus dissolved in excess, the decoction should always be strained while hot; so that the matter which separates on cooling, may be mixed again with the fluid by agitation at the time of administering the remedy. In compound decoctions, the ingredients may be advantageously added at 900 Decocta. PART II. different periods of the process, according to the length of boiling requisite for extracting their virtues; and, should any one of them owe its activity to a vo- latile principle, the proper plan is, at the close of the process, to pour upon it the boiling decoction, and allow the liquor to cool in a covered vessel. As a general rule, glass or earthenware vessels should be preferred; as those made of metal are sometimes corroded by the ingredients of the decoction, which thus becomes contaminated. Vessels of clean cast-iron or of common tin are preferable to those of copper, brass, or zinc; but iron pots should not be used when astringent vegetables are concerned. Decoctions, from the mutual reaction of their constituents, as well as from the influence of the air, are apt to spoil in a short time. Hence they should be prepared only when wanted for use, and should not be kept, in warm weather, for a longer period than forty-eight hours. W. DECOCTUM ALOES COMPOSITUM. Lond., Dub. Decoc- tum Aloes. Ed. Compound Decoction of Aloes. " Take of Extract of Liquorice half an ounce; Carbonate of Potassa tico scruples; Hepatic Aloes in powder, Myrrh in powder, Saffron, each, a drachm ; Water a pint. Boil together to twelve ounces, and strain; then add four fluid- ounces of Compound Tincture of Cardamom." Dub. The Edinburgh process may be considered as identical with the Dublin, except that a choice is allowed between the socotrine and hepatic aloes. " Take of Extract of Liquorice seven drachms; Carbonate of Potassa a drachm ; Aloes in powder, Myrrh in powder, Saffron, each, a drachm and a half; Compound Tincture of Cardamom seven fluidounces; Distilled Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Boil the Liquorice, Carbonate of Po- tassa, Aloes, Myrrh, and Saffron with the Water to a pint, and strain; then add the Compound Tincture of Cardamom." Lond. There is no essential difference between the two processes.- That of the Dublin College is preferable for practical purposes in this country, as the mea- sures correspond with our own; while those of the London and Edinburgh Colleges, adopted at the last revision of their Pharmacopoeias, being divisions of the British Imperial gallon, are wholly inapplicable here. The aloes, myrrh, and carbonate of potassa should be rubbed together before the addition of the other ingredients. The effect of the alkaline carbonate is, by combining with the resin of the myrrh, and the insoluble portion (apotheme of Berzelius) of the aloes, to render them more soluble in water; while the liquorice assists in the suspension of the portion not actually dissolved. The tincture of cardamom is useful not only by its cordial property, but also by preventing spontaneous decomposition. Long boiling impairs the purgative property of aloes; and the same effect is thought to be produced, to a certain extent, by the alkalies, which certainly qualify its operation, and render it less apt to irritate the rectum. This de- coction, therefore, is milder as a cathartic than aloes itself, and not so liable to produce or aggravate hemorrhoidal disease. At the same time it is more tonic and cordial from the presence of the myrrh, saffron, and cardamom, and de- rives antacid properties from the carbonate of potassa. It is given as a gentle cathartic, tonic, and emmenagogue; and is especially useful in dyspepsia, habitual constipation, and those complicated cases in which suppressed or re- tained menstruation is connected with enfeebled digestion and a languid state of bowels. The dose is from half a fluidounce to two fluidounces. The de- coction should not be combined in prescription with acids, acidulous salts, or other saline bodies which are incompatible with the alkaline carbonate employed in its preparation. W. PART II. Decocta. 901 DECOCTUM ALTHiEiE, Dub. Mistura Althee. Ed. De- coction of Marsh Malloio. " Take of the Herb and Root of Marsh Mallow, dried and bruised, four ounces ; Raisins, stoned, two ounces; Water seven pints. Boil down to five pints, and strain the liquor; then set it by till the dregs have subsided, and decant." Dub. The Edinburgh College takes four ounces of the root, two ounces of raisins and five pints [Imperial measure] of boiling water, and proceeds as above, boiling down to three pints. This decoction is a simple mucilage flavoured with raisins; and may be used advantageously as a drink, in all cases in which demulcents are indi- cated. W. DECOCTUM CETRARLZE. U.S., Lond. DecoctumLichenis Islandici. Dub. Decoction of Lceland Moss. "Take of Iceland Moss half an ounce; Water a pint and a half. Boil down to a pint, and strain with compression." U S. The London College orders five drachms of the moss with a pint and a half of water to be boiled to a pint and strained; but, as the Imperial mea- sure is used in the process, the proportion is in fact equivalent to about half an ounce to the apothecaries' pint. By the Dublin process, half an ounce of the moss is digested for two hours in a close vessel with a pint of boiling water, then boiled for fifteen minutes, and the liquor strained while hot. As the bitter principle is dissolved along with the starch of the moss, this decoction unites an unpleasant flavour to its demulcent properties; but the plan which has been proposed of first extracting the bitterness by maceration in water, or a very weak solution of an alkaline carbonate, and afterwards preparing the decoction, is inadmissible; as the peculiar virtues which distin- guish the medicine from the ordinary demulcents are thus entirely lost. (See Cetraria.) A pint of the decoction may be taken in divided doses during the twenty-four hours. W. DECOCTUM CHAM.EMELI COMPOSITUM. Dub. Decoc- tion of Chamomile. "Take of dried Chamomile Flowers half an ounce; Fennel Seeds two drachms; Water a pint. Boil for a short time, and strain." Dub. In preparing this decoction, the aromatic should not be added till near the end of the process. The virtues of chamomile are best extracted by infusion. Though the bitter principle is taken up, the aroma is dissipated by boiling. The decoction is better calculated for fomentations and enemata than for in- ternal use. W. DECOCTUM CHIMAPHILA. U.S., Lond. Decoctum Py- ROLE. Dub. Decoction of Pipsissewa. Decoction of Winter Green. " Take of Pipsissewa, bruised, an ounce; Water a pint and a half. Boil down to a pint, and strain." U S. "Take of Pipsissewa, an ounce; Distilled Water a pint and a half [Im- perial measure]. Boil to a pint, and strain." Lond. " Take of Pipsissewa an ounce; Water two pints. Macerate for six hours; then take out the Pipsissewa, and having bruised it, return it to the liquor, and evaporate until enough remains to afford one pint of decoction strained with expression." Dub. The previous maceration directed by the Dublin College is quite superflu- ous, especially in relation to the fresh leaves, which may almost always be obtained in this country. The medical properties and uses of pipsissewa 902 Decocta. PART II. have been detailed under the head of Chimaphila. One pint of the decoction may be given in the course of twenty-four hours. W. DECOCTUM CLNCHONiE. U.S., Ed., Dub. Decoctum Cin- CHONE CORDIFOLIE. DECOCTUM ClNCHONE LaNCIFOLIE. DeCOC- tum Cinchone Oblongifolie. Lond. Decoction of Peruvian Bark. "Take of Peruvian Bark, bruised, an ounce; Water a pint. Boil for ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strain the liquor while hot." U. S. The London College directs separate decoctions of the three varieties of bark, but in each case employs the same proportions, and proceeds in the same way. The process is essentially the same as ours. The Edinburgh College takes an ounce of either of its officinal varieties of bark, and twenty- four fluidounces [Imperial measure] of water, boils for ten minutes, allows the decoction to cool, then filters it, and evaporates to sixteen fluidounces. The Dublin College, without specifying the length of boiling, orders an ounce of the pale bark, in coarse powder, and enough water to yield a pint of the strained decoction. When the physician directs the decoction according to the U. S. formula, he should specify the variety of bark he wishes to be employed. The virtues of Peruvian bark, though extracted more rapidly by decoction than by infusion, are materially impaired by long boiling, in consequence of the changes effected in its constituents, either by their mutual reaction, or by the agency of atmospheric oxygen, or by both causes united. To prevent this result, the process is directed to be performed in a covered vessel, and to be continued only ten minutes. But, even with these precautions, a consider- able precipitate takes place in the decoction upon cooling, which is thus ren- dered turbid. According to Pelletier, besides the kinates of cinchonia and quinia, the water dissolves gum, starch, yellow colouring matter, kinate of lime, tannin, and a portion of cinchonic red, with a minute quantity of fatty matter. But the tannin and starch, at the boiling temperature, unite to form a compound insoluble in cold water; and, when the decoction is allowed to cool, this compound is precipitated, together with a portion of the cincho- nic red and fatty matter, which carry with them also a considerable quantity of the alkaline principle of the bark. (Journ. de Pharm., vii. 119.) Hence the decoction is ordered to be strained while hot, so that the portion of active matter precipitated may be mingled by agitation with the liquor, and not be lost. Pelletier recommends that a larger proportion of water, sufficient to retain the alkali in solution, be employed, that the decoction be filtered when cold, and then sufficiently concentrated by evaporation. This plan has been adopted by the Edinburgh College, but is unnecessarily tedious. A better mode is to add to the liquid some acid which may form with the quinia and cinchonia compounds more soluble than the native salts. Lemon juice has been long employed as a useful addition to the decoction of cinchona, and we can now understand the manner in which it acts. Sulphuric acid in excess answers the same purpose. By acidulating the pint of water employed in preparing the decoction with a fluidrachm of the aromatic or diluted sulphu- ric acid, we shall probably enable the menstruum to extract all the virtues of the bark. The propriety of such an addition is confirmed by the experiments of 31 31. Henry, Jun., and Plisson, who have ascertained that portions of the alkalies exist in the bark connected with the colouring matter in the form of insoluble compounds, and that it is impossible, therefore, completely to ex- haust the bark by water alone. There may, however, be some diversity of PART II. Decocta. 903 action in the different salts of quinia and cinchonia; and the native kinates may, under certain circumstances, be most efficient. Numerous substances produce precipitates with this decoction; but com- paratively few affect its activity as a medicine. (See Infusum Cinchonae.) Tannic, gallic, oxalic, and tartaric acids, and the substances containing them, should be excluded from the decoction ; as they form salts with the alkaline principles of the bark, which are either insoluble or but slightly soluble in water. The alkalies, alkaline earths, and salifiable bases generally should also be excluded; because, uniting with the kinic acid, they precipitate the quinia and cinchonia. The dose of the decoction is two fluidounces, to be repeated more or less frequently according to circumstances. Two drachms of orange peel, added to the decoction while still boiling hot, improve its flavour, and render it more acceptable to the stomach. W. DECOCTUM CORNUS FLORIDA. U.S. Decoction of Dog- wood. "Take of Dogwood [bark], bruised, an ounce; Water a pint. Boil for ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strain the liquor while hot." U S. This decoction has been proposed as a substitute for that of Peruvian bark; but, though possessed of analogous properties, it is much inferior in efficacy, and is not likely to be extensively employed so long as the Peruvian tonic is attainable. The dose is two fluidounces. W. DECOCTUM CYDONIA. Lond. Decoction of Quince Seeds. " Take of Quince [seeds] two drachms; Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Boil over a slow fire for ten minutes; then strain." Lond. This decoction is viscid, nearly colourless, insipid, and inodorous; and consists chiefly of the mucilaginous principle of the quince seeds dissolved in water. For an account of the properties and uses of this mucilage see Cydonia. It is only employed externally. As it speedily undergoes de- composition, it should be used immediately after being prepared. W. DECOCTUM DULCAMARA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. De- coction of Bittersweet. " Take of Bittersweet, bruised, an ounce ; Water a pint and a half. Boil down to a pint, and strain." U S. The processes of the British Colleges correspond with the above. The slender twigs of the bittersweet are the part employed. Their pro- perties and uses have been already detailed under the head of Dulcamara. The dose of the decoction is from one to two fluidounces three or four times a day, or more frequently. W. DECOCTUM GEOFFROYA. Dub. Decoction of Cabbage-tree Bark. " Take of Cabbage-tree Bark, bruised, an ounce ; Water two pints. Boil down to a pint, and to the strained liquor add two ounces of the Syrup of Orange Peel." Dub. This decoction has the colour of Madeira wine. It is powerfully anthel- mintic, and is a popular remedy in the West Indies. The disagreeable effects which are said to arise from an over-dose, or from drinking cold water during its operation, may be counteracted, according to Dr. Wright, by washing out the stomach with warm water, purging with castor oil, and administering lemonade freely. The dose for an adult is two fluidounces, for a child two or three years old, half a fluidounce, to be gradually increased at each suc- cessive administration till it produces nausea. W. 904 Decocta. PART II. DECOCTUM GLYCYRRHIZA. Dub. Decoction of Liquorice Root. " Take of Liquorice Root, bruised, an ounce and a half; Water a pint. Boil for ten minutes, and strain." Dub. This decoction may be used as a demulcent beverage, or as a vehicle for medicines of unpleasant flavour. W. DECOCTUM GRANATI. Lond. Decoction of Pomegranate. " Take of Pomegranate [rind] two ounces ; Distilled Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Boil down to a pint, and strain." Lond, The dose of this decoction is a fluidounce. For its uses see Granatum. DECOCTUM GUAIACI COMPOSITUM. Dub. Decoctum Guaiaci. Ed. Compound Decoction of Guaiacum Wood. " Take of Guaiac turnings three ounces; Raisins two ounces; Sassafras [root] rasped, and Liquorice Root bruised, each, one ounce; Water eight irints [Imperial measure]. Boil the Guaiac and Raisins gently with the Water down to five pints, adding the Liquorice and Sassafras towards the end. Strain the decoction." Ed. " Take of Guaiacum Wood, rasped, three ounces ; Sassafras Root, sliced, ten drachms; Liquorice Root, bruised, two ounces and a half; Water ten pints. Boil the Guaiacum Wood in the Water down to one-half; near the end of the boiling add the Liquorice and Sassafras, and strain the liquor." Dub. This is the old decoction of the woods. Notwithstanding its former repu- tation, it is little more than a demulcent drink; for water is capable of dis- solving but a minute proportion of the active matter of guaiacum wood, and one ounce of sassafras root can impart no appreciable activity to five pints of menstruum. It was thought useful in chronic rheumatism and cutaneous affections, and as an adjuvant to a mercurial course in syphilis, or an altera- tive course of antimonials. As the patient was directed to be kept warm during its use, it no doubt acted favourably in some instances as a mere diluent, by promoting perspiration. From one to two pints may be taken in the course of the day, in doses of about four fluidounces. W. DECOCTUM HAMATOXYLI. U.S., Ed. Decoction of Log- wood. " Take of Logwood, rasped, an ounce ; Water two pints. Boil down to a pint, and strain." U S. "Take of Logwood, in chips, one ounce; Water a pint [Imperial measure]; Cinnamon, one drachm, in powder. Boil the Logwood in the Water down to ten fluidounces, adding the Cinnamon towards the end; and then strain." Ed. This is an excellent astringent in diarrhoea; particularly in that form of it which succeeds the cholera infantum of this climate, or occurs as an original complaint in children during summer. The dose for an adult is two fluid- ounces, for a child about two years old, two or three fluidrachms, repeated several times a day. A little bruised cinnamon may often be added with advantage at the end of the boiling, as directed by the Edinburgh College. W. DECOCTUM HORDEI. U.S., Lond., Dub. Decoction of Barley. "Take of [Pearl] Barley two ounces; Water four pints and a half First wash away, with cold water, the extraneous matters which adhere to the Barley; then pour upon it half a pint of the Water, and boil for a short time. Having thrown away this water, pour the remainder boiling hot upon the Barley; then boil down to two pints, and strain." U. S. PART II. Decocta. 905 The processes of the British Colleges do not essentially differ from the above. Barley water, as this decoction is usually called, is much employed as a nutritive drink in febrile and inflammatory complaints, and, from the total absence of irritating properties, is peculiarly adapted to cases in which the gastric or intestinal mucous membrane is inflamed. As the stomach of those for whom it is directed is often exceedingly delicate, and apt to revolt against anything having the slightest unpleasantness of flavour, it is important that the decoction should be properly made; and though the office of preparing it generally falls to nurses, yet the introduction of the process into the Pharma- copoeia is not without advantage, as a formula is thus ever before the physician, by which he may give his directions, with the certainty, if obeyed, of having a good preparation. The use of the washing with cold water, and of the first short boiling, is completely to remove any mustiness, or other disagreeable flavour, which the barley may have acquired from exposure. Off. Prep. Enema Aloes, Lond.; Enema Terebinthinae, Lond. W. DECOCTUM HORDEI COMPOSITUM. Lond. Dub. Mistura Hordei. Ed. Compound Decoction of Barley. " Take of Decoction of Barley two pints [Imperial measure] ; Figs, sliced, two ounces and a half ; Liquorice [root], sliced and bruised, five drachms; Raisins [stoned] two ounces and a half; Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Boil down to two pints [Imp. meas.], and strain." Lond. " Take of Pearl-Barley, Figs sliced, Raisins freed of the seeds, of each, two ounces and a half; Liquorice Root, sliced and braised, five drachms; Water five pints and a half [Imperial measure]. Clean the Barley, if necessary, by washing it with cold water; boil it with four pints and a half of the Water down to two pints; add the Figs, Raisins, and Liquorice Root, with the re- maining pint of water; and again boil down to two pints; then strain." Ed. " Take of Decoction of Barley four jnnts; Raisins stoned, Figs sliced, each, two ounces; Liquorice Root, sliced and bruised, half an ounce. During the boiling, add first the Raisins, then the Figs, and lastly the Liquorice Root a short time before it is finished, when1 the strained decoction ought to measure two pints." Dub. The compound decoction of barley, in addition to the demulcent and nutri- tive properties of the simple, is somewhat laxative, and may be preferably employed where there is a tendency to constipation. But it is so often neces- sary to vary the nature of the sapid ingredients to suit the taste of the patient, that it would be better to leave the preparation entirely to extemporaneous prescription. W. DECOCTUM MALVA COMPOSITUM. Lond. Compound Decoction of Mallows. " Take of dried 3Iallows an ounce ; dried Chamomile Flowers half an ounce ; Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Boil for a quarter of an hour, and Strain." Lond. This is intended only for fomentations and enemata. DECOCTUM MEZEREI. Ed., Dub. Decoction of Mezereon, " Take of Mezereon, in chips, two drachms; Liquorice Root, bruised, half an ounce; Water two pints [Imperial measure]. Mix them and boil down with a gentle heat to a pint and a half, and then strain." Ed. The Dublin process is essentially the same as the above. This preparation affords a convenient mode of exhibiting mezereon, the ac- rimony of which is qualified by the demulcent principles of the liquorice root. 906 Decocta. PART II. For an account of its medical applications, see 3Iezereum. The dose is from four to eight fluidounces four times a day. W. DECOCTUM PAPAVERIS. Lond., Ed., Dub. Decoction of Poppy. "Take of White Poppy Capsules, sliced, four ounces; Water four pints [Imperial measure]. Boil for a quarter of an hour, and strain." Lond. The Edinburgh and Dublin processes differ from the above only in the pro- portion of water, which in the former is three pints [Imp. meas.], in the latter two pints. This decoction is used as an anodyne fomentation in painful tumours and superficial cutaneous inflammation or excoriation. It is recommended not to reject the seeds; as their oil, suspended in the water by the mucilage of the capsules, adds to the emollient virtues of the preparation. W. DECOCTUM QUERCUS ALBA. U.S. Decoction of White Oak Bark. Decoctum Quercus. Lond., Ed., Dub. Decoction of Oak Bark. " Take of White Oak Bark, bruised, an ounce ; Water a pint and a half. Boil down to a pint, and strain." U S. The London and Edinburgh Colleges take ten drachms of oak bark and two pints [Imperial measure] of distilled water, and boil to a pint; the Dublin College takes an ounce of the bark and two pints [Apothecaries' measure] of water, and boils to a pint. This decoction contains the tannin, extractive, and gallic acid of oak bark. It affords precipitates with the decoction of Peruvian bark and other substances containing vegetable alkalies, with solution of gelatin, and with most metallic salts, particularly those of iron. Alkaline solutions diminish or destroy its astringency. Its uses have been already detailed. The dose is a wineglassful, frequently repeated. W. DECOCTUM SARSAPARILLA. Dub. Decoctum Sarze. Lond., Ed. Decoction of Sarsaparilla. " Take of Sarsaparilla, sliced, five ounces ; boiling Distilled Water four pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for four hours in a covered vessel, near the fire, then take out the Sarsaparilla and bruise it. Put it again into the liquor, and macerate it in the same manner for two hours more, then boil down to two pints [Imp. meas.], and strain." Lond. The Dublin College orders four ounces of the root, previously washed, and four pints of boiling water, and proceeds as directed by the London College, except that the second maceration is omitted. "Take of Sarza, in chips, five ounces ; boiling Water, four pints [Impe- rial measure]. Digest the root in the Water for two hours at a temperature somewhat below ebullition, take out the root, bruise it, replace it, boil down to two pints [Imp. meas.], and then squeeze out the decoction and strain it." Ed. There can be no occasion for the maceration directed by the British Col- leges, as, if the root is sliced and well bruised, all its ingredients that are solu- ble in water may be extracted by a length of boiling sufficient to reduce the liquor to one-half. An idea was formerly entertained that the virtues of sar- saparilla resided in its fecula, the extraction of which was, therefore, the main object of the decoction. Hence the long boiling ordered by the Colleges. But this opinion is now admitted to be erroneous. The activity of the root is be- lieved to depend upon one or more acrid principles, soluble to a certain extent in water cold or hot, and either volatilized, or rendered inert by chemical PART II. Decocta. 907 change, at the temperature of 212°. This fact appears to be demonstrated by the experiments of Pope,* Hancock,"j" Soubeiran,| Beral, and others. Han- cock makes the following observations. " After iong boiling, the peculiar odour which rises abundantly on the coction of good, sarsa is almost extin- guished. From the sarsa prepared in this way, I found no sensible results upon any patient, nor were its peculiar nauseating, drowsy, and racking effects produced by a large quantity, although the decoction of six or eight ounces was tried at a dose. These experiments having been carried to a sufficient length, most of the same patients recovered under the use of the sarsa, taken from the same parcels as before, but now prepared by simple maceration in hot water, /. e., affused in a boiling state, and kept near the boiling state for some hours. In all cases the sarsa was directed to be well bruised in large mortars, and in the mean time all other remedies were abstained from, which might, in any way, affect the result." Soubeiran macerated one portion of bruised sar- saparilla in cold water for twenty-four hours; infused another portion in boil- ing water, and digested with a moderate heat for two hours; boiled a third portion bruised, and a fourth unbruised, in water for two hours; and in each instance used the same relative quantities. Testing these various preparations by the taste, he found the cold and hot infusion scarcely different in this re- spect; and both possessed of a stronger odour and more acrid taste than the decoctions, of which that prepared with the bruised root was the strongest. Beral has proved that sarsaparillin, which is believed to be the active prin- ciple of the drug, is volatile. From all these facts the inference is obvious, that the best method of imparting the virtues of sarsaparilla to water is either by cold or hot infusion. Digestion for some hours in water maintained at a temperature of 180° or somewhat less, in a covered vessel, has strong testi- mony in its favour. Percolation in a displacement apparatus, if properly con- ducted, is a convenient, and no doubt efficient mode of exhausting the root, so far as water will effect that object. Decoction is the worst method; and the longer it is continued, the weaker will be the preparation. Accordingly, in the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, an infusion of sarsaparilla has been substituted for the simple decoction. It is probable that, as in the case of the Peruvian bark, a boiling of ten or fifteen minutes might be advanta- geously resorted to, when circumstances require the preparation to be made in less time than is requisite for infusion. In every instance the root should be thoroughly bruised, or reduced to a coarse powder, thus obviating the neces- sity for a long maceration, merely to overcome the cohesion of its fibres. Precipitates are produced by various substances with the decoction of sar- saparilla; but it has not been ascertained how far such substances interfere with its activity. Those which merely throw down the fecula do not injure the preparation. The simple decoction of sarsaparilla is chiefly used in the preparation of the compound decoction. If given alone, it may be administered in the dose of four or six fluidounces four times a day. Off. Prep. Decoctum Sarsaparillae Compositum, Dub., Lond., Ed. W. • Trans, of the MedicoChirurg. Society of London, vol. xii. p. 344. f Trans, of the Medico-Botan. Society of London. See also Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., vol. i. p. 295. The observations of Dr. Hancock are entitled to much credit, as he practised long in South America, in the neighbourhood of the best sarsaparilla regions. J Journ. de Pharmacie, torn. xvi. p. 38. 908 Decocta. PART II. DECOCTUM SARSAPARILLA COMPOSITUM. U.S.,Dub. Decoctum Sarz.e Compositum. Lond., Ed. Compound Decoction of Sarsaparilla. "Take of Sarsaparilla, sliced and bruised, six ounces; Bark of Sassafras Root, sliced, Gruaiacum Wood, rasped, Liquorice Root, bruised, each, an ounce; Mezereon, sliced, three drachms; Water four pints. Boil for a quar- ter of an hour, and strain." U S. " Take of Decoction of Sarsaparilla, boiling hot, four pints [Imperial mea- sure] ; Sassafras [root], sliced, Gruaiacum Wood, rasped, Liquorice Root [fresh], bruised, each, ten drachms; Mezereon three drachms. Boil for a quarter of an hour, and strain." Lond. The Edinburgh process differs from the London only in the quantity of mezereon, which in the former is half an ounce. The Dublin College takes four pints of the decoction, an ounce, each, of sassafras, guaiacum wood, and liquorice root, and three drachms of mezereon, and proceeds as above. The process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia differs essentially from the others in this respect, that, instead of taking the simple decoction of sarsaparilla prepared by long boiling, it mixes the bruised root immediately with the other ingredients, and boils the whole together for a few minutes. Thus, the sar- saparilla does not undergo a longer boiling than the other substances; and the preparation is brought more nearly into accordance with the present state of knowledge in relation to this valuable drug. (See Decoctum Sarsaparillae.) It might, perhaps, be a still farther improvement, if the ingredients were al- lowed, after the completion of the boiling, to remain in a covered vessel, in a warm place, with occasional agitation, for two or three hours before straining. This decoction is an imitation of the celebrated Lisbon diet drink. The sarsaparilla and mezereon are the active ingredients; the guaiacum wood im- parting scarcely any of its virtues, and the sassafras and liquorice serving lit- tle other purpose than to communicate a pleasant flavour. If prepared with good sarsaparilla, and with a due regard to the practical rules which may now be considered as established, the decoction may be used with great advantage as a gentle diaphoretic and alterative in secondary syphilis, either alone, or as an adjuvant to a mercurial course; also in certain scrofulous and other depraved conditions of the system, in chronic rheuma- tism, and in various obstinate cutaneous affections. The dose is from four to six fluidounces three or four times a day. The patient during its use should wear flannel next the skin, and avoid unnecessary exposure to changes of temperature.* W. * The Decoction of Zitttnann (Decoctum Zittmanni) is a preparation of sarsaparilla much used in Germany, for similar purposes with our compound decoction of sarsapa- rilla; and, as it has attracted some attention in this country as a remedy in obstinate ulcerative affections, we give the formula of the Prussian Pharmacopceia, which is gene- rally followed in its preparation: "Take of sarsaparilla twelve ounces; spring water ninety pounds. Digest for twenty-four hours; then introduce, enclosed in a small bag, an ounce and a half of saccharine alum (a paste formed of alum §vi, white lead Jvi, sulphate of zinc ^iij, white sugar ^iss, white of egg and distilled vinegar, each q. s.), half an ounce of calomel, and a drachm of cinnabar. Boil to thirty pounds, and near the end of the boiling add of aniseed, fennel-seed, each, half an ounce, senna three ounces, liquorice root an ounce and a half. Put aside the liquor under the name of the sthoxs decoction. To the residue add six ounces of sarsaparilla and ninety pounds of water. Boil to thirty pounds, and near the end add lemon-peel, cinnamon, cardamom, liquorice, of each, three drachms. Strain, and set aside the liquor under the name of the weak decoction." Mercury was detected by Wiggers in this decoction in very small proportion. It should snot be prepared in metallic vessels, lest the mercurial in solution should be decomposed. The decoction may be drunk freely. PART II. Decocta. 909 DECOCTUM SCOPARII COMPOSITUM. Lond. Decoctum Scoparii. Ed. Compound Decoction of Broom. " Take of Broom, Juniper Fruit, Dandelion, each, half an ounce; Distilled Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Boil down to a pint [Impe- rial measure], and strain." Lond. "Take of Broom-tops, and Juniper-tops, of each, half an ounce; Bitartrate of Potassa two drachms and a half; Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Boil them together down to a pint [Imperial measure], and then strain." Ed. This decoction may be used as an adjuvant to more powerful diuretics in dropsy. From half a pint to a pint may be taken during the day. W. DECOCTUM SENEGA. U.S., Lond., Dub. Decoction of Seneka. " Take of Seneka, bruised, an ounce; Water a pint and a half. Boil down to a pint, and strain." U. S. The London College boils ten drachms of the root with two pints of distilled water to a pint; but the relation of the Imperial measure used by this College to the common wine measure is such, that the proportions in the decoction are essentially the same as those of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The Dublin College directs a pint and a half of water to be boiled down with three drachms of the root to eight ounces. It is customary to add to the seneka an equal weight of liquorice root, which serves to cover its taste, and in some measure to obtund its acrimony. The virtues and practical application of seneka have been already treated of. The dose of the decoction is about two fluidounces three or four times a day, or a tablespoonful every two or three hours. W. DECOCTUM TARAXACI. U.S., Ed., Dub. Decoction of Dandelion. "Take of Dandelion [root], bruised, two ounces; Water two pints. Boil down to a pint, and strain." U. S. The Edinburgh College takes seven ounces of the fresh herb and root, and two pints [Imperial measure] of water, boils to one pint [Imperial measure], and strains. The Dublin College takes four ounces of the fresh herb and root, and two pints of water, boils to a pint, expresses, and strains. This decoction is most efficient when prepared from the root alone. The dose is a wineglassful two or three times a day. (See Taraxacum.) W. DECOCTUM TORMENTILLA. Lond. Decoction of Tor- mentil. "Take of Tormentil, bruised, two ounces; Distilled Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Boil down to a pint, and strain." Lond. This decoction is astringent, and may be given in the dose of one or two fluidounces, three or four times a day. W. DECOCTUM ULMI. Lond., Dub. Decoction of Elm Bark. " Take of fresh Elm [bark], bruised, two ounces and a half; Distilled Water two pints [Imperial measure]. Boil down to a pint, and strain." Lond. The Dublin College orders two ounces of the bark and two pints of water to be reduced by boiling to a pint. This decoction, being prepared from the bark of the European elm, is not used in this country. It has had some repute in England as a remedy for certain cutaneous disorders. From four to six fluidounces are given two or three times a day. W. 910 Decocta.—Emplastra. part ii. DECOCTUM UVA URSI. U.S., Lond. Decoction of Uva Ursi. " Take of Uva Ursi an ounce; Water twenty fluidounces. Boil down to a pint, and strain." U S. " Take of Uva Ursi, bruised, an ounce; Distilled Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Boil down to a pint, and strain." Lond. This decoction contains the tannin, extractive, and gallic acid of the leaves. For an account of its uses see Uva Ursi. The dose is from one to two fluid- ounces three or four times a day. W. DECOCTUM VERATRI. Lond., Dub. Decoction of White Hellebore. " Take of White Hellebore, in powder, ten drachms; Distilled Water two pints [Imperial measure]; Rectified Spirit three fluidounces. Boil the White Hellebore with the Water to a pint, and, when it has cooled, add the Spirit, express, and strain." Lond. The Dublin process corresponds with the above. The root of the white hellebore imparts its acrid properties to boiling water, and the decoction is powerfully cathartic and emetic; but, in consequence of the harshness of its action, it is not used internally. As an external applica- tion it is employed in psora, tinea capitis, lepra, and other cutaneous erup- tions, in which it sometimes proves highly beneficial. When the skin is very irritable, it should be diluted with an equal measure of water. Even exter- nally applied it should be used with some caution; as the veratria, upon which its activity depends, may possibly be absorbed. As the plant is not a native of this country, the Veratrum viride, which is similar in medical pro- perties may be advantageously substituted for it in the preparation of the decoction. W. EMPLASTRA. Plasters. Plasters are solid compounds intended for external application, adhesive at the temperature of the human body, and of such a consistence as to render the aid of heat necessary in spreading them. Most of them have as their basis a compound of olive oil and litharge, constituting the Emplastrum Plumbi of the United States Pharmacopoeia. Those plasters which contain none of the compound of oil and litharge, owe their consistence and adhesive- ness to resinous substances, or to a mixture of these with wax and oleaginous matter. Only two of the latter class have gained admission into our national Pharmacopoeia; several of those directed by the British Colleges having been rejected as superfluous, and the Emplastrum Cantharidis transferred to thl Cerates, to which class it properly belongs. In tbe preparation of the plasters, care is requisite that the heat employed be not sufficiently elevated to produce decomposition, nor so long continued as to drive off any volatile ingredient upon which the virtues of the prepara- tion may in a greater or less degree depend. After having been prepared, they are usually shaped into cylindrical rolls, and wrapped in paper to exclude the air. Plasters should be firm at ordinary temperatures, should spread easily when heated, and, after being spread, should remain soft, pliable, and adhe- sive, without melting, at the heat of the human body. When long kept, they are apt to change colour and to become hard and brittle; and, as this altera- tion is most observable upon their surface, it must depend chiefly upon the PART II. Emplastra. 911 action of the air, which should therefore be as much as possible excluded. The defect may usually be remedied by melting the plaster with a moderate heat, and adding a sufficient quantity of oil to give it the due consistence. Plasters are prepared for use by spreading them upon leather, linen, or muslin, according to the particular purposes they are intended to answer. Leather is most convenient when the application is made to the sound skin, linen or muslin when the plaster is used as a dressing to ulcerated or abraded surfaces, or with the view of bringing and retaining together the sides of wounds. The leather usually preferred is white sheep skin. A margin about a quarter or half an inch broad should usually be left uncovered, in order to facilitate the removal of the plaster, and to prevent the clothing in contact with its edges from being soiled.' An accurate outline may be obtained by pasting upon the leather a piece of paper, so cut as to leave in the centre a vacant space of the required dimensions, and removing the paper when no longer required. The same object may sometimes be accomplished by employ- ing two narrow rulers of sheet tin, graduated in inches, and so shaped that each of them may form two sides of a rectangle. (See the figure p. 765.) These may be applied in such a manner as to enclose within them any given rectangular space, and may be fixed by weights upon the leather while the plaster is spread. For any other shape, as in the instance of plasters for the breast, pieces of tin may be employed having a vacuity within, corresponding to the required outline. The spreading of * the plaster, is most conveniently accomplished by means of a peculiar iron instrument employed for the purpose; though a common spatula will answer. This may be heated by means of a spirit lamp. A sufficient portion of the plaster should first be melted by the heated instrument, and, having been received on a piece of coarse stiff paper, should, when nearly cool, be transferred to the leather, and applied evenly over its extended surface. By this plan the melted plaster is prevented from penetrating the leather, as it is apt to do when applied too hot. When linen or muslin is used, and the dimensions of the portion to be spread are large, as is often the case with adhesive plaster, the best plan is to pass the cloth "on which the plaster has been laid, through a machine formed of a spatula, fixed by screws, at a proper distance from a plate of polished steel." A machine for spreading plasters is described by M. Herent in the Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., (3e sir., ii. 403.) W. EMPLASTRUM AMMONIACI. U.S., Lond.,Ed., Dub. Am- moniac Plaster. "Take of Ammoniac five ounces; Vinegar half a pint. Dissolve the Am- moniac in the Vinegar, and strain; then evaporate the solution by means of a water-bath, stirring constantly until it acquires a proper consistence." U S. The London College takes five ounces of ammoniac, and eight fluidounces of distilled vinegar; dissolves the ammoniac in the vinegar; and evaporates the solution by a slow fire, stirring constantly, to the proper consistence. The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of ammoniac and nine fluidounces of dis- tilled vinegar; dissolves the ammoniac in the vinegar, and evaporates over the vapour-bath, frequently stirring. In the Dublin process, the ingredients are in the same proportion as in ours; but pure ammoniac is directed, the vinegar of squill is substituted for common vinegar, the straining is omitted, and the evaporation is conducted without the water-bath. As ammoniac is not usually kept purified in our shops, the straining of the solution in vinegar is directed as the most convenient method of separating impurities. Dr. Duncan remarked that the plaster, prepared in iron vessels, "acquires an unpleasant dark colour, from being impregnated with iron; 912 Emplastra. PART II. whereas, when prepared in a glass or earthenware vessel, it has a yellowish- white colour, and more pleasant appearance." Medical Properties. The ammoniac plaster is stimulant, and is applied over scrofulous tumours and chronic swellings of the joints, to promote their resolution. It often produces a papular eruption, and sometimes occasions considerable inflammation of the skin. Dr. Duncan has described a fatal case of diffuse inflammation following its use in a case of diseased knee-joint. W. EMPLASTRUM AMMONIACI CUM HYDRARGYRO. Lond., Dub. Emplastrum Ammoniaci et Hydrargyri. Ed. Plaster of Ammoniac ivith Mercury. . "Take of Ammoniac a pound; Mercury three ounces; Olive Oil a flui- drachm ; Sulphur eight grains. Add the Sulphur gradually to the heated Oil, constantly stirring with a spatula, until they unite; then rub the Mercury with them until the globules disappear; lastly, gradually add the Ammoniac, previously melted, and mix the whole together." Lond. The Edinburgh process corresponds closely with the above. " Take of Pure Grum Ammonaic a pound; Purified Mercury three ounces; Common Turpentine two drachms. Rub the Mercury with the Turpentine until the globules disappear, then gradually add the Ammoniac previously melted, and with a moderate heat rub them all together till they unite." Dub. Of these processes'the latter is preferable, as the unpleasant odour of the sulphurated oil is avoided, as well as the action of the sulphur upon the mer- cury, with which it must form an inactive sulphuret. But it should be recol- lected that the common turpentine of Great Britain is not the common white turpentine of our shops. The former is a thick liquid, the latter a soft solid. If the white turpentine be employed, it should be rendered sufficiently liquid by the admixture of Venice turpentine. As ammoniac is not fusible by heat, it must be brought to the proper consistence by dissolving it in a small quan- tity of hot water, straining, and evaporating. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. This plaster unites with the stimulant pow- er of the ammoniac the specific properties of the mercury, which is sometimes absorbed in sufficient quantity to affect the gums. It is used as a discutient in enlargement of the glands, tumefaction of the joints, nodes, and other in- dolent swellings, especially when dependent on a venereal taint. It is also sometimes applied over the liver in chronic hepatitis. W. EMPLASTRUM AROMATICUM. Dub. Aromatic Plaster. " Take of Frankincense [concrete juice of the Abies excelsa] three ounces; Yellow Wax half an ounce; Cinnamon Bark, in powder, six drachms; Oil of Pimento, Oil of Lemons, each, two drachms. Melt the Frankincense and Wax together, and strain. When, upon cooling, they begin to thicken, mix in the powdered Cinnamon previously rubbed with the Oils, and make a plas- ter." Dub. As the virtues of this plaster depend chiefly upon volatile ingredients, it cannot be kept long without injury, and should therefore be extemporaneously prepared. It is not intended to he very adhesive, as, in order to maintain the due impression, its application must be frequently renewed. The vola- tility of the oils requires that it should be spread without being melted, or heated more than is absolutely necessary to produce the proper degree of soft- ness. We are therefore recommended to spread it with the fingers. Medical Properties and Uses. This is an elegant local stimulant, calculated, when applied over the region of the stomach, to allay nausea and vomiting, PART II. Emplastra. 913 to correct flatulence, and to relieve the gastric uneasiness attendant upon dys- pepsia, yy EMPLASTRUM ASSAFETIDA. U.S., Ed. Assafetida Plas- ter. "Take of Assafetida, Lead Plaster, each, a pound; Galbanum, Yellow Wax, each, half a pound; Diluted Alcohol three pints. Dissolve the Assa- fetida and Galbanum in the Alcohol with the aid of a water-bath, strain the liquor while hot, and evaporate to the consistence of honey; then add the Lead Plaster and Wax previously melted together, stir the mixture well, and evaporate to the proper consistence." U S. " Take of Litharge [Lead] Plaster and Assafetida, of each, two ounces; Galbanum and Bees'-wax, of each, one ounce. Liquefy the gum-resins toge- ther and strain them, then add the plaster and wax also in the fluid state, and mix them all thoroughly." Ed. The directions of the present U. S. Pharmacopoeia in relation to this plaster are fuller than those of former editions; as they indicate the mode in which the gum-resins may be brought to the liquid state before being incorporated with the other ingredients. Galbanum melts sufficiently by the aid of heat to admit of being strained; but this is not the case with assafetida, which must be prepared by dissolving it in a small quantity of hot water or diluted alcohol, straining, and evaporating to the consistence of honey; and even galbanum may be most conveniently treated in the same way. Formerly these gum-resins were ordered merely to be melted and strained, and such is at present the direction of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, unless the term "liquefy" be considered as leaving to the operator the choice of the mode in which they should be brought into the liquid state. This plaster may be advantageously applied over the stomach or abdomen, in cases of hysteria attended with flatulence, and to the chest or between the shoulders in hooping cough. W. EMPLASTRUM BELLADONNA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Plaster of Belladonna. "Take of Resin Plaster three ounces; Extract of Belladonna an ounce and a half. Add the Extract to the Plaster, previously melted by the heat of a water-bath, and mix them." U. S. The London and Edinburgh processes are the same as the above. "Take of the inspissated juice of the Deadly Nightshade [Extraetum Bel- ladonnae] an ounce; Soap Plaster two ounces. Make a plaster." Dub. The most convenient method of forming this plaster is to rub the ingre- dients together in an earthenware mortar, placed in hot water, and then, hav- ing removed the mortar from the water-bath, to continue the trituration till the mixture cools. The preparation is a useful anodyne application in neu- ralgic and rheumatic pains, and in dysmenorrhoea. We have seen the con- stitutional effects of belladonna result from its external use. W. EMPLASTRUM CANTHARIDIS. Lond., Ed., Dub. Plaster of Spanish Flies. See CERATUM CANTHARIDIS. U S. EMPLASTRUM CANTHARIDIS COMPOSITUM. Ed. Com- pound Plaster of Spanish Flies. " Take of Venice Turpentine four ounces and a half; Burgundy Pitch and Cantharides, of each, three ounces; Bees'-wax one ounce; Verdigris half an 58 914 Emplastra. PART II. ounce; White Mustard Seed and Black Pepper, of each, two drachms. Li- quefy the Wax and Burgundy Pitch, add the Turpentine, and while the mix- ture is hot sprinkle into it the remaining articles, previously in fine powder, and.jjjixed together. Stir the whole briskly as it concretes on cooling." Ed. Thys is intended to be a powerful and speedy blistering plaster, and may probably prove beneficial in very urgent cases attended with much torpor of the skin; but great care should be observed not to allow it to remain on too long, as unpleasant and tedious ulceration, if not gangrene, might result. To the cases of children it is wholly inapplicable. W. EMPLASTRUM CERA. Lond. Emplastrum Simplex. Ed. Wax Plaster. "Take of Wax, Suet, each, three pounds; Resin a pound. Melt them together, and strain." Lond. "Take of Bees'-wax three ounces; Suet and Resin, of each, two ounces. Melt them together with a moderate heat, and stir the mixture briskly till it concretes oh cooling." Ed. These plasters were originally intended for dressing blistered surfaces, in order to maintain a moderate discharge, to which purpose they are adapted by the stimulant properties of the resin. But their stiffness and adhesiveness render them unpleasant and of difficult management; and they have been entirely superseded by the resin cerate. Off. Prep. Emplastrum Cantharidis, Lond. W. EMPLASTRUM FERRI. U.S., Ed. Emplastrum Thuris. Dub. Emplastrum Roborans. Lron Plaster. Strengthening Plas- ter. " Take of Subcarbonate of Iron three ounces; Lead Plaster two pounds; Burgundy Pitch half a pound. Add the Subcarbonate of Iron to the Lead Plaster and Burgundy Pitch, previously melted together, and stir them con- stantly until they thicken upon cooling." U. S. The Dublin process differs from the above only in the employment of red oxide of iron instead of the subcarbonate, and of frankincense (seepage 543) instead of Burgundy pitch. "Take of Litharge Plaster three ounces; Resin six drachms; Olive Oil three fluidrachms and a half; Bees'-wax three drachms; Red Oxide of Iron [Subcarbonate of Iron, U. S.] one ounce. Triturate the Oxide of Iron with the Oil, and add the mixture to the other articles previously liquefied by gentle heat. Mix the whole thoroughly." Ed. The process of the present U. S. Pharmacopoeia is a great improvement upon that of former editions, yielding a finer, more adhesive, and more effi- cient plaster. The preparation has enjoyed some popular celebrity, under the impression that it strengthens the parts to which it is applied; whence it has derived the name of strengthening plaster. It is used in those conditions of the loins, larger muscles, and joints, which, though usually ascribed to debility, are in fact most frequently dependent on rheumatic or other chronic inflam- matory affections, and, if relieved by the plaster, are so in consequence of the gentle excitation which it produces in the vessels of the skin. It may also, in some instances, give relief by affording mechanical support; but neither in this, nor in any other respect, can it be deemed very efficient. W. EMPLASTRUM GALBANI. Dub. Galbanum Plaster. "Take of Litharge Plaster [Emplastrum Plumbi] two pounds; Galbanum half a pound; Yellow Wax, sliced, four ounces. Add the Litharge Plaster PART II. Emplastra. 915 and Wax to the Galbanum previously melted; then melt the whole together with a moderate heat, and strain." Dub. This is essentially the same in properties as the following, though somewhat less stimulating. W. EMPLASTRUM GALBANI COMPOSITUM. U.S. Emplas- trum Galbani. Lond. Compound Galbanum Plaster. "Take of Galbanum eight ounces; Lead Plaster three pounds; Turpentine ten drachms; Burgundy Pitch three ounces. To the Galbanum and Turpen- tine, previously melted together and strained, add first the Burgundy Pitch, and afterwards the Lead Plaster melted over a gentle fire, and mix the whole together." U.S. The London process differs only in directing the common European turpen- tine instead of the white turpentine intended by our Pharmacopoeia, and the concrete juice or unprepared resin of the Abies excelsa, instead of Burgundy pitch or the prepared resin. Before being employed in this process, the galbanum should be purified, as it often contains foreign matters which must injure the plaster. It may be freed from these by melting it with a little water or diluted alcohol, straining, and evaporating to the due consistence. This plaster is an excellent local stimulant in chronic scrofulous enlarge- ments of the glands and joints. We have employed it in some obstinate cases of this kind, which, after having resisted general and local depletion, blister- ing, and other measures, have yielded under its use. As a discutient it is also employed in the induration which sometimes remains after the discharge of abscesses. It is said to have been useful in rickets when applied over the whole lumbar region, and has been recommended in chronic gouty or rheu- matic articular affections. It should not be used in the discussion of tumours in which any considerable inflammation exists. W. EMPLASTRUM GUMMOSUM. Ed. Gum Plaster. "Take of Litharge Plaster [Emplastrum Plumbi] four ounces; Ammoniac, Galbanum, and Bees'-wax, of each, half an ounce. Melt the Gum-resins to- gether and strain them; melt also together the Plaster and Wax; add the former to the latter mixture, and mix the whole thoroughly." Ed. The addition of ammoniac adds little to the virtues of this plaster, which closely resembles the compound galbanum plaster in its effects. The galbanum and ammoniac are best prepared by dissolving them in a small quantity of hot water or diluted alcohol, straining the solution, and evaporating it to the proper consistence for mixing with the other ingredients. Off. Prep. Emplastrum Saponis, Ed. W. EMPLASTRUM HYDRARGYRI. U.S., Lond., Ed. Mercu- rial Plaster. "Take of Mercury six ounces; Olive Oil, Resin, each, two ounces; Lead Plaster a pound. Melt the Oil and Resin together, and when they have become cool, rub the Mercury with them till the globules disappear; then gradually add the Lead Plaster, previously melted, and mix the whole to- gether." U.S. The London College takes three ounces of mercury, a pound of lead plaster, a fluidrachm of olive oil, and eight grains of sulphur; gradually adds the sul- phur to the heated oil, constantly stirring with a spatula until they unite; then rubs the mercury with them until the globules disappear; and finally adds by degrees the lead plaster previously melted with a slow fire, and mixes the whole together. The Edinburgh process corresponds with that of the United 916 Emplastra. PART II. States Pharmacopoeia, except that only one-half of the quantity of materials is employed, and nine fluidrachms of olive oil are directed instead of an ounce. The sulphuretted oil employed by the London College is intended to facili- tate the extinguishment of the mercury; but, as it operates by the union of the sulphur with the metal forming an inefficient sulphuret, it impairs the vir- tues of the plaster at least as much as it assists in its preparation. The melted resin and" oil of the United States and Edinburgh process are decidedly pre- ferable. This plaster is employed to produce the local effects of mercury upon vene- real buboes, nodes, and other chronic tumefactions of the bones or soft parts, dependent on a syphilitic taint. In these cases it sometimes acts as a powerful discutient. It is frequently also applied to the side in chronic hepatitis or splenitis. In habits peculiarly susceptible to the mercurial influence, it occa- sionally affects the gums. From observations made in France by Messrs. Serres, Gariel, Briquet, and others (Archives. Generates, viii. 468, and 3e sir., vi. 24), it appears that the mercurial plaster of the French Codex (Emplastrum de Vigo cum 3Iercurio), has the power, when applied over the eruption of small-pox, before the end of the third day of its appearance, to check the progress of the eruption, and pre- vent suppuration and pitting. This operation of the plaster, so far from being attended with an increase of the general symptoms, seems to relieve them in proportion to the diminution of the local affection. It is also thought that the course of the disease is favourably modified when the mercurial impression is produced upon the system. That the local effect is not ascribable to the mere exclusion of air is proved by the fact, that the use of lead plaster was not fol- lowed by the same results. It is probable that other mercurial preparations would answer the same purpose; and the common mercurial ointment has proved effectual, in our own hands, in rendering the eruption upon the face to a considerable extent abortive, in one very bad case of small-pox. But as the most successful results were obtained with the plaster above mentioned, we give the formula of the French Codex for its preparation. The weights men- tioned are those of the French metrical pound. (See table in the Appendix.) Emplastrum de Vigo cum Mercurio. " Take of simple plaster [lead plaster] two pounds eight ounces; yellow wax two ounces; resin two ounces; ammoniac, bdellium, olibanum, and myrrh, each, five drachms; saffron three drachms; mercury twelve ounces; turpentine [common European] two ounces; liquid storax six ounces; oil of lavender two drachms. Powder the gum-resins and saffron, and rub the mercury with the storax and turpentine in an iron mortar until completely extinguished. Melt the plaster with the wax and resin, and add to the mixture the powders and volatile oil. When the plaster shall have been cooled, but while it is yet liquid, add the mercurial mixture, and incor- porate the whole thoroughly." This should be spread upon leather or linen cloth, and applied so as effectually to cover the face, or wbatever other part it is desired to protect. W. EMPLASTRUM OPII. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Opium Plaster. "Take of Opium, in powder, two ounces; Burgundy Pitch three ounces; Lead Plaster a pound; Boiling Water four fluidounces. Melt together the Lead Plaster and Burgundy Pitch; then add the Opium previously mixed with the Water, and boil them over a gentle fire to the proper consistence." U.S. " Take of hard Opium, in powder, half an ounce; Resin of the Spruce-fir [unprepared concrete juice of Abies excelsa], in powder, three ounces; Lead Plaster a pound; Water eight fluidounces. To the melted plaster add the part ii. Emplastra. 917 Resin, Opium, and Water; and boil down with a slow fire until the ingre- dients unite into a proper consistence." Lond. Take of Powder of Opium, half an ounce; Burgundy Pitch three ounces; Litharge plaster twelve ounces. Liquefy the Plaster and Pitch, add the Opium by degrees, and mix them thoroughly." Ed. The Dublin process is the same as the Edinburgh. The formulaof the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is preferable, as containing a much larger proportion of opium, which, in the others, is in a quantity too small for decided effect. The use of the water is to enable the opium to be more thoroughly incorporated with the other ingredients; but care should be taken that the moisture be well evaporated. The opium plaster is thought to relieve rheumatic and other pains in the parts to which it is applied. W. EMPLASTRUM PICIS. Lond., Ed. Pitch Plaster. "Take of Burgundy Pitch two pounds; Resin of the Spruce fir [unpre- pared concrete juice of Abies excelsa] a pound; Resin, Wax, each, four ounces; Expressed Oil of Nutmegs an ounce; Olive Oil, Water, each, two fluidounces. To the Pitch, Resin, and Wax, melted together, add first the Resin of the Spruce-fir, then the Oil of Nutmegs, the Olive Oil, and the Water. Lastly, mix the whole, and boil to the proper consistence." Lond. " Take of Burgundy Pitch, one pound and a half; Resin and Bees'-wax, of each, two ounces; Oil of Mace half an ounce; Olive Oil one fluidounce; Water one fliddounce. Liquefy the Pitch, Resin, and Wax with a gentle heat; add the other articles; mix them well together; and boil till the mixture acquires the proper consistence." Ed. We presume that the London expressed oil of nutmegs, and the Edinburgh oil of mace, in the above formulae, though these terms are not defined in the respective Pharmacopoeias, have reference to the substance denominated, in the Edinburgh Materia Medica catalogue, myristicce adeps or concrete oil of nutmeg. (See 3Iyristicce Adepts, page 470.) The dryest white turpentine may be sub- stituted for the resin of the spruce fir, which is not always to be obtained in this country. This is a rubefacient plaster, applicable to catarrhal and other pectoral affec- tions, chronic inflammation of the liver, and rheumatic pains in the joints and muscles. It often keeps up a serous discharge, which requires that it should be frequently renewed. The irritation which it sometimes excites is so great as to render its removal necessary. W. EMPLASTRUM PICIS CUM CANTHARIDE. U.S. Em- plastrum Calefaciens. Dub. Plaster of Pitch with Spanish Flies. Warming Plaster. "Take of Burgundy Pitch three pounds and a half; Cerate of Spanish Flies half a pound. Melt them together by means of a water-bath, and stir them constantly till they thicken upon cooling." US. The Dublin College employs the same proportions. This plaster is an excellent rubefacient, more active than Burgundy pitch, yet in general not sufficiently so to produce vesication. Still, however, in con- sequence of peculiar susceptibility of the skin in some individuals, it occa- sionally blisters; and it has been recommended to lessen the proportion of the flies. But, while such a reduction would render the plaster insufficiently active in most cases, it would not entirely obviate the objection; as the smallest pro- portion of flies would vesicate in certain persons, and even the Burgundy pitch alone sometimes produces the same effect. In whatever mode, therefore, this 918 Emplastra. part ii. plaster may be prepared, it cannot always answer the expectations which may be entertained; and the only plan, when the skin of any individual has been found to be very susceptible, is to accommodate the proportions to the par- ticular circumstances of the case. Much, however, may be accomplished by care in the preparation of the plaster, towards obviating its tendency to blister. If the flies of the Ceratum Cantharidis have been coarsely pulverized, the larger particles coming in contact with the skin, will exert upon the particular part to which they may be applied their full vesicatory effect, while, if reduced to a very fine powder, they would be more thoroughly enveloped in the other ingredients, and thus have their strength much diluted. Hence the cerate, when used as an ingredient of the warming plaster, should contain the can- tharides as minutely divided as possible, and, if that usually kept is not in the proper state, a portion should be prepared for this particular purpose. A good plan, we presume, would be to keep the cerate used in this preparation, for a considerable time, at the temperature of 212°, and then strain it so as to separate the flies. (See Ceratum Cantharidis.) The mode frequently pursued of preparing the warming plaster by simply sprinkling a very small proportion of powdered flies upon the surface of Burgundy pitch is altogether objectionable. The warming plaster is employed in chronic rheumatism, and various chronic internal diseases attended with inflammation or an inflammatory ten- dency ; such as catarrh, asthma, pertussis, phthisis, hepatitis, and the sequelae of pleurisy and pneumonia. W. EMPLASTRUM PLUMBI. U.S., Lond. Emplastrum Li- thargyri. Ed., Dub. Lead Plaster. Litharge Plaster. "Take of Sernivitrified Oxide of Lead, in very fine powder, five pounds; Olive Oil a gallon ; Water two pints. Boil them together over a gentle fire, stirring constantly, until the Oil and Oxide of Lead unite into a plaster. It will be proper to add a little boiling water, if that empkrved at the commence- ment be nearly all consumed before the end of the process." U S. The above process was precisely that of the old London Pharmacopceia. In the edition of that work for 1836, the quantities directed are six pounds of the oxide of lead, a gallon of olive oil, and two pints of water; but, as the Imperial measure is employed, the proportions are in fact nearly the same as before. The Edinburgh College orders five ounces of litharge, twelve fluidounces of olive oil, and three fluidounces of water. The Dublin process does not differ materially from that of the London and U. S. Pharmacopoeias. The importance of this plaster, as the basis of most of the others, requires a somewhat detailed account of the principles and manner of its preparation. It was formerly thought that the oil and oxide of lead entered into direct union, and that the presence of water was necessary only to regulate the tem- perature, and prevent the materials from being decomposed by heat. The discovery, however, was afterwards made, that this liquid was essential to the process; and that the oil and oxide alone, though maintained at a temperature of 220°, would not combine; while the addition of water, under these circum- stances, would produce their immediate union. It was now supposed that the oil was capable of combining only with the hydrated oxide of lead, and that the use of the water was to bring the oxide into that state; and, in support of this opinion, the fact was advanced that the hydrated oxide of lead and oil would form a plaster, when heated together without any free water. But, since the general reception of CheATeul's view,-; in relation to oils and their combinations with alk-dies and other metallic oxides, the former opinions have part ii. Emplastra. 919 been abandoned; and it is now admitted that the preparation of the lead plaster affords a genuine example of saponification, as explained by that che- mist. A reaction takes place between the oil and water, resulting in the de- velopment of a sweetish substance called glycerin, and of two acid bodies, the oleic and margaric acids, to which, when animal fat is employed instead of olive oil, a third is added, namely, the stearic. The plaster is formed by a union of these acids with the oxide, and, prepared according to the directions of the Pharmacopoeias, is in fact an oleo-margarate of lead. The glycerin re- mains dissolved in the water, or mechanically mixed with the plaster. That such is the correct view of the nature of this compound is evinced by the fact, that, if the oxide of lead be separated from the plaster by digestion at a moderate heat in very dilute nitric acid, the fatty matter which remains will unite with litharge with the greatest facility, without the intervention of water. According to a more recent chemical view, the fixed oils are compounds of the oily acids mentioned and oxide of glyceryle. When boiled with the oxide of lead and water, the oily acids combine with the metallic oxide to form the plaster, and the oxide of glyceryle takes an equivalent of water and becomes glycerin. Glyceryle is a hypothetical compound of carbon and hydrogen (C6H7), which unites with five equivalents of oxygen to form oxide of gly- ceryle (CHH7Os), also a hypothetical substance, and with an additional equiva- lent of water to form glycerin. (C6H7Os-f-HO.) Other oleaginous substances and other metallic oxides are susceptible of the same combination, and some of them form compounds having the consistence of a plaster; but according to 31. Henry, of Paris, no oily matter except ani- mal fat can properly be substituted for olive oil, and no metallic oxide, not even one of the other oxides of lead, for litharge. He ascertained, moreover, that the English litharge is preferable for the formation of the lead plaster to the German. From more recent experiments of Soubeiran, if appears that massicot or even minium may be substituted for litharge, and a plaster of good consistence be obtained; but that a much longer time is required for completing the process than when the officinal formula is followed. When minium is used, the necessity for its partial deoxidation renders a longer con- tinuance of the process necessary than with massicot. According to M. Da- vallon, Professor in the School of Medicine and Pharmacy at Lyons, it is im- portant that the olive oil employed should be pure; and, adulterated as it frequently is in commerce, it yields an imperfect product. Mr. N. S. Thomas prepared a good plaster by substituting lard for olive oil, in the proportion of eight pounds of lard to five of litharge. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 175.) Lead plaster has also been prepared by double decomposition between soap and acetate or subacetate of lead; but the results have not been so advan- tageous as to lead to the general adoption of this process. For particular in- formation on the subject the reader is referred to the American Journal of Pharm., ix. 127, and to the Journal de Pharmacie, xxiii. 163 and 322. Preparation. The vessel in which the lead plaster is prepared, should be of such a size that the materials will not occupy more than two-thirds of its capacity. The oil should be first introduced, and the litharge then sprinkled in by means of a sieve, the mixture being constantly stirred with a spatula. The particles of the oxide are thus prevented from coalescing in small masses, which the oil would not easily penetrate, and which would therefore delay the process. Though the water exerts an important chemical agency in the changes which occur, it is also useful by preventing too high a temperature, which would decompose the oil and cause the reduction of the metal. The waste must, therefore, be supplied by fresh additions as directed in the pro- cess; and the water added for this purpose should be previously heated, as 920 Emplastra. PART II. otherwise it would not only delay the operation, but by producing explosion might endanger the operator. During the continuance of the boiling, the materials should be constantly stirred, and the spatula should be repeatedly passed along the bottom of the vessel, from side to side, so as to prevent any of the oxide, which is disposed by its greater density to sink to the bottom, from remaining in that situation. The materials swell up considerably in con- sequence partly of the vaporization of the water, partly of the escape of car- bonic acid gas, which is liberated by the oily acids from some carbonate of lead usually contained in the litharge. The process should not be continued longer than is sufficient to produce complete union of the ingredients, and this may be known by the colour and consistence of the mass. The colour of the litharge gradually becomes paler, and at length almost white when the plaster is fully formed. The consistence increases with the progress of the boiling, and is sufficiently thick, when a portion of the plaster, taken out and allowed to cool upon the end of a spatula, or thrown into cold water, becomes solid, without adhering in this state to the fingers. The portion thus solidified should not present, when broken, any red points, which would indicate the presence of a portion of uncombined litharge. When the plaster is formed, it should be removed from the fire, and after a short time cold water should be poured upon it. Portions should then be detached from the mass, and, hav- ing been well kneaded under water, in order to separate the viscid liquid con- tained in the interior, should be formed into cylindrical rolls, and wrapped in paper. Such at least has been the course of proceeding usually recommended. But M. Davallon maintains that the presence of glycerin in the plaster is use- ful by keeping it in a plastic state, and that washing and kneading are inju- rious, the former by removing the glycerin, the latter by introducing particles of air and moisture into the mass, which is thus rendered more disposed to rancidity. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 274, from Journ. de Chim. Med.) 3Iedical Properties and Uses. This plaster, which has long been known under the name of diachylon, is used as an application to excoriated surfaces, and to slight wounds, which it serves to protect from the action of the air. It may also be beneficial by the sedative influence of the lead which enters into its composition. A case is on record in whieh lead-colic resulted from its long-continued application to a large ulcer of the leg. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., xxiii. 246.) Its chief use is in the preparation of other plasters.* Off. Prep. Emplastrum Assafoetidae, U.S., Ed.; Emp. Ferri, U. S., Ed., Dub.; Emp. Galbani, Dub.; Emp. Galbani Comp., U. S., Lond.; Emp. Gummosum, Ed.; Emp. Hydrargyri, U.S., Lond., Ed.; Emp. Opii, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emp. Resinae, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emp. Saponis, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Emp. Saponis Comp., Dub.; Unguentum Plumbi Comp., Lond. W. * A plaster of carbonate of lead, was originally introduced into o>r Pharmacopoeia as a substitute for Mahfsplaster, so much employed in some parts of the United States; but was omitted in the last edition. It is a good application to surfaces inflamed or ex- coriated by friction; and may be resorted to with advantage in those troublesome cases of cutaneous irritation, and even ulceration, occurringupon the back and hips during long- continued confinement to one position. We give the process as contained in the Pharma- copoeia of 1830. " Take of Carbonate of Lead apound; Olive Oil two pints; Yellow Wax four ounces; Lead Plaster apound and a half; Florentine Orris, in powder, nine ounces. Boil together the Oil and Carbonate of Lead, adding a little water, and constantly stirring, till they are thoroughly incorporated; then add the Wax and Plaster, and, when these are melted, sprinkle in the Orris, and mix the whole together." By this process, a good plaster may be prepared, rather too soft, perhaps, at fust, but soon acquiring the proper consistence. PART II. Emplastra. 921 EMPLASTRUM RESINAE, U. S., Lond. Emplastrum Resi- nosum. Ed. Emplastrum Lithargyri cum Resina. Dub. Em- plastrum Adhjesivum. Resin Plaster. Adhesive Plaster. " Take of Resin, in powder, half a pound; Lead Plaster three pounds. To the Lead Plaster melted over a gentle fire add the Resin, and mix them." U S., Lond. The Edinburgh College orders five ounces of the lead plaster, and one of resin; the Dublin, three pounds and a half of the former, and half apound of the latter. This preparation differs from the lead plaster in being more adhesive and somewhat more stimulating. It is the common adhesive plaster of the shops, and is much employed for retaining the sides of wounds in contact, and for dressing ulcers according to the method of Baynton, by which the edges are drawn towards each other, and a firm support is given to the granulations. It is usually spread for these purposes upon muslin; and the spreading is best accomplished, on a large scale, by means of a machine, as described in the general observations upon plasters. It is kept in the shops ready spread; but, as the plaster becomes less adhesive by long exposure to the air, the supply should be frequently renewed. When the skin is very delicate, it occasionally excites some irritation, and under these circumstances a plaster may be sub- stituted, containing a smaller proportion of resin. That originally employed by Baynton contained only six drachms of resin to the pound of lead plaster. In order to render the plaster more adhesive, and less brittle in cold weather, it is customary with many apothecaries to employ a considerable proportion of Burgundy pitch or turpentine in its preparation; but these additions are ob- jectionable, as they greatly increase the liability of the plaster to irritate the skin, and thus materially interfere with the purposes for which the preparation was chiefly intended. If the remarks of Dr. Duncan on the compound soap plaster of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia may be relied on, this might be advan- tageously substituted for the resin plaster in winter. (See Emplastrum Saponis Compositum.)* Off Prep. Emplastrum Belladonnas. U. S., Lond., Ed. W. EMPLASTRUM SAPONIS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Soap Plaster. "Take of Soap, sliced, half apound; Lead Plaster three pounds. Mix the Soap with the melted Plaster, and boil for a short time." U. S. The London and Dublin Colleges mix the same ingredients, in the same proportions, and boil to the proper consistence. " Take of Litharge Plaster four ounces; Gum Plaster two ounces; Castile Soap, in shavings, one ounce. Melt the Plasters together with a moderate heat, add the Soap, and boil for a little." Ed. In relation to the soap plaster of the London and Dublin Colleges, and consequently to that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, Dr. Montgomery, in his Ob- servations upon the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, makes the following remark. "I am informed by Mr. Scanlan, who prepares this plaster in large quantities, * An adhesive plaster, exempt from oxide of lead, is prepared by Pettenkofer. It consists of calcareous soap incorporated with turpentine and suet, and may be prepared in the following manner. A solution of soap is decomposed by a solution of chloride of calcium. The precipitate, having been expressed, and dried, is powdered with half its weight of turpentine dried by heat; and the mixture is melted along with an eighth part of suet, in boiling water. The mixture is boiled until the mass melts into a homogeneous fluid, when it is worked by the hand, in the ordinary manner, in cold water. Should portions of the calcareous soap not melt, they should be separated by straining through flannel. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., x. 358, from Repertorium fur die Pharm., xiii. 40.) 922 Emplastra.—Enemata. part ii. that the quantity of soap is twice too great, the plaster being, when prepared by this formula, quite pulverizable, and falling into crumbs." This effect is in some degree obviated by the gum plaster directed in the Edinburgh process. After the addition of the soap to the melted lead plaster, it is only necessary to continue the heat for a short time, till the soap is incorporated. Boiling is not necessary. Soap plaster is considered discutient, and is sometimes used as an application to tumours. Off. Prep. Emp. Belladonnae, Dub.; Emp. Saponis Comp., Dub. W. EMPLASTRUM SAPONIS COMPOSITUMvel ADHERENS. Dub. Compound Soap Plaster or Adhesive Plaster. " Take of Soap Plaster two ounces; Litharge Plaster with Resin [Emplas- trum Resinae] three ounces. Make a plaster, which is to be melted and spread on linen." Dub. Dr. Duncan, in his Dispensatory, makes the following observations in rela- tion to this preparation : " The common resinous plaster is in cold weather too brittle, and apt to crack off from the linen on which it is spread; but by com- bining it in due proportion with soap plaster, it acquires greater pliability, with- out losing its adhesive property. In fact, this is the plaster commonly spread by a machine on webs of linen, and sold under the name of adhesive plaster." W. ENEMATA. Clysters. These can scarcely be considered proper objects for officinal direction; but, having been introduced into the British Pharmacopoeias, the plan of this work requires that we should notice them. They are substances in the liquid form, intended to be thrown up the rectum, with the view either of evacuating the bowels, of producing the peculiar impression of a remedy upon the lower por- tion of the alimentary canal and neighbouring organs, or of acting on the system generally through the medium of the surface to which they are applied. They are usually employed to assist the action of remedies taken by the mouth, or to supply their place when the stomach rejects them, or is insensible to their impression. Sometimes they are preferably used when the seat of the disorder is in the rectum or its vicinity. As a general rule, three times as much of any remedy is required to produce a given impression by enema, as when taken into the stomach; but this rule should be acted on with caution, as the relative susceptibilities of the stomach and rectum are not the same in all individuals; and, with regard to all very active remedies, the best plan is to administer less than the stated proportion. Attention should also be paid to the fact, that, by the frequent use of a medicine, the susceptibility of the stomach may be in some measure exhausted, without a proportionate diminu- tion of that of the rectum. When the object is to evacuate the bowels, the quantity of liquid adminis- tered should be considerable. For an adult from ten fluidounces to a pint, for a child of eight or ten years, half that quantity, for an infant within the year, from one to three fluidounces, are about the proper proportions. Much larger quantities of mild liquids may sometimes be given with safety and ad- vantage; as the bowels will occasionally feel the stimulus of distension, when insensible to irritating impressions. When the design is to produce the peculiar impression of the remedy upon the neighbouring parts of the system, it is usually desirable that the enema PART II. Enemata. 923 should be retained; and the vehicle should therefore be bland, and as small in quantity as is compatible with convenient administration. A solution of starch, flaxseed tea, or other mucilaginous fluid should be selected, and the quantity should seldom exceed two or three fluidounces. In every case, the patient should be instructed to resist any immediate dis- position to discharge the injected fluid; and his efforts to retain it should be assisted, if necessary, by pressure with a warm folded towel upon the funda- ment. The best instrument for administering enemata is an accurate metallic syringe. W. ENEMA ALOES. Lond. Clyster of Aloes. "Take of Aloes two scruples; Carbonate of Potassa fifteen grains; Decoc- tion of Barley half a pint [Imperial measure]. Mix, and rub them together." Lond. This is intended as a formula for the use of aloes in cases of ascarides in the rectum, and of amenorrhcea attended with constipation. W. ENEMA CATHARTICUM. Ed., Dub. Cathartic Clyster. " Take of Manna a,n ounce. Dissolve it in ten fluidounces of Compound Decoction of Chamomile, and add of Olive Oil an ounce, Sulphate of Magne- sia half an ounce." Dub. " Take of Olive oil one ounce; Sulphate of Magnesia half an ounce; Sugar one ounce; Senna half an ounce; Boiling Water sixteen fluidounces. Infuse the Senna for an hour in the Water; then dissolve the Salt and Sugar; add the Oil, and mix them by agitation." Ed. The laxative enema most commonly employed in this country, consists of a tablespoonful of common salt, two tablespoonfuls of lard or sweet oil, the same quantity of molasses, and a pint of warm water. It has the advantage of consisting of materials which are always at hand in families, is in all re- spects equal to the Dublin preparation, and, though less active than the Edin- burgh, is preferable to it on ordinary occasions. Off. Prep. Enema Foetidum, Ed., Dub. ' W. ENEMA COLOCYNTHIDIS. Lond. Clyster of Colocynth. " Take of Compound Extract of Colocynth two scruples; Soft Soap an ounce; Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Mix, and rub them together." Lond. This may be employed whenever a very powerful purgative impression is required upon the lower bowels, as in cases of obstinate colic and constipa- tion. W. ENEMA FCETIDUM. Ed., Dub. Fetid Clyster. " This is made by adding to the Cathartic Clyster two drachms of Tincture of Assafetida." Dub., Ed. It is carminative and antispasmodic, as well as laxative; but, when the peculiar influence of assafetida is desired by way of enema, we prefer the gum- resin itself rubbed up with hot water, in the proportion of one or two drachms to half a pint, of which the whole or a part may be given according to cir- cumstances. W. ENEMA OPII. Lond., Dub. Enema Opii vel Anodynum. Ed. Clyster of Opium. " Take of Decoction of Starch four fluidounces; Tincture of Opium thirty minims. Mix them." Lond. The Edinburgh College boils half a drachm of starch in two fluidounces of water, and, when it is cool enough for use, adds from thirty minims to a flui- drachm of tincture of opium. 924 Enemata.—Extracta. PART II. The Dublin College mixes a fluidrachm of tincture of opium with six fluid- ounces of warm water. Of these processes that of the London College is preferable, although the quantity of decoction of starch is unnecessarily large. In the Dublin formula there is too much both of the tincture and the vehicle. It must have hap- pened to every one in the habit of prescribing opium in this way, to have seen a much greater effect produced by a certain amount of laudanum injected into the rectum than by one-third of the quantity swallowed. The fluidrachm contains at least one hundred drops of laudanum of the ordinary size, and not less than one hundred and twenty as they are often formed. From twenty to twenty-five drops are usually considered as a medium dose; so that the Dublin College orders five times as much by the rectum as is given by the mouth. Sixty drops, equivalent to about thirty minims, are abundantly suf- ficient. As the object is that the enema should remain in the rectum, the smaller the quantity of the vehicle the better; and a mucilaginous fluid is preferable to water, as it involves the tincture, and prevents the irritation of the alcohol before the opium begins to take effect. The ordinary anodyne enema, employed in this country, consists of about sixty drops of laudanum and one or two fluidounces of flaxseed tea or solution of starch. This is an admirable remedy in obstinate vomiting, strangury from blisters, painful affections of the kidneys, bladder, and uterus, and in the tenesmus of dysentery. It may also frequently be employed to produce the effects of opium upon the system, when circumstances prevent the administration of this medicine by the mouth. W. ENEMA TEREBINTHINAE. Lond., Ed., Dub. Clyster of Turpentine. " Take of Oil of Turpentine a fluidounce; Yolk of Egg a sufficient quantity. Rub them together, and add of Decoction of Barley nineteen fluidounces." Lond. The Edinburgh College employs the same proportions, but substitutes water for decoction of barley. " Take of Common Turpentine half an ounce ; the Yolk of one Egg. Rub them together, and add gradually ten ounces of Water of a temperature not exceeding 100°." Dub. As the common turpentine alluded to in the Dublin formula is not usually kept in the shops of this country, we almost always employ the oil of turpen- tine, which is even more efficacious, and in no respect inferior for the purpose. (See Oleum Terebinthinae.) W. EXTRACTA. Extracts. Extracts, as the term is employed in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, are solid substances, resulting from the evaporation of the solutions of vegetable principles, obtained either by exposing the vegetable to the action of a solvent, or by expressing its juice in the recent state. The Dublin College makes a distinction between those prepared from the infusions, decoctions, or tinctures, and those from the expressed juices of plants, calling the former Extracta, the latter Succi Spissati. But there is no such essen- tial difference between these two sets of preparations, as to require that they should be separately classed; and something is gained in the simplicity of nomenclature, as well as of arrangement, which results from their union. PART II. Extracta. 925 We shall consider them under the same head, taking care, however, to detail distinctly whatever is peculiar in the mode of preparing each. The composition of extracts varies with the nature of the vegetable, the character of the solvent, and the mode of preparation. The object is generally to obtain as much of the active principles of the plant, with as little of the inert matter as possible; though sometimes it may be desirable to separate the active ingredients from each other, when their effects upon the system are materially different; and this may be accomplished by employing a menstruum which, while it dissolves one, leaves the other untouched. The proximate principles most commonly present in extracts are gum, sugar, starch, tannin, extractive, colouring matter, salts, and the peculiar principles of plants; to which, wben a spirituous solvent is employed, may usually be added resinous substances, fatty matter, and frequently more or less essential oil—gum and starch being excluded when the menstruum is pure alcohol. Of these sub- stances, as well as of others which, being soluble, are sometimes necessarily present in extracts, we have taken occasion to" treat under various heads in the Materia Medica. There is one, however, which, from its supposed almost uni- form presence in this class of preparations, and from the influence it is thought to exert upon their character, deserves particular consideration in this place. We allude to extractive, or, as it is sometimes called, extractive matter. It has long been observed that in most vegetables there is a substance, soluble both in water and alcohol, which, in the preparation of extracts, under- goes some chemical change during the process of evaporation, imparting to the liquid, even if originally limpid, first a greenish, then a yellowish-brown, and ultimately a deep-brown colour, and becoming itself insoluble. This substance, originally called saponaceous matter by Scheele, afterwards received the more expressive name of extractive, derived from its very frequent presence in ex- tracts. Its existence as a distinct principle is denied, or at least doubted by some chemists, who consider the phenomena supposed to result from its pre- sence, as depending upon the mutual reaction of other principles; and, in rela- tion to Peruvian bark, it appears to have been proved that the insoluble matter which forms during its decoction in water is a compound of starch and tannin. A similar compound must also be formed in other cases when these two prin- ciples co-exist; but they are not always present in the same vegetable, nor can all the changes which have been attributed to extractive be accounted for by their union, even when they are present; so that, till further light is shed on the subject, it is best to admit the existence of a distinct substance, which, though not the same in all plants, possesses sufficient identity of character to be entitled, like sugar, resin, &c, to a distinctive name. The most interesting property of extractive is its disposition to pass, by the influence of atmospheric air at a high temperature, into an insoluble substance. If a vegetable infusion or decoction be evaporated in the open air to the consistence of an extract, then diluted, filtered, and again evaporated, and the process repeated so long as any insoluble matter is formed, the whole of the extractive will be separated from the liquid, which will then contain only the gum, sugar, saline matters, &c, which may have existed in the plant. If chlorine be passed through an infusion or decoction, a similar precipitate is formed with much greater rapidity. The change is usually ascribed to the absorption of oxygen by the extractive, which has, therefore, been called, in its altered condition, oxidized extractive; but De Saussure ascertained that, though oxygen is absorbed during the pro- cess, an equal measure of carbonic acid gas is given out, and the oxygen and hydrogen of the extractive unite to form water in such a manner as to leave the principle richer in carbon than it was originally. The name of oxidized extractive is, therefore, obviously incorrect, and Berzelius proposes to substi- 926 Extracta. PART II. tute for it that of apotheme, synonymous with deposit. According to Ber- zelius, apotheme is not completely insoluble in water, but imparts a slight colour to that liquid when cold, and is rather more soluble in boiling water, which becomes turbid upon cooling. It is still more soluble in alcohol, and is freely dissolved by solutions of the alkalies and alkaline carbonates, from which it is precipitated by acids. It has a great tendency, when precipitated from solutions, to unite with other principles, and to carry them along with it, thus acquiring properties somewhat different, according to the source from which it is obtained. In this way, also, even when the extractive of a plant is itself medicinally inert, its conversion into apotheme may be injurious by causing a precipitation of a portion of the active principle; and, in practical pharmaceutic operations, this change should always, if possible, be avoided. With these preliminary views, we shall proceed to the consideration of the practical rules necessary to be observed in the preparation of extracts. We shall treat of the subject under the several heads, 1. of the extraction of the soluble principles from the plant; 2. of the method of conducting the evapo- ration; 3. of the proper condition of extracts, the changes they are liable to undergo, and the best method of preserving them; and 4. of the general direc- tions of the several Pharmacopoeias in relation to them. 1. Extraction of the Soluble Principles. There are two distinct modes of obtaining, in a liquid state, the principles which we wish to extract; 1. by expression; 2. by the agency of a solvent. 1. By expression. This method is applicable only to recent vegetables. All plants cannot be advantageously treated in this way, as many have too little juice to afford an appreciable quantity upon pressure, and of those which are succulent, a considerable portion do not yield all their active principles with their juice. Succulent fruits, and various acrid and narcotic plants, are proper subjects of this treatment. The plants should be operated upon, if possible, immediately after their collection. Mr. Battley, of London, recommends that, if not entirely fresh, they should be revived by the immersion of the stalks in water for twelve or eighteen hours, and those only used which recover their freshness by this management. They should then be cut into pieces, and bruised in a stone mortar till brought to a pulpy consistence. When the plant is not very succulent, it is necessary to add a little water during this part of the process, in order to dilute the juice. After sufficient contusion, the pulp is introduced into a linen or canvas bag, and the liquid parts ex- pressed. Mr. Brande states that light pressure only should be employed; as the extract is thus procured greener, of a less glutinous or viscid consistence, and, in his opinion, more active than when considerable force is used in the expression. (3Ianual of Pharmacy.) The juice thus obtained is opaque and usually green, in consequence of the presence of green wax or chlorophylle, and of a portion of the undissolved vegetable fibre in a state of minute division. By heating the juice to about 160°, the albumen contained in it coagulates, and, involving the chlorophylle and vegetable fibre, forms a greenish precipi- tate. If the liquid be now filtered, it becomes limpid and nearly colourless, and is prepared for evaporation. The clarification, however, is not absolutely necessary, and is generally neglected. Sometimes the precipitate carries with it a considerable portion of the active principle; in which case it should be sub- sequently incorporated with the juice, when reduced by evaporation to the consistence of a syrup. 2. By solution. The active principles of dried vegetables can be extracted only by means of a liquid solvent. The menstruum usually employed is either PART II. Extracta. 927 water or alcohol, or a mixture of the two. Water, on account of its cheapness, is always preferred, when circumstances do not strongly call for the use of alcohol. It has the advantage, moreover, that it may be assisted in its action, if necessary, by a higher degree of heat than the latter. Pump water is often unfit for the purpose, in consequence of the quantity of its saline matter which, in some instances, may exert an unfavourable influence on the active principle, and must always be left in the extract. Rain, or river, or distilled water should be preferred. Alcohol is employed when the principles to be extracted are insoluble, or but slightly soluble in water, as in the case of the resins; when it is desirable to avoid in the extract inert substances, such as gum and starch, which are dissolved by water and not by alcohol; when the heat required to evaporate the aqueous solution would dissipate or decompose the active ingredients of the plant, as the volatile oils and the active principle of sarsaparilla; when the reaction of the water itself upon the vegetable principles is injurious, as sometimes happens; and, finally, when the nature of the substance to be exhausted requires so long a maceration in water as to endanger spontaneous decomposition. The watery solution requires to be soon evaporated, as this fluid rather promotes than counteracts chemical changes; while an alcoholic tincture may be preserved unaltered for an inde- finite period. An addition of alcohol to water is sufficient to answer some of the purposes for which the former is preferable; and the employment of both fluids is essential, when the virtues of the plant reside in two or more prin- ciples, all of which are not soluble in either of these menstrua. In this case it is usually better to submit the vegetable to the action of the two fluids successively, than to both united. Extracts obtained by the agency of water, are called watery or aqueous extracts, those by means of alcohol, undiluted or diluted, alcoholic or spirituous extracts. The method of preparing the solution is by no means a matter of indiffer- ence. The vegetable should be thoroughly bruised, or reduced to the state of coarse powder, so as to allow the access of the solvent to all its parts, and yet not so finely pulverized as to prevent a ready precipitation of the undissolved and inactive portion. When water is employed, it is customary to boil the medicine for a considerable length of time, and, if the first portion of liquid does not completely exhaust it, to repeat the operation with successive por- tions, till the whole of the active matter is extracted. This may be known by the sensible properties of the liquid, and by its influence upon reagents. But the boiling temperature produces the decomposition of many vegetable principles, or at least so modifies them as to render them inert; and the extracts prepared by decoction are usually less efficient than those prepared with a less degree of heat. From numerous experiments upon extracts, Orfila concluded that their virtues were less in proportion to the heat used in their preparation. It has, therefore, been recommended to substitute for decoction the process of maceration, digestion, or hot infusion; in the first of which the liquid acts without heat, in the second is assisted by a moderately increased temperature sustained for a considerable time, and in the third is poured boil- ing hot upon the vegetable matter, and allowed to stand for a short period in a covered vessel. When the active principles are readily soluble in cold water, maceration is often preferable to the other modes, as starch, which is inert, is thus left behind; but in many instances the preparation would spoil before the extraction would be completed. By digestion, though the solvent power of water is moderately increased, the advantage is often more than counterbalanced by the increased disposition to spontaneous decomposition. Hot infusion, therefore, is to be preferred where the vegetable does not readily yield its virtues to cold water. It has the advantage, moreover, in the case 928 Extracta. PART II. of albuminous substances, that the albumen is coagulated, and thus prevented from increasing the bulk of the extract, without any addition to its virtues. A convenient mode of performing this process, is to introduce the solid mate- rial into a vessel with an opening near the bottom temporarily closed, or into a funnel with its mouth loosely stopped, then to pour on the boiling water, and, having -allowed it to remain a sufficient length of time, to draw it off through the opening. This operation may be repeated till the water comes away without any obvious impregnation. It is always desirable to obtain the solution in the first place as concentrated as possible, so as to prevent the necessity of long continued evaporation, which has a tendency to injure the extract. It is better, therefore, to incur the risk, both where decoction and infusion are employed, of leaving a portion of the active matter behind, than to obtain a very weak solution. Wben successive portions of water are em- ployed, those which are least impregnated should he brought by evaporation to the strength of that first obtained before being mixed with it, as the latter thus escapes exposure to unnecessary heat. When alcohol is employed as a menstruum, the vegetable should be mace- rated in it for one or two weeks, and care should be taken that the tincture be as nearly saturated as possible. The extraction may be hastened by sub- stituting digestion for maceration; as the moderate heat employed, while it facilitates the action of the alcohol, has in -this case no effect in promoting decomposition, and the influence of the atmospheric air may be excluded by performing the process in close vessels. When alcohol and water are both used, it is best, as a general rule, to exhaust the vegetable with each sepa- rately, as the two menstrua require different modes of treatment. In which- ever of these modes the extraction is effected, it requires the assistance of occasional agitation; and, when the vegetable matter is very porous, and absorbs large quantities of the solvent, expression must be resorted to. Acetic acid has recently been introduced into use as a menstruum in the preparation of extracts. It is supposed to be a better solvent of the active principles of certain substances than either water or alcohol alone. Accord- ing to Girolamo Ferrari, the acrid narcotics, such as aconite, hemlock, hyos- cyamus, and stramonium, yield much stronger extracts with distilled vinegar than with water, and still stronger to alcohol to which strong acetic acid has been added. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., i. 239.) This acid is used in the preparation of the acetic extract of colchicum of the London and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias. Ether is now also used to a considerable extent in the preparation of certain extracts. Having the property of dissolving volatile oil and resin, and of evaporating at a temperature which is insufficient to volatilize the oil, it is admirably adapted for the preparation of extracts from those substances the virtues of which reside in the two principles referred to. An ethereal tinc- ture is first prepared by the process of percolation or displacement, and the ether is then either allowed to escape by spontaneous evaporation, or is dis- tilled off at a very moderate heat. The oleo-resinous extracts thus obtained are usually of a thick fluid or semi-fluid consistence. For more precise in- formation as to the mode of preparing them, the reader is referred to a paper by Professor Procter, in the Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 114. The process of displacement has within a few years been very advantage- ously applied to the preparation of extracts, both with water and spirituous menstrua. It has the following great advantages; 1. that it enables the soluble principles to be sufficiently extracted by cold water, thereby avoiding the injury resulting from heat in decoction and hot infusion; 2. that it effects the extraction much more quickly than can be done by maceration, thereby PART II. Extracta. 929 not only saving time, but also obviating the risk of spontaneous decomposi- tion; and 3. that it affords the opportunity of obtaining highly concentrated solutions, thus diminishing all the injurious effects of the subsequent evapora- tion. While thus advantageous, it is less liable in this particular case than in others to the objection of yielding imperfect results if not well performed; for, though an inexpert or careless operator may incur loss by an incomplete exhaustion of the substance acted on, and the extract may be deficient in quantity, it may still be of the intended strength and quality, which is not the case with infusions or tinctures unskilfully prepared upon this plan. For an account of the mode of operating in the process of displacement, and of the instruments used, the reader is referred to pages 763 and 769. Some prefer the mode of expression to that of displacement. This also is applicable both to watery and alcoholic menstrua. The substance to be acted upon is mixed with the menstruum, cold or hot according to circumstances; and the mixture is allowed to stand from twelve to twenty-four hours. The liquid part is then filtered off, and the remainder submitted to strong pressure, in a linen bag, by means of a common screw press, or other convenient instru- ment. Another portion of the menstruum may then be added, and pressure again applied; and, if the substance is not sufficiently exhausted, the same operation may be performed a third time. Frequently only a single expres- sion is required, and very seldom a third. The quantity of menstruum added must vary with the solubility of the principles to be extracted. According to Mohr, the method of expression has the advantage over that of displacement, that it yields solutions of more uniform concentration, that it does not require the material to be so carefully powdered or otherwise so skilfully managed in order to insure favourable results, and finally that it occupies less time. (An- nal. der Pharm., xxi. 299.) 2. Mode of conducting the Evaporation. In evaporating the solutions obtained in the modes above described, atten- tion should always be paid to the fact, that the extractive matter is constantly becoming insoluble at high temperatures with the access of air, and that other chemical changes are going on, sometimes not less injurious than this, while the volatile principles are expelled with the vapour. The operator should, therefore, observe two rules; 1. to conduct the evaporation at as low a tem- perature as is consistent with other objects; 2. to exclude atmospheric air as much as possible, and, when this cannot be accomplished, to expose the liquid the shortest possible time to its action. According to Berzelius, the injurious influence of atmospheric air is much greater at the boiling point of water than at a less heat, even allowing for the longer exposure in the latter case; and, therefore, a slow evaporation at a moderate heat is preferable to the more rapid effects of ebullition. Bearing these principles in mind, we shall proceed to examine the different modes in practice. First, however, it is proper to ob- serve that decoctions generally let fall upon cooling a portion of insoluble matter; and it is a question whether this should be rejected, or retained so as to form a part of the extract. Though it is undoubtedly in many instances inert, as in that of the insoluble tannate of starch formed during the decoction of certain vegetable substances, yet, as it frequently also contains a portion of the active principle which a boiling saturated solution necessarily deposits on cooling, and, as it is difficult to decide with certainty when it is active and when otherwise, the safest plan, as a general rule, is to allow it to remain. The method of evaporation usually resorted to in the case of the aqueous solutions is rapid boiling over a fire. The more quickly the process is con- 59 930 Extracta. PART II. ducted the better, provided the liquid is to be brought to the boiling point; for the temperature cannot exceed this, and the length of exposure is dimi- nished. But, even where this method is employed, it should not be continued till the completion of the evaporation; for, when most of the water has escaped, the temperature can no longer be kept down to the boiling point, and the ex- tract is burnt. The caution, therefore, should always be observed of removing the preparation from the fire, before it has attained the consistence of thick syrup, and completing the evaporation either by means of a water-bath, or in shallow vessels at a moderate heat. When large quantities of liquid are to be evaporated, it is best to divide them into portions, and evaporate each sepa- rately ; for, as each portion requires less time for evaporation than the whole, it will thus be a shorter time exposed to heat. (31ohr.) But the mode of evaporation by boiling is always more or less objectionable, and should be em- ployed only in cases where the principles of the plant are so fixed and un- changeable as to authorize their extraction by decoction. Evaporation by means of the water-bath, from the commencement of the process, is safer than the plan just mentioned, as it obviates all danger of burning the extract; but, as the heat is not supplied directly from the fire, the volatilization of the water cannot go on so rapidly, and the temperature being the same, or very nearly so, when the water-bath is kept boiling, there is greater risk of injurious action from the air. The use of the vapour-bath, as suggested by M. Henry, is perhaps preferable; as it requires a smaller con- sumption of fuel, and the heat imparted to the hquid, while sufficient to evapo- rate it, is less than 212.° We take the following description of the apparatus employed at the Central Pharmacy of Paris, from M. Chevallier's highly useful Manual. It consists of a covered boiler, containing water, the vapour of which is conducted through a pipe into evaporating vessels, communicating with each other by means of metallic tubes. These vessels have the form of an ordinary copper basin, over the top of which is soldered a shallow tin cap- sule, intended to contain the liquor to be evaporated. The vapour from the boiler circulates through these vessels, and the water into which it condenses is allowed to escape through a stop-cock attached to the bottom of each vessel. From the last one of the series a tube passes into a vessel of water, so as to afford a slight pressure against the escape of any excess of vapour. The liquid to be evaporated is first distributed in two or three capsules, but when con- siderably concentrated is transferred to a single one, where it is stirred towards the close of the process to hasten the evaporation. The heat applied to the liquid, if there are four vessels, is in that nearest the boiler about 198° F., in the fourth or most remote, about 135°. An incidental advantage of this ap- paratus is, that it affords a large supply of distilled water, which may be used for extracting the active matter from fresh portions of the vegetable, or for other purposes. A good plan of evaporation, though slow, is to place the liquid in a broad shallow vessel, exposed in a stove or drying room to a temperature of about 100°, or a little higher, taking care that the air have free access in order to facilitate the evaporation. This mode is particularly applicable to all those cases in which maceration or infusion is preferred to decoction for extracting the active principles. Berzelius says that we may thus usually obtain the extract in the form of a yellowish transparent mass, while those prepared in the ordinary way are almost black, and are opaque even in very thin layers. Even when the liquid is boiled at first, the process may often be advantageously completed in this manner. It has been proposed to effect the evaporation at the common temperature, by directing a strong current of air, by means of a pair of smith's bellows, over the surface of the liquid; and in the case of those PART II. Extracta. 931 substances which are injured by heat and not by the action of atmospheric air, there is no doubt that the plan would be found useful. Plans have been proposed and carried into execution for performing evapo- ration without the admission of atmospheric air. The apparatus for evapora- tion in vacuo invented by Mr. Barry, and described in the Lond. Journ. of Science and Arts, vol. viii. p. 360, is well calculated to meet this object, at the same time that, by removing the atmospheric pressure, it enables the water to rise in vapour more rapidly, and at a comparatively low temperature. The method of Barry consists in distilling the liquid into a large receiver from which the air has been expelled by steam, and in which the vapour is con- densed by cold water applied to the surface of the receiver, so as to maintain a partial vacuum. Mr. Redwood has modified this process by keeping an air- pump in action during the evaporation, thus removing not only the air, but the vapour as fast as it forms, and maintaining a more complete vacuum than can be done by the condensation of the vapour alone. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., i. 231.) Another method is to place the liquid under an exhausted receiver, together with some concentrated sulphuric acid, or chloride of calcium, which, by its affinity for water, assists the evaporation of the liquid. But, from the expense, and trouble of these modes of evaporation, they are not calculated for general use. Dr. Christison recommends as probably the most perfect and convenient method, especially with watery infusions and decoctions, to evapo- rate the fluid in a vacuum to the consistence of syrup, and then to complete the process in shallow vessels, exposed to a current of air without heat. A more convenient plan of excluding the air, though it does not at the same time meet the object of reducing the requisite degree of heat, is to distil off the water in close vessels. Berzelius says that this is the best mode of con- centration next to that in vacuo. Care, however, must be taken that the fire be not too long applied, lest the extract should be burnt. The process should, therefore, be completed by means of the water-bath. In the concentration of alcoholic solutions, distillation should always be per- formed ; as not only is the atmospheric air thus excluded, but the alcohol is recovered, if not absolutely pure, certainly fit for the purpose to which it was originally applied. Here also the water-bath should be employed, to obviate any possible risk of injury from the fire. When the decoction or infusion, and tincture of the same vegetable have been made separately, they should be separately evaporated to the consistence of syrup, and then mixed together, while they are of such a consistence as to incorporate without difficulty. The object of this separate evaporation is, that the spirituous extract may not be exposed to the degree of heat, or lengthened action of the air, which is neces- sary in the ordinary mode of concentrating the infusion or decoction. In every instance, care should be taken to prevent any portion of the ex- tract from becoming dry and hard on the sides of the evaporating vessel, as in this state it will not readily incorporate with the remaining mass. The heat, therefore, should be applied to the bottom, and not to the sides of the vessel. 3. Condition and Preservation of Extracts. Extracts are prepared of two different degrees of consistence; soft so that they may be readily made into pills, and hard that they may be pulverized. Those obtained from the expressed juices of plants are apt to attract moisture from the air, in consequence of the deliquescent nature of the salts existing in the juice. They are thus rendered softer, and more liable to become mouldy upon the surface. Others, especially such as contain much chlorophylle, harden by time, in consequence of the escape of their moisture; and it not unfre- 932 Extracta. PART II. quently happens that small crystals of saline matter are formed in their sub- stance. Most extracts, especially those containing azotized principles, are capable, when left to themselves, of producing nitrates. The air, moreover, exercises an unfavourable chemical influence over the softer extracts, which are enfeebled, and ultimately become nearly inert, by the same changes which they undergo more rapidly in the liquid state at an elevated temperature. If an extract be dissolved in water, and the liquid be saturated with common salt, or any other very soluble salt of difficult decomposition, the greater part of it is precipitated, in consequence of the insolubility of this class of substances in saline solutions. The precipitate may be again dissolved in pure water. (Berzelius.) Extracts, in order that they may keep well, should be placed in glazed earthenware, glass, or porcelain jars, and completely protected from the access of the air. This may be effected by covering their surface with a layer of melted wax, or with a piece of paper moistened with strong spirit, then clos- ing the mouth of the vessel with a cork, spreading wax or rosin over this, and covering the whole with leather, or a piece of bladder. (Duncan.) The dry extracts, being less liable to be affected by atmospheric oxygen, do not require so much care. The application of alcohol to the surface has a tendency to pre- vent mouldiness. A method of protecting extracts from the action of the air frequently resorted to, is to cover them closely with oiled bladder; but this, though better than to leave them uncovered, is not entirely effectual. Should the extract become too moist, it may be dried by means of a water-bath; should it, on the contrary, be too dry, the proper consistence may be restored by softening it in the same manner, and incorporating with it a little distilled water. (Chevallier.) Extracts from recent plants should always be prepared at the season when the plant is medicinally most active; and a good rule is to prepare them once a year. 4. General Officinal Directions. " In the preparation of the Extracts, evaporate the moisture, as quickly as possible, in a broad, shallow dish, by means of a water-bath, until they have acquired the consistence proper for forming pills ; and towards the end of the process, stir them constantly with a spatula. Sprinkle upon the softer Extracts a small quantity of Alcohol [Rectified Spirit, LomU]." U. S., Lond. " Extracts are usually prepared by evaporating the expressed juices of plants, or their infusions and decoctions in water, proof spirit, or rectified spirit, at a temperature not exceeding 212° F. by means of a vapour-bath. Most of them, however, may be obtained of greatly superior quality by the process of evapo- ration in vacuo. And the extracts of expressed juices cannot, perhaps, be better prepared than by spontaneous evaporation in shallow vessels, exposed to a current of air. Extracts should be evaporated to such a consistence as to form a pill-mass when cold." Ed. The Dublin College places the inspissated juices under a distinct head, and gives directions for the watery extracts under the title of Extracta Simpliciora, omitting, probably through inadvertence, the classification of the spirituous extracts which it also orders. 1. Succi Spissati. " The leaves used in the preparation of the inspissated juices should be gathered about the period when the herb begins to flower. The inspissation is best effected by evaporating the superfluous moisture with a medium heat by means of a vapour-bath, and constantly stirring with a spatula towards the close of the process." Dub. PART II. Extracta. 933 2. Extracta Simpliciora. " All simple extracts, unless otherwise ordered, are to be prepared according to the following rule. Boil the vegetable matter in eight times its weight of water, till the liquid is reduced one-half; then express, and after the subsidence of the dregs filter; evaporate the liquor with a superior heat (between 200° and 212°) until it begins to thicken; finally, inspissate it with a medium heat (between 100° and 200°) obtained by a vapour-bath, frequently stirring, till it acquires the consistence proper for the formation of pills." Dub. W. EXTRACTUM ACONITI. U.S., Lond,, Ed. Succus Spissatus Aconiti. Dub. Extract of Aconite. This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from fresh Aconite, in the manner directed for extract of stramonium leaves. (See Extraetum Stramonii Foliorum.) " Take of fresh Aconite Leaves a pound. Bruise them in a stone mortar, sprinkling upon them a little water; then express the juice, and evaporate it, without straining, to the proper consistence." Land., Dub. " Take of the Leaves of Monkshood, fresh, any convenient quantity. Beat them into a pulp; express the juice; subject the residuum to percolation with Rectified Spirit, so long as the Spirit passes materially coloured; unite the expressed juice and the spirituous infusion; filter; distil off the spirit; and evaporate the residuum in the vapour-bath-, taking care to remove the vessel from the heat so soon as the due degree of consistence shall be attained." Ed. The U. S., London, and Dublin processes for this extract are the same; all consisting in the evaporation of the expressed juice of the leaves. The reader will find the general officinal directions at the close of our introductory obser- vations in relation to extracts. Among these observations, he will also find rules which may be of practical use in regulating the various steps of the process under consideration. In relation to the preparation of this extract, as well as of all others derived from the expressed juices of narcotic plants, the following summary of the plan pursued by Mr. Battley, an experienced apothecary of London, may be of service. Having passed the expressed juice through a fine hair sieve, he places it immediately upon the fire. Before it boils, a quantity of green mat- ter rises to the surface, which in some plants is very abundant. This is re- moved by a perforated tin dish, and preserved. It ceases to appear soon after the liquid begins to boil. The boiling is continued till rather more than half the fluid has been evaporated, when the decoction is poured into a conical pan and allowed to cool. An abundant dark-green precipitate forms, from which the supernatant liquid is poured off, and, having been reduced one-half by a second boiling, is again allowed to stand. The precipitate which now falls is less green than the first. The remaining fluid is once more placed over the fire, and allowed to boil till it assumes the consistence of syrup, when it is removed. The matter at first collected by skimming, together with that pre- cipitated, is now incorporated with it, and the whole placed in a metallic pan, and by means of a water-bath evaporated to the consistence of an extract. In the latter part of the process, care is necessary to prevent any part of the ex- tract from hardening on the sides of the vessel, as it thus loses its fine green colour, and becomes proportionably feeble. The superiority of this plan over a continuous boiling is, that the portions of active matter which are deposited at different stages of the process, are sub- jected for a shorter time to heat than if allowed to remain in the liquor, and are consequently less deteriorated. The matter which coagulates before the fluid boils is chiefly albumen, embracing portions of chlorophylle and of the 934 Extracta. PART II. undissolved vegetable fibre. It might probably be thrown away without diminishing the virtues of the extract; but as chlorophylle, though itself in- active, has often associated with it a portion of the active principle, it is the most economical plan to incorporate it with the other matters. Mr. Brande states that one cwt. of fresh aconite yields about five pounds of extract. According to Geiger, one pound yields an ounce and a half. The Edinburgh process, which was adopted from the Prussian Pharmaco- poeia, first expresses the leaves, then digests the residue in alcohol, and eva- porates the two liquids together. This is an improvement on the other pro- cess; as the residue of the leaves after the expression of the juice is still very acrid. But the evaporation of the expressed juice and that of the tincture should be carried on separately to the consistence of a syrup; since, by the present plan, the active matter of both liquids is exposed to heat during the time necessary for the evaporation of the whole. When properly prepared by means of a water-bath, according to the U. S. and London process, which is that of Storck, this extract has a yellowisb- brown colour, with a disagreeable narcotic odour, and the acrid taste of the plant. Prepared according to the Edinburgh process, it is said to be more acrid and more active as a medicine. »The extract of aconite may be given in the dose of one or two grains, night and morning, to be gradually increased till the system is affected. Twenty grains or more have been given in the course of a day. Dr. Turnbull states that he has tried several extracts of aconite made by evaporating the expressed juice, and found them almost inert. W. EXTRACTUM ACONITI ALCOHOLICUM. U.S. Alcoholic Extract of Aconite. " Take of Aconite, in coarse powder, a pound; Diluted Alcohol four pints. Moisten the Aconite with half a pint of the Diluted Alcohol, and, having allowed it to stand for twenty-four hours, transfer it to an apparatus for dis- placement, and add gradually the remainder of the Diluted Alcohol. When the last portion of this shall have penetrated the Aconite, pour in sufficient water from time to time to keep the powder covered. Cease to filter when the liquid which passes begins to produce a precipitate, as it falls, in that which has already passed. Distil off the Alcohol from the filtered liquor, and evaporate the residue to the proper consistence." U S. This is essentially the process of the French Codex. The water added is merely intended to expel that portion of the spirituous solution remaining in the aconite; and the filtration is directed to cease when a precipitate begins to appear, because this is an indication that the water is passing. It is im- portant that the heat employed in the evaporation should not be greater than that produced by a vapour-bath, as otherwise decomposition will be apt to ensue. If made from recently dried leaves, which have not yet been impaired by time, this is a good preparation of aconite, and is believed to be more powerful, and to keep better, than the inspissated juice. The dose is half a grain or a grain, to be gradually increased if necessary. An alcoholic extract prepared from the root is said to be stronger, and may be given in the dose of one-sixth or one-quarter of a grain three times a day, to be gradually increased until its effects are experienced. W. EXTRACTUM ALOES PURIFICATUM. Lond. Extractum Aloes Hepatice. Dub. Purified Extract of Aloes. "Take of Aloes, in powder, fifteen ounces; Boiling Water a gallon [Im- perial measure]. Macerate for three days with a gentle heat; then strain the PART II. Extracta. 935 liquor, and set it by that the dregs may subside. Pour off the clear liqubr, and evaporate it to a proper consistence." Lond. The Dublin College prepares this extract according to the general directions. (See page 933.) The object of this process is to separate from aloes the resinous matter, the apotheme of Berzelius, which is supposed to irritate the bowels, without pos- sessing purgative properties; but the truth appears to be, that, when deprived of a small proportion of adhering extractive, this matter is quite inert. It can- not, therefore, injuriously affect the virtues of the medicine; and, as it exists in comparatively small proportion, and during the process a part of the ex- tractive becomes insoluble, the preparation may be considered as at best un- necessary. The dose of the purified aloes is from five to fifteen grains. Off. Prep. Extraetum Colocynthidis Compositum, Lond, W. EXTRACTUM ANTHEMIDIS. Ed. Extractum Chamjsmeli. Dub. Extract of Chamomile. " Take of Chamomile [dried flowers] a pound. Boil it with a gallon [Im- perial measure] of Water down to four pints; filter the liquor hot; evaporate in the vapour-bath to the proper consistence." Ed. The Dublin College prepares this extract according to the general process for simple extracts. (See page 933.) According to Mr. Brande, one cwt. of dried chamomile flowers affords upon an average 48 pounds of extract. This extract has a deep-brown colour, and the bitter taste of chamomile, but is wholly destitute of aroma, the volatile oil having been entirely driven off during the process. It does not, therefore, possess the peculiar virtues of the flowers; but is simply a mild bitter, which may sometimes be advantage- ously combined with laxatives and mineral tonics in debilitated states of the digestive organs. All the effects of the flowers may be obtained from it by adding a little of the oil of chamomile. It is most used, however, as a vehicle for other tonics in the pilular form. It has been omitted in the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The dose is from ten to twenty grains. An ex- tract may be prepared, having the peculiar flavour as well as bitterness of chamomile, by macerating the flowers in water, and evaporating the infusion in vacuo. W. EXTRACTUM ARTEMISIA ABSINTHII. Dub. Extract of Wormwood. This extract, which is directed only by the Dublin College, is prepared from the tops of wormwood according to the general formula of that College for simple extracts. (Seepage 933.) It retains, to a certain extent, the bitterness of the plant, without the strong odour and peculiar taste dependent on the volatile oil, which is driven off by the boiling. It is, however, in no respect superior to other bitter extracts, and is very seldom used. The dose is from ten to twenty grains. W. EXTRACTUM BELLADONNA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Succus Spissatus Belladonna. Dub. Extract of Belladonna. This is prepared from the fresh leaves of the Atropa Belladonna in the manner directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia for extract of stramonium leaves (see Extractum Stramonii Foliorum); and by the London and Dublin for ex- tract of aconite (see Extractum Aconiti). " Take of Belladonna, fresh, any convenient quantity. Bruise it in a marble mortar into a uniform pulp; express the juice; moisten the residuum with water, and express again. Unite the expressed fluids, filter them, and evapo- 936 Extracta. PART II. rate the filtered liquid in the vapour-bath to the consistence of firm extract, stirring constantly towards the close." Ed. From the experiments of MM. Solon and Soubeiran, it appears that, in re- lation to this extract, the insoluble matter separated from the expressed juice by filtering, and that coagulated by heat, are nearly if not quite inert; so that advantage might result from clarifying the juice by these means before evapo- rating it. (See General Observations on Extracts, p. 926.) Mr. Brande states that one cwt. of fresh belladonna yields from 4 to 6 pounds of extract. Ac- cording to M. Recluz, nearly ten parts may be obtained from one hundred. The extract employed in this country is brought chiefly from England. It has usually a dark-brown colour, a slightly narcotic not unpleasant odour, a bitterish taste, and a soft consistence which it long retains. Asparagin has been found in this extract. (Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 178.) Its medical properties and uses have been detailed under the head of Bel- ladonna. A few words in relation to its mode of application may be proper here. For the dilatation of the pupil, it is either mixed with water to the consistence of cream and rubbed on the brow and eyelids, or dissolved in water and dropped into the eye. In rigidity of the os uteri, it is applied at intervals to the neck of the uterus, mixed with simple ointment in the pro- portion of two drachms to an ounce. In irritability of the bladder, chordee, spasm of the urethra, and painful constriction of the rectum, it may either be rubbed in the form of ointment upon the perineum, along the urethra, &c, or may be used in the form of enema; but care is requisite not to introduce it too freely into the bowel. It is sometimes smeared upon the bougie, mixed with oil, in the treatment of stricture of the urethra. In the form of oint- ment it has been beneficially employed in phymosis and paraphymosis, and in that of plaster or ointment, in local pains of a neuralgic or rheumatic cha- racter. (See Emplastrum Belladonnse.) The dose of the extract is uncertain on account of its variable strength. The best plan is to begin with one- quarter or one-half of a grain, repeated two or three times a day, and gradu- ally to increase the dose till the effects of the medicine are experienced. To a child two years old not more than one-twelfth of a grain should be admin- istered at first. Off. Prep. Emplastrum Belladonnae, U. S., Lond,, Ed,, Dub. W. EXTRACTUM BELLADONNA ALCOHOLICUM. U.S. Alcoholic Extract of Belladonna. This is directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia to be prepared from Belladonna, in coarse powder, in the same manner as the alcoholic extract of aconite. (See Extractum Aconiti Alcoholicum.) It is a good preparation, though less neces- sary than some other spirituous extracts of the narcotic plants; as the inspis- sated juice, or common extract of belladonna, can generally be procured of good quality. It is one of the officinals of the French Codex. The dose to begin with is half a grain or a grain. W. EXTRACTUM CINCHONA. U. S., Ed., Dub. Extractum Cinchona Cordifolle. Extractum Cinchona Lancifolia. Ex- tractum Cinchona Oblongifolia. Lond. Extract of Peruvian Bark. "Take of Peruvian Bark, in coarse powder, a pound; Alcohol four pints; Water a sufficient quantity. Macerate the Peruvian Bark with the Alcohol for four days; then filter by means of an apparatus for displacement, and when the liquid ceases to pass, pour gradually upon the Bark sufficient Water to keep its surface covered. When the filtered tincture measures four pints, PART II. Extracta. 937 set it aside, and proceed with the filtration until six pints of infusion are ob- tained. Distil off the alcohol from the tincture, and evaporate the infusion, till the liquids respectively are brought to the consistence of thin honey; then mix them, and evaporate so as to form an extract." U. S. " Take of Cinchona Cordifolia, bruised, fifteen ounces ; Distilled Water four gallons [Imperial measure]. Boil down with a gallon of Water to six pints, and strain the liquor while hot. In the same manner boil down with an equal measure of Water four times, and strain. Lastly, having mixed all the liquors together, evaporate them to the proper consistence. Prepare the Extract of Cinchona Lancifolia, and Cinchona Oblongifolia, in the same manner as that of Cinchona Cordifolia." Lond. " Take of any of the varieties of Cinchona, but especially the Yellow or Red Cinchona, in fine powder, four ounces; Proof Spirit twenty-four fluid- ounces. Percolate the Cinchona with the Spirit; distil off the greater part of the spirit; and evaporate what remains in an open vessel over the vapour-bath to a due consistence." Ed. The Dublin College takes a pound of coarsely powdered pale bark and six pints of water; boils for fifteen minutes in a loosely covered vessel, and filters the decoction while hot; boils the residue again in an equal quantity of water, and filters as before; repeats the boiling and filtration in like manner a third time; then mixes the decoctions, and evaporates them to a proper consistence. The College also directs that the extract should be kept soft, so as to be fit for forming pills, and hard, that it may be pulverized. Of the different officinal extracts of bark for which directions are given above, we decidedly prefer that of the United States or Edinburgh Pharma- copoeia. The extract of the London and Dublin Colleges is an injudicious pre- paration. In the first place, the water does not nearly exhaust the bark, and in the second, the boiling favours the formation of an insoluble compound of starch and tannin, which carries with it a portion of the alkaline principles, and, though retained in the extract, is probably less efficient as a medicine than a more soluble compound containing an equal proportion of the active matter. According to the suggestion of M. Henry, Jun., it is not improbable that the different colouring matters in the bark act in relation to the quinia and cinchonia the part of an acid, sharing at a high temperature these bases with*the kinic acid, and forming with them insoluble if not inert compounds. Besides, we cannot by any means be certain that a long continued heat of 212° may not determine an actual decomposition of a portion of these alkalies, and the formation of new principles. It is very desirable that the evaporation, in the preparation of this extract, should be effected at a low temperature. A very good extract of bark was formerly prepared, in the shops of Phila- delphia, by macerating cinchona for a considerable length of time in a large proportion of water, and slowly evaporating the infusion, by a very moderate heat, in large shallow dishes placed upon the top of a stove. Before the use of the sulphate of quinia had superseded that of most other preparations of bark, we employed this extract with success in the treatment of intermittents, and found ten grains of it equivalent to nearly a drachm of the powdered cinchona. According to Mr. Brande, one cwt. of fine crown bark (best pale bark) yields on an average 28 pounds of watery extract, and 25 pounds of alcoholic extract. It is best that the bark should be only coarsely powdered when sub- mitted to decoction or maceration; as in this state it is sufficiently penetrable by the solvent, and more readily separated after being exhausted. The extract should always be brought to the hard dry state in which it may be pulverized; 938 Extracta. PART II. as it is thus less apt to be injured by exposure, and in the state of powder may be more uniformly incorporated with other substances. It is best prepared from the yellow ( Calisaya) or the red bark. Medical Uses. The extract of Peruvian bark is at present much less em- ployed than before the discovery of quinia. It is still, however, occasionally prescribed as a tonic in combination with other medicines; and as it possesses, when properly prepared with a spirituous menstruum, almost all the active principles as they exist in the bark itself, it may be used in preference to the sulphate of quinia, whenever it is supposed that the latter is incapable of ex- erting all the curative influence of cinchona. The dose is from ten to thirty grains, equivalent to about a drachm of the powdered bark. W. EXTRACTUM COLCHICI ACETICUM. Lond., Ed. Acetic Extract of Colchicum. " Take of fresh Colchicum Cormus [bulb] a pound; Acetic Acid three fluid- ounces. Bruise the Cormus, gradually sprinkling in the Acetic Acid; then express the juice, and evaporate it, in an earthen vessel not glazed with lead, to the proper consistence." Lond, " Take of Bulb of Colchicum a pound; Pyroligneous Acid three fluid- ounces. Beat the Colchicum to a pulp, gradually adding the Acid; express the liquor, and evaporate it in a porcelain vessel (not glazed with lead) over the vapour-bath to the due consistence." Ed. The use of the acetic acid, in this preparation, is to render more soluble the alkaline principle upon which the virtues of meadow-saffron are thought to depend. The acetic extract of colchicum is highly commended by Sir C. Scudamore, who, however, prefers it made by evaporating to the consistence of honey, a saturated acetic infusion of the dried bulb. (Lond. 3Ied. Gazette, Dec. 10, 1841.) The dose of the extract is one or two grains, to be repeated two or three times a day, and increased if necessary. W. EXTRACTUM COLCHICI CORMI. Lond. Extract of Col- chicum Cormus. This is prepared in the manner directed for extract of aconite. There scarcely seems to be occasion for both this and the preceding extract of meadow-saffron bulb. Neither of them can be generally prepared in this country, as the fresh bulb is scarce. The dose is one or two grains. In Great Britain a preparation called preserved juice of colchicum is given in the dose of five minims or more. It is prepared by expressing the fresh bulb, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, so that the feculent matter may be deposited, then adding one-quarter of its bulk of alcohol, allowing it again to stand for a short period, and ultimately filtering. W. EXTRACTUM COLOCYNTHIDIS. Lond., Ed. Extractum Colocynthidis simplex. Dub. Extract of Colocynth. "Take of Colocynth, sliced, a pound; Distilled Water two gallons [Impe- rial measure]. Mix them and boil with a slow fire for six hours, occasionally adding distilled Water, so that it may always fill the same measure. Strain the liquor while hot; and, lastly, evaporate to the proper consistence." Lond. The Edinburgh process corresponds closely with the London. "Take of Pulp of Colocynth a pound; Water a gallon. Boil down to four pints, and strain the liquor while hot; then evaporate it to a proper consistence." Dub. In the formula of the Dublin College, the proportion of colocynth is too large, if the pulp only, without the seeds, is intended; as, in consequence of PART II. Extracta. 939 the porous nature of the medullary matter, it absorbs nearly the whole of the water, and almost precludes the possibility of boiling as directed. Dr. Duncan found half a pound of colocynth to contain 2770 grains of seeds, which, boiled by themselves, yielded almost nothing to water, and 800 grains of pith, which was easily boiled in four pounds of water, but absorbed almost the whole of it. The decoction, when expressed, although it contains no starch, gelatinized on cooling. By boiling the residuum in four pounds of fresh water, he ob- tained a decoction, which, mixed with that previously obtained, yielded upon evaporation 360 grains of a pale-brown, semi-transparent, dry, elastic extract, of intense bitterness. The decoction is ordered to be strained while hot, because the gelatinous consistence which it assumes on cooling prevents it from readily passing through the strainer. The French Codex directs, instead of the decoction, an infusion prepared by maceration in cold water. But the aqueous extract of colocynth, however made, is not an eligible preparation; as water is not the best solvent of the active bitter principle, while it takes up much inert matter, so that the officinal extract is even feebler than colocynth itself, with- out having any peculiar merit to recommend it. Besides, according to Mr. Brande, it is invariably either mouldy, or so tough and hard as to resist trituration and formation into pills. It has no place in our national Pharma- copceia, and is little used. The dose is from five grains to half a drachm. W. EXTRACTUM COLOCYNTHIDIS COMPOSITUM. U.S., Lond., Dub. Compound Extract of Colocynth. " Take of Colocynth, deprived of the seeds and sliced, six ounces; Aloes, in powder, twelve ounces; Scammony, in powder, four ounces; Cardamom, in powder, an ounce; Soap [Castile] three ounces; Diluted Alcohol a gallon. Macerate the Colocynth in the Diluted Alcohol, with a gentle heat, for four days. Express and filter the liquor, and add to it the Aloes, Scammony, and Soap; then evaporate to the proper consistence, and, near the end of the process, mix the Cardamom with the other ingredients." U. S. The processes of the London and Dublin Colleges correspond with the above except in phraseology. The former College, however, directs the purified extract of aloes, the latter, hepatic aloes. The object of the soap in this formula is to improve the consistence of the mass, which it renders more soluble in the liquors of the stomach when hard- ened by time. It may possibly also serve the purpose of qualifying the action of the aloes. Diluted alcohol is a much better solvent of the active principle of colocynth than water. The proper consistence, alluded to in this process, is that which is adapted to the formation of pills. This extract is an energetic and safe cathartic, possessing the activity of its three purgative ingredients, with comparatively little of the drastic cha- racter of the colocynth and scammony. It may be still further and advan- tageously modified by combination with rhubarb, jalap, calomel, &c, with one or more of which it is very often united in prescription. In such com- bination it is much employed wherever an active cathartic is desirable, par- ticularly in the commencement of fevers and febrile complaints, in congestion of the liver or portal system, and in obstinate constipation. In small doses it is an excellent laxative in that state of habitual costiveness, depending on a want of the due irritability of the bowels, which often occurs in old people. The dose is from five to thirty grains, according to the effect to be produced, and the susceptibility of the bowels. A very eligible combination is the compound cathartic pill of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. 940 Extracta. PART II. Off.Prep. Enema Colocynthidis, Lond.; Pilulae Catharticae Compositae, U.S. w. EXTRACTUM CONII. U.S., Lond., Ed. Succus. Spissatus Conii. Dub. Extract of Hemlock. This is prepared from fresh Hemlock Leaves, in the mariner directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia for extract of stramonium leaves [see Extractum Stramonii Foliorum], and by the London and Dublin for extract of aconite (see Extractum Aconiti). " Take of Conium any convenient quantity. Beat it into a uniform pulp in a marble mortar, express the juice, and filter it. Let this juice be evapo- rated to the consistence of a very firm extract either in a vacuum with the aid of heat, or spontaneously in shallow vessels exposed to a strong current of air freed of dust by gauze-screens. This extract is of good quality only when a very strong odour of conia is disengaged by degrees on its being care- fully triturated with Aqua Potassae." Ed. The most important point in the preparation of this extract is to evaporate the juice without an undue degree of heat. At a temperature of 212° or upwards, its active principle undergoes rapid decomposition, being converted into resinous matter and ammonia. This is detected by the operator by the ammoniacal odour mixed with that which is peculiar to the plant. The juice always to a certain extent undergoes this decomposition when evaporated over a fire, and is not exempt from it even when the heat is regulated by a water-bath. Hence the propriety of the directions of the Edinburgh Col- lege. In Edinburgh, a very fine extract is prepared by evaporating the juice first in a vacuum, and afterwards in shallow vessels, with a current of air, at common temperatures. Long-continued exposure to the air is productive of the same result as too much heat, so that old extracts are frequently destitute of activity. (Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 416.) No one of the extracts is more variable in its qualities than this. The season at which the herb is collected, the place and circumstances of its growth, the method of preparing the extract, are all points of importance, and are all too frequently neglected. (See Conii Folia.) In this country the process is often very carelessly con- ducted ; and large quantities of an extract, prepared by boiling the plant in water and evaporating the decoction, have been sold as the genuine drug. The apothecary should always prepare the extract himself, or procure it from persons in whom he can have entire confidence. That imported from London is usually the best. The activity of any specimen of the extract may be judged of by rubbing it with potassa, which, disengaging the conia and ren- dering it volatile, gives rise to the peculiar odour of that principle. If no odour be evolved under these circumstances, the extract may be deemed inert. Extract of hemlock should have a fresh olive or greenish colour, a strong narcotic somewhat fetid odour, and a bitterish saline taste. According to Brande, from three to five pounds are obtained from one cwt. of the leaves. M. Recluz got rather more than an ounce from sixteen ounces. Of the medi- cal properties and application of this extract, we have spoken under the head of Conii Folia. The dose is three grains twice a day, to be gradually increased till evidences of its action upon the system are afforded. It may be adminis- tered in pill or solution. Off. Prep. Pilulae Conii Compositae, Lond, W. EXTRACTUM CONII ALCOHOLICUM. U.S. Alcoholic Extract of Hemlock. This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopceia, from Hemlock PART II. Extracta. 941 Leaves, in coarse powder, in the manner directed for alcoholic extract of aco- nite. (See Extractum Aconiti Alcoholicum.) It is one of the French officinal extracts. The same caution is requisite in evaporating in this case as in that of the inspissated juice or common extract. The dose, to.begin with, is two or three grains. W. EXTRACTUM DIGITALIS. Lond., Ed. Extract of Foxglove. This is prepared from the fresh leaves, in the manner directed by the London College for extract of aconite (see Extractum Aconiti), by the Edin- burgh, for extract of hemlock (see Extractum Conii). It is a new preparation of the London and Edinburgh Colleges, and appears to us, considering the activity of the leaves themselves, and the at least equal uncertainty of the extract, to be quite superfluous. The dose is from half a grain to two grains. W. EXTRACTUM DULCAMARA. U.S. Extract of Bittersweet. This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from Bittersweet, in coarse powder, in the manner directed for extract of gentian. This has been newly introduced into the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. It is a pre- paration well known on the continent of Europe, but little used in this coun- try or Great Britain. The dose is from five to ten grains; but much more may be given with impunity. W. EXTRACTUM GENTIANA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Extract of Gentian. "Take of Gentian, in coarse powder, a pound; Water a sufficient quantity. Mix the Gentian with a pint of the Water, and, after allowing the mixture to stand for twenty-four hours, introduce it into an apparatus for displacement, and pour Water upon it gradually until the liquid passes but slightly impreg- nated with the properties of the Gentian. Heat the filtered liquid to the boil- ing point, strain, and evaporate to the proper consistence." U. S. " Take of Gentian, sliced, two pounds and a half; Boiling Distilled" Water two gallons [Imperial measure]. Macerate for twenty-four hours; then boil down to a gallon, and strain the liquor while hot; lastly, evaporate to the proper consistence." Lond. " Take of Gentian any convenient quantity. Bruise it to a moderately fine powder, mix it thoroughly with half its weight of Distilled Water; in twelve hours put it into a proper percolator, and exhaust it by percolation with tem- perate Distilled Water; concentrate the liquid, filter it before it becomes too thick, and evaporate in the vapour-bath to the due consistence." Ed. The Dublin College prepares this extract according to the general process of that College for simple extracts. (See page 933.) The London and Dublin Colleges adhere to the old mode of preparing this extract by decoction; but in the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias the better process of percolation with cold water has been adopted. MM. Gui- bourt and Cadet de Vaux obtained by maceration in cold water an extract not only greater in amount, but more transparent, more bitter, and possessing more of the colour and smell of the root than that prepared by decoction. Guibourt attributes this result to the circumstance that, as gentian contains little if any starch, it yields nothing to boiling which it will not also yield to cold water; while decoction favours the combination of a portion of the colour- ing matter with the lignin. For rules in relation to the proper management of the displacement process, the reader is referred to pages 763 and 769; and for observations upon the best modes of evaporation in the formation of ex- 942 Extracta. PART II. tracts, to page 929. Gentian, according to Brande, yields half its weight of extract by decoction. As ordinarily procured, the extract of gentian is nearly inodorous, very bit- ter, of a dark-brown colour approaching to black, shining, and tenacious. It is frequently used as a tonic in the form of pill, either alone or in connexion with metallic preparations. The dose is from ten to thirty grains. Off. Prep. Pilulae Aloes Compositae, Lond. W. EXTRACTUM HAMATOXYLI. U.S., Lond., Ed. Extract- um Hamatoxyli Campechiani. Dub. Extract of Logwood. " Take of Logwood, rasped, a pound; Water a gallon. Boil down to four pints, and strain the Hquor while hot; then evaporate to the proper consist- ence." U. S. " Take of Logwood, in fine chips, a pound; Boiling Water a gallon [Impe- rial measure]. Macerate for twenty-four hours, then boil down to four pints, strain, and concentrate in the vapour-bath to the due consistence." Ed. The London College prepares it in the manner directed for extract of gen- tian (see Extractum Gentianse); the Dublin College, according to their gene- ral process for simple extracts. (Seepage 933.) The evaporation should be carried so far that the extract may be dry and brittle when cold. About twenty pounds of it are obtained from one cwt. of logwood. (Brande.) It is of a deep ruby colour, and an astringent sweetish taste; and possesses all the medical virtues of the wood from which it is pro- cured. If given in pills, these should be recently made, as, when long kept, they are said to become so hard as sometimes to pass unchanged through the bowels. The extract, however, is best administered in solution. The dose is from ten to thirty grains. This extract is said to be prepared largely in Yuca- tan and other parts of Mexico W. EXTRACTUM HELLEBORI. U.S. Extract of Black Helle- bore. This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from Black Helle- bore, in coarse powder, in the manner directed for alcoholic extract of aconite. (See Extractum Aconiti Alcoholicum.) In consequence, probably, of the injurious influence of heat upon black hel- lebore, the watery extract prepared by decoction is little if at all stronger than the root. The process of percolation with cold spirit has, therefore, been adopted in the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia; and, if proper atten- tion be paid to conduct the evaporation at as low a temperature, and with as little exposure to the air as possible, an efficient extract will probably be ob- tained. It operates as a drastic purge in the dose of twelve or fifteen grains, but is seldom employed. The former French Codex contained a process for preparing the extract of hellebore, according to the method of Bacher. Two pounds of the root and half a pound of carbonate of potassa are digested, with a moderate heat, for twelve hours, in eight pounds of alcohol of 22° B.; the tincture is strained with expression; the residuum is again digested with eight pounds of white • wine for twenty-four hours; the wine is expressed, and having stood four hours to settle is decanted; the liquors are then mixed, and with a gentle heat evaporated to the consistence of an extract. One ounce of this extract, mixed with the same quantity of myrrh, and with ten scruples of the powdered leaves of the Centaurea benedicta, and made into pills of one grain each, con- stitutes the preparation known as the tonic pills of Bacher, formerly much used in amenorrhcea and dropsy, and probably not without advantage, espe- part ii. Extracta. 943 cially in the former of these diseases. The dose is from ten to twenty pills during the day. An additional quantity of diluted alcohol might, without disadvantage, be substituted for the wine in the preparation of the extract. W. EXTRACTUM HUMULI LUPULI. Dub. Extractum Lu- puli. Lond., Ed. Extract of Hops. The London College prepares this extract in the manner directed for extract of gentian (see Extractum Gentianae); the Edinburgh, in the same manner as extract of logwood (see Extractum Haematoxyli); and the Dublin, accord- ing to its general formula for simple extracts. (See p. 933.) Since the discovery of the fact that the active properties of hops reside chiefly in the lupulin, this extract has not been deemed an eligible prepara- tion, and has been little used. It has the peculiar bitterness of the strobiles, without their aroma. Lupulin may be advantageously substituted for it in all cases in which it was formerly employed. Mr. Brande says that the average product of one cwt. of hops is forty pounds of the extract. The dose is from ten to thirty grains. W. EXTRACTUM HYOSCYAMI. U.S., Lond., Ed. Succus Spis- satus Hyoscyami. Dub. Extract of Henbane. This is prepared from fresh Henbane Leaves in the manner directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia for extract of stramonium leaves (see Extractum Stra- monii Eoliorum), by the London and Dublin for extract of aconite (see Ex- tractum Axoniti), and by the Edinburgh for extract of hemlock (see Extractum Conii). MM. Solon and Soubeiran have shown that the insoluble matter separated from the expressed juice of henbane by filtering, and that coagulated by heat, are nearly, if not quite, inert; so that the juice may be advantageously clari- fied before evaporation. (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 228.) Extract of henbane is derived chiefly from England. Mr. Brande says that one cwt. of the fresh herb affords between four and five pounds. M. Recluz obtained about one part from sixteen. The extract, as it reaches us, is of a dark-olive colour almost black, of a narcotic rather unpleasant odour, and a bitterish, nauseous, slightly saline taste. It retains its softness for a long time; but at the end of three or four years becomes dry, and exhibits, when broken, small crystals of nitrate of potassa and chloride of sodium. (Recluz.) Like all the inspissated juices it is of variable strength, according to its age, the care used in its preparation, and the character of the leaves from which it was procured. (See Hyoscyamus.) In its use, therefore, it is advisable to begin with a moderate dose, two or three grains for instance, and gradually to increase the quantity till some effect is experienced, and the degree of efficiency of the particular parcel employed is ascertained. It is usually given in pill. It is sometimes used externally for the same purposes as extract of belladonna. Off. Prep. Pilulae Colocynthidis et Hyoscyami, Ed. W. EXTRACTUM HYOSCYAMI ALCOHOLICUM. U. S. Alco- holic Extract of Henbane. This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from Henbane Leaves, in coarse powder, in the manner directed for alcoholic extract of aconite. (See Extractum Aconiti Alcoholicum.) The alcoholic extract of henbane, if prepared from recently dried leaves, is thought to be more uniform and more powerful than the inspissated juice or common extract. It is one of the preparations of the French Codex. The 944 Extracta. PART II. dose is one or two grains, to be gradually increased until its effects are ob- tained. W. EXTRACTUM JALAPA. U.S., Lond., Dub. Extract of Jalap. This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from Jalap, in coarse powder, in the manner directed for extract of Peruvian bark. (See Extractum Cinchonse.) " Take of Jalap, in powder, hoo pounds and a half; Rectified Spirit a gal- lon [Imperial measure]; Distilled Water two gallons [Imperial measure]. Macerate the Jalap in the Spirit for four days, and pour off the tincture. Boil the residue in the Water down to half a gallon. Filter the tincture and decoction separately; then distil the former and evaporate the latter until they thicken. Lastly, mix the extract with the resin, and evaporate to the proper consistence. Let the extract be kept soft, fit for forming pills, and hard, so that it may be powdered." Lond. The Dublin process is essentially the same as the above. Jalap contains a considerable quantity of starch, which is extracted by de- coction, but left behind by cold water. As this principle serves only to impede the filtration or straining, and augment the bulk of the extract, with- out adding to its virtues, the U. S. process, in which the water is employed at common temperatures, is preferable to the London and Dublin, in which decoction is resorted to. The use both of alcohol and water is necessary, in order to extract all the medicinal qualities of the drug, and they are employed successively, under the impression that the previous removal of the resin by the former, facilitates the action of the latter. The use of percolation, as di- rected by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, enables the cold water to extract the solu- ble parts without the long maceration which would otherwise be necessary. According to Cadet de Gassicourt, water at ordinary temperatures, and in the old mode, acts so slowly, that fermentation takes place before the active mat- ter is all dissolved. Hence, if the extract is prepared without percolation, the residuum, after the tincture has been decanted, should be digested with water at a heat of about 90° or 100° F., which, while it is insufficient for the solu- tion of the starch, enables the solvent to take up the active matter with suffi- cient rapidity. One cwt. of jalap affords, according to Mr. Brande, about fifty pounds of aqueous extract and fifteen of resin. The product of the former is somewhat less by infusion than decoction; and the extract is proportionably stronger. The extract of jalap is of a dark-brown colour, slightly translucent at the edges, and tenacious when not perfectly dry. It contains the resin and gummy extractive, and, consequently, has all the medical properties of the root; but it is not often exhibited alone, being chiefly used as an ingredient of purgative pills, for which it is adapted by the comparative smallness of its bulk. The dose is from ten to twenty grains, or rather more than half that of jalap. Off. Prep. Pilulae Catharticae Compositae, U. S.; Pulvis Scammonii Com- positus, Lond., Dub. W. EXTRACTUM sive RESINA JALAPA. Ed. Extract or Resin of Jalap. " Take any convenient quantity of Jalap, in moderately fine powder; mix it thoroughly with enough of Rectified Spirit to moisten it well; put it in twelve hours into a percolator, and exhaust the powder with Rectified Spirit; distil off the greater part of the Spirit, and concentrate the residuum over the vapour- bath to a due consistence." Ed. This process yields the resin of jalap in an impure state. It may be ob- PART II. Extracta. 945 tained pure by pouring boiling water on the roots, macerating for a day, then cutting them into very thin slices, boiling them three times successively for about ten minutes in water, expressing after each decoction, afterwards boiling them as often and as long in alcohol, and in like manner expressing, finally mixing the tinctures, treating the liquor with animal charcoal, filtering, and evaporating. (Nativelle, Journ. de Pharm., Se ser., i. 228.) Another mode is to introduce into a displacement instrument, first one part of finely powdered animal charcoal, and afterwards two parts mixed with an equal quantity of powdered jalap, then to pour on alcohol until the liquid which passes equals the jalap, and finally to add to the tincture thus obtained twice its volume of water, so as to precipitate the resin, which is to be washed, and dried. (Chris- tison's Dispensatory.) The pure resin is as white as starch, and in doses of from three to five grains was found to purge actively. For practical purposes, however, the Edinburgh preparation is sufficiently pure. It is dark-coloured, brittle, and of a shining fracture. Guaiac is said to be sometimes fraudulently added to the resin of jalap. It may be'detected by the green colour it produces, when a few drops of solution of chloride of soda or of lime is added to an alcoholic solution of the suspected resin. (Journ. de Pharm., Se sir., x. 357.) According to G. A. Kaiser, jalap resin may be distinguished from all other resins by being gradually dissolved by concentrated sulphuric acid, and depositing, after some hours, a brown soft viscid matter. (Chem. Gaz., Jan. 1845, from Liebig's Annalen.) It is now generally believed that the resin of jalap is its sole purgative principle, the gummy extractive being perhaps diuretic. The U. S. or London extract better represents the whole virtues of jalap, and should be preferred when its peculiar hydragogue operation is required. The Edinburgh extract or resin is more powerfully purgative, but is also harsh, and apt to operate painfully. To obviate this effect it is advised that it should be triturated with loaf-sugar, sulphate of potassa, almond emulsion, or other substance calculated to separate its particles. The dose is from four to twelve grains. W. EXTRACTUM JUGLANDIS. U. S. Extract of Butternut. This is prepared from the inner bark of the root of the Juglans cinerea, in coarse powder, in the manner directed for extract of gentian. (See Extractum Gentianae.) Most of this extract kept in the shops is prepared by the country people, who are said to use the bark of the branches, and even the branches them- selves, instead of the inner bark of the root, as directed by the Pharmacopoeia. The beat is also improperly regulated, being applied too vigorously, or con- tinued too long, so that the preparation is often injured. That it should have proved uncertain in the hands of many physicians is, therefore, not a matter of surprise. It should always be prepared by the apothecary, and from the inner bark of the root gathered in May or June. The extract of butternut is of a black colour, sweetish odour, and bitter astringent taste. In the dose of twenty or thirty grains it acts as a mild cathartic. (See Juglans.) W. EXTRACTUM KRAMERIA. U.S., Ed. Extract of Rhatany. This is prepared from Rhatany, in coarse powder (U. S.), or in moderately fine powder (Ed.), in the manner directed for extract of gentian. (See Ex- tractum Gentianae.) In selecting a process for the preparation of this new officinal, it was un- doubtedly wise to adopt the mode of displacement, with cold water as the menstruum. (See page 419.) It is absolutely necessary to the success of 60 946 Extracta. PART II. this process, that the root should be well and uniformly comminuted; and the "moderately fine powder" of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia is, there- fore, preferable to the "coarse powder" of our own. The wood of the root yielded to Mr. Procter only 6-8 per cent, of extract, while the bark separated from the wood yielded 33 per cent. As the wood is of difficult pulverization, the inference is obvious, that, in powdering the roots, the ligneous portion might be rejected with advantage. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 270.) As a prolonged exposure of the infusion to the air is attended with the absorption of oxygen, and the production of insoluble apotheme, it is desirable that the evaporation should be conducted rapidly or in a vacuum. There scarcely ap- pears to be occasion, in the case of rhatany, for heating and filtering the infu- sion before evaporation, the only use of which would be to get rid of albumen, which is not among the recognised ingredients of rhatany. Very inferior extracts of rhatany are often found in the shops. Such is the South American extract, which is occasionally imported. As the product ob- tained by decoction is greater than that afforded by the officinal plan, the temptation to substitute the former is not always resisted, although it has been shown to contain nearly 50 per cent, of insoluble matter. A substance was shown to us by a respectable apothecary of this city, said to have been imported as extract of rhatany from Europe, which was nearly tasteless, and was plausi- bly conjectured to be the dried coagulated matter of old tincture of kino. Extract of rhatany should have a reddish-brown colour, a smooth shining fracture, and a very astringent taste; and should be almost entirely soluble in water. Its virtues may be considered as in proportion to its solubility. It is much used for all the purposes for which the astringent extracts are employed. The dose is from ten to twenty grains. Off. Prep. Syrupus Krameriae, U S- W. EXTRACTUM LACTUCA. Lond. Extract of Lettuce. This extract is prepared by the London College from fresh Lettuce leaves in the same manner as extract of aconite. (See Extractuni Aconiti.) The extract of lettuce has been retained by the London College, though the lettuce itself from which it is prepared has been rejected. Its claims to favour- able notice are at least very questionable. Consisting chiefly of the common sap of the plant, which is inert, with a variable, but always small proportion of the milky secretion, on which the activity of lettuce depends, it is at best a feeble and uncertain preparation. Lactucarium possesses all its virtues, with more strength and uniformity of action. The dose of the extract is from five to fifteen grains. W. EXTRACTUM NUCIS VOMICA. U.S., Ed., Dub. Extract of Nux Vomica. "Take of Nux Vomica a pound; Alcohol a sufficient quantity. Expose the Nux Vomica to steam till it is softened; then, having sliced and dried it, grind it into powder. Introduce it into an apparatus for displacement, and pour Alcohol upon it gradually until the liquid passes without bitterness. Distil off the greater part of the alcohol from the filtered liquor, and evaporate the residue to the proper consistence." U. S. The Edinburgh College treats the Nux Vomica in the same manner, grind- ing it to powder in a coffee-mill; then exhausts it with rectified spirit, either by percolation or repeated decoction; and completes the process as above directed. "Take of Nux Vomica, rasped, eight ounces; Proof Spirit two pints. Di- gest in a close vessel for three days; filter the liquor, and express the remainder PART II. Extracta. 947 by a press. Add to the residue one pint and a half of Proof Spirit, digest for three days, and express. Mix the liquors, and having reduced them by distillation to one-fourth, evaporate to a proper consistence." Dub. This extract is an active preparation of nux vomica, though not always of uniform strength, owing to the variable proportion of strychnia in the sub- stance from which it is prepared. M. Recluz obtained from sixteen ounces of nux vomica, the average product of one ounce and a quarter. The dose of the extract is from half a grain to two grains, to be repeated three times a day. W. EXTRACTUM OPII. Ed. Extractum Opii Purificatum. Lond. Extractum Opii Aquosum. Dub. Extract of Opium. "Take of Opium one pound; Water five pints [Imperial measure]. Cut the Opium into small fragments, macerate it for twenty-four hours in a pint of Water, break down the fragments with the hand; express the liquid with pretty strong pressure; break down the residuum again in another pint of the Water, let it macerate for twenty-four hours, and express the liquid; repeat the maceration and expression in the same way till the water is all used. Filter the successive infusions as they are made, passing them through the same filter; unite and evaporate them in the vapour-bath to the due consist- ence." Ed, " Take of Opium, sliced, twenty ounces; Distilled Water a gallon [Imperial measure]. Add a little of the Water to the Opium, and macerate for twelve hours that it may become soft; then, adding gradually the remainder of the Water, rub them until they are thoroughly mixed, and set the mixture by that the dregs may subside; lastly, strain the liquor, and evaporate it to a proper consistence." Lond. "Take of Opium, sliced, two ounces; Boiling Water a pint. Rub the Opium with the Water for ten minutes, and, after a short interval, pour off the liquor. Triturate the remaining Opium with an equal quantity of boiling Water, for the same length of time, and pour off the liquor as before. Repeat the trituration a third time; then mix the liquors, and expose the mixture to the air for two days in an open vessel. Lastly, filter through linen, and eva- porate the filtered liquor slowly to the consistence of an extract." Dub. Of these processes, that of the Edinburgh or Dublin College should be pre- ferred. But we can discover no advantage which either preparation has over opium itself. Though the dose may be somewhat smaller, yet that of opium is sufficiently small; and, if there be any distinct principle, in this drug which modifies in an unpleasant manner the action of the morphia, it is not left behind in the preparation of the watery extract. Nor has this preparation the advantage of greater uniformity; as the gum, extractive, &c, taken up by the water, bear no fixed proportion to the anodyne principle. It is highly probable, moreover, that the opium is not completely exhausted by either pro- cess. It certainly is not by that of the London College; for morphia may be extracted from the residuum of the operation. (Brande.) In the preparation, therefore, of the extract of opium, there is a loss of time and of active matter, without any equivalent gain; and there is the further disadvantage that, as the extract does not possess equally with opium those external characters by which its quality may be decided, it is more liable to adulteration. We should, therefore, in every instance, prefer opium to the extract; but it is necessary that the former should be selected of good quality, and should be freed from all adhering extraneous matters. Under the impression that the stimulating and unpleasant effects of opium are owing to the narcotina, it has been proposed to separate that principle by 948 Extracta. PART II. submitting the extract to the operation of ether, which dissolves the narcotina and leaves the morphia with the other ingredients. Robiquet employed cold ether; but M. Dublanc, convinced that the whole of the narcotina was not thus extracted, proposed the following plan. "Take of watery extract of opium 16 ounces; dissolve it in 8 ounces of distilled water; introduce the solution into the water-bath of a still; pour upon it 104 ounces of pure ether; distil off 24 ounces of the ether; take apart the apparatus and decant the ether which floats on the top of the extract; wash the latter while hot with the dis- tilled ether; concentrate the residual matter, dissolve it in distilled water, filter the solution, and evaporate to a proper consistence." It is very doubtful, however, whether any useful end is gained by this expensive operation, as it is not by any means conclusively settled that narcotina does in fact produce the unpleasant effects which have been attributed to it; and even admitting the fact, the preparations of morphia, which are of uniform strength, are greatly preferable to the denarcotized extract. The dose of the extract of opium prepared by the Edinburgh or Dublin pro- cess is about one-half that of opium itself. The London extract, according to Brande, is never stronger, and is sometimes weaker than opium. Recluz ob- tained from sixteen ounces of opium an average product of nine ounces by hot water and six by cold. Off. Prep. Vinum Opii, Lond, W. EXTRACTUM PAPAVERIS. Lond., Ed. Extract of Poppy. " Take of Poppy [capsules], freed from their seeds, and bruised, fifteen ounces; boiling Distilled Water a gallon [Imperial measure]. Macerate for twenty-four hours, then boil down to four pints, strain the liquor while hot, and evaporate it to a proper consistence." Lond. The Edinburgh process corresponds closely with the above ; boiling water simply, instead of boiling distilled water being employed, and evaporation over the vapour-bath directed. Mr. Brande observes in relation to this extract, that if prepared over the open fire it is often nearly inert. He states, morever, that it is apt to be of a troublesome consistence, too hard to be formed into pills, and too tough to be pulverized; and advises that it should always be carefully dried till it becomes sufficiently brittle to admit of being reduced to powder. One cwt. of the cap- sules, without the seeds, yields, according to this author, the average product of 35 pounds of extract. This preparation is little used in the United States. It possesses the virtues of opium, but is much inferior and less uniform in strength. The dose is from five to ten grains. W. EXTRACTUM PAREIRA. Lond., Ed. Extract of Pareira Brava. This is prepared by the London College from bruised Pareira Brava in the manner directed for extract of gentian. (See Extractum Gentianae.) The Edinburgh College directs the root to be cut into small chips, dried thoroughly with a gentle heat, then reduced to a moderately fine powder, and treated as directed for the extract of gentian. The dose is from ten grains to half a drachm. W. EXTRACTUM PODOPHYLLI. U.S. Extract of May-apple. This is prepared from the root of Podophyllum peltatum, in coarse powder, in the manner directed for the extract of Peruvian bark. (See Extractum Cinchonas.) It is possessed of the purgative properties of the root, and may be given in PART II. Extracta. 949 the dose of from five to fifteen grains, but is little employed. It might be substituted in all cases for the extract of jalap. From experiments made by Mr. John R. Lewis, it is probable that the alcoholic extract would be much more powerful as a purgative than the officinal preparation; but it does not follow that it would be more serviceable. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 170.) W. EXTRACTUM QUASSIA. U.S., Ed. Extract of Quassia. This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, from the raspings of Quassia, in the manner directed for the extract of gentian. (See Extractum Gentianae.) The Edinburgh College prepares it by cutting the quassia into small chips, drying it thoroughly with a gentle heat, reducing it to a' moderately fine powder, and proceeding as directed for the extract of gentian. According to M. Recluz, sixteen ounces of quassia yield by infusion in water seven drachms of extract; by maceration in alcohol of 19° Baume, two ounces five drachms and a half. The difference between these quantities is so great that we suspect some mistake in the table of the Dictionnaire des Drogues from which we quote. The extract of quassia is dark-brown or black, and excessively bitter. It is apt to become dry and disposed to crumble by time. It concentrates a greater amount of tonic power within a given weight than any other extract of the simple bitters; and may, therefore, be given with great advantage in cases in which it is desirable to administer this class of substances in as small a bulk, and with as little inconvenience to the patient as possible. The dose is about five grains, to be given in the form of pill. W. EXTRACTUM QUERCUS. Dub. Extract of Oak Bark. This is prepared from the bark of the Quercus Robur, according to the general formula given by the Dublin College for the preparation of the simple extracts. (Seepage 933.) The Dublin College alone orders this preparation, which may be considered as quite superfluous. The dose is from ten grains to a drachm. W. EXTRACTUM RHEI. Lond., Ed., Dub. Extract of Rhubarb. " Take of Rhubarb, in powder, fifteen ounces; Proof Spirit a pint [Imperial measure]; Distilled Water seven pints [Imp. meas.]. Macerate for four days with a gentle heat, then strain, and set the liquor by that the dregs may sub- side. Pour off the clear liquor, and evaporate it to the proper consistence." Lond. The Duhlin College employs a pound of Rhubarb, a pint of Proof Spirit, and seven pints of Water; and proceeds as above. "Take of Rhubarb one pound; Water five pints [Imp. meas.]; cut the Rhubarb into small fragments, macerate it for twenty-four hours in three pints of the Water, filter the liquor through a cloth, and express it with the hands or otherwise moderately; macerate the residuum with the rest of the Water for twelve hours at least, filter the liquor with the same cloth as before, and express the residuum strongly. The liquors, filtered again if necessary, are then to be evaporated together to a proper consistence in the vapour-bath. The extract, however, is obtained of finer quality by evaporation in a vacuum with a gentle heat." Ed, Rhubarb yields all its active matter to water and alcohol; but, unless the evaporation is performed with great care and with a very moderate heat, it is certain that the pm-gative principle is, to a greater or less extent, injured or 950 Extracta. part ii. dissipated in the process; and the extract may thus become even less efficient than the root. Among other consequences which result from the boiling temperature, is the formation of a compound of the tannin and starch, which is insoluble in cold water, and upon its precipitation probably carries with it a portion of the purgative principle. There is, moreover, reason to believe that this principle is volatilizable by heat, and that a portion of it escapes with the vapour. This extract may, therefore, be very well dispensed with. It is not directed by the United States Pharmacopoeia. The only advantage, if any, which it possesses over powdered rhubarb is, that it may be given in solution; and the same object may be accomplished by employing the root itself in the state of infusion. The dose of the extract is from ten to, thirty grains.* Off. Prep. Piluke Rhei et Ferri, Ed. W. EXTRACTUM RUTA. Dub. Extract of Rue. This is prepared by the Dublin College from the herb, in the manner directed for the preparation of the simple extracts. (Seepage 933.) The volatile oil, upon which the stimulant and antispasmodic properties of rue depend, is driven off in the preparation of the extract, which, therefore, answers no other purpose than that of a bitter tonic; and even in this respect is inferior to the other bitter extracts. It is not used in this country. The dose is from ten to twenty grains. W. SUCCUS SPISSATUS SAMBUCI. Dub. Inspissated Juice of Elder. This is prepared by the Dublin College from fresh ripe elder berries in the same manner with the inspissated juice of aconite. (See Extractum Aconiti.) The elder berries employed in Europe are those of the Sambucus nigra; but the berries of the Sambucus Canadensis, which is a native of this country, will answer equally well. For the uses of this extract the reader is referred to the article Sambucus in the Materia Medica. W. EXTRACTUM SARSAPARILLA. U.S., Dub. Extractum Sarza. Lond. Extract of Sarsaparilla. The U. S. Pharmacopceia prepares this extract from Sarsaparilla, in coarse powder, in the manner directed for alcoholic extract of aconite. (See Ex- tractum Aconiti Alcoholicum.) "Take of Sarsaparilla root, sliced, a pound; boiling Water a gallon. Macerate for twenty-four hours, and boil down to four pints; then strain the liquor while hot, and evaporate to the proper consistence." Dub. The London College prepares the extract in the manner directed for extract of gentian. (See Extractum Gentianae.) The extract prepared according to the London and Dublin processes can have little or no effect upon the system; as the active matter of sarsaparilla is either destroyed by chemical change or driven off at the heat of boiling water. * A fluid extract has been proposed and prepared by Professor Procter, which gives the virtues of rhubarb very conveniently in a concentrated liquid form. Eight ounces of coarsely powdered rhubarb, mixed with an equal bulk of coarse sand, and made into a paste with diluted alcohol, are introduced into a percolator, and treated with diluted alcohol until the menstruum which passes nearly ceases to have the odour or taste of the root. Two pints of the fluid are sufficient for this purpose with proper management. The tincture thus obtained is evaporated by means of a water-bath to five and a half fluid- ounces, and the sugar is then dissolved in it, increasing the bulk to eight fluidounces. The dose is from ten minims to half a fluidrachm, according to the effect to be produced. Some of the aromatic oils may be added, if thought desirable. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 182.) PART II. Extracta. 951 Besides, it appears from the experiments of Hancock and others, that water, unless in very large proportion, is incapable of exhausting the root; and waste would be incurred, even admitting that the extract possessed some efficiency. Very different quantities have been obtained from different varieties of sar- saparilla, and even from different parcels of the same variety; but, as the mat- ter taken up by boiling water consists chiefly of starch, no inference, as to the relative value of any particular specimen of the root, can be drawn from a knowledge of the quantity of extract which it is capable of affording. From ten grains to a drachm of this preparation may be given for a dose. The spirituous extract of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which is the same as that of the French Codex, contains the active matter of the root. Diluted alcohol extracts all the virtues of sarsaparilla, leaving the inert fecula which encumbers the extract obtained by decoction; while the temperature requisite for the concentration of the tincture is insufficient to destroy the active prin- ciple. M. Beral obtained from 32 ounces of sarsaparilla about 4 ounces of extract by maceration with diluted alcohol. As the product of this operation is about one-eighth of the sarsaparilla employed, a drachm of the extract represents an ounce of the root. From ten to twenty grains of it may be given three or four times a day. We have ascertained by actual observation that it possesses in a high degree the acrid taste of sarsaparilla. W. EXTRACTUM SARSAPARILLA FLUIDUM. Dub. Ex- tractum Sarza Fluidum. Ed. Fluid Extract of Sarsaparilla. " Take of Sarza in chips one pound; boiling Water six pints [Imperial mea- sure]. Digest the root for two hours in four pints of the Water; take it out, bruise it, replace it, and boil for two hours; filter and squeeze out the liquid; boil the residuum in the remaining two pints of Water, and filter and squeeze out this liquor also; evaporate the united liquors to the consistence of thin syrup; add, when the product is cool, as much Rectified Spirit as will make in all sixteen fluidounces. Filter. This fluid extract may be aromatized with volatile oils or warm aromatics." Ed. "Take of the Root of Sarsaparilla, sliced, a pound; Water twelve pints. Boil them together for an hour, and pour off the liquor; then add twelve pints of water, and boil and decant as before. Express the liquor strongly from the residuary matter, and, having mixed the decoctions, set the mixture by that the dregs may subside; then evaporate by continued boiling to thirty ounces [fluidounces], and add two ounces [fluidounces] of Rectified Spirit." Dub. It is to be regretted that these processes are not more in conformity with our present knowledge in relation to the pharmaceutical management of sar- saparilla. There can be little doubt, we think, as to the almost total ineffi- ciency of the fluid extract of the Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges. We should ourselves prefer the solid extract, prepared according to the U. S. formula, to any concentrated liquid preparation; as we cannot be certain that the active principle is held in solution by a very small proportion of water, and if it be merely suspended, there may be a risk that due agitation may not always be practised in dispensing and administering the medicine. But if the popular inclination to this mode of preparation must be gratified, we should give a de- cided preference to the following formula of William Hodgson, Jun., over any other which we have seen. " Take of Sarsaparilla Root,bruised, sixteen ounces; Liquorice Root, bruised, Guaiacum Wood, rasped, Bark of Sassafras Root, each, two ounces; Mezereon six drachms; Diluted Alcohol eight pints. Digest for fourteen days at a com- mon temperature; then strain, express, and filter. Evaporate the tincture in 952 Extracta. PART II. a water-bath to twelve fluidounces; then add eight ounces of white sugar, and remove from the fire as soon as the sugar is dissolved." (Journ. of the Phil. College of Pharm., ii. 285.) Mr. Hodgson observes that, during the process, a small quantity of resin separates, and adheres to the sides of the vessel, apparently derived from the guaiacum wood. The advantages of this process are, that by means of the alcohol all the virtues of the root are extracted, while the low temperature re- quired in its evaporation is not sufficient to impair these virtues. The pre- paration has been used in Philadelphia with great apparent benefit in second- ary syphilis. The dose is a fluidrachm, equivalent to a drachm of the root, three or four times a day. W. EXTRACTUM sive RESINA SCAMMONII. Ed. Extract or Resin of Scammony. " Take any convenient quantity of Scammony in fine powder; boil it in suc- cessive portions of Proof Spirit till the Spirit ceases to dissolve any thing; filter; distil the liquid till little but water passes over. Then pour away the watery solution from the resin at the bottom; agitate the resin with successive portions of boiling water till it is well washed; and lastly, dry it at a temper- ature not exceeding 240°." Ed. The only advantage of this process is that it separates the active matter of scammony from the impurities with which the drug is almost always adulte- rated. When pure virgin scammony can be procured the extract is unneces- sary. Prepared according to the above process, the resin is of a dirty greenish- brown colour, with a feeble odour and taste of scammony, and is very so- luble in ether, alcohol, and boiling proof spirit. When purified with animal charcoal it has a pale brownish-yellow colour, and is without odour or taste; but retains its purgative property. When rubbed with unskimmed milk it forms a uniform emulsion, undistinguishable from rich milk itself. This is an excellent mode of administration. The resin should always be given either rubbed up with some mild powder, or in emulsion. The dose is from five to twelve grains. Off. Prep. Mistura Scammonii, Ed. W. EXTRACTUM SPARTII SCOPARII. Dub. Extract of Broom Tops. This is prepared from the tops of the Cytisus Scoparius, according to the general formula of the Dublin College for the preparation of their simple ex- tracts. (Seepage 933.) It has laxative and diuretic properties; but is not employed in this country, and seldom in Europe. The dose is from thirty grains to a drachm. W. EXTRACTUM STRAMONII FOLIORUM. U.S. Extract of Stramonium Leaves. "Take of Stramonium Leaves apound. Bruise them in a stone mortar, sprinkling on them a little water; then express the juice, and, having heated it to the boiling point, strain and evaporate to the proper consistence." U. S. Like all the other inspissated narcotic juices, this is an uncertain prepara- tion, varying in strength according to the care used in conducting the process, and the season at which the leaves are collected. The reader will find at page 933, and in the preliminary observations on the Extracts, some general rules which will be found useful in conducting this process, and all those of which it is the officinal type. The insoluble matter separated from the expressed juice by filtering, and that coagulated by heat, may be advantageously rejected; as, according to the observations of MM. Solon and Soubeiran, they are nearly part n. Extracta. 953 or quite inert. M. Recluz obtained half an ounce of the extract from sixteen ounces of the leaves. The dose is a grain night and morning, to be gradually increased till it affects the system. W. EXTRACTUM STRAMONII SEMINIS. U.S. Extractum Stramonii. Lond., Ed., Dub. Extract of Stramonium Seed. " Take of Stramonium Seed, ground into powder, a pound; Diluted Alcohol a sufficient quantity. Having rubbed the powder with half a pint of Diluted Alcohol, introduce the mixture into an apparatus for displacement, and pour upon it gradually Diluted Alcohol till the liquid passes colourless. Distil off the Alcohol from the filtered liquor, and evaporate the residue to the proper consistence." U. S. " Take of Seeds of Stramonium any convenient quantity; grind them well in a coffee-mill. Rub the powder into a thick mass with Proof Spirit; put" the pulp into a percolator, and transmit Proof Spirit till it passes colourless; distil off the spirit, and evaporate what remains in the vapour-bath to a proper consistence." Ed. " Take of Stramonium seeds fifteen ounces; boiling Distilled Water a gal- lon [Imperial measure]. Macerate for four hours in a covered vessel near the fire; then take out the Seeds, and, after having bruised them in a stone mortar, return them to the liquor. Boil down to four pints [Imp. measure], and strain the decoction while hot. Finally, evaporate to the proper consistence." Lond. The Dublin College gives the same process as the London; but directs a pound of the seeds, and a wine-gallon of undistilled water. The U. S. and Edinburgh processes, which may be considered identical, are preferable to the London and Dublin; as the seeds yield their virtues more freely to spirit than to water alone. According to the table of Recluz, sixteen ounces of the seeds afford two ounces and two drachms of extract by macera- tion in diluted alcohol, and one ounce and a half by decoction. The dose to begin with is a quarter or half a grain twice a day, to be gradually increased. W. EXTRACTUM TARAXACI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Extract of Dandelion. This is prepared, according to the U. S. Pharmacopceia, from the fresh bruised root of the Leontodon Taraxacum, in the manner directed for extract of logwood. (See Extractum Haematoxyli.) The London College prepares it in the manner directed for extract of gen- tian (see Extractum Gentianae); the Edinburgh, from a pound of the fresh root and a gallon [Imperial measure] of boiling water, as directed for the ex- tract of poppy heads (see Extractum Papaveris). The Dublin College em- ploys both the herb and root, and proceeds according to the general formula for the simple extracts. (Seepage 933.) This extract is undoubtedly stronger, prepared from the root alone than from the whole plant. Nor is it a matter of indifference at what season the root may be collected. The juice obtained from it by expression in the spring is thin, watery, and of feeble flavour; in the latter part of summer, and in autumn, thick, opaque, cream-coloured, very bitter, and abundant, amounting to one-third or one-half the weight of the root. It may be collected in August, and afterwards until severe frost. According to Mr. Squire, frost has the effect of diminishing the bitterness and increasing the sweetness of the growing root. It is probable that an extract prepared by the inspissation of this juice, would be found much more efficient than that prepared in the usual way by decoction. The inspissation should be effected by exposing the juice in shallow vessels to 954 Extracta.—Ferrum. part ii. a current of warm dry air, or by evaporation in a vacuum, and should not be unnecessarily protracted. Long exposure, during evaporation, is said to cause a change of the bitterness of the juice into sweetness, which is a sign of in- feriority. As found in the shops, the extract is dark-coloured, sweet, and in all probability nearly inert. Mr. Houlton took more than an ounce of it in a day, without any sensible effect. (Houlton and Squire, Pharm. Journ. and, Transact, i. 421.) Mr. Brande states that one cwt. of the fresh root affords from twenty to twenty-five pounds of extract by decoction in water. The ex- pressed juice yields from 11 to 25 per cent, of extract, the greatest product being obtained in November, and the least in April and May. This extract deteriorates by keeping, and should, therefore, be renewed an- nually. It is most conveniently given dissolved in cinnamon or mint water. The dose is from a scruple to a drachm three times a day. W. EXTRACTUM UVA URSI. Lond. Extract of Uva Ursi. The London College prepares this extract in the manner directed for extract of gentian. (See Extractum Gentianae.) The dose is from five to thirty grains. W. FERRUM. Preparations of Iron. FERRI ACETAS. Dub. Acetate of Iron. "Take of Carbonate of Iron one part; Acetic Acid six parts. Digest for three days, and filter." Dub. As the carbonate of iron of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia (the U. S. subcar- bonate and the London sesquioxide) consists mainly of sesquioxide of iron, associated with a little carbonate of protoxide, it is evident that this prepara- tion is an aqueous solution of the teracetate of sesquioxide of iron, containing a small proportion of the acetate of protoxide. From comparative experi- ments made by Dr. Perceval, of Dublin, it was found that of ten grains of the following ferruginous preparations digested in two drachms of acetic acid, sp. gr. 1-065, half a grain was dissolved of the scales of iron, one and a quarter grains of the red oxide (sesquioxide obtained by strong calcination), three and a quarter of iron filings, and the whole of the so-called carbonate. It was on account of the entire solubility of the latter preparation that it was selected for solution in the acetic acid. Properties, dec. This solution has a deep-red colour, and an acid and strongly chalybeate taste. When exposed to heat it yields acetic acid. It possesses the general medical properties of the preparations of iron. The dose is from ten to twenty-five drops, taken in water. It is not used in this country. B. FERRI ACETATTS TINCTURA. Dub. Tincture of Acetate of Iron. " Take of Acetate of Potassa two parts; Sulphate of Iron one part; Recti- fied Spirit twenty-six parts. Rub the Acetate of Potassa and Sulphate of Iron together in an earthenware mortar, until they unite into a mass. Dry this with a medium heat, and triturate it with the Spirit. Digest the mix- ture in a well-stopped bottle for seven days, shaking it occasionally. Lastly, pour off the tincture from the sediment, and preserve it in a well-stopped bottle." Dub. This preparation was introduced into the Dublin Pharmacopoeia by Dr. PART II. Ferrum. 955 Perceval. In the process, a double decomposition takes place between the salts employed, resulting in the formation of the acetate of iron which dis- solves in the spirit, and sulphate of potassa which remains behind, being insoluble in that menstruum. The tincture also contains a portion of acetate of potassa; more of this salt being employed than is necessary to decompose the sulphate of iron. Properties. This tincture is a transparent liquid, of a deep claret colour, and strong chalybeate taste. When evaporated to dryness, it yields a saline matter, which is whitish from the presence of acetate of potassa. It is ex- tremely liable to spontaneous decomposition, and is decomposed by the alka- lies and their carbonates, the strong acids, and astringent vegetable infusions. 3fcdical Properties and Uses. This preparation is represented to be an agreeable chalybeate; but it possesses no particular virtue, which can give it any advantage over other medicines of the same class. The dose is from thirty drops to a teaspoonful, mixed with water or some other convenient vehicle. B. TINCTURA ACETATIS FERRI CUM ALCOHOL. Dub. Tincture of Acetate of Iron with Alcohol. " Take of Sulphate of Iron, Acetate of Potassa, each, an ounce; Alcohol two pints. Rub the Acetate of Potassa and Sulphate of Iron together in an earthenware mortar, until they unite into a soft mass; then dry this with a medium heat, and as soon as it has grown cold triturate it with the Alcohol. Digest the mixture in a well-stopped bottle for twenty-four hours, shaking it occasionally. Lastly, pour off the clear tincture from the sediment, and keep it in a well-stopped bottle." Dub. This formula is nearly the same with the last; the points of difference being that equal weights of the saline materials are employed, and the men- struum is the alcohol of the Dublin College, and not rectified spirit. The double decomposition takes place as in the preceding preparation, and with the same results; but here, instead of there being an excess of acetate of potassa to enter into the tincture, there is an excess of sulphate of iron. The acetate of iron formed is a mixture of the acetate of the protoxide and the teracetate of the sesquioxide; but the latter only is soluble in the strong alcohol of the Dublin College. Hence this tincture may be viewed as an alcoholic solution of the teracetate of sesquioxide of iron. It is necessary here not to confound the Dublin "alcohol," which has the sp. gr. 0-810, with the U.S. "alcohol," which corresponds with the rectified spirit of the British Colleges. This preparation is stronger, and less liable to spontaneous decomposition than the preceding; while its sensible and medical properties are nearly the same. The dose is from twenty drops to a teaspoonful. A fluidounce of it, when evaporated, yields ten grains of a crimson-coloured extract, which at first has the consistency of wax, but afterwards, when dried, is transparent. B. FERRI CARBONAS SACCHARATUM. Ed. Saccharine Carbonate of Iron. " Take of Sulphate of Iron four ounces; Carbonate of Soda five ounces; Pure Sugar two ounces; Water four pints [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Sulphate and Carbonate, each, in two pints of the water; add the solutions and mix them; collect the precipitate on a cloth filter, and immediately wash it with cold water, squeeze out as much of the water as possible, and without delay triturate the pulp which remains with the Sugar previously in fine pow- der. Dry the mixture at a temperature not much above 120°." Ed, 956 Ferrum. PART II. When solutions of sulphate of iron and carbonate of soda are mixed to- gether, there are formed, by double decomposition, sulphate of soda which remains in solution, and carbonate of protoxide of iron which falls as a pale- bluish precipitate. This precipitate begins immediately to alter in nature by the absorption of oxygen, and, if washed and dried in the ordinary way, be- comes sesquioxide of iron, associated with a small quantity of the carbonate of the protoxide which has escaped change; in other words, it is converted into the subcarbonate of iron of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. (See Ferri Sub- carbonas.) As the preparations of iron containing the protoxide are most esteemed, the change which this precipitate undergoes was always matter of regret, and various attempts were made to prevent it. Now saccharine mat- ter has been ascertained to possess the property of preventing this change; and, in the preparation under consideration, its power is brought into play of preventing the protoxide of iron of the carbonate as first precipitated from passing into sesquioxide, with loss of carbonic acid. Dr. Becker, a German physician, was the first to suggest the use of sac- charine matter as a means of protection against the absorption of oxygen; and the idea was carried out by Klauer, a German chemist, who first made the saccharine carbonate of iron. When sugar is used in the way directed in the above formula, the prevention of oxidation is not complete; for an absorption of oxygen takes place to a partial extent during the washing and squeezing of the precipitate, which are performed before the admixture with the sugar. Mr. R. Phillips, jun., has improved the formula, by mixing the washed pre- cipitate, without being squeezed in a cloth, with the prescribed quantity of sugar, first made into a thick syrup, and gently evaporating the mixture to dryness. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iii. 576.) The protection from oxida- tion, however, is much more complete, when the materials and product of this process are maintained constantly in contact with saccharine matter, by using weak syrup both for dissolving the salts and for washing the precipitate, after the improved method of Vallet, of Paris. This improved method of pro- ceeding is adopted for forming the U. S. pills of carbonate of iron, or Vallet's ferruginous pills. (See Pilulae Ferri Carbonatis, U. S.) Saccharine carbonate of iron is a grayish-green powder, permanent in the air, possessing a sweet and strongly chalybeate taste, and wholly and readily soluble in muriatic acid, with brisk effervescence. Its composition is not well made out. According to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, it consists of " car- bonate of protoxide of iron in an undetermined state of combination with sugar and sesquioxide of iron." The presence of sesquioxide of iron is a de- fect, which is avoided in Vallet's ferruginous pills. Medical Properties. This preparation forms an excellent chalybeate, pos- sessing the advantages of having nearly all the iron in it in the state of prot- oxide, and of being readily soluble in acids. It is more active than the subcarbonate of iron, and must be used in a smaller dose. It is, however, inferior to.Vallet's ferruginous mass, in the preparation of whicb the anti- oxidizing influence of saccharine matter is more fully applied. The dose of the saccharine carbonate of iron is from five to thirty grains given in the form of pill. Off. Prep. Pilulae Ferri Carbonatis, Ed. B. FERRI ET POTASSA TARTRAS. U. S. Ferri Potassio- Tartras. Lond. Ferrum Tartarizatum. Ed. Ferri Tartarum. Dub. Tartrate of Iron and Potassa. Tartarized Iron. " Take of Subcarbonate of Iron three ounces; Muriatic Acid ten fluidounces ; Solution of Potassa five pints and a half; Bitartrate of Potassa seven ounces PART II. Ferrum. 957 and a half; Distilled Water a gallon and a half Mix the Subcarbonate of Iron with tbe Muriatic Acid, and digest for two hours; then pour the solution into a gallon of the Distilled Water, set aside for an hour, and pour off the supernatant liquor. To this add the Solution of Potassa, wash the precipitate wbich is formed frequently with water, and, while it is yet moist, mix it with the Bitartrate of Potassa and half a gallon of the Distilled Water. Keep the mixture at the temperature of 140° for thirty hours, frequently stirring; then filter the solution, and evaporate by means of a water-bath, at the same tem- perature, to dryness." U. S. " Take of. Sesquioxide [Subcarbonate] of Iron three ounces; Hydrochloric [Muriatic] Acid half a pint [Imperial measure]; Solution of Potassa four pints and a half [limp, meas.] or a sufficient quantity ; Bitartrate of Potassa eleven ounces and a half; Solution of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia a pint [Imp. meas.] or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water three gallons [Imp. meas.]. Mix the Sesquioxide of Iron with the Acid, and digest for two hours in a sand-bath. To these add two gallons of the Water and set aside for an hour; then pour off the supernatant liquor. The Solution of Potassa being added, wash what is precipitated frequently with water, and, while moist, boil it with the Bitartrate of Potassa, previously mixed with a gallon of the Water. If the liquor should be acid when tried, by litmus, drop into it the Solution of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia until it is saturated. Lastly, strain the liquor, and evaporate it with a gentle heat, so that the salt may remain dry." Lond. " Take of Sulphate of Iron five ounces; Bitartrate of Potash five ounces and one drachm; Carbonate of Ammonia, in fine powder, a sufficiency. Pre- pare the Rust of Iron from the Sulphate as directed under Ferrugo, and with- out drying it. Mix the pulpy mass with four pints [Imperial measure] of Water; add the Bitartrate; boil till the Rust of Iron is dissolved; let the solution cool; pour off the clear liquid, and add to this the Carbonate of Am- monia so long as it occasions effervescence. Concentrate the liquid over the vapour-bath to the consistence of a thick extract, or till the residuum becomes on cooling a firm solid, which must be preserved in well-closed vessels." Ed. " Take of thin Iron Wire one part; Bitartrate of Potassa, in very fine powder, four parts ; Distilled Water eight parts or a sufficient quantity. Mix them together, and expose them to the air for fifteen days, in a wide vessel. Stir the mixture occasionally, and keep it constantly moist by the daily addi- tion of water, taking care that the iron shall not be entirely covered by the water. Lastly, boil the product in a sufficient quantity of water, and, having filtered the liquor, evaporate it to dryness over a water-bath. Keep the Tartar of Iron in a well-stopped bottle." Dub. The object of these processes is to combine the excess of acid in the bitar- trate of potassa with sesquioxide of iron. The processes of the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias are essentially the same, being that of Sou- beiran with modifications. In Soubeiran's process, the moist hydrated ses- quioxide of iron is dissolved to saturation in a mixture of one part of cream of tartar and six of water; and the solution obtained is filtered and evaporated to dryness by a gentle heat. In the processes of the U. S. and London Phar- macopoeias, the moist sesquioxide is obtained by precipitating the sesquichlo- ride (formed by dissolving the subcarbonate in muriatic acid) by means of the officinal solution of potassa. Three eqs. of potassa and one of sesquichloride of iron are decomposed, and there are formed three eqs. of chloride of potas- sium which remain in solution, and one eq. of sesquioxide of iron which pre- cipitates in the hydrated state (3KO-f-Fe3Cl3=3KCl-fFe203). In the Edin- burgh process the sesquioxide is obtained, as directed under Ferrugo, by pre- cipitating the tersulphate of the sesquioxide of iron by ammonia; but as one- 958 Ferrum. PART II. fourth more sulphate of iron is directed to be converted into sesquioxide than in the Ferrugo formula, it will be found practically inconvenient to increase the quantity of the other materials in the same proportion. The sesquioxide, obtained in either way, is heated or boiled, while yet in the moist state, with a mixture of cream of tartar and water, in which it dissolves. The solution thus obtained contains the tartrate of iron and potassa, and, if it should prove acid, the London and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias direct that it be rendered neutral by the addition of carbonate of ammonia. The solution is now fil- tered and evaporated to dryness. When carbonate of ammonia is added to the solution, it is to be presumed that the resulting salt will contain a little tartrate of ammonia. In the London formula the quantity of cream of tartar taken is excessive, and the water used inconveniently large. Some of the cream of tartar is not dissolved in the water, and that which is dissolved is not fully saturated by sesquioxde, from deficiency of the latter. It is better to have, as in the U. S. formula, an excess of the oxide; for then the cream of tartar is fully saturated, and the solution does not require the addition of carbonate of ammonia to render it neutral. The formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is that recommended by Mr. Wm. Procter, jun., of this city, founded on the results of Soubeiran and Capitaine. It is superior to the London process, not only in avoiding an excess of water, and the necessity of adding carbonate of ammonia, which introduces an im- purity into the preparation, but in substituting the temperature of 140° instead of that of ebullition for promoting the solution of the oxide in the cream of tartar and water. Mr. Procter finds that this temperature, which is recom- mended by Soubeiran and Capitaine, causes the sesquioxide of iron to be taken up in larger quantity than when ebullition is employed. In the Dublin process metallic iron is directed. By the combined action of air and water it is converted into sesquioxide, which unites with the cream of tartar to form the double salt. This process consumes much time, and is now superseded by that of Soubeiran. The wine of iron ( Vinum Ferri), having been dismissed from the London Pharmacopceia of 1836, is no longer officinal in any of the Pharmacopoeias commented on in this work. Yet, as it is sometimes prescribed, it may be well to notice it in this place. The old process for making it was to macerate iron filings in wine. The French Codex, in which this plan is adopted, directs it to be made by macerating for six days in a matrass, an ounce of pure iron filings with thirty-two ounces of good white wine; stirring from time to time, and afterwards decanting and filtering the liquid. In the dismissed London formula a drachm of iron filings was mixed with six drachms of cream of tartar, and oxidized by exposure to air and moisture for six weeks, so as ulti- mately to form the double tartrate of iron and potassa, with excess of cream of tartar. This was then dried by a gentle heat, rubbed to powder, dissolved in thirty fluidounces of distilled water, the solution filtered, and finally mixed with twenty fluidounces of proof spirit. When this preparation is made by macerating iron filings in wine, a tartrate of iron and potassa may be sup- posed to be formed, by means of the tartar present in wine; but, as this sub- stance is present in variable proportion in different wines, the strength of the preparation, when thus made, must necessarily vary. The preparation, as made by the old London formula, is also variable, and at the same time defi- cient in strength. Wine is not capable of taking up sufficient of the tartrate of iron and potassa to form a preparation of adequate strength. A good wine of iron may be formed by dissolving an ounce of the double salt in 12 fluid- ounces of water, mixed with 12 fluidounces of sherry wine. When thus formed PART II. Ferrum. 959 each fluidounce will contain a scruple of the double tartrate. The dose of a wine of iron of this strength is one or two tablespoonfuls two or three times a day. Dr. Ure has proposed the tartrate of protoxide of iron for medical use. He makes it by acting on clean iron filings, or bits of iron wire, with a solu- tion of tartaric acid. The iron is protoxidized at the expense of the water, and uniting with the tartaric acid produces the tartrate in the form of a pow- dery matter, which is obtained separate by diffusing it through the liquid, decanting, and washing on a filter. The salt formed is nearly white, pulveru- lent, insoluble in water, and possesses a mild chalybeate taste. Properties. Tartrate of iron and potassa, as obtained by the U. S. formula, has a dark-brown colour. When held, in thin pieces, between the eye and the light it is ruby-red. It is wholly soluble in about four parts of water at 60°, and the solution has a dark-brown colour. Its taste is feebly chalybeate. Prepared according to the London formula, it is deliquescent and has a dark olive-green colour. When kept for several months, the London preparation assumes, according to Mr. Procter, a mottled, light-green colour, is much less soluble than when first made, and exhales an ammoniacal odour. When pure, tartrate of iron and potassa is perfectly neutral to test paper, and at common temperatures does not yield a precipitate with potassa, soda, or ammonia. Ferrocyanuret of potassium does not render it blue, unless an acid be added. The non-action of this test shows that the iron is in a pecu- liar state of combination. It is incompatible with astringent vegetable in- fusions, which give rise to a dark-coloured precipitate. When prepared by using the bitartrate and iron filings, it is apt to contain metallic iron, detected by the magnet, and a large proportion of it is usually insoluble in water. Composition, When prepared according to the U. S. formula, it has the composition assigned to it by Soubeiran and Capitaine; namely, one eq. of tartrate of sesquioxide of iron, and one of tartrate of potassa. When it has this composition it contains 30 per cent, of sesquioxide of iron. According to Phillips, the preparation of the London College consists of one eq. of bitar- trate of sesquioxide of iron, and two of tartrate of potassa, and contains only 18 per cent, of sesquioxide. The Edinburgh preparation corresponds with the London. 3Iedical Properties. Tartrate of iron and potassa is an agreeable chaly- beate, and, when made according to the U. S.' formula, may be depended upon for activity and uniformity of composition. From its slight taste and ready solubility, it forms one of the best ferruginous preparations for exhibi- tion to children. The dose for an adult is from ten grains to half a drachm, given in solution, or combined with an aromatic or bitter in the form of bolus. B. FERRI FERROCYANURETUM. U.S. Ferri Percyanidum. Lond. Ferri Cyanuretum. Dub. Ferrocyanuret of Iron. Pure Prussian Blue. " Take of Sulphate of Iron four ounces; Sulphuric Acid three fluidrachms and a half; Nitric Acid six fluidrachms, or a sufficient quantity; Ferro- cyanuret of Potassium four ounces and a half; Water two pints. Dissolve the Sulphate of Iron in a pint of the Water, and, having added the Sulphuric Acid, boil the solution. Pour into it the Nitric Acid, in small portions, boiling the liquid for a minute or two after each addition, until it no longer produces a dark colour; then allow the liquid to cool. Dissolve the Ferro- cyanuret of Potassium in the remainder of the Water, and add this solution gradually to the first liquid, agitating the mixture after each addition; then 960 Ferrum. PART II. pour it upon a filter. Wash the precipitate with boiling water until the washings pass tasteless. Lastly, dry it and rub it into powder." U S. Prussian blue has heretofore been officinal in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia in the impure commercial form; but, upon the last revision of the work, it was thought advisable to introduce it in a pure state, and hence the above formula was devised for its preparation. It is officinal also in the London and Dub- lin Pharmacopoeias, in which it is placed in the list of the Materia Medica. In the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, the commercial Prussian blue is recognised; in the London, the pure substance is, no doubt, intended, as tests are given for ascertaining its purity. In the process above given, the sulphate of protoxide of iron in solution is first acidulated with sulphuric acid, and then converted into the tersulphate of the sesquioxide by means of nitric acid. The object of the addition of the sulphuric acid, is to provide for the higher saturating power of the sesqui- oxide over the protoxide, and thus to prevent the precipitation of the sub- sulphate of the sesquioxide. The tersulphate is then decomposed by the gradual addition of a solution of ferrocyanuret of potassium. Three eqs. of ferrocyanuret, and two of tersulphate of sesquioxide of iron, are mutually decomposed, with the result of forming one eq. of Prussian blue, or the 3-4 ferrocyanuret of iron which precipitates, and six eqs. of sulphate of potassa which remain in solution. Ferrocyanogen is a tercyanuret of iron (FeCy3); and, representing it by its symbol Cfy, we may compactly express the above reactions by the following equation; 3CfyK2+2(Fe3033S03)=3Cfy,4Fe-f- 6(KO,S03). Prussian blue contains the elements of six eqs. of water, which cannot be separated without the destruction of the compound. Adding these elements, we may suppose it to become a hydroferrocyanate of the sesqui- oxide of iron, represented by the formula, 3CfyH3, Fe406. From the formula given for the anhydrous compound, 3Cfy,4Fe, it is evident that it contains nine eqs. of cyanogen, and seven of iron. l^reparation for Use in the Arts. Prussian blue is manufactured on the large scale as follows. A mixture made of equal parts of carbonate of po- tassa (pearlash of commerce), and animal matter, such as dried blood, hair, the shavings of horn, &c, is calcined at a red heat in an iron vessel, until it becomes pasty. The mass, when cold, is thrown, by portions at a time, into twelve or fifteen times its weight of water, with which it is stirred for half an hour. The whole is then put upon a linen filter; and the clear solution obtained is precipitated by a mixed solution of two parts of alum and one of the sulphate of protoxide of iron. An effervescence occurs, due principally to carbonic acid; and a very abundant precipitate is thrown down, of a blackish-brown colour. This precipitate is washed, by decantation, by means of a large quantity of water, which is renewed every twelve hours. By these washings, which last from twenty to twenty-five days, the precipitate becomes, successively, greenish-brown, bluish, and finally deep-blue. When of the latter colour, it is collected and allowed to drain upon a cloth, after which it is divided into cubical masses and dried. Properties. Pure Prussian blue is a tasteless powder, insoluble in water and alcohol, and having a rich deep-blue colour. It is insoluble in dilute acids, decomposed by fuming nitric acid, and dissolved without decomposition by strong sulphuric acid, forming a white mass of the consistence of paste, from which the Prussian blue may be precipitated unchanged by water. Con- centrated muriatic acid decomposes it, dissolving sesquioxide of iron, and liberating hydroferrocyanic acid. Boiled with red oxide of mercury it gene- rates bicyanuret of mercury. (See Hydrargyri Cyanuretum.) By the contact PART II. Ferrum. 961 of a red-hot body it takes fire and burns slowly, leaving a residue of sesqui- oxide of iron. When it is heated in close vessels, water, hydrocyanic acid, and carbonate of ammonia are evolved, and carburet of iron is left. Its com- position has been given above. The Prussian blue of commerce was discovered by accident, in 1710, by Diesbach, a preparer of colours at Berlin. It has the same general properties as the pure substance. It occurs in small rect- angular masses, which are heavier than water, and have a fracture presenting a bronzed appearance. Besides the constituents of pure Prussian blue, it always contains alumina, derived from the alum employed in its manufacture, and which serves to give it a body as a pigment, and uncombined sesquioxide of iron. These substances may be detected by boiling the pigment with diluted muriatic acid, and precipitating the filtered solution with ammonia. Pure Prussian blue, treated in a similar manner, yields no precipitate. Medical Properties, doc. Prussian blue is supposed to act as a tonic, febri- fuge, and alterative. Dr. Zollickoffer, of Maryland, has recommended it as a remedy in intermittent and remittent fevers, and deems it to be particularly adapted to such cases occurring in children, on account of the smallness of the dose and its want of taste. He considers it more certain, prompt, and efficacious than the bark; while it has the advantage of being admissible in the state of pyrexia, and of not disagreeing with the most irritable stomach. It has also been used by Dr. Kirchoff, of Ghent, in epilepsy with good suc- cess. Dr. Bridges, of this city, exhibited it in a case of severe and protracted facial neuralgia, with considerable relief, after the usual remedies in this complaint had been tried with little or no benefit. It is sometimes employed as an application to ill-conditioned ulcers, mixed with some simple ointment, in the proportion of a drachm to the ounce. The dose of pure Prussian blue for an adult is from three to five grains, repeated several times a day, and gradually increased until some obvious effect is produced. Off. Prep. Hydrargyri Cyanureturn, U S., Dub., Lond. B. FERRI IODIDUM. U.S., Lond., Ed. Iodide of Iron. "Take of Iodine two ounces; Iron Filings an ounce; Distilled Water a pint and a half. Mix the Iodine with a pint of the Distilled Water in a porcelain or glass vessel, and gradually add the Iron Filings, stirring con- stantly. Heat the mixture gently until the liquid acquires a light-greenish colour; then filter, and, after the liquid has passed, pour upon the filter half a pint of the Distilled Water boiling hot. When this shall have passed, evapo- rate the filtered liquor at a temperature not exceeding 212°, in an iron vessel, to dryness. Keep the dry Iodide in a closely-stopped bottle." U. S. The London process is the same as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that the College directs only two-thirds of the quantity of iron filings, and orders that the preparation should be kept from the light. " Take any convenient quantity of Iodine, Iron Wire, and Distilled Water, in the proportions for making Solution [Syrup] of Iodide of Iron. Proceed as directed for that process; but before filtering the solution, concentrate it to one-sixth of its volume, without removing the excess of Iron Wire. Put the filtered liquor quickly in an evaporating basin, along with twelve times its weight of quicklime around the basin, in some convenient apparatus, in which it may be shut up accurately in a small space, not communicating with the general atmosphere. Heat the whole apparatus in a hot air-press, or otherwise, until the water be entirely evaporated; and preserve the dry iodide in small well-closed bottles." Ed. In this process iron is made to unite with iodine by the intervention of 61 962 Ferrum. PART IT. water. The mixture at first is orange-coloured, from the circumstance that all the iodine has not united with the iron; but after the application of heat it becomes fully saturated and limpid, and assumes a greenish colour. It is now a solution of iodide of iron, and yields the solid salt by evaporation. The proportion of the iron, taken in the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, is the same, namely, half the weight of the iodine; in the London, it is one-third of the weight of the latter. Fine iron wire, recently cleaned, is directed by the Edinburgh College on account of its purity; but iron filings dissolve more readily, and, if carefully selected, will be sufficiently pure. It is exceedingly difficult to obtain the solid salt perfectly pure, so great is the proneness of the solution to absorb oxygen, whereby the iodide becomes, in part, converted into sesquioxide. This change is prevented to a certain extent in the process of the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, by evaporating to dryness in an iron vessel; and in the process of the Edinburgh College, by concentrating the solution, before filtering, in contact with the excess of iron wire, and afterwards evaporating it in a hot air-press, subjected to the drying influence of quicklime. The process of the Edinburgh College for iodide of iron is that of the Messrs. T. & H. Smith, of Edinburgh. These chemists have since recom- mended the following improved process, which more effectually excludes atmo- spheric air. Boil, in a Florence flask, six drachms of pure iron filings with two ounces and a quarter of iodine, in four and a half ounces of distilled water, until the liquid loses its dark colour. Then filter the liquid rapidly into another flask, and evaporate it at a boiling heat, until its green shade passes into black. After this period, the heat is kept up as long as the evapo- ration of moisture continues, which may be ascertained by its condensation on a cold piece of glass, placed, from time to time, over the mouth of the flask. When this ceases, the flask contains pure, anhydrous, spongy iodide of iron, which is to be removed by breaking the flask, bruised coarsely in a warm dry mortar, and enclosed immediately in small well-corked bottles. If it is wished to obtain the iodide as a crystallized hydrate, the heat is to be withdrawn as soon as the liquid is sufficiently concentrated to congeal, in a dry and hard crust, on the end of an iron wire, dipped into it. Properties. Iodide of iron is a crystalline substance, exceedingly deli- quescent, of a greenish-black colour, and styptic, chalybeate taste. " When carefully prepared by the Edinburgh formula, it has a dark grayish-black metallic appearance, and irregularly foliated texture, not unlike iodine itself." (Christison's Dispensatory.) Its solution, by evaporation with as little con- tact of air as possible, affords transparent, green, tabular crystals. When heated moderately it fuses, and, on cooling, becomes an opaque crystalline mass, having an iron-gray colour and metallic lustre. At a higher temperature it emits violet-coloured vapours, and the iron is left in the state of sesquioxide. It is very soluble both in water and alcohol. When recently prepared it is wholly soluble in water, forming a pale-green solution; but if made for some time, it almost unavoidably contains some sesquioxide of iron from a partial decomposition, and will not be entirely soluble. The aqueous solution is very liable to spontaneous decomposition, becoming at last orange-red from the generation of free iodine, and depositing sesquioxide of iron. According to Mr. Richard Phillips, jun., the first step in this change is the formation of protoxide of iron and hydriodic acid, from the decomposition of water. As the protoxide immediately begins to be converted into sesquioxide by absorb- ing oxygen from the air, and in this state is precipitated, the hydriodic acid is set free; and hence is accounted for the acidity of the solution from the first moment the sesquioxide is deposited. Afterwards, the hydriodic acid is part II. Ferrum. 963 decomposed by the action of air and light, and iodine liberated. When the solution is prevented from generating free iodine, by placing in it a coil of iron wire, according to the plan of Mr. Squire, the iron acts by combining with the iodine of nascent hydriodic acid, and not with nascent iodine. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iv. 19.) The plan of Mr. Squire does not prevent the deposition of sesquioxide, and has, therefore, been superseded by the use of saccharine matter, which protects the solution from all change. (See Liquor Ferri Iodidi.) Iodide of iron is incompatible with alkalies and their carbon- ates, with lime-water, and with all other substances by which sulphate of iron is decomposed. When crystallized it consists of one eq. of iodine 126*3, one of iron 28, and five of water 45=199-3. 31 Off. Prep. Muriatis Ferri Liquor, Dub. -0- FERRI SUBCARBONAS. U.S. FerriSesquioxydum. Lond. Ferri Oxidum Rubrum. Ed. Ferri Carbonas. Dub. Subcar- bonate of Iron. Sesquioxide of Iron. Precipitated Carbonate of IvOTl " Take of Sulphate of Iron eight ounces; Carbonate of Soda nine ounces; boiling Water a gallon. Dissolve the Sulphate of Iron and Carbonate ot Soda severally in four pints of the Water; then mix the solutions and, having stirred the mixture, set it by that the powder may subside; lastly, having poured off the supernatant liquor, wash the Subcarbonate of Iron with hot water, wrap it in bibulous paper, and dry it with a gentle heat. U. ?>. " Take of Sulphate of Iron four pounds; Carbonate of Soda four pounds and two ounces; boiling Water six gallons [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Sulphate of Iron and Carbonate of Soda, separately, in three gallons of Water. Then mix the solutions together, and set them by that the powder may subside. Lastly, the supernatant liquor being poured off, wash the pre- cipitate with water, and dry it." Lond. "Take of Sulphate of Iron/our ounces; Carbonate of Soda five ounces, boiling Water half a pint [Imperial measure]; cold Water'*™P^™*° half [Imp. meas.]. Dissolve the Sulphate in the boiling Water, add the cold Water, and then the Carbonate of Soda, previously dissolved in about thrice its weight of water. Collect the precipitate on a calico filter; wash it with water till the water is but little affected with solution oi nitrate of baryta, and dry it in the hot air-press, or over the vapour-bath. JM. # " Take of Sulphate of Iron twenty-five parts; Carbonate of Soda twenty-six parts; Water ehflt hundred parts. Dissolve the Sulphate of Iron m the Water, then add the Carbonate of Soda, previously dissolved in a sufficient 970 Ferrum. PART II. quantity of water, and completely mix. Wash the Carbonate of Iron which is thrown down with warm water, and then dry it." Dub. When the solutions of carbonate of soda and sulphate of iron are mixed together, a hydrated carbonate of protoxide of iron, of a pale-bluish oolour, is thrown down, and sulphate of soda remains in solution. The equivalent quantities of the crystallized salts for mutual decomposition are 139 of the sulphate and 143-3 of the carbonate. Taking the quantity of sulphate of iron at 8 parts, the London and Dublin Pharmacopoeias order of carbonate of soda 8-3 parts, the U. S. Pharmacopoeia 9 parts, and the Edinburgh 10 parts. The proportions of the London and Dublin Colleges coincide most nearly with the equivalents. The precipitate, during the washing and drying, ab- sorbs oxygen, and loses nearly the whole of its carbonic acid, whereby it be- comes converted almost entirely into sesquioxide of iron. This being its chemical nature, the London College, in its last Pharmacopoeia, has given it the new name of Ferri Sesquioxydum; but as this name is applicable to the rust of iron, the red oxide obtained by calcination from the sulphate, and even to the hydrated oxide used as an antidote to arsenic, the appellation adopted in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia of Ferri Subcarbonas, in allusion to the small quantity of carbonic acid present in it, is more distinctive. Carbonate of potassa will answer to decompose the ferruginous sulphate; but carbonate of soda is preferred, because it produces, in the double decomposition, the sul- phate of soda, wbich, from its greater solubility, is more readily washed away than the sulphate of potassa. Properties. Subcarbonate of iron is a reddish-brown powder, of a disagree- able, slightly styptic taste; insoluble in water, but dissolving readily in mu- riatic acid with very slight effervescence of carbonic acid. After precipitation from its muriatic solution by ammonia, which throws down the sesquioxide of iron, the supernatant liquor should give no indications of containing any other metal in solution. It is incompatible with acids and acidulous salts. In composition it is a hydrated sesquioxide of iron, containing a little pro- toxide and carbonic acid. Medical Properties and Uses. Subcarbonate of iron is tonic, alterative, and emmenagogue, and is employed for all the purposes to which the preparations of iron are generally applicable. It was recommended by Mr. Carmichael in cancer, and is said sometimes to prove useful. Mr. Hutchinson brought it into notice as a remedy for neuralgia; and an extensive experience with it in that disease has established its value. It is also useful in chorea, in chloro- sis, and, generally, in those diseases in which the blood is deficient in colour- ing matter. It has been used by Dr. Woollam, Dr. Shearman, Dr. Elliotson, and others in traumatic tetanus, with success in twelve cases and failure in three. In the second stage of hooping-cough Dr. Steymann represents it to be a prompt and efficacious remedy. When prescribed as a tonic, the usual dose is from five to thirty grains three times a day, given in pill or powder, and frequently combined with aromatics and vegetable tonics. In neuralgia, chorea, and tetanus, it is administered in doses of from one to two teaspoon- fuls. No nicety need be observed in the dose; its only obvious effect in very large doses being a slight nausea, and a sense of weight at the stomach. Its use gives the stools a black colour. The subcarbonate of iron acts as an antidote to the poison of arsenious acid, provided it has not been exposed to a red heat; and, though not so powerful as the hydrated oxide in the form of magma, should always be used till the latter can be procured. (See page 24.) Off. Prep. Emplastrum Ferri, U. S., Ed.; Ferri Acetas, Dub.; Ferri et PART II. Ferrum. 971 Potassae Tartras, U. S., Lond.; Ferrum Ammoniatum, U. S., Lond.; Tinc- tura Ferri Chloridi, U S., Lond., Ed. B. FERRI SULPHAS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Sulphate of Iron. Clreen Vitriol. " Take of Iron Wire, cut in pieces, twelve ounces; Sulphuric Acid eighteen ounces ; Water a gallon. Mix the Sulphuric Acid and Water, and add the Iron; then heat the mixture until effervescence ceases. Pour off the solution, and, having added half a drachm of Sulphuric Acid, filter through paper, allowing the lower end of the funnel to touch the bottom of the receiving vessel. Evaporate the filtered liquor in a matrass until sufficiently concen- trated ; then set it aside in a covered vessel to crystallize. Drain the crystals in a funnel, dry them on bibulous paper, and keep them in closely-stopped bottles." U.S. "Take of Iron Filings eight ounces; Sulphuric Acid fourteen ounces; Water four pints [Imperial measure]. Mix the Sulphuric Acid with the Water, and add the Iron to them. Then apply heat, and when bubbles have ceased to escape, strain the liquor, and set it aside that crystals may form. Evaporate the liquor poured off that it may again yield crystals, and dry them all." Lond. " If the Sulphate of Iron of commerce be not in transparent green crystals, without efflorescence, dissolve it in its own weight of boiling water, acidulated with a little Sulphuric Acid ; filter, and set the solution aside to crystallize. Preserve the crystals in well-closed bottles." Ed. " Take of Iron Wire four parts; Sulphuric Acid [commercial ?] seven parts ; Water sixty parts. Dissolve the metal by the aid of heat, and filter the solution through paper. Lastly, after due evaporation, set the solution aside that crystals may form by slow refrigeration." Dub. The object of the U. S., London, and Dublin processes is to make a pure sulphate of the protoxide of iron by direct combination. Sulphuric acid, in a concentrated state, acts but imperfectly on iron; but when diluted, a vigor- ous action takes place, the oxygen of the water converts the metal into prot- oxide, with which the sulphuric acid unites, and hydrogen is evolved. The equivalent quantities for mutual reaction are 28 of iron to 49 of acid, which is the proportion taken by the London and Dublin Colleges. This proportion is one of iron to one and three-quarters of acid. The U. S. proportion is one of iron to one and a half of acid, and gives a quantity of iron one-sixth more than the acid can dissolve. This excess of iron is desirable, as it tends to secure the production of a perfect sulphate of the protoxide. The remaining steps of the U.S. process are peculiar, and are intended to secure the forma- tion of a salt entirely free from sesquioxide, by the method of Bonsdorff. This chemist found that when a perfect sulphate of the protoxide of iron was formed in solution by heating dilute sulphuric acid with an excess of iron, it might be crystallized free from sesquioxide, provided a little excess of sul- phuric acid be added to the liquid before it is filtered, in order to hold in solution any sesquioxide that may have been formed; at the same time avoiding, as much as possible, the contact of the air. Hence the directions in the U.S. formula to acidulate with sulphuric acid, to cause the funnel to touch the bottom of the receiving vessel, which avoids the dropping of the liquid through the air, and to cover the vessel containing the concentrated liquid, when it is set aside to crystallize. Iron wire, as being purer, is to be preferred to iron filings in making sulphate of iron. The Edinburgh College gives no formula for making this salt, but directions only for the purification 972 Ferrum. part ii. of the commercial sulphate, when this happens to be impure. The salt is dissolved in boiling water, acidulated with a little sulphuric acid, according to the plan of Bonsdorff, and the solution, after filtration, is set aside to crys- tallize. • M. Berthemot has proposed a modified plan of procedure, to render sul- phate of iron permanent. He first purifies the commercial sulphate in the manner directed by the Edinburgh College, and then adds it, by portions, to boiling distilled water, to which afterwards some iron filings are added. The solution is then quickly filtered, while hot, into a vessel containing alcohol acidulated with sulphuric acid. The pure sulphate of the protoxide imme- diately precipitates in the form of a bluish-white crystalline powder; while any sulphate of the sesquioxide which may have been formed is dissolved by the alcohol, and any free sesquioxide is taken up by the acid. (Journ. de Pharm., xxv. 206.) Sulphate of iron, under the name of green vitriol or copperas, is manu- factured on the large scale, for the purposes of the arts, from the native sul- phuret of iron or iron pyrites, by roasting, oxidation by exposure to air and moisture, and lixiviation. The constituents of the mineral become sulphuric acid and protoxide of iron, which, by their union, form the salt in question. It is made also by our manufacturers of sulphuric acid, by direct combination, from the unconcentrated acid and scraps of old iron. Properties. Sulphate of iron is in the form of transparent crystals, of a pale bluish-green colour, and having the shape of oblique rhombic prisms. It has a disagreeable styptic taste, and an acid reaction. As prepared by Bonsdorff's method, it is blue verging to green. When it becomes more green than blue, or entirely green, an indication is afforded that it contains some sesquioxide. When exposed to the air the crystals absorb oxygen, first become green, and are ultimately covered with a yellow efflorescence of sub- sulphate of the sesquioxide, insoluble in water. Sometimes the crystals are quite permanent when made by Bonsdorff's method, owing to the slight excess of acid which they contain. Sulphate of iron is soluble in about twice its weight of cold water, and in three-fourths of its weight of boiling water, but is insoluble in alcohol. The aqueous solution is bluish-green; but by standing it attracts oxygen, and is rendered first green and then red- dish, depositing, in the mean time, a portion of subsulphate. When heated moderately, it loses six-sevenths of its water of crystallization, and becomes grayish-white. At a red heat it loses its acid, and is converted into the anhydrous sesquioxide of iron, called colcothar. (See Ferri Sulphas Exsic- catxim and Ferri Oxydum Pubrum.) It is incompatible with the alkalies and their carbonates, soaps, lime-water, the chlorides of calcium and barium, the borate and phosphate of soda, nitrate of silver, and the acetate and sub- acetate of lead. It is decomposed also by astringent vegetable infusions, the tannic and gallic acids of which form, if any sesquioxide be present, a black compound of the nature of ink. To what extent this change lessens the medicinal activity of the salt, is not well ascertained. Sulphate of iron, as it occurs in the shops, is often impure. The commercial sulphate should never be dispensed by the apothecary, until it has undergone a careful purification in the manner directed in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. The perfectly pure salt is precipitated white by ferrocyanuret of potassium; but that of ordinary purity gives a blue precipitate, more or less deep, with this test, owing to the presence of some sesquioxide of iron. Copper may be detected by immersing in the solution a bright piece of iron, on which a cupreous film will be deposited. Both copper and zinc may be discovered by sesquioxidizing PART II. Ferrum. 973 the iron by boiling the solution of the salt with nitric acid, and then precipi- tating the iron by an excess of ammonia. If the filtered solution be blue, copper is present; and if it contain zinc, this will be separated in flakes ot white oxide, on expelling the excess of ammonia by ebullition. Sulphate of iron, when crystallized, consists of one eq. of acid 40, one of protoxide 3b, and seven of water 63=139, and its formula is FeO,S03+ 7HO. Medical Properties and Uses. Sulphate of iron is astringent and tonic. In large doses it is apt to produce nausea and vomiting, and griping of the bowels; and its use, when long continued, injures the stomach. It has been recommended as a remedy for the scrofulous diathesis, conjoined with extract of bark. As an astringent, it is given in diseases attended with immoderate discharges, such as passive hemorrhages, colliquative sweats, diabetes, chrome mucous catarrh, leucorrhcea, gleet, &c. As a tonic it is used in dyspepsia, and in the debility following protracted diseases. In amenorrhcea with deficient action, it is frequently resorted to with advantage, either alone, or conjoined with the fetid and stimulant gums. Externally, the solution is used in erup- tions of the face, chronic ophthalmia, leucorrhcea, and gleet, of various streno-ths, from one or two, to eight or ten grains of the salt to the fluidounce of water. The dose is from one to five grains in the form of pill. If given in solution, the water should be previously boiled to expel the air, which, if allowed to remain, would partially decompose the salt. Taken in an over- dose it acts as a poison, fa ,,.«,«! Off. Prep. Ferri Acetatis Tinctura, Dub; Fern Carbonas Saccharatum, Ed.; Ferri Ferrocyanuretum, U S.; Ferri Oxidum Hydratum, U. S., Ed.; Ferri Oxid. Nigrum, Ed.; Ferri Oxyd. Rubrum, Dub.; Ferri Phosphas, U. S.; Ferri Subcarbonas, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Ferri Sulphas Exsiccatum,_p<£; Ferrum Tartarizatum, Ed,; Mistura Ferri Composita, U. S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Pilulae Aloes et Ferri, Ed.; Pil. Ferri Carbonatis, U S.; Pil. Fern Comp., U S., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Acetatis Ferri cum Alcohol, Dub. B. FERRI SULPHAS EXSICCATUM. Ed. Dried Sulphate of JTOTIj " Expose any convenient quantity of Sulphate of Iron to a moderate heat in a porcelain or earthenware vessel, not glazed with lead, till it is converted into a dry grayish-white mass, which is to be reduced to powder." Ed. In this process, six eqs. out of seven of the water of crystallization of the salt are driven off. The heat should not exceed 212°, otherwise the salt itself would suffer decomposition. Dried sulphate of iron is used for making pills, the crystallized sulphate not being well adapted for this purpose. In prescrib- ing dried sulphate of iron it is necessary to recollect that three grains are equivalent to five of the crystallized sulphate. Off. Prep. Pilulae Ferri Sulphatis, Ed.; Pil. Rhei et Fern, Ed. B. FERRI SULPHURETUM. Ed., Dub. Sulphuret of Iron. The best Sulphuret of Iron is made by heating an iron rod to a full white heat in a forge, and rubbing it with a roll of sulphur over a deep vessel filled with water to receive the fused globules of Sulphuret which form. An inferior sort good enough, however, for pharmaceutic purposes, is obtained by heating one part of Sublimed Sulphur and three of Iron Filings in a crucible ma common fire till the mixture begins to glow, and then removing the crucible and covering it, until the action, which at first increases considerably, shall come to an end." Ed. " Expose a rod of Iron to the strongest heat of a forge, until it becomes white hot; and upon taking it from the fire, instantly apply it to a roll of 974 Ferrum. PART II. sulphur. Receive the Sulphuret of Iron in water, separate it from sulphur, and, having dried it, keep it in a well-stopped bottle." Dub. Iron and sulphur form a number of sulphurets, among which the most im- portant are the protosulphuret and sesquisulphuret, corresponding with the protoxide and sesquioxide of iron, the bisulphuret or cubic pyrites, and mag- netic pyrites, which is a compound of five eqs. of protosulphuret, and one of bisulphuret. When the sulphuret is obtained by the application of solid sul- phur to white-hot iron, the product corresponds in composition with magnetic pyrites; but, when procured by heating flowers of sulphur with an excess of iron filings, as is directed in the second of the Edinburgh processes, a proto- sulphuret is generated mixed with metallic iron. When sulphur is applied to white-hot iron, the metal appears to become hotter, burns with scintillations in the vapour of the sulphur, and forms instantly the sulphuret, which, being comparatively fusible, melts into globules, and drops into the water, which serves to extinguish them. It is essential that the iron be raised to a white heat, for otherwise the process succeeds but imperfectly. Properties, dec. The officinal sulphuret of iron has a yellowish colour and the metallic lustre. When obtained over water it is in the form of brownish- yellow globules, having a somewhat crystalline texture. When pure it fur- nishes a yellow powder, and dissolves in dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid without leaving a residue of sulphur, and with the production of hydrosul- phuric acid gas (sulphuretted hydrogen), free from admixture of hydrogen. As prepared, however, by the officinal processes, it is not entirely soluble in dilute sulphuric acid, a portion of uncombined sulphur being left. The fused globules have the composition of 5FeS-f FeS3, or, according to some, 5FeS -f-Fe3S3. This preparation is employed exclusively as a pharmaceutical agent, for the production of hydrosulphuric acid gas. It may be made to yield this gas by the action of diluted sulphuric acid. During the reaction water is de- composed ; its hydrogen combines with the sulphur to form hydrosulphuric acid, while the oxygen converts the iron into protoxide, with which the sul- phuric acid unites. Hydrosulphuric acid is a colourless gas, having a smell like that of putrid eggs. Its sp. gr. is 1-1782. It reddens litmus and saturates bases, forming salts called hydrosulphates, stdphohydrates, or hydrosulphurets. B. FERRUM AMMONIATUM. U.S. Ferri Ammonio-Chloridum. Lond. Ammoniated Iron. Ammonio-Chloride of Iron. " Take of Subcarbonate of Iron three ounces; Muriatic Acid ten fluid- ounces; Muriate of Ammonia two pounds and a half; Distilled Water four pints. Mix the Subcarbonate of Iron with the Muriatic Acid in a glass ves- sel, and digest for two hours; then add the Muriate of Ammonia, previously dissolved in the Distilled Water, and, having filtered the liquor, evaporate to dryness. Rub the residue to powder." U S. The process of the London College is the same as the above, of which it was the original. By the mutual action of muriatic acid and the sesquioxide of iron of the subcarbonate, water and sesquichloride of iron are formed; and the solution of the latter, being evaporated along with that of the muriate of ammonia, yields a mixture of the two salts. If any carbonate of iron be present in the subcarbonate, a portion of protochloride of iron must also be formed, which, however, would probably be converted into sesquichloride during the operation. By the former process of the United States Pharmacopoeia, aban- doned in the last edition of that work, a mixture of red oxide (sesquioxide) PART II. Ferrum. 975 of iron and muriate of ammonia was submitted to sublimation. A portion of the muriate of ammonia was decomposed, the ammonia escaping, and the muriatic acid reacting upon the sesquioxide of iron so as to form water and sesquichloride of iron, the latter of which was sublimed with the unde- composed muriate of ammonia. By this mode of preparation the proportion between the two salts was variable. The present officinal plan has the double advantage of uniformity in the result, and greater facility in the process. There is no reason to believe that the sesquichloride of iron and muriate of ammonia are chemically combined in the preparation. According to Mr. Phillips, they are in the proportion of 15 parts of the sesquichloride to 85 of the muriate. Properties. Ammoniated iron, as usually found in the shops, is in crystal- line grains, of a yellow colour, a feeble odour, and a sharp styptic saline taste. It is entirely soluble in water and diluted alcohol, is deliquescent, and re- quires to be kept in well-stopped bottles. By the alkalies and their carbon- ates, and by lime-water, it "is decomposed, with the precipitation of about seven per cent, of sesquiJfcle of iron; and potassa in excess occasions the evolution of ammonia. Spe the other chalybeates, it is incompatible with vegetable astringents. 3Iedica.l Properties and^^s. This preparation unites aperient properties with those belonging to(«^ifealybeates generally, and is said to have been used with advantage inJamerJfcrhoea, epilepsy, scrofula, rickets, &c.; but it is at best uncertain, and isJiQ\YjPery seldom prescribed. The sublimed prepa- ration was formerly employed under the names of flores martiales and ens mortis. From four to twelve grains may be given in the form of pill, elect- uary, or solution, several times a day. Off. Prep. Tinctura Ferri Ammonio-Chloridi, Lond, W. TINCTURA FERRI AMMONIO-CHLORIDI. Lond. Tinc- ture of Ammonio-Chloride of Iron. " Take of Ammonio-Chloride of Iron [Ammoniated Iron] four ounces; Proof Spirit a pint [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Ammonio-Chloride of Iron in the Spirit, and filter." Lond. This is simply a solution of the preceding preparation in diluted alcohol. It is feeble and uncertain as a chalybeate, and has no particular claims to attention. W. TINCTURA FERRI CHLORIDI. U.S. Tinctura Ferri Ses- quichloridi. Lond. Ferri Muriatis Tinctura. Ed. Muriatis Ferri Liquor. Dub. Tincture of Chloride of Iron. Tincture of Muriate of Iron. " Take of Subcarbonate of Iron half a pound; Muriatic Acid a pint; Al- cohol three pints. Pour the Acid upon the Subcarbonate of Iron, and shake the mixture occasionally for three days; then set it by that the dregs, if there be any, may subside; lastly, pour off the liquor, and add to this the Alco- hol." U.S. "Take of Sesquioxide of Iron [Subcarbonate, U $.] six ounces; Hydro- chloric Acid a pint [Imperial measure]; Rectified Spirit three pints [Imp. meas.]. Pour the Acid upon the Sesquioxide of Iron in a glass vessel, and digest for three days, occasionally stirring. Then add the Spirit, and filter." Lond. " Take of Red Oxide [Subcarbonate] of Iron six ounces; Muriatic Acid (commercial) one pint [Imp. meas.]; Rectified Spirit three pints [Imp. meas.]. • 976 Ferrum. PART II. Add tiae Oxide to the Acid in a glass vessel; digest with a gentle heat, and occasional agitation, for a day, or till most of the Oxide be dissolved; then add the Spirit, and filter." Ed. " Take of Rust of Iron one part; Muriatic Acid, Rectified Spirit, each, six parts. Pour the Acid upon the Rust in a glass vessel, and shake the mixture occasionally for three days. Then set it by that the dregs may subside, and pour off the clear liquor. Evaporate this slowly to one-third, and when it is cold add the Spirit." Dub. The subcarbonate of iron of the shops consists of sesquioxide of iron, mixed with a variable, but always small proportion of carbonate of the protoxide. When acted on by muriatic acid it is dissolved with effervescence, in conse- quence of the escape of carbonic acid; and a solution of the sesquichloride of iron, with a little protochloride is obtained. When the muriatic acid em- ployed is of the officinal strength (sp. gr. 1*16), the quantity directed in the U. S. formula dissolves nearly all the subcarbonate, leaving behind, according to Mr. Phillips, less than one scruple, including accidental impurities. A reaction appears to take place between the muriate acid and the alcohol, as the preparation has a decided ethereal odour. On exposure, the small quan- tity of protochloride of iron present is converted, by the absorption of oxygen, into sesquichloride and sesquioxide, the latter ofwhich is precipitated unless there be an excess of muriatic acid present. jin|Jie U. S. formula no such excess exists, and the tincture may consequfcjy deposit, upon standing, a little sesquioxide of iron, and become in the^ame|^proportion more feeble; but this is a very slight objection, and is easily ofrviated, if thought advisable, by adding sufficient muriatic acid to redissolve the precipitate. The London and Edinburgh preparations, which have a considerable excess of acid, are liable to the more serious objection of being thus rendered more irritant to the stomach. In the Dublin process there is a great waste of acid, of which much more is employed than is necessary to dissolve the quantity of rust of iron directed, the excess being driven off by heat. It is important that the apothecary should employ muriatic acid of the officinal specific gravity, as otherwise his preparation will be of uncertain strength. A want of attention to this circumstance is probably the cause that the tincture, as found in the shops, is very unequal. Of four specimens examined by Mr. Phillips, one yielded from half a fluidounce 20 grains of sesquioxide of iron, another 12-1 grains, a third 11-3 grains, and the fourth only 9-3 grains. A specimen pre- pared by himself, precisely according to the directions of the former London Pharmacopoeia, which are at present those of our own national standard, had the sp. gr. 0-994, and yielded, from half a fluidounce, 16-8 grains of sesqui- oxide. The present London preparation, according to the same authority, has the sp. gr. 0-992, and would afford, from half a fluidounce, nearly 15 grains of sesquioxide. Properties. Tincture of chloride of iron is of a reddish-brown, somewhat yellowish colour, a sour and very styptic taste, and an odouj resembling that of muriatic ether. The sesquichloride of iron, which results from its evapo- ration, is a deliquescent compound, of a dark-orange colour, scarcely crystal- lizable, and consisting of two eqs. of iron 56, and three of chlorine 106-26= 162-26. The tincture is decomposed by the alkalies, alkaline earths and their carbonates, astringent vegetable infusions, and the mucilage of gum Arabic, which produces with it a brown semi-transparent jelly. All these substances are, therefore, incompatible with it in prescriptions. Medical Properties and Uses. This is one of the most active and certain preparations of iron, usually acceptable to the stomach, and much employed for PART II. Ferrum.—G-ummi-resinse. 977 all the purposes to which the chalybeates generally are applied. It has been particularly recommended as a tonic in scrofula, in which it was formerly often given, conjointly with the solution of chloride of calcium, or chloride of ba- rium. It is supposed to be diuretic, and to have a peculiar influence on the urinary passages. Hence it has been employed in gleet, old gonorrhoea, and leucorrhcea; and is said to be useful in dysury dependent on spasmodic stric- ture of the urethra, in the dose of ten drops repeated every ten minutes, till some effect is experienced. In hemorrhages from the uterus, kidneys, and bladder, it is thought to act advantageously, but should be confined to those of a passive character, or employed only after sufficient depletion. Externally it has sometimes proved useful in the destruction of venereal warts, and as a styptic in cancerous and fungous ulcers. The dose is from ten to thirty minims, which may be gradually increased to one or even two fluidrachms, two or three times a day. It is given diluted with water. W. GUMMI-RESINA. * Gum-resins. These are concrete natural juices of plants, obtained by spontaneous exu- dation or incision, and consisting of gum and resin, associated for the most part with more or less essential oil, and frequently with other substances, such as extractive, bassorin, starch, wax, and various salts. The gum and resin are essential ingredients, but exist in very different proportions in the different varieties. All the gum-resins are partially soluble in alcohol and in water, but completely so in neither of these liquids. Diluted alcohol, on the con- trary, dissolves them almost entirely, especially if assisted by heat. With water they form an opaque emulsion; the resin, essential oil, and other in- soluble constituents being held in suspension by the dissolved gum. They are to a certain extent soluble in vinegar. Upon several of them, especially myrrh and ammoniac, carbonate of potassa so reacts as to render them soluble in water, or capable of being permanently retained in suspension by that liquid. The London College gives the following directions in relation to the gum- resins. " Those Gum-resins are to be preferred, which may be chosen so perfect as not to require purification. But if they do not appear to be sufficiently pure, boil them in water until they soften, and express them through a hempen cloth; then set them by that the resinous part may subside. Pour off the supernatant liquid, and evaporate it by means of a water-bath, adding, to- wards the end of the process, the resinous portion, so as to incorporate it with the gum. " The Gum-resins which melt easily, may be purified by putting them into an ox bladder, and holding them in boiling water, until they become so soft as to be capable of being separated from their impurities by expression through a hempen cloth." The first of these processes is applicable to the gum-resins only when they are intended for external use; for the essential oil, upon which their medical virtues often in great-measure depend, is more or less dissipated by the heat employed. The latter process is preferable whenever practicable, as it affects less the character of the medicine; but several of the gum-resins, such as as- safetida and ammoniac, are not sufficiently fusible at the temperature of boil- ing water to admit of being strained with facility. It is always best to select those intended for internal exhibition, of such a quality as not to require puri- fication. As they are usually brittle and pulverizable when very cold, they 62 978 Crummi-resinse.—Hydrargyrum. part ii. may be freed from the coarser impurities by powdering them in the winter season, and sifting the powder, which afterwards agglutinates with warmth. This plan is recommended by Mr. Brande, in relation to assafetida, ammoniac, and galbanum. The French pharmaceutists purify the gum-resins by dissolv- ing them in diluted alcohol, filtering and evaporating the solution. This pro- cess, though liable in a still greater degree than that of the London College to the objection of diminishing the virtues of the medicine by driving off the essential oil, has the advantage of completely separating all insoluble sub- stances, however minutely divided, such as fine sand or other earth, which might pass through the pores of a hempen strainer. W. HYDRARGYRUM. Preparations of Mercury. HYDRARGYRUM PURIFICATUM. Dub. Purified Mercury. " Take of Mercury six parts. Draw off four parts by slow distillation." Dub. The mercury of commerce is usually sufficiently pure for pharmaceutical purposes; but occasionally it contains foreign metals, such as lead, tin, zinc, and bismuth, and hence the direction for its purification. Mercury, being much more volatile than the contaminating merals, rises first in distillation, while they are left behind. But it is necessary to avoid pushing the distilla- tion too far; for in that event, some of the foreign metals are apt to be car- ried over. The Dublin College, on account of this danger, directs only two- thirds of the mercury to be distilled. The distillation may be performed over a common fire, from an iron retort, into water contained in a receiver. In small operations a wash-hand basin will answer for a receiver. Other methods of purifying mercury are given at page 378, under the head of Hydrargyrum. Millon has ascertained the curious fact, that the presence of so small a quan- tity as one-thousandth or one ten-thousandth of lead or zinc in mercury, raises its boiling point. As it is difficult and troublesome to purify mercury by distillation, it is better to purchase pure samples of the metal, which may be always found in the market, and thus supersede the necessity of this pro- cess. The U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias do not now include a formula for purifying mercury by distillation. Properties, dec, Mercury is known to be pure when it is bright and per- fectly mobile. Its freedom from foreign metals may be ascertained by the negative indications of the tests mentioned under Hydrargyrum. B. HYDRARGYRI ACETAS. Dub. Acetate of Mercury. " Take of purified Mercury, Acetate of Potassa, each, nine parts; Diluted Nitric Acid eleven parts; boiling Distilled Water one hundred parts; Distilled Vinegar a sufficient quantity. Add the Nitric Acid to the Mercury, and when the effervescence shall have ceased, digest the mixture, so as to dissolve the metal. Dissolve the Acetate of Potassa in the Water, and add Distilled Vinegar until acidity predominates in the solution. To this, boiling hot, add the solution of the Mercury in the Nitric Acid, and strain the mixture quickly through a double linen cloth; then let it cool that crystals may form. Wash these with cold Distilled Water, and dry them on paper with a very gentle heat. In every step of this process, glass vessels are to be used." Dub. The object of this process is to obtain an acetate of the protoxide of mer- cury. By the solution of the metal in diluted nitric acid in the proportion indicated, a nitrate of the protoxide is formed; and this, when added to the part ii. Hydrargyrum. 979 boiling solution of acetate of potassa, causes a double decomposition, resulting in the formation of nitrate of potassa which remains in solution, and acetate of protoxide of mercury which precipitates in crystals as the solution cools. The nitric acid is used diluted in order to avoid deutoxidizing the metal; and for the same reason heat is not applied until the action of the acid has ceased in the cold, and then only moderately. Notwithstanding every pre- caution, it is very difficult to get a perfect nitrate of protoxide of mercury; and as water throws down a yellow subnitrate from the nitrate of the deut- oxide if the solutions be neutral, the College orders the solution of the acetate of potassa to be acidulated with distilled vinegar, which effectually prevents this precipitation. The straining of the solution, while hot, is intended to separate any subnitrate which may be accidentally formed, before the acetate of mercury crystallizes on cooling. As the crystals may be contaminated with a little nitrate of the deutoxide, which is rendered yellow by the action of water, some authorities recommend that the washing should be performed with water, acidulated with distilled vinegar. The drying of the crystals is an operation which requires great care; as a slight heat is sufficient to decom- pose them. On this account it has been proposed to dry them by compression between the folds of bibulous paper. Properties, dr. Acetate of mercury is a white salt, in the form of thin flexible scales of a pearly lustre. Its taste is very disagreeable, but less so than that of most of the other soluble salts of mercury. It is not affected by air, but contracts a brown tinge by exposure to light. It is insoluble in alcohol, but dissolves readily, with partial decomposition, in boiling water, from which, being only sparingly soluble in cold water, it precipitates in crystals on cooling. When it is a perfect acetate of the protoxide, alkalies throw down from its solution a black precipitate of protoxide. If it be con- taminated with acetate of the deutoxide, the same reagents cause a yellowish precipitate. It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, one of protoxide of mer- cury 210, and four of water 36 = 297. Medical Properties. Acetate of mercury was introduced into regular prac- tice, in consequence of its being supposed to form the active ingredient in Keyser's pills, which were at one time esteemed to be a mild and safe anti- , syphilitic remedy, and the mode of preparing which was purchased and made public by the French government. These pills, however, are very unequal in their operation, and have been ascertained by Robiquet to contain the acetate of the deutoxide. The officinal acetate is intended to be an acetate of the protoxide; but even in this state it possesses no peculiar powers which give it advantages over other mercurials in the treatment of syphilis; and it is at present very little used. The dose is a grain, given in the form of pill, twice a day. It is occasionally used as an external application to cutaneous eruptions, in the proportion of a grain dissolved in a fluidounce of rose-water. B. HYDRARGYRI CHLORIDUM CORROSIVUM. U.S. Hy- drargyri BlCHLORIDUM. Lond. SUBLIMATUS CORROSIVUS. Ed. Hydrargyri Murias Corrosivum. Dub. Corrosive Chloride of Mercury. Bichloride of Mercury. Corrosive Sublimate. "Take of Mercury too pounds; Sulphuric Acid three pounds; Chloride of Sodium a pound and a half. Boil the Mercury with the Sulphuric Acid until the sulphate of mercury is left dry. Rub this, when cold, with the Chloride of Sodium, in an earthenware mortar; then sublime with a gra- dually increasing heat." U. S. The London process is the same as the above. 980 Hydrargyrum. PART II. " Take of Mercury four ounces ; Sulphuric Acid (commercial) two fluid- ounces and three fluidrachms; Pure Nitric Acid half a fluidounce; Muriate of Soda three ounces. Mix the Acids; add the Mercury; dissolve it with the aid of a moderate heat; and then raise the heat so as to obtain a dry salt. Triturate this thoroughly with the Muriate of Soda, and sublime in a proper apparatus." Ed. " Take of Persulphate of Mercury five parts; dried Muriate of Soda two parts. Rub them well together in an earthenware mortar, so as to reduce them to a very fine powder. Then, with a heat gradually raised, sublime the Corrosive Muriate of Mercury into a proper receiver." Dub. In order to understand the above processes, which are the same in prin- ciple, it is necessary to premise that corrosive sublimate is a bichloride of mercury, consisting of two eqs. of chlorine and one of mercury. By boiling sulphuric acid in excess with mercury to dryness, a white salt is formed, which is a bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury. (See Hydrargyri Prsul- phas.) When this is mixed with chloride of sodium (common salt), and the mixture exposed to a subliming heat, a mutual decomposition takes place. The chlorine of the common salt combines with the mercury, and sublimes as bichloride of mercury; while the sodium, oxygen of the deutoxide of mercury, and sulphuric acid unite to form sulphate of soda, which remains behind. The quantities for mutual decomposition are two eqs. of chloride of sodium, consisting of two eqs of chlorine and two of sodium; and one eq. of the bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury, consisting of one eq. of mercury, two of oxygen, and two of sulphuric acid. The two eqs. of chlorine combine with the one eq. of mercury, to form one eq. of corrosive sublimate; and the two eqs., severally, of sodium, oxygen, and sulphuric acid form, by their union, two eqs. of dry sulphate of soda. The Edinburgh formula is very much changed from that given in the previous edition of the Ed. Pharma- copoeia. It is characterized by the small quantity of mercury taken, and by the use of nitric acid to assist the sulphuric in oxidizing the metal, according to the method pursued by the Dublin College in forming the Hydrargyri Persulphas. The Dublin formula is peculiar in ordering the bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury ready formed, under the name of persulphate of mercury, instead of preparing it at the first step of the process, as is done in the processes of the other Pharmacopoeias. (See Hydrargyri Persulphas.) The names given in the several Pharmacopoeias to this chloride are, unfor- tunately, all different. It is called a chloride, as it is admitted to be, in the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, a muriate, agreeably to an abandoned theory, in the Dublin, and corrosive sublimate, irrespective of chemical nomenclature, in the Edinburgh. We should be sorry to share the opinion of the Edinburgh College that the adoption of the modern chemical nomen- clature, to express pharmaceutical substances, was a great enor, on account of its liability to change. Systematic nomenclature belongs to science, and its change is the inevitable consequence of the progress of the latter. In respect to the London College name of bichloride for corrosive sublimate, we think it not sufficiently distinct from chloride, adopted by the same College for calomel. Hence we prefer the use of the adjunct, corrosivum, employed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, as serving to fix attention to its deleterious nature. Preparation on the Large Scale, dsc. The first step is to form the bisul- phate of the deutoxide of mercury, which is effected by heating the sulphuric acid and metal together in an iron pot, so arranged as to carry off the un- wholesome fumes of sulphurous acid which are copiously generated. The dry salt obtained is then mixed with the common salt, and the mixture sub- PART II. Hydrargyrum. 981 limed in an iron pot lined with clay, and covered by an inverted earthen pan. Recently Dr. A. T. Thomson, of London, has taken out a patent for forming corrosive sublimate, on the large scale, by the direct combination, by com- bustion, of gaseous chlorine with heated mercury. The product is stated to be perfectly pure, and to be afforded at a lower price than the sublimate made in the usual way. In order that the combination may take place, the mercury need not be heated to its boiling point, but only to a temperature between 300° and 400°. According to Dr. Maclagan, corrosive sublimate, made by this process, is liable to the objection that a proportion of calomel is always formed, occasionally amounting to ten per. cent. It is sometimes useful to a physician to know how to make a small quantity of corrosive sublimate on an emergency. This may be done by dissolving deutoxide of mercury (red pre- cipitate) in muriatic acid, evaporating the solution to dryness, dissolving the dry mass in water, and crystallizing. In this case a double decomposition takes place, resulting in the formation of water and the bichloride. Properties. Corrosive chloride of mercury, as obtained by sublimation, is in the form of colourless crystals, or of white, semi-transparent, crystalline masses, of the sp. gr. 5-2, permanent in the air, and possessing an exceedingly acrid, styptic, metallic, durable taste. It dissolves in a little less than twenty parts of cold water, and in three of boiling water. A boiling saturated solu- tion, upon cooling, lets it fall in a confused mass of crystals. It is soluble also in two and a third parts of cold alcohol, in about its own weight of boil- ing alcohol, and in three parts of ether. The latter solvent is capable of removing corrosive.sublimate, to a considerable extent, from its aqueous so- lution, when agitated with it. Sulphuric, nitric, and muriatic acids dissolve it without alteration. When heated it melts, and readily sublimes in dense, white, acrid vapours, which condense, on cool surfaces, in white shining needles. Its aqueous solution renders green the syrup of violets, and is pre- cipitated brick-red, becoming yellow, by the fixed alkalies and alkaline earths, and white by ammonia. (See Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum.) The former precipitate is the hydrated deutoxide of mercury, and is formed in the process for preparing the aqua phagedaenica, which is obtained by mixing a drachm of corrosive sublimate with a pint of lime-water. Corrosive Sublimate forms with muriate of ammonia and chloride of sodium, compounds which are more soluble than the uncombined mercurial salt. It is on this account that aque- ous solutions of sal ammoniac, or of common salt dissolve much more corrosive sublimate than simple water. The combination of corrosive sublimate with muriate of ammonia was formerly called sal alembroth, or salt of wisdom. (See Liquor Hydrargyri Bichloridi.) Corrosive sublimate has the property of retarding putrefaction. Animal matters, immersed in its solution, shrink, acquire firmness, assume a white colour, and become imputrescible. On account of this property it is usefully employed for preserving anatomical preparations. Tests of Purity and Incompatibles. Pure corrosive chloride of mercury sublimes, when heated, without residue, and its powder is entirely and readily soluble in ether. Consequently, if a portion of any sample should not wholly dissolve in ether, or if it should not evaporate entirely, the presence of some impurity is proved. If calomel be present, it will not be wholly soluble in water. Corrosive sublimate is incompatible with many of the metals, with the alkalies and their carbonates, with soap, lime-water, tartar emetic, nitrate of silver, the acetates of lead, the sulphurets of potassium and sodium, and with all the hydrosulphates. It is also decomposed by many vegetable and some animal substances. According to Dr. A. T. Thomson, it produces pre- cipitates in infusions or decoctions of the following vegetable substances;— 982 Hydrargyrum. PART II. chamomile, horse-radish, columbo, catechu, cinchona, rhubarb, senna, sima- ruba, and oak-bark. The experiments of M. Mialhe and M. Lepage have shown, that corrosive sublimate is slowly converted into calomel by syrup of sarsaparilla and syrup of honey, but undergoes no alteration by contact with pure syrup. B. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Corrosive sublimate is a very powerful pre- paration, operating quickly, and, if not properly regulated, producing very violent effects. It is less apt to salivate than most other mercurials. In minute doses, suitably repeated, it may exert its peculiar influence without any obvious alteration of the vital functions, except, perhaps, a slight increase in the frequency of the pulse, and in the secretions from the skin and kidneys. Sometimes, however, it purges; but this effect may be obviated by combining it with a little opium. In larger doses it occasions nausea, vomiting, griping pain in the bowels, diarrhoea, and other symptoms of gastric and intestinal irritation; and in still larger quantities produces all the effects of a violent corrosive poison. It has long been used as a remedy in syphilis, in all stages of which it is highly recommended by some authors. It is said to remove the symptoms more speedily than other mercurials; while its action is less unpleasant, as the mouth is less liable to be made sore. For the latter reason it is much employed by empirics, and is an ingredient in almost all those nostrums which have at various periods gained a temporary popularity as anti- venereals. But while it is extolled by some authors, others, among whom is Mr. Pearson, of London, deny its extraordinary merits, and maintain that, though occasionally useful in arresting the progress of the complaint, particu- larly in the secondary stage, it does not produce permanent cures, and, in the primary stage, often fails altogether. Opinion is at present in favour of its employment in secondary syphilis, and there can he no doubt that it occasionally does much good. It is also used advantageously in cutaneous diseases of a leprous character, and in obstinate chronic rheumatism. It is usually associated with alterative or diaphoretic medicines, such as the antimonials, and the compound decoction or syrup of sarsaparilla; and, in order to obviate the irritation it is apt to produce, it may often be advan- tageously united with opium, or extract of hemlock. There is no doubt that many of the substances in connexion with which it is employed alter its chemical condition; but it does not follow that, even in its altered state, it may not be very useful as a remedy. Externally employed, corrosive sublimate is stimulant and escharotic. A solution in water, containing from an eighth to half a grain in the fluidounce, is employed as an injection in gleet, as a gargle in venereal sore-throat, and as a collyrium in chronic venereal ophthalmia. A stronger solution, contain- ing one or two grains in the fluidounce, is an efficacious wash in lepra, and other scaly eruptions. Dissolved in water, in the proportion of five or ten grains to the fluidounce, it may be used with much benefit in venereal ulcers of the throat, to which it should be applied by means of a camel's hair pencil. With lime-water it forms the aqua phagedasnica of the older writers, em- ployed as a wash for ill-conditioned ulcers. The powdered chloride has been used as an escharotic; but is, in general, inferior to nitrate of silver or caustic potassa. In onychia maligna, however, it is employed with great advantage, mixed with an equal weight of sulphate of zinc, and sprinkled thickly upon the surface of the ulcer, which is then to be covered with a pledget of lint saturated with tincture of myrrh. The whole diseased surface is thus removed, and the necessity of resorting to the knife avoided. This practice was first introduced, we believe, by the late Dr. Perkins, of Philadelphia, and was PART II. Hydrargyrum. 983 highly recommended by Dr. Physick. We have employed it in several in- stances with complete success. The dose of corrosive sublimate is from the twelfth to the quarter of a grain, repeated three or four times a day, and given in pill, or dissolved in water or spirit. The pill, which is the preferable form, is usually prepared with crumb of bread; and care should be taken that the medicine be equally diffused through the pilular mass, before it is divided. Mucilaginous drinks are usually given to obviate the irritating effects of the medicine. Toxicological Properties. Swallowed in poisonous doses, it produces burning heat in the throat, excruciating pain in the stomach and bowels, excessive thirst, anxiety, nausea and frequent retching with vomiting of bloody mucus, diarrhoea and sometimes bloody stools, small and frequent pulse, cold sweats, general debility, difficult respiration, cramps in the extremities, faintings, in- sensibility, convulsions, and death. The mucous membrane of the stomach exhibits on dissection all the signs which mark the action of a violent corro- sive poison. These symptoms are sometimes followed or conjoined with others indicating an excessive mercurial action upon the system, such as inflamma- tion of the mouth and salivary glands, profuse salivation, fetid breath, &c. A case is on record of death, in an infant, from the constitutional effects of cor- rosive sublimate sprinkled upon an excoriated surface. In the inferior animals, in whatever mode introduced into the system, it is said to occasion irritation of the stomach and rectum, inflammation of the lungs, oppression of the brain, and depression if not inflammation of the heart. (Christison.) In the treatment of poisoning by corrosive sublimate, Orfila recommends the free use of the *vhite of eggs beat up with water. The albumen forms an insoluble and com- paratively innocent compound with the corrosive sublimate; and the liquid by its bulk dilutes the poison, and distends the stomach so as to produce vomi- ting. It is, however, asserted by M. Lassaigne that this compound of albu- men and corrosive sublimate, when recently precipitated, is soluble in acid and alkaline liquids, and in solutions of the chlorides of potassium, sodium, and calcium. (See Journ. de Pharm., xxiii. 510.) It is, therefore, impor- tant, at the same time that the antidote is used, to evacuate the stomach before the newly formed compound can be dissolved. If eggs cannot be procured, wheat flour may be substituted; gluten having, according to M. Taddei, the same effect as albumen. Milk has also been recommended, in consequence of the insoluble compound which casein forms with the poison. Besides the antidotes mentioned, Peruvian bark, meconic acid, protosulphuret of iron, and iron filings have been proposed, all of which have the property of decomposing corrosive sublimate. The protosulphuret of iron was found quite successful by M. Mialhe in experiments upon dogs, if given immediately after the poison was swallowed, but failed when delayed for 10 minutes. It is of the utmost importance that whatever antidote is used should be given without delay, and in this respect the one nearest at hand may be considered the best. Should neither of the substances mentioned be attainable, mucilaginous drinks should be largely administered; and, in any event, the patient should be made to drink copiously, so long as vomiting continues, or till the symptoms are relieved. Should he be unable to vomit, the stomach should be washed out by means of the stomach pump. The consecutive inflammation should be treated with general or local bleeding, fomentations, and cooling mucilaginous drinks, and the attendant nervous symptoms should be alleviated by opiates. W. Tests for Corrosive Sublimate. On account of the extreme virulence of this chloride as a poison, the reagents by which it may be detected form a subject of study of the utmost importance, as connected with medico-legal in- 984 Hydrargyrum. PART II. vestigations. The best tests for determining.its mercurial nature, mentioned in the order of their delicacy, are ferrocyanuret of potassium, lime-water, car- bonate of potassa, iodide of potassium, ammonia, sulphuretted hydrogen, and protochloride of tin. Ferrocyanuret of potassium gives rise to a white pre- cipitate (fenocyanuret of mercury), becoming slowly yellowish, and at length pale-blue. Lime-water throws down a yellow precipitate of hydrated deu- toxide. Carbonate of potassa causes a brick-red precipitate of carbonate of mercury. Iodide of potassium produces a very characteristic pale scarlet precipitate of biniodide of mercury. This precipitate frequently appears at first yellow. Ammonia gives rise to a fine, white, flocculent precipitate, the officinal ammoniated mercury, or white precipitate. Sulpliurettcd hydrogen occasions a black precipitate of bisulphuret of mercury. The same effect is produced by hydrosulphate of ammonia. Finally, protochloride of tin causes at first a white precipitate (calomel), and afterwards a grayish-black one (mercury in a finely divided state), and, as a test, is not liable to any fallacy. Taking the results of Devergie, the relative delicacy of these tests may he expressed numerically as follows:—Ferrocyanuret of potassium 1^; lime- water 4 ; carbonate of potassa 7 ; iodide of potassium 8 ; ammonia 36 ; sul- phuretted hydrogen or hydrosulphate of ammonia 60; and protochloride of tin 80. To the above the following tests may be added, easily applied even by those unacquainted with chemistry. A bright plate of copper, immersed in a solution containing corrosive sublimate, is instantly tarnished, and, after the lapse of half an hour, becomes covered with a grayish-white powder. A polished piece of gold, moistened with the mercurial solution, and touched through the liquid with a piece of iron, contracts a white stain. This test, which was proposed by Mr. Sylvester and simplified by Dr. Paris, is conve- niently applied by moistening, with the suspected solution, a gold coin or ring, and touching it through the moistened spot with the point of a penknife. The object of the iron is to form with the gold a simple galvanic circle, which enables the latter metal to precipitate the mercury on its surface. Nearly all the above tests merely show the mercurial nature of the substance acted on. To determine whether the metal is united with chlorine, the mercurial liquid may be precipitated by lime-water, and the filtered solution, acidulated with nitric acid, then tested with nitrate of silver. If the mercury is in the state of chloride, the filtered solution will be one of chloride of calcium, which, with nitrate of silver, will yield a heavy white precipitate (chloride of silver), insoluble in nitric acid, but soluble in ammonia. The nitrate of silver may be added directly to the mercurial liquid; and, if it contain corrosive subli- mate, chloride of silver will fall, but probably mixed with calomel. By the combined indications of the foregoing tests, corrosive sublimate may be infallibly detected, unless it exists in very minute quantity, associated with organic substances, by which its presence is often greatly obscured. When it exists in organic mixtures, made by boiling the contents or sub- stance of the stomach in distilled water, Dr. Christison recommends that a preliminary trial be made with the protochloride of tin, on a small portion filtered for the purpose. If this causes a grayish-black colour, he shakes the mixture, as recommended by Orfila, with a fourth of its bulk of ether, which dissolves the corrosive sublimate and rises to the surface. The ethereal solu- tion is then evaporated to dryness, and the dry salt obtained is dissolved in hot water, whereby a pure solution is procured, in which the poison may be readily detected by the ordinary tests. If the trial test should produce a light gray colour, the corrosive sublimate is indicated in still less quantity, and Dr. Christison recommends to proceed in the.following manner. Treat the unfiltered mixture with protochloride of tin, as long as any precipitate is formed, which PART II. Hydrargyrum. 985 will have a slate-gray colour. Collect, wash, and drain it on a filter, and, having removed it without being dried, boil it, in a glass flask, with a mode- rately strong solution of caustic potassa, until all the lumps disappear. The alkali will dissolve all animal and vegetable matter; and, on allowing the so- lution to remain at rest, a heavy grayish-black powder will subside, which consists chiefly of metallic mercury, and in which small globules of the metal may sometimes be seen by the naked eye, or by the aid of a magnifier. Off. Prep. Hydrargyri Binoxydum, Lond.; Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum, U S; Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Liquor Hy- drargyri Bichloridi, Lond. B. LIQUOR HYDRARGYRI BICHLORIDI. Lond. Solution of Bichloride of Mercury. " Take of Bichloride of Mercury [corrosive sublimate], Hydrochlorate of Ammonia, each, ten grains ; Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Dis- solve the Bichloride of Mercury and Hydrochlorate of Ammonia together in the Water." Loud, This solution was intended to facilitate the dispensing of corrosive subli- mate in small doses. The muriate of ammonia has been substituted for the alcohol formerly added to the solution, probably in order to prevent the de- composition of the bichloride. A solution of corrosive sublimate in water alone, under the influence of light, deposits calomel, while muriatic and chloric acids remain in the water; nor is this decomposition prevented by the addition of alcohol. The dose of the solution, of which a fluidounce contains half a grain of corrosive sublimate, is from one to four fluidrachms, taken in flaxseed tea. W. HYDRARGYRI CHLORIDUM MITE. U. S. Hydrargyri Chloridum. Lond, Calomelas. Ed. Calomelas Sublimatum. Dub. Mild Chloride of Mercury. Calomel. "Take of Mercury four pounds; Sulphuric Acid three pounds; Chloride of Sodium a pound and a half; Distilled Water a sufficient quantity. Boil two pounds of the Mercury with the Sulphuric Acid, until the sulphate of mercury is left dry. Rub this, when cold, with the remainder of the Mercury, in an earthenware mortar, until they are thoroughly mixed. Then add the Chloride of Sodium, and rub it with the other ingredients till all the globules disappear; afterwards sublime. Reduce the sublimed matter to a very fine powder, and wash it frequently with boiling Distilled Water, till the washings afford no precipitate upon the addition of Solution of Ammonia; then dry it." U.S. The London formula is the same as the above, except that the testing of the washings is not directed. " Take of Mercury eight ounces; Sulphuric Acid (commercial) two fluid- ounces and three fluidrachms [Imperial measure]; Pure Nitric Acid half a fluidounce [Imp. meas.] ; Muriate of Soda three ounces. Mix the Acids, add four ounces of the Mercury, and dissolve it with the aid of a moderate heat. Raise the heat so as to obtain a dry salt. Triturate this with the Muriate of Soda and the rest of the Mercury till the globules entirely disappear. Heat the mixture by means of a sand-bath in a proper subliming apparatus. Re- duce the sublimate to fine powder; wash the powder with boiling Distilled Water until the Water ceases to precipitate with solution of iodide of potas- sium, and then dry it." Ed. " Take of Persulphate of Mercury twenty-five parts; Purified Mercury seven- teen parts; Dried Muriate of Soda ten parts. Triturate together the Persul- phate of Mercury and Purified Mercury, in an earthenware mortar, until the 986 Hydrargyrum. PART II. metallic globules completely disappear. Then add the dried Muriate of Soda, and mix them well; and from a suitable vessel, with a heat gradually raised, sublime the mixture into a receiver. Reduce the sublimate to powder, and wash it with water so long as the decanted liquid is precipitated by Water of Caustic Potassa. Lastly dry the Sublimed Calomel." Dub. The object of the above processes, which all coincide in the principle on which they are conducted, is to obtain the protochloride of mercury. This chloride consists of one eq. of chlorine and one of mercury, and consequently contains precisely half as much chlorine as corrosive sublimate, combined with the same quantity of mercury. In the process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, as in the case of corrosive sublimate, a bisulphate of the deutoxide is first formed; but, instead of being immediately sublimed with the chloride of sodium, it undergoes a preparatory trituration with the same quantity of mer- cury as was employed in forming it. This trituration may be conceived to take place between one eq. of the bisulphate of the deutoxide and one eq. of metallic mercury, which are thus converted into two equivalents of the mono- sulphate of the protoxide. This change will be easily understood, by advert- ing to the fact, that the bisulphate of the deutoxide consists of two eqs. of sulphuric acid, two of oxygen and one of mercury, and when rubbed up with one additional eq. of mercury, the whole becomes two eqs. of acid, two of oxygen, and two of mercury, evidently corresponding with two eqs. of the monosulphate of the protoxide. The two eqs. of monosulphate thus formed, being heated with two eqs. of common salt, the two eqs. of chlorine in the latter sublime in union with the two eqs. of mercury in the former, and generate two eqs. of protochloride of mercury; while the two eqs., severally, of sul- phuric acid, oxygen, and sodium, unite together to form two eqs. of dry sul- phate of soda, which remain as a fixed residue. It is hence apparent that the residue in this process and in that for corrosive sublimate is the same. The calomel in mass, as sublimed, is liable to contain a little corrosive sub- limate ; and hence the directions of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia to reduce the sublimed matter to a very fine powder, and to wash it with boiling distilled water until ammonia produces no precipitate with the washings. Ammonia occasions a white precipitate so long as the washings contain corrosive subli- mate ; and when it ceases to produce this effect the operator may rest satisfied that the whole of the poisonous salt has been removed. The London Phar- macopceia prescribes a careful washing, but omits in the formula any directions for testing for corrosive sublimate. The proper tests for ascertaining the purity of calomel are, however, enumerated in the " Notes" of the work, prefixed to the " Preparations." The Edinburgh formula is peculiar in ordering a small proportion of nitric acid to assist the sulphuric acid in oxidizing the mercury, as is done also in the corrosive sublimate process. The washings are tested by iodide of potas- sium, which is not so delicate a test as ammonia. The Dublin process includes no directions for making the bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury; because that salt, in the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, is made by a separate formula, and designated by a distinct name, persulphate of mercury. It is, therefore, taken ready formed, mixed with the mercury and common salt in the usual way, and the mixture sublimed. The College has omitted to mention that the water used for washing should be boiling hot. The solution of caustic potassa, used to test the washings, is not so delicate a reagent as either iodide of potas- sium or ammonia. Preparation on the Large Scale. The process for making calomel by means of the bisulphate of deutoxide of mercury, was originally practised at Apothe- caries' Hall, London. The proportions taken and the mode of proceeding PART II. Hydrargyrum. 987 in that establishment are, according to Mr. Brande, as follows: 50 lbs. of mercury are boiled to dryness with 70 lbs. of sulphuric acid, in a cast iron vessel; and 02 lbs of the dry salt formed are triturated with 40.} lbs. of mer- cury till the globules disappear, and the whole is mixed with 34 lbs. of com- mon salt. The mixture is then sublimed from an earthenware retort into an earthenware receiver, and the product is from 95 to 100 lbs. of calomel. The sublimate is next ground to an impalpable powder, and washed with a large quantity of distilled water. The object of bringing calomel into a state of minute division is more perfectly accomplished by the method of Mr. Joseph Jewell, of London, improved by M. Ossian Henry. It consists in causing the calomel in vapour to come in contact with steam in a large receiver, whereby it is condensed into an impalpable powder, and perfectly washed from corrosive sublimate, in the same operation. Calomel made by this process, sometimes called Jewell's or Howard's hydro- sublimate of mercury, is free from all suspicion of containing corrosive subli- mate, is much finer than when obtained by levigation and elutriation, and possesses more activity as a medicine. This kind of calomel is included in the French Codex under a distinct name (mercure doux d la vapeur). M. Soubeiran, of Paris, has perfected a process for obtaining calomel in an impal- pable powder, by substituting the agency of cold air for that of steam, for the purpose of condensing it; a process which he believes to be precisely the same as that pursued by the English manufacturers, and which produces a calomel equal to the best English. A description of his apparatus may be found in the Journ. de Pharm., Se ser., ii. 507. For an account of the English ap- paratus, as described by F. C. Calvert, see Journ, de Pharm., Se sir., iii. 121. Both these papers are copied into the Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 89 and 93. Properties. Mild chloride of mercury is a tasteless, inodorous substance, insoluble in water, alcohol, and ether, less volatile than corrosive sublimate, unalterable in the air, but blackening by long exposure to light. When in mass its form and appearance depend upon the shape and temperature of the subliming vessel. In this state, it is generally in the form of a white, fibrous, crystalline cake, soft and brittle, the interior surface of which is often studded with shining transparent crystals, having the shape of quadrangular prisms, and a texture somewhat horny and elastic. When the mass is scratched it yields a yellow streak, which is very characteristic. Its sp. gr. is 7-2. The officinal form of this chloride is that of powder, in which state it always exists in the shops. The powder has a light buff or ivory colour, if obtained by the levigation of sublimed masses; but if condensed at once in the form of an impalpable powder, as is the case with Jewell's calomel, it is perfectly white. To protect it from the action of the light, it should be kept in a dark place, or in bottles painted black or covered with black paper. By the action of the alkalies or alkaline earths it immediately becomes black, in consequence of the formation of protoxide. (See Hydrargyri Oxidum Nigrum.) The com- position of calomel has already been given. Tests of Purity and Ineompaiibles. Calomel, when pure, completely sub- limes on the application of heat, and strikes a black colour, free from reddish tinge, by the action of the fixed alkalies. The buff colour indicates the ab- sence of corrosive sublimate; but whiteness by no means shows the presence of impurity. Its freedom from the corrosive chloride may be determined by heating a small portion of it in distilled water, and then testing the water with ammonia, which will cause a white precipitate in case the water has taken up any of this chloride. In using this test it is best not to boil the water on the calomel; as boiling water is said to convert it to a slight extent into corrosive sublimate. Soluble salts of mercury may be detected by rubbing the sus- 988 Hydrargyrum. part ii. pected calomel with ether on a bright surface of copper, when the metal will become amalgamated, and exhibit a white stain. When this test shows im- purity, the soluble salt probably present is corrosive sublimate. Calomel, con- taining corrosive sublimate from imperfect washing, acts violently on the bowels; and, when the impurity has been present in considerable amount, has been known to cause death. Besides being incompatible with the alkalies and alkaline earths, corrosive sublimate is also decomposed by the alkaline carbo- nates, soaps, hydrosulphates, and, according to some authorities, by iron, lead, and copper. Calomel should not be given at the same time with nitromuriatic acid, for fear of generating corrosive sublimate. One of the authors has been informed of a case, in which death, with symptoms of violent gastro-intestinal irritation, followed their simultaneous use. Agreeably to the experiments of M. Deschamps, calomel is decomposed by bitter almonds and by hydrocyanic acid. In the former case corrosive sublimate, bicyanuret of mercury, and muriate of ammonia are formed; in the latter, corrosive sublimate and bicy- anuret only. Hence this writer considers it very dangerous to associate calomel with bitter almonds or hydrocyanic acid in prescription. This conclusion has been confirmed by M. Mialhe, and M. Prenleloup; and more recently it has been shown by Dr. E. Riegel, that cherry-laurel water has the power of con- verting calomel into corrosive sublimate. According to M. Mialhe, calomel is in part converted into corrosive sublimate and metallic mercury by muriate of ammonia, and by the chlorides of sodium and potassium, even at the tem- perature of the body ; and hence he believes that the conversion may take place in the primae viae. Popular belief coincides with M. Mialhe's views in regard to the power of common salt of increasing the activity of calomel. More re- cently M. Mialhe has extended his observations, and now believes that all the preparations of mercury yield a certain quantity of corrosive sublimate, by reacting with solutions of the chlorides of potassium, sodium, and ammonium. The deutoxide and similarly constituted compounds are most prone to this change. Even metallic mercury, digested with the chlorides named, is partly converted, under the influence of air, into corrosive sublimate. Dr. Gardner denies the assertion of M. Mialhe, that calomel is converted into corrosive sub- limate by chlorides of the alkalifiable metals, maintaining that it is merely rendered soluble by their solutions. B. 3iedical Properties and Uses. Calomel unites to the general properties of the mercurials those of a purgative and anthelmintic. It is the most valuable of the mercurial preparations, and in extent of employment is inferior to few articles of the Materia Medica. Whether the object is to bring the system under the general influence of mercury, or to produce its alterative action upon the hepatic or other secretory function, calomel, on account both of its cer- tainty and mildness, is preferred to all other preparations, with the single exception of the blue pill, which, though less certain, is still milder, and is sometimes preferably employed. When used with the above objects, the ten- dency to purge which it sometimes evinces, even in very small doses, must be restrained by combining it with opium. In sialagogue or alterative doses, it is often prescribed with other medicines, which, while they give it a direction to certain organs, have their own peculiar influence increased by its co-opera- tion. Thus it renders squill more diuretic, nitre and the antimonials more diaphoretic, and seneka more expectorant. As a purgative, calomel owes its chief value to its tendency to the liver, the secretory function of which it powerfully stimulates. It is usually slow and somewhat uncertain in its cathartic effect, and, though itself but slightly irritating, sometimes occasions severe griping pain with bilious vomiting, attri- butable to the acrid character of the bile which it causes the liver to secrete. part ii. Hydrargyrum. 989 It is peculiarly useful in the commencement of bilious fevers, in hepatitis, jaundice, bilious and painters' colic, dysentery, especially that of tropical cli- mates, and all other affections attended with congestion of the portal system, or torpidity of the hepatic vessels: The difficulty with which it is thrown from the stomach, renders it highly useful in some cases of obstinate vomiting, when other remedies are rejected. In the cases of children, it is peculiarly valuable from the facility of its administration; and, in the febrile complaints to which they are subject, appears to exercise a curative influence, depending on some other cause than its mere purgative effect, and perhaps referrible to its action upon the liver. In the treatment of worms it is one of the most efficient re- medies, acting probably not only.as a purgative, but also as an irritant to the worms, either by its immediate influence, or that of the acrid bile which it causes to flow. The slowness and uncertainty of its action, and its liability to salivate if too long retained in the bowels, render it proper either to follow or combine it with other cathartics, in order to ensure its purgative effect. When given alone, it should be followed, if it do not operate in six or seven hours, by a dose of castor oil or sulphate of magnesia. The cathartics with which it is most frequently combined are jalap, rhubarb, aloes, scammony, colocynth, and gamboge. It is often added in small quantities to purgative combinations, with a view to its influence on the biliary organs. In very large doses, calomel is supposed by some to act directly as a seda- tive, and with this view has been given in yellow and malignant bilious fevers, violent dysentery, malignant cholera, &c. The quantities which have been administered in such affections, with asserted impunity and even advantage, are almost incredible. A common dose is one or two scruples, repeated every half hour, or hour, or less frequently, according to the circumstances of the case. We have had no experience in this mode of administering calomel. It is sometimes used as an errhine in amaurosis, mixed with twice its weight of sugar, or other mild powder; and in the same combination is occasionally employed to remove specks and opacity of the cornea. For the latter purpose, Dupuytren recommended particularly the calomel prepared according to the plan of Mr. Jewell. Calomel is also sometimes employed externally in her- petic and other eruptions, in the shape of an ointment. The dose as an alterative in functional derangement of the liver, is from half a grain to a grain every night, or every other night, followed in the morning, if the bowels are not opened, by a gentle saline laxative. When the stomach or bowels are very initable, as in cholera and diarrhoea, from an eighth to a quarter of a grain may be given every hour or two, so as to amount to one or two grains in the course of the day. With a view to salivation, the dose is from half a grain to a grain three or four times a day, to be increased considerably in urgent cases. When large doses are given with this view, it is often necessary to combine them with opium. As a purgative, from five to fifteen grains or more may be given. Calomel has the peculiarity that its cathartic action is not increased in proportion to the dose, and enormous quan- tities have sometimes been given with impurity. In yellow fever, tropical dysentery, &c, from twenty grains to a drachm have been given, and repeated at short intervals, without producing hypercatharsis; but this practice is jus- tifiable only in cases of extreme urgency, in which the constitutional action of mercury as well as purgation is indicated. Even in very small doses of not more than one, two, or three grains, calomel purges some individuals briskly. In these persons, large doses, though they do not proportionably increase the evacuation, often occasion excessive spasmodic pain in the stomach and bowels. For children, larger doses are generally required in proportion than for adults. Not less than from three to six grains should be given as a purge to a child 990 Hydrargyrum. PART II. two or three years old, and this quantity often fails to act on the bowels, unless assisted by castor oil, or some other cathartic. Calomel may be given in pill made with gum Arabic and syrup, or in powder mixed with syrup or molasses. Off. Prep. Hydrargyri Oxidum Nigrum, U S., Lond., Dub.; Pilulae Calo- melanos Comp., Ed., Dub., Lond.; Pilulae Calomelanos et Opii, Ed,; Pilulae Catharticae Compositae, U. S.; Pilulae Hydrargyri Chloridi Mitis, U S. W. CALOMELAS PR^CIPITATUM. Dub. Precipitated Calomel. "Take of Purified Mercury seventeen parts; Diluted Nitric Acid fifteen parts. Pour the Acid upon the Mercury in a glass vessel; and when the mixture shall have ceased to effervesce, digest with a medium heat, with oc- casional agitation, for six hours. Then increase the heat that the liquor may boil for a short time, and afterwards pour it off from the residual Mercury, and quickly mix it with four hundred parts of boiling Water, containing seven pails of Muriate of Soda in solution. Wash the powder which subsides with warm Distilled Water, so long as the liquor decanted from it is precipi- tated by the addition of a few drops of Water of Caustic Potassa; lastly, dry it." Dub. The method of forming calomel in the humid way by precipitation was first proposed by Scheele. It consists of two steps; first, the formation of the nitrate of protoxide of mercury by dissolving the metal in weak nitric acid; and secondly, the decomposition of this salt by means of a hot solution of chloride of sodium (common salt). The nitric acid combines with sodium and with the oxygen of the protoxide, so as to form nitrate of soda in solution, while the chlorine and mercury unite to form protochloride of mercury which precipitates. Though this process is sufficiently simple in theory, the per- formance of it is attended with some difficulty. It is necessary, in the first place, to prepare a pure nitrate of the protoxide, an object which is apt to miscarry, in consequence of the liability of the metal to become deutoxidized by the action of nitric acid. To guard against this result, weak nitric acid is employed, more mercury is ordered than the acid can dissolve, and a moderate heat applied, and that only after the effervescence has ceased. In the next place, the operator must guard against the precipitation of a subnitrate, which is always thrown down by the action of water upon the nitrate. To prevent the production of this impurity, it is necessary slightly to acidulate the nitric solution of the mercury with nitric acid, or the solution of common salt with muriatic acid; for an excess of acid in either of the solutions effectually pre- vents the formation of the subnitrate. This necessary precaution has been omitted in the directions of the Dublin College. The reason why the deutox- idation of the metal, and consequent production of binitrate of the deutoxide are to be avoided, is, that this salt, by double decomposition with the solution of chloride of sodium, generates corrosive sublimate. The production of cor- rosive sublimate in tbis way will not injure the precipitated calomel, provided this be thoroughly washed; but it is objectionable as diminishing its quantity. When, however, the subnitrate is allowed to be formed, it contaminates the precipitated calomel; as, from its insolubility, it cannot be separated by wash- ing. As, notwithstanding every precaution, corrosive sublimate will be formed in this process, the liquor poured off from the precipitated calomel should be reserved for preparing white precipitate, as is done by the Dublin College. (See Hydrargyrum Ammoniatum.) Properties, dec. Precipitated calomel, when properly prepared, scarcely dif- fers in properties from sublimed calomel. It is stated to be whiter, smoother, and lighter than when obtained by sublimation. Another difference, accord- ing to Gottling, is that it assumes a gray, while the sublimed calomel con- part ii. Hydrargyrum. 991 tracts a black colour, when triturated with lime-water. The presence of sub- nitrate may be detected by digesting the preparation in water containing a little nitric acid, and then testing the acid by an alkali, which will cause a precipitate, if any subnitrate has been taken up. Corrosive sublimate may be discovered in the manner stated under the head of sublimed calomel, page 987. The medical properties of precipitated calomel are the same as those of sublimed calomel. By some it is supposed to be more purgative. It is not used in modern practice, and may be viewed as a superfluous preparation. B. HYDRARGYRI CYANURETUM. U.S., Dub. Hydrargyri Bicyanidum. Lond. Cyanuret of Mercury. Bicyanide of Mercury. Bicyanuret of Mercury. Prussiate of Mercury. "Take of Ferrocyanuret of Iron [Prussian blue] four ounces; Red Oxide of Mercury three ounces, or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water three pints. Put the Ferrocyanuret of Iron and three ounces of the Oxide of Mercury, previously powdered and thoroughly mixed together, into a glass vessel; and pour upon them two pints of the Distilled Water. Then boil the mixture, stirring constantly; and, if at the end of half an hour the blue colour remain, add small portions of the Oxide of Mercury, continuing the ebullition until the mixture becomes of a yellowish colour; after which, filter it through paper. Wash the residue in a pint of the Distilled Water and filter as before. Mix the solutions, and evaporate till a pellicle appears; then set the liquor aside that crystals may form. To purify the crystals, dissolve them in Distilled Water, filter and evaporate the solution, and set it aside to crystallize." U S. " Take of Percyanide of Iron [Prussian blue] eight ounces; Binoxide of Mercury ten ounces; Distilled Water four pints [Imperial measure]. Boil them together for half an hour, and strain. Evaporate the liquor that crystals may form. Wash what remains frequently with boiling Distilled Water, and again evaporate the mixed liquors that crystals may form. Bicyanide of Mer- cury may be otherwise prepared by adding as much Binoxide of Mercury as will accurately saturate it to Hydrocyanic Acid, distilled from Ferrocyanide of Potassium with Diluted Sulphuric Acid." Lond. "Take of Cyanuret of Iron [Prussian blue] six parts; Nitric Oxide of Mercury [red precipitate] five parts; Distilled Water forty parts. Mix the Cyanuret of Iron and Oxide of Mercury, and then add them to the Water previously warmed. Boil the mixture with constant stirring, for half an hour, and filter through bibulous paper. Wash the residue frequently with warm Distilled Water. Lastly, filter the liquors, and evaporate them, so that, upon cooling, crystals may form." Dub. The above processes are essentially the same; their object being to present cyanogen and mercury to each other under favourable circumstances for com- bination. The compound formed consists of two eqs. of cyanogen, and one of mercury. It is, therefore, properly speaking, a bicyanuret. As Prussian blue is a compound of cyanogen and iron, the reaction which occurs is a case of double decomposition, resulting in the formation of bicyanuret of mercury, and a mixture of the protoxide and sesquioxide of iron. The reaction may be thus expressed; 2Fe7CyB+9HgOfl=9HgCy2+6FeO + 4Fe303. This for- mula would be exact, if'nothing remained but the oxides of iron; but in the residuum cyanogen appears to be present in an unknown state of combination. Taking the Prussian blue at the constant quantity of 4 parts, the U. S. Phar- macopoeia uses 3, the Dublin 3-3, and the London 5 parts of the deutoxide of mercury. As Prussian blue is variable in quality, it is impossible to know beforehand how much oxide may be necessary to decompose it. Hence the 992 Hydrargyrum. part ii. U. S. Pharmacopoeia very properly leaves the quantity to be determined in the progress of the process. The deutoxide ordered by the London College, is the hydrated oxide, and, therefore, requires to be used in larger proportion than the red precipitate, ivhich is directed by the U. S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias. Winckler prepares the bicyanuret of mercury by the following process. Mix 15 parts of ferrocyanuret of potassium in powder with 13 parts of con- centrated sulphuric acid, and 100 parts of water. Distil the mixture to dryness into a receiver containing 30 parts of water. The ferrocyanuret is decomposed, bisulphate of potassa is formed in the retort, and hydrocyanic acid distils over. Of the acid thus obtained reserve a portion, and mix the remainder with 16 parts of red oxide of mercury in fine powder, and stir the mixture till the odour of hydrocyanic acid has entirely disappeared. Then decant the liquor, and add, for the purpose of saturating it, the portion of acid that had been reserved. This process gives 12 parts of the bicyanuret. If the liquor were not treated with free hydrocyanic acid after having acted on the red oxide, it would probably contain some of this oxide in excess, and when evaporated would yield, instead of the bicyanuret, a peculiar salt, com- posed of the bicyanuret and the red oxide, which crystallizes in small acicular crystals. This process is substantially the same with the second process given by the London College. Properties, dec. Cyanuret of mercury is a white substance, permanent in the air, and crystallized in anhydrous right square prisms, which are some- times transparent, but usually white and opaque. It has a disagreeable styptic taste. It is but sparingly soluble in alcohol, but dissolves readily in cold water, and much more abundantly in hot. When acted on by muriatic acid, hydrocyanic acid is evolved, recognizable by its odour, and bichloride of mer- cury is left. When heated it yields cyanogen, and mercury remains behind. It acts on the animal economy as a potent poison. In medicinal doses it excites nausea and vomiting, and not unfrequently ptyalism, but does not produce epigastric pain like corrosive sublimate. It has been occasionally used as a remedy in syphilis, and is preferred by some practitioners to corro- sive sublimate; as it does not give rise to pain, and as it is not decomposed by alkalies and certain organic matters, as corrosive sublimate is. The dose is from a sixteenth to an eighth of a grain or more. Its composition has been already given. For the properties and composition of cyanogen, see page 790. Off. Prep. Acidum Prussicum, Dub. B. HYDRARGYRI IODIDUM. U.S., Lond. Iodide of Mercury. Protiodide of Mercury. "Take of Mercury an ounce; Iodine five drachms; Alcohol a sufficient quantity. Rub the Mercury and Iodine together, adding sufficient Alcohol to form a soft paste, and continue the trituration till the globules disappear. Then dry the Iodide in the dark, with a gentle heat, and keep it in a well- stopped bottle from which th^ light is excluded." U. S. The London process is the original of the one above quoted. The process above given for forming the protiodide of mercury is a case of simple combination, the alcohol facilitating the union by dissolving the iodine. This iodide is also prepared by precipitation, by adding a solution of iodide of potassium to one of the nitrate of protoxide of mercury; but as it is difficult to prepare the nitrate of the protoxide, without being mixed with some nitrate of deutoxide, the protiodide, when thus obtained, is apt to be contaminated with biniodide. A better way is to decompose calomel by iodide of potassium, in which case protiodide of mercury and chloride of potassium are formed, the latter of which may be removed by washing. The formula recommended by part II. Hydrargyrum. 993 M. Boutigny is to mix twenty-nine drachms of calomel with twenty of pul- verized iodide of potassium in a glass mortar, and to pour upon the mixture twelve ounces of boiling distilled water. After cooling, the liquid is decanted, and the precipitate washed on a filter with distilled water, and dried in the shade. (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 326, from the Bull. Gen.de Therap.) Properties. Iodide of mercury is in the form of a greenish-yellow powder, insoluble in water, alcohol, or solution of chloride of sodium, but soluble in ether. Its sp. gr. is 7-75. It sometimes contains biniodide, which may be separated by washing it with alcohol. When exposed to the light it is par- tially decomposed, and becomes of a dark-olive colour. If quickly and cau- tiously heated, it sublimes in red crystals which afterwards become yellow. It is composed of one eq. of mercury 202, and one of iodine 126-3=328-3. Its formula is Hgl. Medical Properties and Uses. Iodide of mercury has been given in scro- fula and scrofulous syphilis. The dose is a grain daily, gradually increased to three or four. It should never be given at the same time with iodide of potassium, which converts it immediately into biniodide and metallic mercury. (Mialhe, Journ. de Pharm., Se sir., iv. 36.) Off. Prep. Pilulae Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Iodidi, Lond. B. HYDRARGYRI IODIDUM RUBRUM. U.S. Hydrargyri Biniodidum. Lond., Ed. Red Iodide of Mercury. Biniodide of Mercury. "Take of Corrosive Chloride of Mercury an ounce; Iodide of Potassium ten drachms; Distilled Water two pints. Dissolve the Chloride of Mercury in a pint and a half, and the Iodide of Potassium in half a pint of the Dis- tilled Water, and mix the solutions. Collect the precipitate upon a filter, and, having washed it with Distilled Water, dry it with a moderate heat, and keep it in a well-stopped bottle." U S. " Take of Mercury an ounce; Iodine ten drachms; Alcohol a sufficient quantity. Rub the Mercury and Iodine together, adding the Alcohol gradu- ally, until globules are no longer visible. Dry the powder with a gentle heat, and keep it in a well-stopped vessel." Lond. " Take of Mercury two ounces; Iodine two ounces and a half; Concen- trated Solution of Muriate of Soda a gallon. Triturate the Mercury and Iodine together, adding occasionally a little Rectified Spirit till a uniform red powder be obtained. Reduce the product to fine powder, and dissolve it in the solution of Muriate of Soda with the aid of brisk ebullition. Filter, if necessary, through calico, keeping the funnel hot. Wash and dry the crys- tals whicb form on cooling." Ed. In the U. S. process for forming the red iodide of mercury, a double de- composition takes place between the corrosive sublimate and iodide of potas- sium, resulting in the formation of chloride of potassium which remains in solution, and biniodide of mercury which precipitates. The precipitate formed is soluble in the reacting salts, and hence a loss of part of it is incurred by an excess of either. It is best, however, to have a slight excess of the iodide of potassium, which is furnished by the proportion of the U. S. formula; as then the decomposition of the whole of the corrosive sublimate is insured, and any contamination of the biniodide by it prevented. The process of the London College is the same in principle as the U. S. and London processes for the protiodide; namely, the simple combination of the ingredients by tri- turation with the aid of alcohol, a double proportion of iodine, of course, being taken. The Edinburgh College unites the ingredients of this iodide in 63 994 Hydrargyrum. part n. the same manner; but after it is formed, the resulting mass is treated with a boiling solution of common salt, which dissolves the biniodide to the exclu- sion of any contaminating protiodide; and the solution, thus obtained, on cool- ing, deposits the pure biniodide in crystals. According to Dublanc, biniodide of mercury may be made economically by pouring 1000 parts of alcohol of 38° Cartier (sp. gr. 0-825) on 100 of mercury, contained in a matrass, and adding, from time to time, 10 parts of dry iodine, until 120 parts have been consumed. By agitation each portion of iodine is successively made to combine with the mercury, a result which is known to have taken place by the alcohol resuming its transparency. To complete the reaction, 4 additional parts of iodine are added, which, being more than enough to convert the whole of the mercury into biniodide, per- manently colours the alcohol. The alcohol is now poured off, and the depo- sited biniodide washed with a little concentrated alcohol and dried. The alco- hol poured off is reserved for future operations. (Journ. de Pharm., March 1849.) Properties. Biniodide of mercury is a scarlet-red powder, of the sp. gr. 6-3, insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, and in solutions of iodide of potassium, chloride of sodium, and many of the mercurial salts. As obtained by the Edinburgh process, it is in splendid crimson acicular crystals. When heated it fuses readily into a yellow liquid, and sublimes in yellow rhombic scales, which become red on cooling. Biniodide of mercury is a dimorphous substance, having a different crystalline form in its red and yellow states. It forms definite compounds with the iodides of the alkalifiable metals. The compound formed with iodide of potassium has been used as a medicine. (See lodo-hydrargyrate of Potassium in the Appendix.) Biniodide of mercury consists of one eq. of mercury 202, and two of iodine 252-6=454-6. Its formula is Hgl3. It combines with the protiodide, so as to form a yellow sesquiodide, represented by the formula Hgl + Hgla, or Hg3I3. Medical Properties and Uses. Biniodide of mercury is a powerful irritant poison. It has been used in similar diseases with the protiodide, namely, in scrofula and syphilis, but is much more active. The dose is a sixteenth of a grain, gradually increased to a fourth, given in pill, or dissolved in alcohol. Off Prep. Unguentum Hydrargyri Biniodidi, Lond. B. HYDRARGYRI OXIDUM NIGRUM. U.S. Hydrargyri Oxydum Nigrum. Dub. Hydrargyri Oxydum. Lond, Black Oxide of Mercury. "Take of Mild Chloride of Mercury [calomel], Potassa, each, four ounces; Water a pint. Dissolve the Potassa in the Water, and, when the dregs shall have subsided, pour off the clear solution. To this add the Chloride of Mer- cury, and stir them constantly together till the Black Oxide is formed. Having poured off the supernatant liquor, wash the Black Oxide with dis- tilled water, and dry it with a gentle heat." U S. " Take of Sublimed Calomel one part; Water of Caustic Potassa, heated, four parts. Rub them together until an oxide of a black colour is obtained. Wash this frequently with water, and dry it upon bibulous paper with a medium heat." Dub. " Take of Chloride of Mercury [calomel] an ounce ; Lime-water a gallon [Imperial measure]. Mix, and frequently shake them. Set aside the mix- ture, and when the Oxide shall have subsided, pour off the liquor. Lastly, wash it in Distilled Water till nothing alkaline can be perceived, and, having wrapped it in bibulous paper, dry it in the air." Lond, The object of these processes is to obtain the protoxide or black oxide of mercury, which was at one time believed to be the active constituent of those PART II. Hydrargyrum, 995 preparations in which the metal is minutely divided by trituration. The U. S. and Dublin processes afford the protoxide in a purer state than the London. The two former are essentially the same. In both, calomel is completely decomposed by the solution of potassa; its chlorine being converted by union with potassium into chloride of potassium, which remains in solution, while the mercury unites with the oxygen of the potassa to form protoxide of mercury which subsides. More potassa is employed than by calculation would seem to be requisite; but it has been ascertained by experiment that a considerable excess is necessary for the complete decomposition of the calomel. In the U. S. process, however, the quantity is, perhaps, unneces- sarily large; being more than double the proportion contained in the "water of caustic potassa," directed by the Dublin College. The use of the officinal solution of potassa is preferable, on the score of economy, to that of a solution extemporaneously prepared from the caustic alkali. In order to ensure the success of the process, the calomel, very finely levigated, should be rubbed quickly with the alkaline solution in a mortar; and the resulting oxide should be dried in the dark with a very.gentle heat, as it is decomposed by the agency both of light and of an elevated temperature. For the same reason it should be preserved in an opaque bottle. This mode of preparing the black oxido of mercury was introduced into use by Mr. Donovan. In the London process the reaction occurs between calomel and lime-water. An interchange of principles takes place; the calcium of the lime taking the chlorine of the calomel to form chloride of calcium, which remains in solu- tion, and the mercury uniting with the oxygen of the lime to form protoxide of mercury, which subsides. But it is extremely difficult completely to de- compose calomel in this manner, on account of the obstacle which its insolu- bility, and the dilute nature of the solution of lime present to that close con- tact of particles which is essential to chemical reaction. Hence the protoxide, in this preparation, is almost always mixed with a portion of calomel, which is greater or less, according to the care with which the process has been con- ducted. When the proportion is large, the powder has a grayish colour; when very small, it scarcely differs in appearance or properties from the U. S. and Dublin oxide. From the uncertainty of its composition it should be dis- carded from use. The oxide may also be prepared by decomposing a solution of the nitrate of protoxide of mercury by the solution of potassa. This nitrate may be obtained by treating twenty parts of mercury with eighteen parts of nitric acid of 25° Baume, adding, when nitrous vapours cease to rise, ten parts of warm distilled water, boiling for a short time, decanting the clear liquor, and setting it aside to crystallize. The mother waters by evaporation will furnish a new product of crystals of nitrate of protoxide. (Ratier, Pharm. Franc.) The preparation, formerly officinal in the Dublin Pharmacopoeia under the name of Pulvis Hydrargyri Cinereus, made by adding carbonate of ammonia to a solution of mercury in heated nitric acid, was a mixture of subnitrate of mercury and ammonia with the protoxide of mercury. Properties, dr. As first prepared, this oxide is greenish-black; but as found in the shops it is almost always of an olive colour, owing, it is sup- posed, to the chemical changes which it undergoes. It is inodorous, taste- less, and insoluble in water and alkaline solutions; and consists of one equiv. of mercury 202, and one equiv. of oxygen 8=210. On exposure to light or heat it is decomposed, one part assuming the metallic state, in consequence of the loss of its oxygen, which converts another part into the deutoxide. The preparation, therefore, becomes a mixture of the protoxide, the deutoxide, and metallic mercury, with which calomel is sometimes associated, in consequence 996 Hydrargyrum. PART II. of the incomplete decomposition of that originally employed in the process. By a strong heat it is completely dissipated, and metallic globules are sub- limed. When pure it is soluble in acetic and nitric acids, and entirely in- soluble in muriatic acid, which forms with it water and calomel. If it con- tain the deutoxide, this is dissolved by muriatic acid, and may be detected in the solution by the production of a white precipitate with water of ammonia, and a yellow one with solution of potassa. Calomel, if present, may be discovered by boiling the powder with a solution of potassa, thus forming chloride of potassium, which, when the solution is saturated with nitric acid, will afford a white precipitate of chloride of silver on the addition of nitrate of silver. (Phillips.) Medical Properties and Uses. The black oxide is alterative, sialagogue, and purgative. It may be employed for the same purposes with calomel, over which, however, it has not in our hands exhibited any superiority, while, from the occasional presence of the deutoxide, it must be liable to operate harshly. Dr. B. H. Coates, of this city, informs us that he uses it habitually as a mer- curial, and finds it to answer an excellent purpose. The idea under which it was introduced into use, that it was the basis of the blue pill, is probably erroneous. Made into an ointment with lard according to the process of Donovan, it may be applied externally with good effect in bringing the sys- tem under the mercurial influence. (See Unguentum Hydrargyri.) Its dose as an alterative is one-fourth or half of a grain daily, as a sialagogue from one to three grains two or three times a day, given in the form of pill. It was employed by Mr. Abernethy for mercurial fumigation; the patient being placed, covered with under garments, in a vapour-bath, and exposed for fifteen or twenty minutes to the vapours arising from two drachms of the oxide, put upon heated iron within the bath. W. HYDRARGYRI OXIDUM RUBRUM. U.S., Ed. Hydrar- gyri Nitrico-Oxydum. Lond. Hydrargyri Oxydum Nitricum. Dub. Red Oxide of Mercury. Red Precipitate. "Take of Mercury, thirty-six ounces; Nitric Acid fourteen fluidounces; Water two pints. Dissolve the Mercury, with a gentle heat, in the Acid and Water previously mixed together, and evaporate to dryness. Rub the dry mass into powder, and heat it in a very shallow vessel till red vapours cease to rise." U S. "Take of Mercury three pounds; Nitric Acid apound and a half; Dis- tilled Water two pints [Imperial measure]. Mix in a suitable vessel, and apply a gentle heat till the Mercury is dissolved. Boil down the solution, and rub the residue into powder. Put this into another very shallow vessel; then apply a gentle fire, and gradually increase it, till red vapour ceases to rise." Lond. "Take of Mercury eight ounces; Diluted Nitric Acid (D. 1-280) five fluid- ounces [Imperial measure]. Dissolve half of the Mercury in the Acid with the aid of a moderate heat; and continue the heat till a dry salt is formed. Triturate the rest of the Mercury with the salt till a fine uniform powder be obtained; heat the powder in a porcelain vessel and constantly stir it, till acid fumes cease to be discharged." Ed. " Take of Purified Mercury two parts; Diluted Nitric Acid three parts. Dissolve the Mercury, and let heat be applied until the dried mass is converted into red scales." Dub. In these processes the mercury is first oxidized at the expense of a portion of the nitric acid, the remainder of which unites with the oxidized metal to form either the nitrate of the deutoxide of mercury, or a mixture of this with the nitrate of the protoxide. The resulting mass when exposed to a strong part ii. Hydrargyrum. 997 heat is decomposed, giving out red nitrous fumes, and assuming successively a yellow, orange, and brilliant purple-red colour, which becomes orange-red on cooling. These changes are owing to the gradual separation and decom- position of the nitric acid, by the oxygen of which the protoxide of mer- cury, if any be present, is converted into deutoxide, while nitric oxide gas escapes, and takes the form of nitrous acid vapour on contact with the air. The deutoxide of mercury is left behind; but in general not entirely free from the nitrate, which cannot be wholly decomposed by heat, without endanger- ing the decomposition of the oxide itself, and the volatilization of the metal. The preparation is, in common language, called red precipitate. The name of red oxide of mercury, by which it is designated in the U. S. Pharma- copoeia, is appropriate, as the nitrate of mercury exists in it merely as an incidental impurity; and there is no occasion to distinguish the preparation from the pure deutoxide obtained by calcining mercury, as the latter is not recognised in our Pharmacopoeia, and is never employed in this country. In the preparation of this mercurial, various circumstances influence in some measure the nature of the product, and must be attended to, if we desire to procure the oxide with that fine bright orange-red colour, and shining scaly appearance, which are usually considered desirable. Among these cir- cumstances is the condition of the nitrate of mercury submitted to calcination. According to Gay-Lussac, it should be employed in the form of small crystal- line grains. If previously pulverized, as directed in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh processes, it will yield an orange-yellow powder; if it be in the state of large and dense crystals, the oxide will have a deep orange colour. Care must also be taken that the mercury and acid be free from impurities. It is highly important that sufficient nitric acid be employed fully to saturate the mercury. M. Paysse, who paid great attention to the manufacture of red precipitate, recommended 70 parts of nitric acid from 34° to 38° Baume, to 50 parts of mercury. This, however, is an excess of acid. We have been told by a skilful practical chemist of Philadelphia that he has found, by re- peated experiment, 7 parts of nitric acid of 35° Baume, to be sufficient fully to saturate 6 parts of mercury. Less will not answer, and more would be useless. It is not necessary that the salt should be removed from the vessel in which it is formed; and it is even asserted that the product is always more beautiful when the calcination is performed in the same vessel. A matrass may be used with a large flat bottom, so that an extended surface may be exposed, and all parts heated equally. The metal and acid having been in- troduced, the matrass should be placed in a sand-bath, and covered with sand up to the neck. The solution of the mercury should be favoured by a gentle heat, which should afterwards be gradually increased till red vapours make their appearance, then maintained as equably as possible till these vapours cease, and at last slightly elevated till oxygen gas begins to escape. This may be known by the increased brilliancy with which a taper will burn if placed in the mouth of the matrass, or by its rekindling if partially extinguished. Too high a temperature must be carefully avoided, as it decomposes the oxide, and volatilizes the mercury. At the close of the operation, the mouth of the vessel should be stopped, and the heat gradually diminished, the matrass being still allowed to remain in the sand-bath. These last precautions are said to be essential to the fine red colour of the preparation. It is best to operate upon a large quantity of materials, as the heat may be thus more steadily and uniformly maintained. The direction of the Edinburgh College to rub a por- tion of mercury with the nitrate before decomposing it, renders the process more economical; as the nitric acid which would otherwise be dissipated is thus employed in oxidizing an additional quantity of the metal. 998 Hydrargyrum. part ii. As the process is ordinarily conducted in chemical laboratories, the nitrate of mercury is decomposed in shallow earthen vessels, several of which are placed upon a bed of sand in the chamber of an oven or furnace, provided with a flue for the escape of the vapours. Each vessel may conveniently con- tain ten pounds of the nitrate. There is always some loss in the operation conducted in this way. Properties, dec. Red precipitate, when well prepared, has a brilliant red colour with a shade of orange, a shining scaly appearance, and an acrid taste. It is very slightly soluble in water, of which Dr. Barker found 1000 parts to take up only 0-02 of the oxide. Dr. Christison found 1 part of the oxide to be dissolved by about 7000 parts of boiling water, and the solution to give a black precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen. Nitric and muriatic acids dis- solve it without effervescence. At a red heat it is decomposed and entirely dissipated. It is essentially the deutoxide (peroxide) of mercury, consisting of one equivalent of the metal 202, and two of oxygen 16=218; but, in its ordinary state, it always contains a minute proportion of nitric acid, probably in the state of subnitrate. According to Brande, when rubbed and washed with a solution of potassa, edulcorated with distilled water, and carefully dried, it may be regarded as nearly pure deutoxide. It is said to be some- times adulterated with brickdust, red lead, &c.; but these may be readily detected, as the oxide of mercury is wholly dissipated if thrown upon red-hot iron. Tbe disengagement of red vapours, when it is heated, indicates the pre- sence of nitrate of mercury. The same or some other saline impurity would be indicated, should water, in which the oxide has been boiled, afford a pre- cipitate with lime-water. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. This preparation is too harsh and irregular in its operation for internal use, but is much employed externally as a stimu- lant and escharotic, either in the state of powder or of ointment. In the former state it is sprinkled on the surface of chancres, and indolent, flabby, or fungous ulcers; and, mixed with 8 or 10 parts of finely powdered sugar, is sometimes blown into the eye to remove opacity of the cornea. The powder should be finely levigated. The ointment is officinal. (See Unguentum Hy- drargyri Oxidi Rubri.) Off Prep. Hydrargyri Cyanuretum, U. S., Dub.; Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxidi Rubri, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. HYDRARGYRI OXYDUM RUBRUM. Dub. Red Oxide of Mercury. Precipitate per se. Calcined Mercury. " Take of Purified Mercury any quantity. Put it into an open glass ves- sel, with a narrow mouth and broad bottom, and expose it to a heat of about 600°, till it is converted into red scales." Dub. As mercury requires for its oxidation a temperature little short of its boil- ing point, it is necessary that the vessel in which it is heated be so constructed as to prevent the escape of the vapour which rises during the process. A glass matrass is usually employed, having a narrow neck, drawn out at top into an almost capillary orifice. But the arrangement which serves to confine the mercurial vapour, impedes also the free access of air, so that the process is exceedingly tedious. The mercury introduced should not be more than sufficient to cover the bottom of the vessel, which should be heated by means of a sand-bath till vapours begin to rise. These are condensed in the upper part of the matrass; and, by maintaining the temperature steadily at this point, a constant circulation of vapour is kept up within the vessel. The metal very slowly combines with the oxygen, forming first a black, and then a red pow- der, molecules of which begin to appear after some days, and gradually in- PART II. Hydrargyrum. 999 crease till they cover the surface of the mercury. Care must be taken not to increase the heat too much, as not only is the mercury thus volatilized, but the oxide already formed is decomposed. Several weeks are requisite for the complete oxidation of a small portion of metal, and the process is necessarily expensive. The preparation is the hydrargyrum praec'tp datum per se, ox pre- cipitate per se of the older chemical writers. Properties, dr. It is in minute, sparkling, crystalline scales, of a deep red colour becoming still deeper by heat, inodorous, of an acrid taste, very slightly soluble in water, and freely soluble in nitric, muriatic, and some other acids. Its aqueous solution changes the infusion of violets to green. It consists of one equiv. of mercury 202, and two of oxygen 16=218, and is therefore a deutoxide. It is sometimes also called binoxide or peroxide of mercury. At a red heat it is decomposed, oxygen being given off, and the mercury revived. Its solutions in the acids afford, with potassa and soda, an orange-coloured precipitate of deutoxide, and with ammonia a white precipitate, consisting of the acid, deutoxide, and ammonia. Its high price affords an inducement for adulteration, to avoid which it should be kept in the crystalline state. If pure, it is wholly volatilized by a red heat. 31edical Properties and Uses. It has the general properties of the mercu- rial preparations, but is apt to vomit and purge, and to act otherwise violently on the stomach and bowels. Though formerly used in the treatment of syphilis, it has been entirely abandoned. It has been employed externally for the same purposes with the red precipitate; but is much more costly, without having any superiority. In this country it is almost unknown as a medicine. The dose may be from one-sixth of a grain to a grain. W. HYDRARGYRI BINOXYDUM. Lond. Binoxide of Mercury. "Take of Bichloride of Mercury [corrosive sublimate] four ounces; Solu- tion of Potassa twenty-eight fluidounces [Imperial measure]; Distilled Water six pints [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Bichloride of Mercury in the Water, filter, and add the Solution of Potassa. Having poured off the liquor, wash the precipitated powder in distilled water, till nothing alkaline can be perceived, and dry it with a gentle heat." Lond. This preparation differs from the preceding only in containing some water. The process was introduced by the London College into the last edition of their Pharmacopoeia, as a substitute for the much more tedious one of oxidiz- ing the mercury by the combined action of air and heat. When a solution of bichloride of mercury is mixed with a solution of potassa, a mutual inter- change of principles takes place—the two equivalents of chlorine seizing upon two eqs. of potassium to form two eqs. of chloride of potassium, which remain in solution; while the liberated equivalent of mercury combines with the two liberated equivalents of oxygen, constituting the deutoxide or binoxide of mercury, which is deposited. Thus prepared, the binoxide of mercury is in the form of an orange-red impalpable powder, having the essential properties of the precipitate per se. According to Phillips, if it be of a brownish colour, the solution of potassa employed was deficient either in quantity or strength, and the preparation contains oxychloride of mercury. If upon being dissolved in nitric acid and treated with nitrate of silver it affords a precipitate, the presence of a portion of undecomposed bichloride may be suspected. This preparation has the same medical properties, and may be employed for the same purposes and in the same doses, as that last described. (See Hydrargyri Oxydum Rubrum.) Off. Prep. Hydrargyri Bicyanidum, Lond. W. 1000 Hydrargyrum. PART II. HYDRARGYRI PERSULPHAS. Dub. Persulphate of Mer- cury. " Take of Purified Mercury, Sulphuric Acid, each, six parts; Nitric Acid one part, Expose them to heat in a glass vessel, and increase the heat until the mass becomes white and perfectly dry." Did). Mercury is not acted on by cold sulphuric acid; but, when boiled with an excess of this acid to dryness, it is deutoxidized at the expense of part of the acid, sulphurous acid being copiously evolved, and the deutoxide formed unites with the undecomposed portion of the sulphuric acid, so as to form the bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury, which is the persulphate of the Dublin College. In the Dublin formula, the oxidation of the metal is assisted by a small portion of nitric acid, the use of which, though not essen- tial to the result, is stated by Dr. Barker to facilitate and shorten the process, and to afford a much whiter salt than when sulphuric acid alone is employed. When nitric acid is used, orange-coloured fumes are given off on the first application of heat, and the acid is totally decomposed. Persulphate of mercury, as obtained by a separate formula, is peculiar to the Dublin Pharmacopoeia; but it is formed as the first step of the processes of the other Pharmacopoeias for preparing corrosive sublimate, calomel, and turpeth mineral. The adoption of a separate formula and distinct officinal name for this salt, is certainly an improvement on the part of the Dublin College; as it obviates the necessity of repeating the directions for obtaining the same substance in several distinct formulae. On account of its important uses, it requires to be made on a large scale by the manufacturing chemist; and the process is generally performed in a cast-iron vessel, which should be conveniently arranged for the escape and decomposition of the sulphurous acid fumes, which otherwise become a serious nuisance to the neighbourhood. The best way to effect this purpose is to allow them to pass off through a very lofty chimney, mixed with abundance of coal smoke. Properties, dee. Persulphate of mercury is in the form of a white saline mass. It consists of two eqs. of acid 80 and one of deutoxide of mercury 218=298. It has no medical uses. Off. Prep. Calomelas Sublimatum, Dub.; Hydrargyri Murias Corrosivum, Dub.; Hydrargyri Oxydum Sulphuricum, Dub. B. HYDRARGYRI SULPHAS FLAVUS. U.S. Hydrargyri Oxydum Sulphuricum. Dub. Yellow Sulphate of Mercury. Tur- peth Mineral. "Take of Mercury four ounces; Sulphuric Acid six ounces. Mix them in a glass vessel, and boil by means of a sand-bath till a dry white mass remains. Rub tbis into powder, and throw it into boiling water. Pour off the supernatant liquor, and wash the yellow precipitated powder repeatedly with hot water; then dry it." U. S. " Take of Persulphate of Mercury one part; warm Water twenty parts. Rub them together in an earthenware mortar, and pour off the supernatant liquor. Wash the yellow powder with warm Distilled Water, so long as the decanted liquor is precipitated by the addition of a few drops of the Water of Caustic Potassa. Lastly, dry the Sulphuric Oxide of Mercury." Dub. By referring to the articles on corrosive sublimate and calomel, it will be found that the peculiar salt which is generated by boiling sulphuric acid with mercury to dryness, is directed to be made as the first step for obtaining these chlorides; and here it is perceived that in the U. S. formula, the same salt is again directed to be formed. The Dublin College has very properly avoided these repetitions, by adopting a distinct formula and name for the PART II. Hydrargyrum. 1001 salt in question. We have already mentioned that this salt is the bisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury. When it is thrown into boiling or even warm water it is instantly decomposed, and an insoluble salt is precipitated, which is the turpeth mineral. According to Berzelius, turpeth mineral is a basic sesquisulphate of the deutoxide of mercury, and the supernatant solution contains a supersulphate, consisting of six eqs. of acid and one of base. The same composition for turpeth mineral is given by Gay-Lussac; and its accu- racy has been recently verified by an analysis of Sir Robert Kane, of Dublin. (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans, for August 1842.) The composition above given of turpeth mineral implies the decomposition of four eqs. of the bisul- phate of the deutoxide, and the manner in which the reaction takes place is shown by the following equation; 4(Hg02,2S03)=turpeth mineral, 3Hg03 -f 2S03, and supersulphate of mercury, Hg02-f 6S03. Properties, d'c. Yellow sulphate of mercury is in the form of a powder of a lemon-yellow colour, and possessing a somewhat acrid taste. It dissolves in 2000 parts of cold water, and in about 600 parts of boiling water. When exposed to a moderate heat, it becomes first red and afterwards brownish-red, but regains its original colour on cooling. (Barker.) At a red heat it is de- composed and dissipated, sulphuric acid being evolved, and metallic globules sublimed. It was originally called turpeth mineral, from the resemblance of its colour to that of the root of the Ipomaea Turpethum. 31edical Properties and Uses. Turpeth mineral is alterative, and powerfully emetic and errhine. As an alterative, it has been given in leprous disorders and glandular obstructions. It has been employed with benefit as an emetic, re- peated every few days, in chronic enlargements of the testicle. It operates with great promptness, and sometimes excites ptyalism. Dr. Hubbard, of Maine, considers it a valuable medicine, in cases in which the equalizing and revul- sive effect of emesis is alone desired, apart from any cathartic operation, which he has never known it to produce. He recommends it highly as an emetic in croup, on the ground of its promptness and certainty, and of its not pro- ducing catharsis, or the prostration caused by antimony. The dose for a child two years old is two or three grains, repeated in fifteen minutes, if it should not operate. As an errhine, it has been used with advantage in chronic oph- thalmia, and in diseases of the head; and it sometimes produces salivation when thus employed. The dose as an alterative is from a quarter to half a grain; as an emetic, from two to five grains. When employed as an errhine, one grain may be mixed with five grains of starch or powdered liquorice root. Turpeth mineral, in an over dose, acts as a poison. A case of death in a boy aged sixteen, caused by swallowing a drachm, is reported by Dr. Letheby in the London Med. Gazette, for March 1847. B. HYDRARGYRI SULPHURETUM NIGRUM. U. S., Dub. Hydrargyri Sulphuretum cum Sulphure. Lond. Black Sul- phuret of Mercury. Sulphuret of Mercury with Sulphur. Ethiops Mineral. " Take of Mercury, Sulphur, each, a pound. Rub them together till all the globules disappear." U S. The London and Dublin formulae are similar to the above. The Dublin College merely adds that the trituration should be performed in a stoneware mortar. Mercury and sulphur have a strong affinity for each other; as is shown by the fact, that, when they are triturated together in quantities, the mixture grows hot, cakes, and exhales a sulphureous odour. During the trituration, the mixture should be sprinkled from time to time with a little water or alco- 1002 Hydrargyrum. part ii. hoi, to prevent the dust from rising, which exposes the operator to serious in- convenience. When rubbed together in equal weights, as directed in the Pharmacopoeias, they are supposed to unite chemically; but the proportion of sulphur is much greater than is necessary to form a definite compound. Only two sulphurets of mercury have been admitted by the generality of chemists, the protosulphuret, and the bisulphuret or cinnabar; and the quantity of sul- phur, directed in the Pharmacopoeias, is much more than sufficient to form even the latter. Thus, it still remains an unsettled point, what is the exact nature of the officinal black sulphuret, or ethiops mineral. Mr. Brande, from his experiments, considers it to be a bisulphuret mixed with sulphur. Thus he found that, when boiled repeatedly in a solution of potassa, sulphur was dissolved, and a black insoluble powder was left, which sublimed without de- composition, and yielded a substance having all the characters of cinnabar. Ethiops mineral is sometimes obtained by melting sulphur in a crucible, and adding to it an equal weight of mercury; but, when thus prepared, the sulphur is apt to become acidified, and the preparation to acquire an activity which does not belong to it when obtained by trituration. According to C. Vogler, a bet- ter method than that by trituration for obtaining ethiops mineral, is to agitate for two hours four ounces of mercury with an ounce of finely powdered flowers of sulphur in a thick glass vessel, capable of holding from twelve to sixteen ounces, and then to add another ounce of sulphur at intervals, con- tinuing the agitation until no mercury can be distinguished with the naked eye. Finally two ounces more of sulphur are added, and the mixture shaken, until the metal cannot-be detected with a lens. The advantages of this method over that by trituration are that it consumes less time, is more easy of execu- tion, and is less injurious to health. (Journ. de Pharm. for Sept. 1848.) Properties, dec. Black sulphuret of mercury is a heavy, tasteless, insoluble, black powder. When exposed to heat, it becomes of a dark violet colour, emits the excess of sulphur in sulphurous acid fumes, and sublimes in brilliant red needles without residue. If charcoal be present, it will remain behind. When well prepared, no globules of mercury are discernible in it when viewed with a magnifier; and, if rubbed on a gold ring, it should not communicate a white stain. Ivory black is detected in it by throwing a small portion on a red-hot iron, when a white matter (phosphate of lime) will be left behind. Adulteration by sulphuret of antimony is shown, if muriatic acid, boiled on a portion of the powder, acquires the property of causing a precipitate of oxy- chloride of antimony when added to water. According to the views of Mr. Brande, ethiops mineral consists of one eq. of bisulphuret of mercury, mixed with about ten and a half eqs. of sulphur in excess. Medical Properties and Uses. Ethiops mineral is supposed to be alterative, and as such is sometimes prescribed in glandular affections and cutaneous dis- eases. It has been given in scrofulous swellings, occurring in children; and from the mildness of its operation is considered well suited to such cases. The dose generally given is from five to thirty grains, repeated several times a day; but it has often been administered in much larger doses, without pro- ducing any obvious impression on the system. The late Dr. Duncan stated that he had given it in doses of several drachms, for a considerable length of time, with scarcely any effect. B. HYDRARGYRI SULPHURETUM RUBRUM. U. S., Dub. Hydrargyri Bisulphuretum. Lond. Cinnabaris. Ed. Red Sul- phuret of Mercury. Bisulphuret of Mercury. Cinnabar. "Take of Mercury forty ounces; Sulphur eight ounces. Mix the Mercury with the melted Sulphur over the fire; and, as soon as the mass begins to PART II. Hydrargyrum. 1003 swell, remove the vessel from the fire, and cover it with considerable force, to prevent combustion; then rub the mass into powder, and sublime." U. S. The London and Edinburgh Colleges take tico pounds of mercury and five ounces of sulphur, and treat them as in the U. S. process. " Take of Purified Mercury nineteen parts; Sublimed Sulphur three parts. Mix the Mercury with the melted Sulphur; and, if the mixture take fire, ex- tinguish the flame by covering the vessel. Reduce the mass to powder, and sublime it." Dub. Mercury and sulphur, when heated together, unite with great energy, and a product is obtained, which by sublimation becomes the red or bisulphuret of mercury. In order to render the combination more prompt, the sulphur is first melted; and the addition of the mercury should be made gradually, while the mixture is constantly stirred. Dr. Barker recommends the addition of the metal by straining it upon the melted sulphur through a linen cloth, whereby it falls in the form of a shower, in a minutely divided state. When the temperature has arrived at a certain point, the combination takes place suddenly with a slight explosion, attended by the inflammation of the sulphur, which must be extinguished by covering the vessel. A black mass will thus be formed, containing generally an excess of sulphur, which, before the sub- limation is performed, should be got rid of by gently heating the matter, re- duced to powder, on a sand-bath. The sublimation is best performed on a small scale, in a loosely stopped glass matrass, which should be placed in a crucible containing sand, and, thus arranged, exposed to a red heat. The equivalent quantities for forming this sulphuret, are 32 of sulphur, and 202 of mercury. Prejiaration on the Large Scale. Cinnabar is seldom or never prepared on a small scale, being made in large quantities for the purposes of the arts. In Holland, where it is principally manufactured, the sulphur is melted in a cast-iron vessel, and the mercury is added in a divided state, by causing it to pass through chamois leather. As soon as the combination has taken place, the iron vessel is surmounted by another, into which the cinnabar is sublimed. In proportion as the quantity of the materials employed in one operation is greater, will the product have a finer tint. It is also important in the manufacture to use the materials pure, and to drive off any uncombined sulphur which may exist in the mass, before submitting it to sublimation. Properties, dec. Red sulphuret of mercury is in the form of heavy, bril- liant, crystalline masses, of a deep-red colour and fibrous texture. It is in- odorous and tasteless, and insoluble in water and alcohol. It is not acted on by nitric, muriatic, or cold sulphuric acid, or by solutions of the caustic alka- lies ; but it is soluble in nitromuriatic acid, on account of the free chlorine which the mixed acid contains. When heated with potassa, it yields globules of mercury. In the open air it is decomposed by heat, the sulphur becoming sulphurous acid, and the mercury being volatilized. In close vessels at a red heat it sublimes without decomposition, and condenses in a mass composed of a multitude of small needles. When duly levigated, it furnishes a powder of a brilliant red colour, and in this state constitutes the paint called vermilion. It occurs native, and forms the principal ore of mercury, and that from which the metal is exclusively extracted. It should not be purchased in powder; as, in that state, it is sometimes adulterated with red lead, dragon's blood, or chalk. If red lead be present, acetic acid, digested with it, will yield a yellow precipitate (iodide of lead) with iodide of potassium. Dragon's blood may be detected by alcohol, which will take up the colouring matter of this vegetable product, if present; and, if chalk be mixed with it, effervescence will be excited on the addition of an acid. This sulphuret is composed of one eq. of mercury 202, and two of sulphur 32=234. 1004 Hydrargyrum. PART II. 3Iedical Properties and Uses. Cinnabar was formerly considered to be alterative and anthelmintic, but is at present seldom or never given inter- nally. It is sometimes employed in the way of fumigation, as a rapid siala- gogue, in venereal ulcers of the nose and throat, in cases in which it is an object of importance to bring the system under the influence of mercury in the shortest possible time. The dose for internal exhibition is from ten grains to half a drachm, in the form of electuary or bolus. When used by fumigation, half a drachm may be thrown on a red-hot iron, and the fumes inhaled as they arise. These consist of sulphurous acid gas and mercurial vapour, the former of which must prove highly irritating to the patient's lungs. A better substance for mercurial fumigation is the black oxide of mercury. B. HYDRARGYRUM AMMONIATUM. U.S. Hydrargyri Am- monio-Chloridum. Lond. Hydrargyri Precipitatum Album. Ed. Hydrargyri Submurias Ammoniatum. Dub. Ammoniated Mercury. White Precipitate. " Take of Corrosive Chloride of Mercury six ounces; Distilled Water a gallon; Solution of Ammonia eight fluidounces. Dissolve the Corrosive Chloride of Mercury in the Water, with the aid of heat, and to the solution, when cold, add the Solution of Ammonia, frequently stirring. Wash the precipitate till it becomes tasteless, and dry it." U. S. The London and Edinburgh processes are essentially the same as the above. "Add to the liquor poured off from Precipitated Calomel, as much Water of Caustic Ammonia as may be sufficient completely to precipitate the metallic salt. Wash the precipitate with cold Distilled Water, and dry it on bibulous paper." Dub. All the Pharmacopoeias now agree in obtaining white precipitate by pre- cipitating a solution of corrosive sublimate by ammonia. The Dublin pro- cess is not an exception; for the liquor poured off from precipitated calomel is in part a solution of corrosive sublimate. When ammonia, in slight excess, is added to a cold solution of corrosive sublimate, muriate of ammonia is formed in solution, and the white precipitate of the Pharmacopoeias is thrown down, which, according to Sir Robert Kane, has a composition corresponding to one eq. of protochloride of mercury, united with one eq. of a compound represented by one eq. of ammonia, minus one eq. of hydrogen. To this compound, represented by NH2, he has given the name of amidogen, the amide of other chemists. The reaction may be thus explained. Two eqs. of ammonia are decomposed into one eq. of ammonium (NH4) and one eq. of amide (NH3); and one eq. of corrosive sublimate is resolved into one eq. of chlorine and one eq. of calomel. The chlorine unites with the ammonium and remains in solution as chloride of ammonium (muriate of ammonia), and the calomel precipitates with the amide as white precipitate. In symbols the reaction is thus denoted; 2NH3 + HgCl2=NILCl+HgCl,NH2. For an ex- planation of what is meant by ammonium, see page 80. Tbe analysis of Kane forms a virtual agreement with those of Guibourt and Hennell; for Guibourt's results, minus the elements of 1 eq. of water, and Hennell's, minus the ele- ments of two eqs. of the same liquid, give exactly the constituents found by Kane. Properties, dec. Ammoniated mercury is in powder or pulverulent masses, perfectly white, insoluble in water and alcohol, and having a taste, at first earthy and afterwards metallic. When heated with a solution of caustic potassa, it yields ammonia and becomes yellow. Exposed to heat it is de- composed, and resolved into nitrogen, ammonia, and protochloride of mercury PART II. Hydrargyrum. 1005 or calomel. Adulteration with white lead, chalk, or sulphate of lime may be detected by exposing a sample to a strong red heat, when these impurities will remain. Should starch be mixed with it, a charry residuum will be obtained on the application of heat. Lead and starch may also be found by digesting the white precipitate with acetic acid, and testing the acetic solution with iodide of potassium, which, if lead be present, will give a yellow precipi- tate, and if starch, a blue one. The absence of protoxide of mercury is shown by its not being blackened when rubbed with lime-water. Medical Properties. Ammoniated mercury is used only as an external application, in the form of ointment. Off. Prep. Unguentum Hydrargyri Ammoniati, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Unguentum Sulphuris Compositum, U S. B. HYDRARGYRUM CUM CRETA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Mercury with Chalk. "Take of Mercury three ounces; Prepared Chalk five ounces. Rub them together till all the globules disappear." U. S., Lond., Ed. The Dublin College prepares it in the same manner as 3Iercury with Magnesia, only substituting precipitated carbonate of lime for carbonate of magnesia. When mercury is triturated with certain dry and pulverulent substances, such as chalk or magnesia, it gradually loses its fluidity and metallic lustre, and assumes the form of a blackish or dark-gray powder. A similar change takes place when it is rubbed with viscid or greasy substances, such as honey or lard. The globules disappear, so as in some instances not to be visible even through a good lens; and the mercury is said to be extinguished. It was formerly thought that the metal was oxidized in the process, and that the medical activity of the preparation depended on the presence of the black or protoxide of mercury. At present, the change is generally attributed to the mechanical division of the metal, which in this state is supposed to be capable of acting on the system. There is good reason, however, to believe that in this, as in all the analogous preparations of mercury, in which the metal is extinguished by trituration, a very small portion is converted into protoxide, while by far the greater part remains in the metallic state. Mercury with chalk is a grayish powder, in which globules of mercury can generally be seen with the aid of a microscope; as the metal can scarcely be completely extinguished with chalk alone by any length of trituration. Mr. Jacob Bell found that, by powerfully pressing it, a considerable quantity of metal was separated in the form of globules. Mr. Phillips states that the extinguishment of the mercury is greatly accelerated by the addition of a little water. Mr. Stewart, of Baltimore, proposes the following process, by which he states that the preparation may be completed in a short time, so that no globules shall be visible with a powerful lens. Three ounces of mercury and six ounces of resin are to be rubbed together for three hours; five ounces of chalk are to be added, and the trituration continued for an hour; the mixture is then to be heated with alcohol so as to dissolve the resin; and the remain- ing powder is to be dried on bibulous paper, and well rubbed in a mortar. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 162.) It is said that a precipitated oxide of mercury is sometimes added with a view to save time in the trituration. But this must be considered as an adulteration, until it can be shown that the same oxide exists, in the same proportion, in the preparation made according to the officinal directions. The mercury contained in this preparation is volatilized by heat. The remaining chalk is dissolved by dilute acetic acid, and the solution is not coloured by sulphuretted hydrogen. The presence of any probable metallic impurity may be detected in this way. 1006 Hydrargyrum.—Infusa. part ii. Medical Properties and Uses. Mercury with chalk is a very mild mercu- rial, similar in its properties to the blue pill, but much weaker. It is some- times used as an alterative, particularly in the complaints of children, attended with deficient biliary secretion, indicated by white or clay-coloured stools. The chalk is antacid, and, though in small quantity, may sometimes be a useful accompaniment of the mercury in diarrhoea. Eight grains of the preparation, according to the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, contain three grains of mercury. The dose is from five grains to half a drachm twice a day. Two or three grains is the dose for a child. It should not be given in pill with substances which become hard on keeping: as the contraction of the mass presses out the mercury, which, in time, appears in globules in the interior of the pill. W. HYDRARGYRUM CUM MAGNESIA. Dub. Mercury with Magnesia. " Take of purified Mercury, Manna, each, two parts ; Carbonate of Mag- nesia one part. Rub the Mercury with the Manna in an earthenware mor- tar, dropping in sufficient water to give to the mixture the consistence of syrup, and continue the trituration till the globules disappear. Then add, still rubbing, an eighth part of the Carbonate of Magnesia; and, when this is well mixed with the other ingredients, add sixteen parts of hot water, and agitate the mixture. Let this stand for some time that the sediment may subside, and then decant the fluid. Repeat the washing twice, that the whole of the Manna may b6 removed; and with the sediment, while it is still moist, mix the remainder of the Carbonate of Magnesia. Lastly, dry the powder on bibulous paper." Dub. The use of the manna in this process is merely to facilitate the extinction of the mercury; as it is wholly washed away, and the metal is left mixed with carbonate of magnesia. This preparation has the same virtues with the preceding, but may be preferably used in the complaints of children attended with constipation. W. INFUSA. Infusions. These are aqueous solutions obtained by treating with water, without the aid of ebullition, vegetable products which are only partly soluble in that liquid. The water employed may be hot or cold, according to the objects to be accomplished. Infusions are generally prepared by pouring boiling water upon the vegetable substance, and macerating in a lightly closed vessel till the liquid cools. The soluble principles are thus extracted more rapidly, and, as a general rule, in a larger proportion than at a lower temperature. Some substances, moreover, are dissolved in this manner, which are nearly or quite insoluble in cold water. A prolonged application of heat is in some instances desirable; and this may be effected by placing the vessel near the fire. Cold water is preferred, when the active principle is highly volatile, when it is injured by heat, or when any substance of difficult solubility at a low temperature exists in the vegetable, which it is desirable to avoid in the infusion. A longer continuance of the maceration is necessary in this case; and, in warm weather, there is sometimes danger that spontaneous decompo- sition may commence before the process is completed. When a very strong infusion is required, the process by displacement may be advantageously resorted to. (See pages 763 and 769.) The water employed should be free from saline impurities, which frequently produce precipitates, and render the PART II. Infusa. 1007 infusion turbid. Fresh river, rain, or distilled water is usually preferable to that of pumps or springs. The substance to be acted on should be sliced or bruised, or employed in the state of powder; but this last condition is seldom requisite, and is always inconvenient, as it requires that the infusion should be filtered through paper in order completely to separate the undissolved portion. In other cases, it is sufficient to strain through fine linen or muslin. When, however, percola- tion or displacement is resorted to, the substance should be more or less finely powdered. Infusions are usually prepared in glazed earthenware or porcelain vessels fitted with covers. Mr. Brande suggests the use of clean metallic vessels, which, when finely polished, retain the heat for a greater length of time; but they are also more liable to chemical alteration, and may some- times injuriously affect the preparation. As infusions do not keep well, especially in warm weather, they should be made extemporaneously and in small quantities. In this country they are usually prepared in families, and the propriety of their introduction into the Pharmacopoeia has been doubted; but it is desirable to have certain fixed standards for the convenience of the medical practitioner; and it is sometimes convenient to direct infusions from the apothecary, for whose guidance offici- nal formulae are necessary. Physicians would, indeed, find their advantage in more frequently directing them from the shops, instead of leaving their preparation to the carelessness or want of skill of the attendants upon the sick. For a mode of preserving infusions, the reader is referred to the intro- ductory observations, pages 765 and 766. As we have already treated of the chemical relations and medical proper- ties of the substances used in infusion, it would be useless repetition to en- large upon these points in the following details. We shall touch upon them only in cases of peculiar interest, or where changes requiring particular notice may grow out of the nature of the process. W. INFUSUM ANGUSTURA. U.S.,Dub. Infusum Cusparia. Lond., Ed. Infusion of Angustura Bark. "Take of Angustura Bark, bruised, half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S. The London College directs five drachms to a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, five drachms to a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water; the Dublin, two drachms to half a pint of boiling water; and all proceed as above. The dose of the infusion is two fluidounces, repeated every two, three, or four hours. W. INFUSUM ANTHEMIDIS. U. S., Lond., Ed. Infusum Cha- M.EMELI. Dub. Infusion of Chamomile. "Take of Chamomile half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for ten minutes in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S. The London College orders five drachms of the flowers to a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water, and proceeds as above; the Edinburgh, fire drachms to a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water, and infuses for twenty minutes. The Dublin College takes two drachms of the flowers and half a pint of boiling water, digests for twenty-four hours, and strains through linen. The infusion of chamomile has the odour and taste of the flowers. It affords precipitates with gelatin, yellow Peruvian bark, sulphate of iron, tinc- ture of chloride of iron, nitrate of silver, corrosive chloride of mercury, and the acetates of lead. (London Dispensatory.) As a tonic it is given cold, in the dose of two fluidounces several times a day. To assist the operation of 1008 Infusa. PART II. emetic medicines it should be administered in the tepid state, and in large draughts. The infusion prepared by maceration in cold water is more grate- ful to the palate and stomach than that made with boiling water, but is less efficient as an emetic. W. INFUSUM ARMORACIA. U.S. Infusum Armoracia Com- positum. Lond., Dub. Infusion of Horse-radish. " Take of Horse-radish [fresh root], sliced, Mustard [seed], bruised, each, an ounce ; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered ves- sel, and strain." U. S. The*London College macerates an ounce of the root, and an ounce of the seeds in a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling distilled water, in a covered vessel, for two hours, and strains; then adds a fluidounce of compound spirit of horse-radish. The Dublin process differs from the London only in the use of a wine-pint of boiling water, and a digestion of six hours. This infusion is rendered turbid by the deposition of vegetable albumen, and in warm weather speedily runs into the putrefactive fermentation. It affords precipitates with the infusions of galls and Peruvian bark, with the alkaline carbonates, nitrate of silver, and corrosive chloride of mercury. (London Dispensatory.) It has the stimulant properties of its two active ingredients, and is occasionally used in paralytic, scorbutic, and dropsical affections attended with general debility. The dose is about two fluidounces three or four times a day. W. INFUSUM AURANTII COMPOSITUM. Lond., Dub. In- fusum Aurantii. Ed. Compound Infusion of Orange Peel. " Take of dried Orange Peel half an ounce ; fresh Lemon Peel two drachms; Cloves, bruised, a drachm; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Macerate for a quarter of an hour, in a lightly covered vessel, and strain." Lond. The Edinburgh process differs from the above only in the use of boiling water not distilled, and in straining through linen or calico. The Dublin College takes two drachms of dried orange peel, a drachm of fresh lemon peel, half a drachm of bruised cloves, and half a pint of boiling water; and digests for a quarter of an hour. This infusion is given as a grateful stomachic, in the dose of two or three fluidounces. W. INFUSUM CARYOPHYLLI. U.S., Lond., Ed. Infusum Caryophyllorum. Dub. Infusion of Cloves. " Take of Cloves, bruised, two drachms; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U S. The London College takes three drachms of cloves, and a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, three drachms of cloves and a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water; the Dublin, a drachm of cloves, and half a pint of boiling water; and all proceed as above. The infusion of cloves affords precipitates with lime-water, and with the soluble salts of iron, zinc, lead, silver, and antimony. (Phillips.) The dose is about two fluidounces. W. INFUSUM CASCARILLA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Infu- sion of Cascarilla. " Take of Cascarilla, bruised, an ounce ; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S. The London College directs an ounce and a half'of bruised cascarilla, and a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, the PART II. Infusa. 1009 same quantities of the bark and of boiling water; the Dublin, half an ounce of the bark to half a pint of boiling water; and all proceed as above. This infusion affords precipitates with lime-water, infusion of galls, nitrate of silver, acetate and subacetate of lead, sulphate of zinc, and sulphate of iron. (London Dispensatory.) The medium dose is two fluidounces. Off. Prep. Mistura Cascarillae Composita, Lond, W. INFUSUM CATECHU COMPOSITUM. U.S., Lond., Dub. Infusum Catechu. Ed. Compound Infusion of Catechu. "Take of Catechu, in powder, half an ounce; Cinnamon, bruised, a drachm; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for an hour in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S. " Take of Extract of Catechu, in powder, six drachms; Cinnamon, bruised, a drachm; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Macerate for an hour in a lightly covered vessel, and strain." Lond. " Take of Catechu, in powder, six drachms; Cinnamon, in powder, one drachm; Syrup three fluidounces; boiling Water seventeen fluidounces. Infuse the Catechu and Cinnamon with the Water for two hours, strain through linen or calico, and add the Syrup." Ed, " Take of Extract of Catechu two drachms and a half; Cinnamon, bruised, half a drachm ; boiling Water half a pint. Digest for an hour in a covered vessel, and strain through linen." Dub. This is an elegant mode of administering catechu. The dose is from one to three fluidounces, repeated three or four times a day, or more frequently. W. INFUSUM CHIRETTA. Ed. Infusion of Chiretta. " Take of Chiretta four drachms; boiling Water [Imperial measure] one pint. Infuse for two hours, and strain through linen or calico." Ed. The dose of this simple bitter is from one to three fluidounces. W. INFUSUM CINCHONA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Dub. Infusion of Peruvian Bark. "Take of Peruvian bark, bruised, an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Ma- cerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain. " This infusion may also be prepared from the same quantity of Bark, in coarse powder, in the following manner:—Having^moistened the Bark tho- roughly with Water, introduce it into an apparatus for displacement, press it slightly, and pour Water upon its surface so as to keep it covered. So long as the liquid passes turbid, return it into the apparatus; then allow the filtra- tion to continue until one pint of clear infusion is obtained." U S. " Take of Bark of the Cinchona lancifolia [pale bark], bruised, an ounce; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Macerate for six hours in a lightly covered vessel, and strain." Loud, " Take of any species of Cinchona, according to prescription, one ounce in powder; boiling Water one pint [Imp. measure]. Infuse for four hours in a covered vessel, and then strain through linen or calico." Ed, "Take of Bark of the Cinchona lancifolia, in coarse powder, an ounce; cold Water twelve fluidounces. Triturate the Bark with a little of the Water, and add the remainder during the trituration. Macerate for twenty-four hours, with frequent agitation, and decant the clear liquor." Dub. We can discover no good reason for the exclusive employment by the London and Dublin Colleges of the pale bark in the preparation of this infusion. The U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, wisely, we think, leave the particular variety to the choice of the physician. 64 1010 Infusa. PART II. Though the infusion with boiling water is more quickly prepared than the cold infusion of the Dublin College, and therefore better adapted to cases of emergency, yet the latter is a more elegant preparation, not turbid like the former, and at least equally efficient. The trituration directed by the Dublin College facilitates the process, by thoroughly wetting the powder, and thus enabling it to be more readily diffused. We should prefer, however, the cold infusion prepared by percolation, as directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, sup- posing the process to be skilfully conducted. Perhaps it would be better that the bark should be in moderately fine than in coarse powder. The infusion of cinchona affords precipitates with the alkalies, alkaline car- bonates, and alkaline earths; the soluble salts of iron, zinc, and silver; corrosive chloride of mercury, arsenious acid, and tartar emetic; gelatinous solutions; and various vegetable infusions and decoctions, as those of galls, chamomile, columbo, cascarilla, horse-radish, cloves, catechu, orange-peel, fox- glove, senna, rhubarb, valerian, and simaruba. In some instances the precipi- tate occurs immediately, in others not for several hours. (London Dispensatory.) Few, however, of these substances diminish the efficacy of the infusion, as they do not affect the active principles. The alkalies, alkaline earths, and vegetable astringents are really incompatible. The same is said to be the case with tartaric and oxalic acids, and the soluble tartrates and oxalates. For an elaborate account of the reactions of the infusions of different varie- ties of Peruvian bark see the Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 128. The infusion of cinchona may be advantageously administered in cases which require tonic treatment, but do not call for the full powers of the bark. The medium dose is two fluidounces, to be repeated three or four times a day, or more frequently in acute diseases. W. INFUSUM CINCHONA COMPOSITUM. U.S. Compound Infusion of Peruvian Bark. " Take of Peruvian Bark, in powder, an ounce; Aromatic Sulphuric Acid a fluidrachm ; Water a pint. Macerate for twelve hours, occasionally shak- ing, and strain." U. S. This is an elegant and very efficient preparation. Water extracts from bark the kinates of quinia and cinchonia, but leaves behind the compounds which these principles form with the cinchonic red. The ordinary infusion, there- fore, is rather feeble. But the addition of the acid ensures the solution of all or nearly all the active matter. We have been long in the habit of using this infusion, and have had reason to be satisfied with its efficacy. The yel- low Calisaya or best red bark should be selected, when a strong preparation is desired. The bark might be more quickly and perhaps more thoroughly ex- hausted by the method of percolation, as directed in the simple infusion; but in this case care should be taken to employ a glass or porcelain percolator, and the acid should be added to the portion of water first employed to moisten the powder. The medium dose of the infusion is two fluidounces, equivalent to a drachm of the bark. W. INFUSUM COLOMBA. U.S., Dub. Infusum Calumbje. Lond., Ed. Infusion of Columbo. "Take of Columbo, bruised, half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Ma- cerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S. The London College directs five drachms of columbo to a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water; the Dublin, two drachms of columbo to half a pint of boiling water; and both proceed as above. " Take of Calumba, in coarse powder, half an ounce; cold Water about a pint [Imperial measure]. Triturate the Calumba with a little of the Water, PART II. Infusa. 1011 so as to moisten it thoroughly; put it into a percolator, and transmit cold Water till sixteen fluidounces of infusion be obtained." Ed. The infusion of columbo is apt to spoil very quickly, especially in warm weather. It has been generally supposed that the cold infusion would keep better than the hot, because it contains no starch. Mr. Thomas Greenish, however, upon comparing specimens of the two infusions, found that the spon- taneous change began sooner in the cold than the hot, though the former was clearer. Columbo contains starch and albumen. Cold water extracts the latter without the former; hot water the former with comparatively little of the latter, which is partially coagulated by the heat. Both starch and albu- men are liable to spontaneous change; but the former is much the more per- manent of the two. Hence it is that the hot infusion keeps best. Indeed, Mr. Greenish ascribes the change which takes place in the starch of the hot infusion chiefly to the agency of a little albumen, which has escaped coagula- tion. According to these views, the best plan of preparing infusion of co- lumbo, is to exhaust the root with cold water, by which the starch is left behind, and then to heat the infusion to the boiling point in order to coagulate the albumen. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 141, from Pharm. Journ.) Upon comparing specimens of the cold and hot infusion, we have not found the re- sults of Mr. Greenish fully confirmed. The cold infusion appeared to keep better than the hot. Nevertheless, the plan of preparing the infusion above proposed is probably the best. The infusion of columbo is not disturbed by salts of iron, and may be conveniently administered in connexion with them. The dose is two fluidounces three or four times a day. W. INFUSUM DIGITALIS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Infusion of Foxglove. " Take of Foxglove [dried leaves] a drachm; Boiling* Water half a pint; Tincture of Cinnamon a fluidounce. Macerate the Foxglove with the Water for four hours in a covered vessel, and strain; then add the Tincture of Cin- namon." U. S. The London College takes a drachm of the dried leaves, a fluidounce of spirit of cinnamon, and a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water; macerates the leaves in the water for four hours; and, having strained the liquor, adds the spirit. The Dublin process corresponds with that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that half a fluidounce of the spirit of cinnamon is employed instead of a fluidounce of the tincture. The Edinburgh College takes two drachms of the leaves, two fluidounces of spirit of cinnamon, and eighteen fluidounces of boiling water; and, having macerated the leaves in the water for four hours, strains through linen or calico, and adds the spirit. The U. S. infusion is essentially the same with that employed by Wither- ing. It affords precipitates with the sulphate of iron, acetate of lead, and in- fusion of Peruvian bark. (London Dispensatory.) The dose is usually stated at half a fluidounce, repeated twice a day under ordinary circumstances, every eight hours in urgent cases, until the system is affected. The proportion of digitalis is not half as great in the London preparation, and the dose, of course, is proportionably larger. It will not, however, escape the close observer, that the stated dose of digitalis in infusion is much larger than in substance, for which there does not appear to be a good reason. It might be safer to give only half the quantity, and increase if necessary. W. INFUSUM DIOSMA. U. S., Lond. Infusum Bucku. Ed. Infusum Buchu. Dub. Infusion of Buchu. " Take of Buchu [leaves] an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for four hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S 1012 Infusa. PART II. The London College takes an ounce of the leaves, and a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, the same quantities of the leaves and of boiling water; the Dublin, half an ounce of the leaves and half a pint of boiling water; and all proceed essentially as above. This infusion has the odour and taste, and the medical virtues of the leaves; and affords a convenient mode of administering the medicine. The dose is one or two fluidounces. W. INFUSUM EUPATORII. U. S. Infusion of Thoroughwort. " Take of Thoroughwort [the dried herb] an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U S. As a tonic, this infusion should be taken cold in the dose of two fluidounces three or four times a day, or more frequently; as an emetic and diaphoretic, in large tepid draughts. W. INFUSUM GENTIANA COMPOSITUM. U.S., Lond., Dub. Infusum Gentians. Ed. Compound Infusion of Gentian. " Take of Gentian, bruised, half an ounce; Orange Peel [dried peel of the Seville orange], bruised, Coriander, bruised, each, a drachm; Diluted Alcohol four fluidounces; Water [cold] twelve fluidounces. First pour on the alcohol, and, three hours afterwards, the water; then macerate for twelve hours and strain." U S. The above was copied from the Edinburgh formula, which differs only in having four fluidounces (Imperial measure) of proof-spirit (Ed.), and sixteen fluidounces (Imp. meas.) of cold water. The London College takes of sliced gentian and dried orange peel, each, two drachms, of fresh lemon peel four drachms, of boiling distilled water a pint (Imperial measure); the Dublin takes a drachm of each of the solid in- gredients and twelve fluidounces of water; both macerate for an hour in a lightly covered vessel, and strain. The U. S. and Edinburgh infusion differs materially from the London and Dublin. The former has much more gentian in proportion to the solvent than the latter, and is therefore a much stronger bitter; while, by the use of cold instead of boiling water, less of the inert mucilaginous matter is extracted. The use of the diluted alcohol is to assist in dissolving the bitter principle, and at the same time to contribute towards the preservation of the infusion, which, without this addition, is very apt to spoil. The preparation, however, may be considered in the light rather of a very weak tincture than of an in- fusion, and should be used accordingly. The dose of the infusion of the U. S. Pharmacopceia is a fluidounce, that of the preparation of the London College two or three fluidounces, to be re- peated three or four times a day. Off. Prep. Mistura Gentianae Composita, Lond. W. INFUSUM HUMULI. U.S. Infusum Lupuli. Lond. Infu- sion of Hops. "Take of Hops half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U S. "Take of Hops six drachms; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Macerate for four hours in a lightly covered vessel, and strain." Lond. The dose of this infusion is one or two fluidounces. W. INFUSUM KRAMERIA. U.S., Lond, Infusion of Rhatany. "Take of Rhatany, bruised, an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for four hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S. " Take of Rhatany an ounce; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Imperial PART II. Infusa. 1013 measure]. Macerate for four hours in a lightly covered vessel, and strain." Lond. The infusion of rhatany would probably be more efficient, if prepared by the mode of percolation with cold water from the root in a state of moderately fine powder, as directed for Peruvian bark. The dose of the infusion is one or two fluidounces. W. INFUSUM LINI. U. S., Ed. Infusum Lini Compositum. Londr, Dub. Infusion of Flaxseed. "Take of Flaxseed half an ounce; Liquorice Root, bruised, two drachms; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for four hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U S. The London College directs six drachms of bruised flaxseed, two drachms of sliced liquorice root, and a pint (Imperial measure) of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, the same except boiling water for boiling distilled water; the Dublin, an ounce of flaxseed, half an ounce of liquorice root, and two pints of boiling water; all complete the process in the manner directed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that the London and Edinburgh Colleges direct the maceration to take place near the fire. This is a useful demulcent drink in inflammatory affections of the mucous membrane of the lungs and urinary passages. It may be taken ad libitum. W. INFUSUM MENTHA SIMPLEX. Dub. Simple Infusion of Mint. " Take of the Dried Leaves of Spearmint two drachms; boiling Water suf- ficient to afford six ounces [fluidounces] of strained liquor." Dub. This is common mint tea, and may be taken ad libitum. W. INFUSUM MENTHA COMPOSITUM. Dub. Compound In- fusion of Mint. " Take of the Dried Leaves of Spearmint two drachms; boiling Water suf- ficient to afford six ounces [fluidounces] of strained liquor. Digest for half an hour in a covered vessel, and strain the liquor when cold; then add, of Refined Sugar two drachms, Oil of Spearmint three drops dissolved in half an ounce [fluidounce] of Compound Tincture of Cardamom." Dub. This is an agreeable aromatic infusion, useful in allaying nausea and vomit- ing, and affording an eligible vehicle for unpleasant medicines. The dose is one or two fluidounces, frequently repeated. W. INFUSUM PAREIRA. Lond., Ed. Infusion of Pareira Brava. " Take of Pareira Brava six drachms; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Im- perial measure]. Macerate for two hours in a lightly covered vessel, and strain." Lond. The Edinburgh process differs only in having boiling water instead of boil- ing distilled water. The infusion of pareira brava is highly esteemed by some English practi- tioners as a remedy in irritation and chronic inflammation of the urinary pas- sages, and has been found useful in catarrh of the bladder. The dose is one or two fluidounces. Brodie employed a decoction of the root, which he pre- pared by boiling half an ounce in three pints of water down to a pint, and gave in the quantity of from eight to twelve fluidounces daily. W. INFUSUM PRUNI VIRGINIANA. U.S. Infusion of Wild- cherry Bark. " Take of Wild-cherey Bark, bruised, half an ounce; Water [cold] a pint. Macerate for twenty-four hours, and strain." U S. 1014 Infusa. PART II. This is a peculiarly suitable object for officinal direction, as, in consequence of the volatile nature of one of its active ingredients, and for another reason before stated (seepage 577), it is better prepared with cold water than in the ordinary mode. The infusion of wild-cherry bark is one of the preparations to which the process of percolation or displacement is well adapted. (See pages 763 and 769.) In this way the virtues of the bark can be more ra- pidly and thoroughly exhausted than by maceration alone. When properly made, it is beautifully transparent, has the colour of Madeira wine, and the agreeable bitterness and peculiar flavour of the bark. The dose is two or three fluidounces three or four times a day, or more frequently when a strong impression is required. W. INFUSUM QUASSIA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Infusion of Quassia. " Take of Quassia, rasped, two drachms; Water [cold] a pint. Macerate for twelve hours, and strain." U. S. The London College takes two scruples of quassia, sliced, and a pint [Im- perial measure] of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, a drachm of quassia in chips, and a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water; the Dublin, a scruple of quassia, and half a pint of boiling water; all macerate for two hours. The proportion of quassia directed in the British Pharmacopoeias is much too small. The London infusion contains the strength of only two grains of quassia in a fluidounce, the Dublin two grains and a half, and the Edinburgh three grains; while the dose of quassia in substance is from twenty grains to a drachm, and of the extract not less than five grains. We, therefore, prefer the proportions directed by our national Pharmacopoeia. Boiling water may be employed when it is desirable to obtain the preparation quickly; but cold water affords a clearer infusion. The dose is two fluidounces three or four times a day. W. INFUSUM RHEI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Infusion of Rhu- barb. " Take of Rhubarb, bruised, a drachm; Boiling Water half a pint. Digest for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U S., Dub. " Take of Rhubarb, sliced, three drachms; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Macerate for two hours, in a lightly covered vessel, and strain." Lond. " Take of Rhubarb, bruised into coarse powder, one ounce; Spirit of Cinna- mon two fluidounces ; boiling Water eighteen fluidounces. Infuse the Rhu- barb for twelve hours in the Water, in a covered vessel, add the Spirit, and strain through linen or calico." Ed. In order that the rhubarb may be exhausted, it should be digested with the water near the fire, at a temperature somewhat less than that of boiling water. It is customary to add some aromatic, such as cardamom, fennel-seed, or nutmeg, which improves the taste of the infusion, and renders it more acceptable to the stomach. One drachm of either of these spices may be digested in connexion with the rhubarb. This infusion may be given as a gentle laxative, in the dose of one or two fluidounces, every three or four hours, till it operates. It is occasionally used as a vehicle of tonic, antacid, or more active cathartic medicines. The stronger acids and most metallic solutions are incompatible with it. W. INFUSUM ROSA COMPOSITUM. U. S., Lond. Infusum Ros^:. Ed. Infusum Ros^i Acidum. Dub. Compound Infusion of Roses. " Take of Red Roses [dried petals] half an ounce; Boiling Water two PART II. Infusa. 1015 pints and a half; Diluted Sulphuric Acid three fluidrachms ; Sugar [refined] an ounce and a half. Pour the Water upon the Roses in a glass vessel; then add the Acid, and macerate for half an hour; lastly, strain the liquor, and add the Sugar." U S. The London College takes three drachms of dried red roses, a fluidrachm and a half of diluted sulphuric acid, six drachms of sugar, and a pint [Im- perial measure] of boiling distilled water, and proceeds as above, except that it macerates for six hours instead of half an hour. The Edinburgh process corresponds with the London, except that boiling water is used instead of boiling distilled water, the maceration continues only for an hour, and the acid is added after the maceration instead of before it. The Dublin process corresponds with that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that the petals are directed without their claws, and three pints of water are employed instead of two pints and a half. The red roses serve little other purpose than to impart a fine red colour and a slight astringent flavour to the preparation, which owes its medicinal virtues almost exclusively to the sulphuric acid. It is refrigerant and astrin- gent, and affords a useful and not unpleasant drink in hemorrhages and colli- quative sweats. It is much used by British practitioners as a vehicle for saline medicines, particularly sulphate of magnesia, the taste of which it serves to cover. It is also employed as a gargle, usually in connexion with acids, nitre, alum, or tincture of Cayenne pepper. The dose is from two to four fluidounces. W. INFUSUM SARSAPARILLA. U.S. Infusum Sarsaparilla Compositum. Dub. Infusion of Sarsaparilla. "Take of Sarsaparilla, bruised, an ounce; Boiling Water, a pint. Digest for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain. " This infusion may also be prepared by the process of displacement, in the manner directed for Infusion of Peruvian Bark." U. S. (See Infusum Cinchonas.) "Take of Sarsaparilla Root, previously cleansed with cold water and sliced, an ounce ; Lime-water a pint. Macerate for twelve hours in a covered vessel, with occasional agitation, and strain." Dub. From the experiments of Soubeiran it appears that, by maceration in cold water for twenty-four hours, the active principle of sarsaparilla is extracted as effectually as by infusion in boiling water and digestion for two hours, and that in either case the infusion is stronger than the decoction; but the aqueous preparation which he found to possess most of the sensible properties of the root, was made by infusing the spirituous extract in water. (Seepage 951.) In all his experiments, M. Soubeiran employed the same proportions of the root and of water. (Journ. de Pharm., xvi. 43.) These observations corre- spond with those long since made by Hancock, and subsequently confirmed by Mr. T. J. Husband, of this city, so far as relates to the greater solvent power of spirit than of water over sarsaparilla. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 6.) Water does not appear competent completely to exhaust sarsapa- rilla of its active principle, unless employed in very large proportion. Still the watery preparations made from the root are certainly not without efficacy; and the inference from the experiments of Soubeiran is, that it is of little consequence whether the infusion be made with hot or cold water, supposing time to be allowed in the latter case. It is probable that percolation, as directed by the U. S. Pharmacopceia in the second formula above given, will be found the most efficacious plan. The sarsaparilla should in this case be reduced to powder. No advantage can result from the use of lime-water as 1016 Infusa. part II. directed by the Dublin College. From two to four fluidounces of the infu- sion may be taken three times a day. W. INFUSUM SCOPARII. Lond. Infusion of Broom. "Take of Broom an ounce; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Macerate for four hours in a lightly covered vessel, and strain." Lond. Used occasionally as a diuretic and aperient in dropsy. The dose is from one to four fluidounces. W. INFUSUM SENEGA. Ed. Infusion of Seneka. " Take of Senega ten drachms; boiling Water one pint [Imperial mea- sure]. Infuse for four hours in a covered vessel, and strain." Ed, The efficacy of the officinal decoction of seneka has been proved by so long an experience, that we should be cautious in allowing it to be superseded by the infusion on hypothetical grounds alone. The dose of the preparation is from one to three fluidounces. W. INFUSUM SENNA. U.S., Ed. Infusum Senna Compo- situm. Lond., Dub. Infusion of Senna. "Take of Senna an ounce; Coriander, bruised, a drachm; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for an hour in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S. The London College orders fifteen drachms of senna, four scruples of sliced ginger, and a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling distilled water; the Edinburgh, an ounce and a half of senna, four scruples of ginger, and a pint [Imp. meas.] of boiling water; and the Dublin, an ounce of senna, a drachm of ginger, and a pint of boiling water. All macerate as above directed. We decidedly prefer the formula of the U. S. Pharmacopceia. The propor- tions of senna directed by the London and Edinburgh Colleges are unne- cessarily large; and coriander is a better addition than ginger to an infusion very often given in inflammatory affections. This infusion deposits, on ex- posure to the air, a yellowish precipitate, which is said to aggravate its griping tendency; it should, therefore, not be made in large quantities. It is cus- tomary to connect with it manna and some one of the saline cathartics, which both increase its efficacy and render it less painful in its operation. The following is a good formula for the preparation of senna tea. Take of senna half an ounce; sulphate of magnesia, manna, each, an ounce; fennel seed a drachm ; boiling water half a pint. Macerate in a covered vessel till the liquid cools. One-third may be given for a dose, and repeated every four or five hours till it operates. Such a combination as this is called the black draught by English writers. The dose of the infusion of the U. S. Pharma- copceia is about four fluidounces. Off. Prep. Mistura Gentianae Composita, Lond. W. INFUSUM SENNA CUM TAMARINDIS. Dub. Infusum Senna Compositum. Ed. Infusion of Senna with Tamarinds. " Take of Senna one drachm; Tamarinds one ounce; Coriander, bruised, one drachm; Muscovado [sugar] half an ounce; boiling Water eight fluid- ounces. Infuse for four hours, with occasional stirring in a covered vessel, not glazed with lead, and then strain through linen or calico. " This infusion may be likewise made with twice or thrice the prescribed quantity of senna." Ed. The process of the Dublin College corresponds closely with the above, .fut does not admit the triple quantity of senna. In this infusion, the unpleasant taste of the senna is covered by the acidity of the tamarinds and sweetness of the sugar. It is aperient and refrigerant, and is well adapted to febrile com- PART II. Infusa. 1017 plaints when a laxative operation is desired. The dose is from two to four fluidounces. W. INFUSUM SERPENTARIA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Infusion of Virginia Snakeroot. "Take of Virginia Snakeroot half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U S. The London College employs half an ounce of the root with a pint [Im- perial measure] of boiling distilled water, and macerates for four hours. The Edinburgh process differs from the London only in the use of boiling water instead of boiling distilled water. This is the ordinary form in which serpentaria is employed. The dose is one or two fluidounces, repeated every two hours in low forms of fever, but less frequently in chronic affections. W. INFUSUM SIMARUBA. Lond., Ed., Dub. Infusion of Sima- ruba. " Take of Simaruba [bark], bruised, three drachms; boiling Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Macerate for two hours in a lightly covered ves- sel, and strain." Lond. ^ The Edinburgh proc*s differs only in the use of boiling water instead of boiling distilled water. The Dublin College takes half a drachm of the bark, and half a pint of boiling water, and proceeds as above. This preparation is little used in the United States. The dose is two fluid- ounces. W. INFUSUM SPIGELIA. U.S. Infusion of Pinkroot. "Take of Pinkroot half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U S. The dose of this infusion, for a child two or three years old, is from four fluidrachms to a fluidounce; for an adult, from four to eight fluidounces, re- peated morning and evening. A quantity of senna equal to that of the spigelia is usually added, in order to insure a cathartic effect.* W. INFUSUM TABACI. U.S., Dub. Enema Tabaci. Lond., Ed. Infusion of Tobacco. " Take of Tobacco a drachm; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for an hour in a covered vessel, and strain." U. S., Dub. The London College takes a drachm of tobacco, and a pint (Imperial mea- sure) of boiling distilled water, macerates for an hour, and strains. The Edin- burgh College takes from fifteen to thirty grains of tobacco, and eight fluid- ounces of boiling water, infuses for half an hour, and strains. This is used only in the form of enema in strangulated hernia, obstinate colic, and retention of urine from spasm of the urethra. Only half of the pint should be employed at once; and if this should not produce relaxation * The virtues of spigelia and senna may be obtained in a concentrated state in the form of a fluid extract. The following formula is essentially the same as one long em- ployed by Professor Procter. Take of pinkroot, in coarse powder, Tbj; senna, in coarse powder, 3; vj; sugar Ibiss; carbonate of potassa ^j; oil of caraway,oil of anise, each, f^ss; diluted alcohol q. s. Macerate the pinkroot and senna in two pints of diluted alcohol for two days; then put the mixture into a percolator, and gradually add diluted alcohol until four pints have passed. Evaporate the tincture thus obtained, by means of a water- bath, to sixteen fluidounces; add the carbonate of potassa, by which the sediment is dis- solved; then add the sugar previously triturated with the oils, and effect the solution of the sugar by a gentle heat. The dose for a child a year or two old is from thirty minims to a fluidrachm, for an adult half a fluidounce. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xx. 88.) 1018 Infusa.—Iodinum. PART II. in half an hour, the remainder may be injected. Fatal consequences have resulted from too free a use of tobacco in this way. W. INFUSUM ULMI. U. S. Infusion of Slippery Elm Bark. " Take of Slippery Elm Bark, sliced and bruised, an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain." U.S. This infusion may be used ad libitum as a demulcent and nutritious drink in catarrhal and nephritic diseases, and in inflammatory affections of the in- testinal mucous membrane. W. INFUSUM VALERIANA. U.S., Lond., Dub. Infusion of Valerian. "Take of Valerian half an ounce; Boiling Water a pint. Macerate for an hour in a covered vessel, and strain." U S. The London College takes half an ounce of valerian, and a pint (Imperial measure) of boiling distilled water, macerates for half an hour in a lightly covered vessel, and strains. The Dublin College directs two drachms of va- lerian, in coarse powder, seven fluidounces of boiling water, digestion for an hour, and straining after the liquid has become cold. The dose of this infusion is two fluidounces, repeated three or four times a day, or more frequently. * W. IODINUM. Preparation of Iodine. LIQUOR IODINI COMPOSITUS. U.S. Iodinei Liquor Compositus. Ed. Liquor Potassii Iodidi Compositus. Lond. Compound Solution of Iodine. " Take of Iodine six drachms; Iodide of Potassium an ounce and a half; Distilled Water a pint. Dissolve the Iodine and Iodide of Potassium in the Water." U.S. "Take of Iodine two drachms; Iodide of Potassium an ounce; Distilled Water sixteen fluidounces [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Iodide and Iodine in the Water with gentle heat and agitation." Ed. "Take of Iodide of Potassium ten grains; Iodine five grains; Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Mix, that they may dissolve." Loud. Although these preparations are all aqueous solutions of iodine and iodide of potassium, yet they differ very much in strength. Iodine is but sparingly soluble in water, but readily dissolves when associated with twice its weight of iodide of potassium. The U S. solution corresponds in strength with Lugol's concentrated solution of iodine in iodide of potassium, and is intended to facilitate the administration of the combination in drops. The Edinburgh preparation is a weaker form of the same concentrated solution, in which the iodide of potassium is taken in a quantity four times the amount of the iodine, instead of twice its amount, the usual proportion adopted. On the assumption that 16 Imperial fluidounces are the same as the wine pint, and they are only 5 fluidrachms less, it will be found, on comparing the formulae, that the Edin- burgh solution is one-third as strong in iodine, and two-thirds as strong in iodide of potassium as that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The London pre- paration is a weak solution, and is just twice as strong as Lugol's ioduretted mineral water of medium strength, assuming the Imperial fluidounce to be the same as the French ounce. The medicinal properties of these solutions depend mainly on the free iodine contained in them, by which their dose must be regulated, and not by the iodide of potassium. The dose of the U. S. solu- tion is six drops, containing about a quarter of a grain of iodine, three times PART II. Linimenta. 1019 a day, given in four tablespoonfuls- of sweetened water, and gradually in- creased. For children, the dose to begin with is two drops. (Seepage 394.) The Edinburgh solution may be given in doses about three times as large. The London preparation may be viewed as the foregoing solutions, brought nearly to the proper degree of dilution for exhibition. The dose of it is a fluidounce, containing a quarter of a grain of iodine, to be diluted with an equal bulk of water, and gradually increased to two fluidounces or more. B. LINIMENTA. Liniments. These are preparations intended for external use, of such a consistence as to render them conveniently applicable to the skin by gentle friction with the hand. They are usually thicker than water, but thinner than the ointments; and are always liquid at the temperature of the body. W. LINIMENTUM AMMONIA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Lini- ment of Ammonia. Volatile Liniment. " Take of Solution of Ammonia a fluidounce; Olive Oil two fluidounces. Mix them." U.S. The London and Edinburgh processes agree with the above. The Dublin College directs two fluidrachms of "Water of Caustic Ammonia" and two fluidounces of the oil. The U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, having adopted a solu- tion of ammonia of the same strength, accord at present in the proportion of the solution and of oil employed in the liniment. In this preparation, the ammonia unites with the oil to form a soap, which is partly dissolved, partly suspended in the water, producing a white, opaque emulsion. The liniment is an excellent rubefacient, frequently employed in inflammatory affections of the throat, catarrhal and other pectoral complaints of children, and in rheu- matic pains. It is applied by rubbing it gently upon the skin, or placing a piece of flannel saturated with it over the affected part. Should it occasion too much inflammation, it must be diluted with oil. W. LINIMENTUM AMMONIA COMPOSITUM. Ed. Compound Liniment of Ammonia. " Take of Stronger Aqua Ammoniae (D. 0-880) [Stronger Solution of Am- monia] five fluidounces; Tincture of Camphor two fliddounces; Spirit of Rosemary one fluidounce. Mix them well together. This liniment may be also made weaker for some purposes with three fluidounces of Tincture of Camphor and two of Spirit of Rosemary." Ed. This liniment is a very close imitation of Dr. Granville's counter-irritant lotion. Like that, it is of two strengths; the stronger containing five-eighths of its bulk of the ammoniacal solution, the weaker only five-tenths. They are nothing more than dilutions in different degrees of the officinal Liquor Ammoniae Fortior, which is itself too powerful for convenient use. The tincture of camphor and spirit of rosemary can scarcely exercise, in this case, any peculiar therapeutical influence. These preparations are employed as prompt and powerful rubefacients, vesicatories, or escharotics, in various neu- ralgic, gouty, rheumatic, spasmodic, and inflammatory affections, in which strong and speedy counter-irritation is indicated. When mere rubefaction is desired, the weaker lotion may be used; and even for blistering or cauterizing, unless a very prompt effect is necessary. In the latter case the stronger lotion should be resorted to. They are applied by means of linen folded several times, or a thick piece of flannel saturated with the liniment. A convenient 1020 Linimenta. part ii. mode is to fill the wooden cover of a large pill or ointment box, an inch or two in diameter, with patent lint, saturate this with the liquid, and press it upon the part. The ammonia is thus prevented from escaping, and a definite boundary given to the inflammation. The*application will generally produce rubefaction in from one to six or eight minutes, vesication in from three to ten minutes, and a caustic effect in a somewhat longer period. W. LINIMENTUM AMMONIA SESQUICARBONATIS. Lond. Liniment of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia. " Take of Solution of Sesquicarbonate of Ammonia a fluidounce; Olive Oil three fluidounces. Shake them together until they unite." Lond. In this, as in the liniment of ammonia, a kind of liquid soap is formed; but the union between the oil and alkali is less perfect, and after a short time the soapy matter separates from the water. The preparation is therefore less ele- gant ; and the end which it was probably intended to answer, of affording a milder rubefacient, may be obtained by diluting the liniment of ammonia with olive oil. W. LINIMENTUM CALCIS. U.S., Ed., Dub. Liniment of Lime. " Take of Lime-water, Flaxseed Oil, each, a fluidounce. Mix them." U S. The Edinburgh College directs equal measures of the same ingredients; the Dublin, three fluidounces of lime-water, and three of olive oil. The lime forms a soap with the oil, of which there is a great excess, that separates upon standing. Olive oil, as directed by the Dublin College, is often substituted for that of flaxseed; but possesses no other advantage than that of having a less unpleasant odour. This is a very useful liniment in recent burns and scalds. It is sometimes called Carron oil, from having been much employed at the iron works of that name in Scotland. It is recommended to be applied upon carded cotton. W. LINIMENTUM CAMPHORA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Oleum Cam- phoratum. Dub. Camphor Liniment. "Take of Camphor half an ounce; Olive Oil two fluidounces. Dissolve the Camphor in the Oil." U S. The London and Edinburgh Colleges direct an ounce of camphor, and four fluidounces of olive oil; the Dublin College, a drachm of the former and an ounce of the latter. This is employed as an anodyne embrocation in sprains, bruises, rheumatic or gouty affections of the joints, and other local pains. It is also supposed to have a discutient effect when rubbed upon glandular swellings. W. LINIMENTUM CAMPHORA COMPOSITUM. Lond., Dub. Compound Camphor Liniment. " Take of Camphor two ounces and a half; Solution of Ammonia seven fluidounces and a half; Spirit of Lavender a pint [Imperial measure]. Mix the Solution of Ammonia with the Spirit; then, from a glass retort, with a slow fire, distil a pint; lastly, dissolve the Camphor in the distilled liquor." Lond, The Dublin College takes two ounces of camphor, six fluidounces of solu- tion of ammonia, and a pint of spirit of lavender; and proceeds in the same manner. This preparation deserves a place rather among the Spirits or Tinctures than the Liniments. It may be imitated by dissolving a little oil of lavender in tincture .of camphor, and adding spirit of ammonia. „ It is used as a rube- facient and at the same time anodyne embrocation in local pains, particularly of a rheumatic character. W. PART II. Linimenta. 1021 LINIMENTUM CANTHARIDIS. U. S. Lin iment of Spanish Flies. " Take of Spanish Flies, in powder, an ounce ; Oil of Turpentine half a pint, Digest for three houra by means of a water-bath, and strain." U S. Oil of turpentine is an excellent solvent of the active principle of cantha- rides, and, when impregnated with it, acquires in addition to its own rubefacient properties those of a powerful epispastic. This Liniment was introduced into notice by Dr. Joseph Hartshorne, of Philadelphia, who employed it with great advantage as an external stimulant in the prostrate states of typhus fever. Caution, however, is necessary in its use, both to graduate its strength to the circumstances of the case, and not to apply it very extensively, lest it may produce severe and troublesome, if not dangerous vesication. If too powerful in its undiluted state, it may be weakened by the addition of olive or linseed oil. W. LINIMENTUM HYDRARGYRI COMPOSITUM. Lond. Compound Liniment of Mercury. "Take of Stronger Mercurial Ointment, Lard, each, four ounces; Cam- phor an ounce; Rectified Spirit a fluidrculim; Solution of Ammonia four fluidounces. Rub the Camphor first with the Spirit, then with the Lard and Mercurial Ointment; lastly, add gradually the Solution of Ammonia, and mix the whole." Lond. This is a stimulating liniment, employed for the discussion of chronic glandular enlargements, swellings of the joints, and venereal tumours, and to promote the absorption of collections of fluid. It is said to be more apt to salivate than mercurial ointment. One drachm of it is to be rubbed upon the affected part night and morning. W. LINIMENTUM OPII. Lond., Ed. Linimentum Saponis cum Opio *vcl Linimentum Anodynum. Dub. Liniment of Opium, Anodyne Liniment. "Take of Castile Soap six ounces; Opium an ounce and a half; Cam- phor three ounces; Oil of Rosemary six fluidrachms; Rectified Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate the Soap and Opium in the Spirit for three days; filter, add the Oil and Camphor, and agitate briskly." Ed. The London and Dublin Colleges merely mix their liniment of soap (Tinctura Saponis Camphorata, U S.) with tincture of opium ; the former, in the proportion of six measures of the liniment to two of the tincture; the latter, of four parts to three. This is commonly known by the name of anodyne liniment, and is em- ployed as an anodyne and gently rubefacient embrocation in sprains, bruises, and rheumatic and gouty pains. It differs from the camphorated tincture of soap only in containing opium, and is most conveniently prepared by extem- poraneously mixing that tincture with laudanum, as directed by the London and Dublin Colleges. W. LINIMENTUM SAPONIS CAMPHORATUM. U.S. Cam- phorated Soap Liniment. Opodeldoc. " Take of Common Soap three ounces ; Camphor an ounce ; Oil of Rose- mary, Oil of Origanum, each, a fluidrachm; Alcohol a junt. Digest the Soap with the Alcohol, by means of a sand-bath, till it is dissolved; then add the Camphor and Oils, and when they are dissolved, pour the liquor into broad-mouthed bottles. This Liniment has, when cold, the consistence of a soft ointment." U. S. This preparation differs from the common soap liniment ( Tinctura Saponis 1022 Linimenta.—Magnesia. part ii. Camphorata, U. S.) chiefly in being prepared with common white soap, made with animal fat, instead of Castile soap, which is made with olive oil. The former is peculiarly adapted to the purposes of this formula, in consequence of assuming, when its alcoholic solution cools, the consistence characteristic of the liniment. It is customary, after the solution of the soap has been effected, to pour the liquor into small wide-mouthed glass bottles, containing about four fluidounces, in which it solidifies into a soft, semitransparent, uniform, yellowish-white mass. This liniment melts with the heat of the body, and therefore becomes liquid when rubbed upon the skin. It is much used, under the name of opodeldoc, as an anodyne application in sprains, bruises, and rheumatic pains. W. LINIMENTUM SIMPLEX. Ed. Simple Liniment, " Take of Olive Oil four parts ; White Wax one part. Dissolve the Wax in the Oil with a gentle heat, and agitate well as the fused mass cools and concretes." Ed. This is little employed. It may be used for keeping the skin soft and smooth in cold weather. Off. Prep. Unguentum Zinci, Ed. W. LINIMENTUM TEREBINTHINA. U.S., Lond., Dub. Lini- mentum Terebinthinatum. Ed. Liniment of Turpentine. "Take of Oil of Turpentine half a pint; Resin Cerate apound. Add the Oil of Turpentine to the Cerate previously melted, and mix them." U. S., Dub. "Take of Soft Soap two ounces; Camphor an ounce; Oil of Turpentine sixteen fluidounces. Shake them together until they are mixed." Lond. "Take of Resinous Ointment four*ounces; Oil of Turpentine five fluid- ounces; Camphor half an ounce. Melt the ointment, and gradually mix with it the Camphor and Oil, till a uniform liniment be obtained." Ed, This preparation, made according to the U. S. and Dublin formulae, is the liniment originally proposed by Dr. Kentish, and subsequently so highly lauded as a remedy in burns and scalds. It should be applied as soon after the occurrence, of the accident as possible, and should be discontinued when the peculiar inflammation excited by the fire is removed. The best mode of application is to cover the burned or scalded surface with pledgets of patent lint saturated with the liniment. It should not be allowed to come in contact with the sound parts. This liniment may also be successfully applied in other cases of cutaneous inflammation requiring stimulation, as in certain conditions of erysipelas. The liniment of the London College, which has been substituted, in the last edition of their Pharmacopoeia, for the mixture of resin cerate and oil of turpentine, directed in the former edition, is a stimu- lating mixture, applicable wherever a powerful rubefacient impression is desired. W. MAGNESIA. Preparations of Magnesia. MAGNESIA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Magnesia. "Take of Carbonate of Magnesia any quantity. Put it into an earthen vessel, and expose it to a red heat for two hours, or till the carbonic acid is wholly expelled." U. S. " Take of Carbonate of Magnesia four ounces. Burn it for two hours in a strong fire." Lond. " Take any convenient quantity of Carbonate of Magnesia, expose it in a crucible to a full red heat for two hours, or till the powder, when suspended PART II. Magnesia. 1023 in water, presents no effervescence on the addition of muriatic acid. Preserve the product in well-closed bottles." Ed. " Take of Carbonate of Magnesia any quantify. Put it into a crucible, and subject it to a strong heat for two hours. When the Magnesia has be- come cool, preserve it in a glass vessel." Dub. By exposure to a red heat, the water and carbonic acid of the carbonate of magnesia are expelled, and the earth is obtained pure. According to Dr. Black, the carbonate loses seven-twelfths of its weight -by calcination. Brande says that the loss varies from 50 to 60 per cent, of which from 15 to 20 per cent, is water. About the close of the process the earth exhibits a luminous or phosphorescent appearance, which is said to be a good criterion of its freedom from carbonic acid. (Duncan.) A more certain indication, however, is the absence of effervescence when muriatic acid is added to a little of the magnesia, previously mixed with water. It is an error to suppose that a very intense heat is requisite in the calcination. The temperature of igni- tion is sufficient for the expulsion of the water and carbonic acid, and any in- crease serves only to render the magnesia harder, denser, less readily soluble in acids, and consequently less useful as a medicine. In order to ensure a pure product, care should be taken that the carbonate employed be free from lime. It should be rubbed to powder before being introduced into the pot or crucible; and, as in consequence of its levity it occupies a very large space, the plan has been proposed of moistening and compressing it in order to re- duce its bulk. The magnesia may thus be obtained of greater density; but this is an equivocal recommendation; and the French pharmaceutical writers direct that the vessels employed should be sufficiently large to contain a con- siderable quantity of the carbonate, without the necessity of resorting to compression. The officinal direction, to keep the magnesia, after it has been prepared, in well-stopped glass vessels, is founded on the fact that it absorbs carbonic acid and water from the air; but, as the absorption of the acid goes on very slowly, and that of water does not injure the preparation, the caution is often neglected in the shops. The great bulk of the earth renders its intro- duction into small bottles inconvenient. A four ounce bottle holds only about an ounce of the purest and finest magnesia. But its specific gravity is greatly increased by trituration; and four times the quantity may be thus got into the same space. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iii. 198.) The density of Henry's magnesia, which is at least four times that of the earth prepared in the ordinary way, has been ascribed to this cause. It has also been attributed to the influence of intense heat employed in the calcination. The conjecture has even been advanced, that this magnesia, which has enjoyed so great a popularity in England and this country, is prepared by precipita- ting a solution of sulphate of magnesia by caustic potassa; as the earth afforded by this plan is comparatively dense. It is asserted that the magne- sia, prepared from the carbonate procured by precipitating the sulphate of magnesia with carbonate of soda, is softer to the touch, and bears a closer resemblance to Henry's than that prepared from the ordinary carbonate. The fact is explained by the presence in common magnesia of a little sulphate of potassa, from which it is difficult entirely to free it in consequence of the sparing solubility of this salt, and of a portion of silica which originally existed in the carbonate of potassa employed to decompose the sulphate of magnesia, and of which the carbonate of soda is destitute. According to Mr. Richard Phillips, jun., if equivalent quantities of crystallized sulphate of magnesia and crystallized carbonate of soda be boiled together in water, the mixture evaporated to dryness, the residual salts calcined, and the sulphate of soda dissolved out by water, the magnesia obtained will be dense. (Am. Journ. <>t' Pharm., xvi. 118, from the Pharm. Journ.) It is said that if the heat 1024 Magnesia. PART II. is kept low during calcination the resulting magnesia is light, if high, it is dense. By packing the carbonate closely in the crucible, or by moistening and then compressing it strongly in a cloth, before calcination, a heavy mag- nesia is obtained. The advantages of Henry's magnesia, independently of the convenience of its less bulk, are its greater softness, and more ready mis- cibility with water. A preparation similar to Henry's is prepared by Mr. T. J. Husband, of Philadelphia, and sold under the name of Husband's Magnesia. Properties, dec. Magnesia is a very light, white, inodorous powder, of a feeble alkaline taste. Its sp. gr. is commonly stated at 2-3. It was deemed infusible, till melted by means of the compound blowpipe of Dr. Hare. Water sprinkled upon it is absorbed to the extent of about 18 per cent., but with scarcely any increase of temperature. It is almost insoluble, requiring, according to Dr. Fyfe, 5142 parts of water at 60°, and 36,000 parts of boil- ing water for solution. Water thus impregnated has no effect on vegetable colours; but magnesia itself produces a brown stain by contact with moistened turmeric paper. Magnesia is a metallic oxide, consisting of one equivalent of magnesium 12 and one of oxygen 8=20. Magnesium is a white, very bril- liant metal, resembling silver, malleable, fusible at a low temperature, and convertible into magnesia by the combined action of air and moisture. There is a hydrate of magnesia consisting of one equiv. of the earth and one of water. Magnesia forms with nitric and muriatic acids, salts which are solu- ble in alcohol and very deliquescent. It is precipitated from its saline solu- tions by the pure alkalies in the state of a hydrate, and by the carbonates of potassa and soda as a carbonate; but it is not precipitated by the alkaline bicarbonates, nor by common carbonate of ammonia. Magnesia is liable to contain, as impurities, carbonate of magnesia, lime, alumina, silica, and small quantities of the soluble salts employed or produced in the preparation of the carbonate from which it is procured. The presence of carbonate of magnesia is indicated by effervescence when the earth is dis- solved in muriatic acid. Lime, which is a frequent impurity, and imparts to the magnesia a more strongly alkaline and more disagreeable taste, is detected by oxalate of ammonia or bicarbonate of potassa. Neither of these salts dis- turbs a neutral solution of pure magnesia in a dilute acid; but if lime be present, both produce precipitates, the former of oxalate, the latter of carbon- ate of lime. As magnesia is completely dissolved by muriatic acid, silica and other impurities insoluble in that acid would be left behind. Alumina is in- dicated by the production of a precipitate, when ammonia is added in excess to a solution of fifty grains of magnesia in a fluidounce of muriatic acid. (Christison's Dispensatory.) If the magnesia contain a soluble sulphate or carbonate, from insufficient washing of the carbonate of magnesia from which it was prepared, chloride of barium will reveal it by producing a precipitate with water digested on the magnesia. Medical Properties and Uses. Magnesia is antacid and laxative; and is much employed, under the name of calcined magnesia, in dyspepsia, sick headache, gout, and other complaints attended with sour stomach and consti- pation. It is also a favourite remedy in the complaints of children, in which acidity of the primae viae is often a prominent symptom. Its antacid proper- ties render it very useful in gravel attended with an excessive secretion of uric acid. Its advantages over carbonate of magnesia are that it may be given in a smaller dose, and does not occasion flatulence. The dose as a laxative is from thirty grains to a drachm; as an antacid merely, or antilithic, from ten to thirty grains twice a day. When it meets with no acid, it is apt to linger in the stomach or bowels, and may in this case be followed by lemonade. It should be administered in water or milk, and should be thoroughly triturated so as to render the mixture uniform. If mixed with less than 14 or 15 times PART II. Magnesia.—Mellita. 1025 its weight of water, and allowed to stand for a day or two, magnesia is apt to form with the liquid a more or less concrete mass, owing to the production of a hydrate of the earth, and the solidification of a portion of the water. This change does not take place, or at least takes place much less readily, when magnesia already saturated with moisture is employed instead of that freshly calcined. It has been conjectured that anhydrous magnesia might prove inju- rious in the stomach by solidifying its liquid contents; and the earth which has become saturated with moisture by exposure to a damp air is preferably recom- mended. (Journ. de Pharm., Se ser., iv. 360, and v. 475.) Freshly precipi- tated hydrate of magnesia will serve as an antidote to arsenious acid, though less efficient than the hydrated peroxide of iron. Off. Prep. Trochisci Magnesiae, U. S.; Pulvis Rhei Compositus, Ed. W. MAGNESIA'SULPHAS PURUM. Dub. Pure Sulphate of Magnesia. • " Take of Commercial Sulphuric Acid twenty-five parts; Water one hun- dred parts; Carbonate of Magnesia twenty-four parts, or as much as may be sufficient to saturate the Acid. Mix the Sulphuric Acid and Water, and then gradually add the Carbonate of Magnesia. Lastly, evaporate the filtered liquor, so that crystals may form when it cools." Dub. As the sulphate of magnesia prepared in the large way is sufficiently pure for medical purposes, the above process is superfluous. W. MELLITA. Preparations of Honey. Honey is used in pharmacy chiefly as the vehicle of more active medicines. It is said to have this advantage over syrup, that its preparations are less apt to become candied; but, as it contains principles which disagree with the stomachs of many persons, and as its variable consistence prevents the same exact pre- cision in regard to proportion as is attainable with a solution of pure sugar, it is at present little employed. The preparations in which honey and vine- gar are combined are called Oxymels. Medicated honeys are of a proper consistence, if, when a small quantity, allowed to cool upon a plate, is divided by the edge of a spoon, the portions do not readily coalesce. A more accurate criterion, however, is their specific gravity, which should be 1-319 (35° B.) at ordinary temperatures, and 1-261 (30° B.) at the boiling point of water. W. MEL DESPUMATUM. U.S., Dub. Clarified Honey. "Take of Honey any quantity. Melt it by means of a water-bath, and then remove the scum." U. S., Dub. Honey, by the heat of the water-bath, becomes so fluid that the wax and other lighter impurities which it contains rise to the surface, and may be skimmed off; while the heavier substances which may have been accidentally or fraudulently added, such as sand or other earth, sink to the bottom. The following method of clarifying honey has been practised in France. Take of white honey 3000 parts; water 750 parts; carbonate of lime, powdered and washed, 96 parts. Mix them in a suitable vessel, and boil for three minutes, stirring constantly. Then add 96 parts of animal charcoal previously washed, heated to redness, powdered, and sifted, and boil for a few minutes. Lastly, add the whites of two eggs beat up with 500 parts of water, and bring the liquid to the boiling point. Withdraw the vessel from the fire, and, after the mixture has cooled for fifteen minutes, strain it through flannel, and re- 65 1026 Mellita. PART II. peat the straining till the liquid passes perfectly clear. Should it not have the proper consistence, it should he concentrated sufficiently by a quick boil- ing. The French Codex simply directs six pounds of white honey to be heated with three pounds of water, skimmed, concentrated to 30° B. while boiling hot, and then strained through flannel. The following process for clarifying common honey was proposed by M. Borde, and approved by the Society of Pharmacy at Paris. Take of common honey 5000 parts; vegetable charcoal, in powder, 320 parts; animal charcoal, in powder, 160 parts; nitric acid of 30° or 32° Baume 40 parts; water 320 parts. Rub the two kinds of charcoal, in a porcelain mortar, with the water and acid; then add the honey, and put the whole into a tinned pan. Place the vessel over the fire, and allow it to remain for eight or ten minutes with- out suffering it to boil; then add 1600 parts of milk in which the white of an egg has been beaten, and boil for four or five minutes. Remove the liquid from the fire, and pass it through a strainer in a warm place, repeating the straining if the first portions are not clear. Of the nitric acid employed in the process, a portion is saturated by the lime of the animal charcoal, and the remainder unites with the caseous matter of the milk, which it thus causes to coagulate; none remains in the honey. (Diet, des Drogues.) Honey clarified by these processes is as clear and colourless as syrup made with sugar, but still retains a peculiar flavour. It is less disposed to ferment than crude honey, and is said not to be so liable to produce griping pain when swallowed. Off. Prep. Confectio Aromatica, U S.; Confectio Opii, U. S. ; Confectio Rosae, U. S., Dub.; Conservae Rutae, Dub.; Mel Boracis, Dub.; Mel Praepa- ratum, U S.; Mel Rosse, U S., Dub.; Oxymel, Dub.; Oxymel Colchici, Dub.; Oxymel Scillae, U S., Dub.; Pilulae Ferri Carbonatis, U. S.; Tinc- tura Opii Camphorata, U S. W. MEL PRAPARATUM. U. S. Prepared Honey. "Take of Clarified Honey half a pint; Diluted Alcohol a pint; Prepared Chalk half an ounce. Having mixed the Honey and Diluted Alcohol, add the Prepared Chalk, and allow the mixture to stand for two hours, occasion- ally stirring it. Then heat it to ebullition, filter, and by means of a water- bath evaporate the clear liquor, so that when cold it may have the specific gravity 1-32." U.S. This process was intended to prepare honey, so as to fit it better for addi- tion to the salts of protoxide of iron, as well as to the protiodide and proto- chloride, in order to prevent the absorption of oxygen. The prepared chalk neutralizes any acid which it may contain, while impurities insoluble in diluted alcohol are left behind, and the honey is deprived of colour. Off. Prep. Liquor Ferri Iodidi, U. S. W. MEL BORACIS. Lond., Ed., Dub. Honey of Borax. " Take of Borax, in powder, a drachm; Honey [Clarified Honey, Dub.'] an ounce. Mix them." Lond,, Ed., Dub. This preparation might well be left to extemporaneous prescription. It is used in aphthous ulcerations of the mouth. "W. MEL ROSA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Honey of Roses. " Take of Red Roses two ounces; Clarified Honey two pints ; Boiling Water a pint and a half. Macerate the Roses in the Water for two hours, and strain; then add the Honey, and evaporate by means of a water-bath to the proper consistence. The specific gravity of the Honey of Roses should be 1-32." U. S. The London College macerates four ounces of dried red roses in two pints PART II. Mellita. 1027 and a half [Imperial measure] of boiling water for six hours; then strains, adds five pounds of honey, and evaporates by a water-bath to the proper con- sistence. The Edinburgh College, operating upon the same materials, in the same quantities, infuses the petals for six hours in the water, strains with ex- pression, allows the impurities to subside, decants the clear liquor, adds the honey, and evaporates, in the vapour-bath, to the consistence of syrup, re- moving the scum which forms. The Dublin process corresponds with the London, except that three wine pints of water are used instead of two and a half Imperial pints, and the scum which forms during the evaporation is di- rected to be removed. This preparation has the flavour of the rose with its slight astringency, and forms a pleasant addition to the gargles employed in inflammation and ulcera- tion of the mouth and throat. W. OXYMEL. Lond., Dub. Oxymel. "Take of Honey ten pounds; Acetic Acid a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Mix the Acid with the Honey previously heated." Lond. The Dublin College takes two jiounds of crude honey, and a pint of dis- tilled vinegar, and boils them to the consistence of syrup, removing the scum as it rises. This mixture of honey and vinegar forms a pleasant addition to gargles, and is sometimes used as a vehicle of expectorant medicines, and to impart flavour to drinks in febrile complaints. If it be prepared according to the London formula, care must be taken to employ the acetic acid of the strength directed by that College. W. OXYMEL COLCHICI. Dub. Oxymel of Colchicum. " Take of the fresh Bulb of Colchicum, cut into thin slices, an ounce; Dis- tilled Vinegar a pint; Clarified Honey two pounds. Macerate the Colcbicum with the Vinegar, in a glass vessel, for forty-eight hours. Strain the liquor, with strong expression, from the root, and add the Honey. Lastly, boil the mixture, frequently stirring it with a wooden spatula, to the consistence of a syrup." Dub. This preparation is seldom used in this country, and could not, indeed, be conveniently prepared, according to the above directions, as we have not the fresh bulbs. It is in no respect superior to the wine of colchicum, by which it has been superseded. The dose is a fluidrachm, repeated twice a day, and gradually increased till it produces the desired effect. W. OXYMEL CUPRI SUBACETATIS. Dub. Linimentum Aru- ginis. Lond. Oxymel of Subacetate of Copper. "Take of Verdigris in powder [Prepared Subacetate of Copper, Dub.~] an ounce; Vinegar [Distilled Vinegar, Dub.] seven fluidounces; Honey [Clari- fied Honey, Dub.] fourteen ounces. Dissolve the Verdigris in the Vinegar, and strain the solution through linen; then gradually add the Honey, and boil down to the proper consistence." Lond., Dub. This is an external stimulant and escharotic, and was formerly called mel ^Egyptiacum. It is employed, either undiluted or mixed with some mild ointment, to destroy fungous granulations, or to repress their growth. In the latter state, it is a useful stimulant to flabby, indolent, and ill-conditioned ulcers, and, largely diluted with water, has been used as a gargle in venereal ulcerations of the mouth and throat. It is sometimes also applied undiluted to those ulcers in the fauces, by means of a camel's-hair pencil. W. OXYMEL SCILLA. U.S., Lond., Dub. Oxymel of Squill "Take of Clarified Honey three pounds ; Vinegar of Squill two pints. Mix 1028 Mellita.—Misturse. PART II. them, and evaporate by means of a water-bath to the proper consistence. The specific gravity of the Oxymel of Squill should be 1-32." U. S. The London College takes three pounds of honey and a pint and a half [Imperial measure] of vinegar of squill; the Dublin, three pounds of clarified honey and two pints of vinegar of squill; both boil in a glass vessel, with a slow fire, to the proper consistence. This preparation has the virtues of squill, but is in no respect superior to the syrup. Prepared according to the directions of the London and Dublin Colleges, it would be very liable to be injured by heat. It is chiefly used as an expectorant in chronic catarrh, humoral asthma, hooping-cough, and gene- rally in those states of the pulmonary organs in wbich the bronchial tubes are loaded with a viscid mucus of difficult expectoration. The dose is from one to two fluidrachms. In large doses it is emetic, and as such may sometimes be given with advantage in infantile croup and catarrh. W. MISTURA. Mixtures. This term should be restricted, in the language of pharmacy, to those pre- parations in which insoluble substances, whether solid or liquid, are suspended in watery fluids by the intervention of gum Arabic, sugar, the yolk "of eggs, or other viscid matter. When the suspended substance is of an oleaginous nature, the mixture is sometimes called an emulsion. The object of these preparations is usually to facilitate the administration, to conceal the taste, or to obviate the nauseating effects of unpleasant medicines; and their perfection depends upon the intimacy with which the ingredients are blended. Some skill and care are requisite for the production of a uniform and perfect mix- ture. As a general rule, the body to be suspended should be thoroughly mixed by trituration with the substance intended to act as the intermedium, before the watery vehicle is added. In the case of the liquid balsams and oils, if gum Arabic be employed as the intermedium, it should be previously brought to the state of mucilage of the consistence directed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. The white of eggs is frequently ordered by physicians as the suspending substance; but it is inferior for this purpose to the yolk, or to gum Arabic. When the white is used it should be well beaten, and incorporated with the oleaginous or balsamic substance before the water is added.* Mix- tures are generally the objects of extemporaneous prescription; but a few have been deemed of sufficient importance to merit a place in the Pharmacopoeias. They should be prepared only when wanted for use. W. MISTURA ACACIA. Ed. Emulsio Arabica. Dub. Gum Arabic Mixture. Cum Arabic Emulsion. " Take of Mucilage [of Gum Arabic] three fluidounces; Sweet Almonds one ounce and two drachms; Pure Sugar five drachms; Water two pints [Im- perial measure]. Steep the Almonds in hot water and peel them; beat them to a smooth pulp in an earthenware or marble mortar, first with the Sugar, and then with the Mucilage; add the Water gradually, stirring constantly, then strain through linen or calico." Ed. "Take of Gum Arabic, in powder, two drachms; Sweet Almonds, blanched, Refined Sugar, each, half an ounce; Water a pint. Dissolve the Gum in the heated Water, and when the solution is almost cold, gradually pour it * For some good practical observations upon the preparation of mixtures, the reader is referred to a communication published in the Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, vol. iv. p. 11, by W. Hodgson, Jun. PART II. Misturse. 1029 upon the Almonds, previously well beaten with the Sugar, triturating at the same time so as to form an emulsion; then strain." Dub. This mixture is used as a demulcent in the dose of one or two fluidounces, or as a vehicle for various medicines in inflammatory affections of the bron- chial, alimentary, and urinary mucous membranes. W. MISTURA AMMONIACI. U.S., Lond., Dub. Ammoniac Mix- ture. " Take of Ammoniac two drachms; Water half a pint. Rub the Ammoniac with the Water gradually added, until they are thoroughly mixed." U. S. The London College takes five drachms of ammoniac, and a pint [Imperial measure] of water, and proceeds as above. The Dublin College directs a drachm of ammoniac to be rubbed with eight fluidounces of pennyroyal water, and the mixture to be strained through linen. In this mixture the insoluble part of the ammoniac is suspended by means of the gum, imparting a milky appearance to the preparation, which, from this circumstance, was formerly called lac ammoniaci or milk of ammoniac. The greater portion of the resin subsides upon standing. The mixture is slightly curdled by acids. The dose is from one to two tablespoonfuls. W. MISJURA AMYGDALA. U. S., Lond. Mistura Amygda- larum. Ed., Dub. Almond Mixture. Almond Emulsion. " Take of Sweet Almonds half an ounce ; Gum Arabic, in powder, half a drachm ; Sugar two drachms; Distilled Water eight fliddounces. Macerate the Almonds in water, and, having removed their external coat, beat them with the Gum Arabic and Sugar, in a marble mortar, till they are thoroughly mixed; then rub the mixture with the Distilled Water gradually added, and strain." U.S. "Take of Almond Confection two ounces and a half; Distilled Water a 2~>int [Imperial measure]. To the Almond Confection, while rubbing it, gra- dually add the Water, till they are mixed; then strain through linen." Lond. "Take of Conserve of Almonds two ounces; Water two pints [Imp. mea- sure]. Add the Water gradually to the Confection, triturating constantly; and then strain through linen or calico. Or, " Take of Sweet Almonds one ounce and two drachms ; Pure Sugar five drachms; Mucilage half a fluidounce; Water two pints [Imp. measure]. Steep the Almonds in hot water and peel them; and proceed as for the Mis- tura Acaciae." Ed. " Take of Sweet Almonds, blanched, an ounce and a half; Bitter Almonds two scruples ; Refined Sugar half an ounce ; Water tiro pints and a half. Triturate the Almonds with the Sugar, adding the Water by degrees, and strain." Dtib. Of the above modes of preparing the almond emulsion, we prefer that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which was very properly substituted, in the last edi- tion of that work, for the mixture made with almond confection directed in the previous edition. This confection very speedily spoils if kept; and it would be a very unnecessary complication of the process to prepare it each time that the emulsion might be wanted. The London and first Edinburgh processes are, therefore, objectionable. In the second process of the Edinburgh College, mucilage is employed instead of powdered gum Arabic, but the latter is pre- ferable, as less likely to have undergone change. The Dublin process is dis- tinguished by the use of bitter almonds, which, though in too small proportion for medicinal effect, impart a flavour which is not acceptable to all individuals, and should be left to the choice of the prescriber. The preparations, however, 1030 Misturse. PART II. of the different Pharmacopoeias are essentially the same. The gum Arabic in these formulae is introduced not so much for its demulcent properties as to assist in the suspension of the insoluble ingredients of the almonds. In the Mistura Acacioe above described it is the prominent ingredient. The same formula will answer for the preparation of an emulsion of bitter almonds, which may be preferred to the present when a slight influence of hydrocyanic acid is desired. The oleaginous matter of the almonds is suspended in the water by means of their albumen, gum, and sugar, forming a milky emulsion. When the almonds themselves are employed, as in the U. S. process, care should be taken to reduce them to the consistence of a paste previously to the addition of the water; and with each successive portion of fluid a uniform mixture should be formed before another portion is added. Common water, when not very impure, may be properly substituted for the distilled. Great care should be taken to select the almonds perfectly free from rancidity. The mixture is not permanent. Upon standing, the oil rises like thick cream to the surface, and the separation is effected more quickly by heat, alcohol, and the acids, which coagulate the albumen. It has a close analogy to milk in chemical re- lations as well as in appearance. The preparation, in warm weather, soon becomes sour, and unfit for use. The almond mixture has a bland taste, and may be used as an agreeable, nutritive demulcent in catarrhal and dysenteric affections, and irritation of the urinary passages. To be of service it must be freely employed. From two to eight fluidounces may be taken at once. It is occasionally employed as the vehicle of less agreeable medicines; but should not be used in connexion with any considerable quantity of tinctures, acidulous salts, or other substances con- taining an excess of acid. W. MISTURA ASSAFCETIDA. U.S.,Lond. Mistura Assjsfce- tid^e, Dub. Assafetida 3Iixture. " Take of Assafetida two drachms ; Water half a pint. Rub the Assafetida with the Water gradually added, until they are thoroughly mixed." U S. The London College directs five drachms of assafetida and a pint [Imperial measure] of water; the Dublin, one drachm of assafetida and eight fluidounces of pennyroyal water. This mixture, from its whiteness and opacity, is frequently called lac assa- fcetidae, or milk of assafetida. It is, as a general rule, the best form for the administration of this antispasmodic, being less stimulant than .the tincture, and more prompt in its action than the pill. Its excessively disagreeable smell and taste are, however, objections, which induce a frequent preference of the last-mentioned preparation. It is very often employed as an enema. The dose is from one to two tablespoonfuls frequently repeated. From two to four fluidounces may be given by the rectum. W. MISTURA CAMPHORA CUM MAGNESIA. Ed., Dub. Mixture of Camphor with Magnesia. " Take of Camphor twelve grains; Carbonate of Magnesia half a drachm; Water six ounces [fluidounces]. Triturate the Camphor with the Magnesia, adding the Water gradually, and mix." Dub. The Edinburgh College takes fen grains of camphor, twenty-five grains of carbonate of magnesia, and six fluidounces of water, and proceeds as above. This differs from the Aqua Camphoras of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, in which, though the camphor is dissolved by the intervention of carbonate of magnesia, the latter is afterwards separated by filtration. In the above mixture the car- bonate of magnesia is retained; and an anodyne, antacid, and laxative draught PART II. Misturse. 1031 is formed, which, though it may sometimes be given with advantage, hardly deserves a place among the officinal preparations.* W. MISTURA CASCARILLA COMPOSITA. Lond. Compound Mixture of Cascarilla. "Take of infusion of Cascarilla seventeen fluidounces; Vinegar of Squill a fluidounce; Compound Tincture of Camphor two fluidounces. Mix them." Lond. This mixture combines tonic, expectorant, and anodyne properties, and is said to have been employed advantageously in chronic bronchial inflamma- tion; but it would have been better left to extemporaneous prescription. The dose is from one to two fluidounces twice or thrice daily. W. MISTURA CREASOTI. Ed. Creasote Mixture. "Take of Creasote and Acetic Acid, of each, sixteen minims; Compound Spirit of Juniper and Syrup, of each, one fluidounce; AVater fourteen fluid- ounces. Mix the Creasote with the Acid, then gradually the Water, and lastly the Syrup and Spirit." Ed. The dose of this mixture is a fluidounce, containing a minim of creasote. MISTURA CRETA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Chalk Mixture. "Take of Prepared Chalk half an ounce; Sugar [refined], Gum Arabic in powder, each, two drachms; Cinnamon Water, Water, each, four fluid-^ ounces. Rub them together till they are thoroughly mixed." U S. The London College orders half an ounce of prepared chalk, three drachms of sugar, a fluidounce and a half of mixture (mucilage) of gum Arabic, and eighteen fluidounces of cinnamon water; the Dublin College, half an ounce of prepared chalk, three drachms of refined sugar, an ounce of mucilage of gum Arabic, and a pint of water. The Edinburgh College takes ten drachms of prepared chalk, five drachms of pure sugar, three fluidounces of mucilage of gum Arabic, two ounces (fluidounces) of spirit of cinnamon, and two Impe- rial pints of water; rubs the chalk, mucilage, and sugar together, and then adds gradually the water and spirit of cinnamon. This mixture is a convenient form for administering chalk, and is much employed in looseness of the bowels accompanied with acidity. Laudanum and kino or catechu are very often added to increase its astringency. The dose is a tablespoonful frequently repeated. W. MISTURA FERRI AROMATICA. Dub. Aromatic Mixture of Iron. " Take of Crown Bark, in coarse powder, an ounce ; Columbo Root, sliced, three drachms; Cloves, bruised, tico drachms; Iron filings half an ounce. Digest for three days in a close vessel, with occasional agitation, with such a quantity of Peppermint Water as will yield a mixture of twelve ounces after filtration; then add, of Compound Tincture of Cardamom three ounces; Tinc- ture of Orange Peel three drachms." Dub. * In the revision of this work, the interesting observations of Messrs. T. and H. Smith, of Edinburgh, in relation to the solubility of camphor in chloroform, and the practical application of this fact, came under our notice too late for insertion in their proper place under the head of camphor. According to these chemists, one fluidrachm of chloroform dissolves three drachms of camphor, and the solution thus made, if rubbed up with the yolk of one egg, and then mixed with water, forms an elegant emulsion, in which the camphor and chloroform are permanently suspended or dissolved. This property of chloroform gives us the opportunity of administering either of these important agents in an elegant form; one or the other being made to predominate in the mixture, according to the effects desired. 1032 Misturse. part ii. This is an aromatic infusion of Peruvian bark and columbo, and has not the slightest claim to the title given it in the Pharmacopceia; as it contains but a very small proportion of iron, and that in a state of solution, not of mixture. In consequence of the action of some of the vegetable principles upon the filings, enough of the metal is taken up to impart a greenish-black colour to the liquor; but the quantity is not appreciable, as the filings seem to be scarcely diminished by the process. The preparation may be given as a tonic in the dose of one or two fluidounces. W. MISTURA FERRI COMPOSITA. U. S, Lond., Ed., Dub. Compound Mixture of Iron. "Take of Myrrh, a drachm; Carbonate of Potassa twenty-five grains; Rose Water seven fluidounces and a half; Sulphate of Iron, in powder, a scruple; Spirit of Lavender half a fluidounce; Sugar [refined] a drachm. Rub the Myrrh with the Rose Water gradually added; then mix with these the Spirit of Lavender, Sugar, and Carbonate of Potassa, and lastly, the Sul- phate of Iron. Pour the mixture immediately into a glass bottle, which is to be well stopped." U. S. "Take of Myrrh, in powder, two drachms; Carbonate of Potassa a drachm; Rose Water eighteen fluidounces [Imperial measure]; Sulphate of Iron, in powder, tico scruples and a half; Spirit of Nutmeg a fluidounce; Sugar two drachms. Rub the Myrrh with the Spirit of Nutmeg and Carbo- nate of Potassa; and to these, while rubbing, add first the Rose Water with the Sugar, and then the Sulphate of Iron. Put the mixture immediately into a suitable glass vessel, and stop it." Lond. The Edinburgh process differs from the London only in using the myrrh bruised, and the sulphate of iron in coarse powder. The Dublin College takes a drachm of myrrh, twenty five grains of carbonate of potassa, seven ounces and a half of rose water, a scruple of sulphate of iron, half an ounce of spirit of nutmeg, and a drachm of refined sugar; and proceeds as directed by the London College. This is very nearly the same with the celebrated tonic or antihectic myrrh mixture of Dr. Griffith. The sulphate of iron is decomposed by the carbonate of potassa, with the production of sulphate of potassa and carbonate of pro- toxide of iron; while the excess of the alkaline carbonate forms a saponaceous compound with the myrrh. The mixture is at first of a greenish colour, which it loses upon exposure to the air, in consequence of the conversion of the pro- toxide of iron of the carbonate into the red or sesquioxide. It may, how- ever, be kept for some time without change, if the vessel in which it is con- tained be well closed; but the best plan is to prepare it only when it is wanted for use. The sugar contained in it probably contributes somewhat to retard the further oxidation of the protoxide of iron, and if considerably increased in amount would act still more efficiently. The finest pieces of myrrh in lump should be selected, and rubbed down for the occasion with a little of the rose water; as the powdered myrrh of the shops is often impure, and does not make a good mixture. This mixture is a good tonic in debility of the digestive organs, especially when attended with derangement of the menstrual function. Hence it is used with advantage in chlorosis and hysterical affections. It has been also much employed in the hectic fever of phthisis and chronic catarrh. It is contra- indicated by the existence of inflammation of the gastric mucous membrane. The dose is one or two fluidounces two or three times a day. W. part ii. Misturse.—Morphia. 1033 MISTURA GENTIANA COMPOSITA. Lond. Compound Mixture of Cfentian. " Take of Compound Infusion of Gentian twelve fluidounces; Compound Infusion of Senna six fluidounces; Compound Tincture of Cardamom two fluidounces. Mix them." Lond. We can discover no propriety in making such formulae as the above offi- cinal. Numerous combinations prescribed every day by physicians are quite as much entitled to a place in the Pharmacopoeia. The dose is one or two fluidounces. W. MISTURA GUAIACI. Lond., Ed. Guaiac Mixture. " Take of Guaiacum Resin three drachms; Sugar half an ounce ; Mixture of Gum Arabic half a fluidounce; Cinnamon Water nineteen fluidounces. Rub the Guaiacum Resin with the Sugar, then with the Mixture of Gum Arabic, and to these, while rubbing, add gradually the Cinnamon Water." Land. The Edinburgh process differs only in using an additional half fluidounce of cinnamon water. From one to three tablespoonfuls of this mixture may be given for a dose, and repeated two or three times a day, or more frequently. W. MISTURA MOSCHI. Lond. Musk Mixture. " Take of Musk, Gum Arabic in powder, Sugar, each, three drachms ; Rose Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Rub the Musk with the Sugar, then with the Gum, adding gradually the Rose Water." Lond, The musk should be thoroughly rubbed with the gum and sugar before the addition of the water. The mixture will be more permanent if made with twice the quantity of gum directed. The dose is a fluidounce. W. MISTURA SCAMMONII. Ed. Scammony Mixture. " Take of Resin of Scammony seven grains; unskimmed Milk three fluid- ounces. Triturate the Resin with a little of the Milk, and gradually with the rest of it till a uniform emulsion is formed." Ed. This Edinburgh officinal is an imitation of a mixture recommended by Planche. The resin of scammony mixes admirably with the vehicle, and forms an emulsion scarcely distinguishable in appearance or taste from rich milk. Of course, it should be prepared only when wanted for immediate use. The whole is to be taken for a dose. W. MISTURA SPIRITUS VINI GALLICI. Lond. Brandy Mixture. "Take of Brandy, Cinnamon Water, each, four fluidounces; the yolks of two Eggs; Sugar [refined] half an ounce; Oil of Cinnamon two minims. Mix them." Lond, A stimulant and nutritive draught, applicable to the sinking stage of low forms of fever, but scarcely entitled to a place in the Pharmacopoeia. W. MORPHIA. Preparations of Morphia. MORPHIA. U.S., Lond. Morphia. " Take of Opium, sliced, a pound; Distilled Water, Alcohol, each, a sujfi- cient quantity; Solution of Ammonia six fluidounces. Macerate the Opium with four pints of Distilled Water for twenty-four hours, and, having worked 1034 Morphia. part ii. it with the hand, digest for twenty-four hours, and strain. In like manner, macerate the residue twice successively with Distilled Water, and strain. Mix the infusions, evaporate to six pints, and filter; then add first five pints of Alcohol, and afterwards three fluidounces of the Solution of Ammonia, previously mixed with half a pint of Alcohol. After twenty-four hours, pour in the remainder of the Solution of Ammonia, mixed, as before, with half a pint of Alcohol; and set the liquor aside for twenty-four hours, that crystals may form. To purify these, boil them with two pints of Alcohol till they are dissolved, filter the solution, while hot, through Animal Charcoal, and set it aside to crystallize." U S. " Take of Hydrochlorate [Muriate] of Morphia an ounce; Solution of Am- monia five fluidrachms; Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. To the Solution of Ammonia, with an ounce of Distilled Water, add the Hydrochlo- rate of Morphia previously dissolved in a pint of the Water, shaking them together. Wash the precipitate with distilled water, and dry it with a gentle heat." Lond. The London process consists in a simple decomposition of the muriate of morphia by means of ammonia, which takes the muriatic acid and remains in solution as muriate of ammonia, while the morphia, being insoluble, is depo- sited. The process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia will be better understood by a previous acquaintance with the properties and chemical relations of the sub- stance in question. Morphia crystallizes from alcohol in the form of small, colourless, shining crystals. It is inodorous and bitter. Exposed to a moderate heat it loses its water of crystallization and the crystalline form, becoming white and opaque. At a higher temperature it melts, forming a yellowish liquid, which becomes white and crystalline upon cooling. Heated in the open air it burns with a bright flame, and at a red heat is wholly dissipated. It is insoluble or nearly so in cold water, soluble in rather less than 100 parts of water at 212°, slightly soluble in cold alcohol, and freely so in boiling alcohol, which deposits it upon cooling. It is dissolved also by the fixed and volatile oils, but very slightly if at all by ether. Its solution restores the blue colour of litmus paper red- dened by acids, and turns the yellow of turmeric to brown. With the acids it forms salts, which are generally soluble, and are decomposed by the alkalies. The solutions of potassa and soda are also capable of dissolving morphia, which is precipitated slowly on exposure to the air, in consequence of the ab- sorption of carbonic acid. Solution of ammonia has to a certain extent the same solvent power; and hence the necessity, in precipitating morphia by this alkali, not to employ it in great excess. Morphia and its salts, by the con- tact of nitric acid, assume a blood-red colour, which ultimately changes to yel- low. When added to a solution of iodic acid, or an acidulous iodate, they redden the liquid and set iodine free. (Serullas.) They assume a fine blue colour with the sesquichloride of iron, and the salts of the sesquioxide; at least this is true of morphia, its acetate and oxalate; and the same effect will be produced by the other salts, if previously decomposed by an alkali. Water, acids, and alkalies, added in large quantity to the blue compound formed, de- stroy its colour. According to Pelletier, however, there occasionally exists in opium a principle which he called pseudomorphia, which becomes red under the action of nitric acid, and changes the salts of sesquioxide of iron blue, and yet is destitute of poisonous properties; so that the occurrence of these phe- nomena, in any medico-legal case, cannot be considered as certain evidence of the presence of morphia. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 77.) The ter- chloride of gold precipitates morphia first yellow, then bluish, and lastly violet. (Lavocque and Thibierge.) Morphia is precipitated from its solutions by PART II. Morphia. 1035 potassa or soda, and redissolved by an excess of the alkali. Infusions of galls and other vegetable substances containing tannic acid precipitate morphia in the state of a tannate, which is soluble in acetic acid; but, according to Du- blanc, the alkali is not precipitated by pure gallic acid. If ammonia be added to a mixture of the solutions of chlorine and morphia, a dark-brown colour is produced, which is destroyed by a further addition of chlorine. The propor- tion of the ingredients of morphia is somewhat differently given by different writers. According to the most recent authorities, anhydrous morphia con- sists of one equiv. of nitrogen 14, thirty-five of carbon 210, twenty of hydro- gen 20, and six of oxygen, 48=292, to which in the crystals are added two eqs. of water 18, or about 5-8 per cent. Various processes for preparing morphia have been employed. In most of them the morphia is extracted from opium by maceration with water either pure or acidulated, is then precipitated by ammonia, and afterwards purified by the agency of alcohol, or by repeated solution in a dilute acid and precipi- tation. According to another plan, the morphia is removed from the infusion of opium by means of double decomposition, and obtained first in the form of a muriate, from which the alkali is separated by solution and precipitation. The former of these modes of proceeding will be noticed here, the latter under the head of muriate of morphia. Serturner, the discoverer of morphia, made an infusion of opium in distilled water, precipitated the morphia by ammonia in excess, dissolved the precipitate in dilute sulphuric acid, precipitated anew by ammonia, and purified by solu- tion in boiling alcohol, and crystallization. The process adopted, in the French Codex is a modification of that of Ser- tiirner. It is as follows. "Take of opium 1000 parts, solution of ammonia a sufficient quantity. Exhaust the opium, by means of cold water, of all its parts soluble in this menstruum. For this purpose, it is sufficient to treat the opium, four times consecutively, with ten parts of water to one of the drug, provided care be taken to macerate the opium for some hours, and to work it with the hands. Filter the liquors, and evaporate them to a quarter of their volume. Then add sufficient ammonia to render the liquor very sensibly alka- line. Boil for some minutes, always maintaining a slight excess of ammonia. Upon cooling, the morphia, impure and much coloured, will be precipitated in granular crystals, which are to be washed with cold water. Reduce this co- loured morphia to powder, macerate it for twelve hours in alcohol of 24° Cartier (sp. gr. about 0-900); then decant the alcoholic liquid; dissolve the residuary morphia, already in great measure deprived of colour by the cold alcohol, in boiling alcohol of 33° Cartier (sp. gr. about 0-850); add to the solution a little animal charcoal, and filter. Upon cooling, the morphia crystallizes in colour- less needles. In this state the morphia always retains some narcotina, to free it from which, boil it with sulphuric ether in a matrass with a long neck sur- mounted by a refrigerator." The process of the U. S. Pharmacopceia is an improvement upon the above, and is essentially the same with that of Dr. Edward Staples, published in the Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, vol. i. p. 15. Without re- peating a description of the process, we shall make such remarks upon its several steps, as appear to us likely to be of practical advantage. The employ- ment of water as the solvent is justified by the almost universal practice. It is true that dilute acetic acid has sometimes been employed, and Vogel states that the product thus obtained is much greater than when water alone is used. But when the opium is properly comminuted, either by being reduced to a coarse powder when dry, or by being finely sliced, in its ordinary state, water alone will be found sufficiently to extract the morphia, by a protracted mace- 1036 Morphia. PART II. ration or digestion in successive portions of water, assisted by kneading, as directed in the Pharmacopoeia. The acids have this disadvantage, that they dissolve more of the narcotina than pure water, and thus render tbe ultimate product more impure; for the narcotina which is originally taken up continues associated with the morphia in all the subsequent steps of the process. It has been proposed to expose the opium to fermentation with water and yeast, in order to facilitate the extraction of the morphia. By this plan M. Blondeau succeeded in procuring more of the alkaline principle than he could obtain by the ordinary mode; and his results were confirmed by the experiments of MM. Robiquet and Guibourt. According to these latter chemists, no alcohol is pro- duced during the fermentation, which appears to act merely by disengaging the morphia from the combinations in which it naturally exists, and which tend to counteract the solvent power of the menstruum. Alcohol was proposed as the solvent by M. Guillermond, but is liable to the objection that it dissolves also the resin, a portion of which is afterwards precipitated with the morphia and embarrasses the process. Much of the resin, however, may be separated by distilling most of the alcohol from the tincture, and then adding water. The resin is precipitated, and the liquor may now be treated in the same manner as the aqueous infusion. On the whole, however, the officinal mode of extraction will probably be found most satisfactory; and Mohr states that opium thus exhausted yields no more morphia even to muriatic acid; but he recommends that each maceration should be followed by strong expression. The infusion of opium having been prepared, the next object is to decompose the meconate or other salt of morphia contained in it. For this purpose solution of am- monia is added, which seizes the acid, and precipitates the vegetable alkali; but much colouring matter is thrown down along with the latter, occasioning some trouble to separate it, unless measures are taken to obviate this effect. The object is gained by mixing the infusion with alcohol, previously to the ad- dition of the ammonia, and by employing the solution of ammonia itself in con- nexion with alcohol, as directed in the Pharmacopoeia. This is the peculiarity and chief merit of the process of Dr. Staples. By the presence of the alcohol in all parts of the liquor, the colouring matter is dissolved as soon as it is sepa- rated by the ammonia, and the morphia is thus precipitated in a much purer state. The advantage of adding the ammonia in separate portions is, that the morphia, being thus more slowly disengaged, can be more completely deprived of its impurities by the alcohol of the mixture, than if the whole were liberated at once. It is necessary to be careful that the ammonia be not in great excess; as it has the property, under these circumstances, of dissolving the morphia in some degree, and will therefore lessen the product, while waste is incurred by its own unnecessary consumption. Very little more should be added than is sufficient to saturate the acid present. The solution of ammonia of the shops is often much below the officinal standard, and this should always be attended to in the process. Alcohol is mixed with the ammonia before it is added, in order that every particle of the separated morphia may come in contact with the particles of this fluid, and thus have the opportunity of being deprived of colouring matter. The crystals of morphia obtained by this first operation have a light yellowish colour, and are much purer than when no alcohol is added to the infusion before the precipitation by ammonia. According to Dr. Staples, opium yields from 10 to 12 J per cent, of these crystals. Their puri- fication by solution in boiling alcohol, is the concluding step of the operation. The liquid, on cooling, deposits the morphia in a crystalline state and nearly free from colour. As cold alcohol retains a portion of the morphia in solution, it should not be employed in too large a quantity. Alcohol somewhat reduced by water, is preferable to the highly rectified spirit; as it is less capable of PART II. Morphia. 1037 holding the morphia in solution when cold. It is sufficiently strong for the purpose at 25° Baume' (sp. gr. 0-9032). The impure morphia remaining in the alcohol may be obtained by distilling off the latter, and when sufficiently accumulated may be purified by a separate operation. The crystals of morphia may also be purified by solution in dilute sulphuric acid, digestion with animal charcoal deprived of earthy matter, filtration, and precipitation by ammonia. If alcohol be added to the solution previously to the ammonia, the digestion with animal charcoal may be dispensed with, as the alcohol retains the colour- ing matter. Morphia procured in this way always contains narcotina, from which it may be freed by ether, as directed in the French Codex process, or in some of the modes hereafter to be indicated. Magnesia was employed by Robiquet instead of ammonia. To the solution obtained by macerating opium in water, he added magnesia in the proportion of 5 parts to 100 of the opium used; collected the precipitate on a filter; and, having washed it with water and allowed it to dry, removed it from the filter, powdered it, and digested it repeatedly in alcohol of 22° Baume, until this liquid ceased to extract anything. The colouring matter being thus removed, the residue was treated with successive portions of boiling alcohol, which dis- solved the morphia, and, being filtered and allowed to cool, deposited it in crystals. The mother liquors afforded a fresh supply by evaporation at a low temperature. If still coloured, the morphia was purified by boiling it with alcohol and animal charcoal, filtering the liquid while hot, and allowing it to crystallize. But the process of Robiquet was soon abandoned, as it was found to occupy more time, to require a greater consumption of alcohol, and to be attended with a greater loss of morphia in consequence of the previous washing, than the processes in which ammonia was employed as the precipitant. A process for extracting morphia without the employment of alcohol was devised by MM. Henry, Jun., and Plisson. The opium was exhausted by water acidulated with muriatic acid; the resulting solution was sufficiently concentrated, then filtered, and decomposed by ammonia; the precipitate was washed and treated with muriatic acid to saturation; and the muriatic solu- tion was boiled with animal charcoal, filtered, and evaporated to the point of crystallization. The crystals of muriate of morphia thus obtained were pressed, purified by repeated solution and crystallization, and finally decom- posed by ammonia. (Journ. de Chim. Med., Mars, 1828.) More recently, Mohr has proposed a process founded upon the solubility of morphia in water mixed with lime, which he recommends highly as the short- est and easiest method of procuring the alkali, without the use of alcohol, and without the possibility of contamination from narcotina. Opium is three or four times successively macerated with three parts of water, and each time strongly expressed. The liquors are then added to a boiling hot milk of lime, containing a quantity of lime equal to about a sixth or a quarter of the opium used; and the mixture is boiled for a few minutes. It is then strained through linen, and the residue washed with boiling water and expressed. The whole of the narcotina is left behind, as not a trace of it can be discovered in the fil- tered liquor. The liquor thus obtained is evaporated till reduced to about double the weight of the opium, then quickly filtered through paper, and heated to ebullition. Muriate of ammonia is now added to it in the propor- tion of 1 part to 16 of the opium used; and the morphia is abundantly pre- cipitated. The use of animal charcoal is unnecessary in the process, as the lime acts even more powerfully as a decolorizing agent. The crystallized morphia obtained is somewhat coloured, but may be rendered quite pure by solution in dilute muriatic acid, boiling with milk of lime, filtration, and pre- 1038 Morphia. PART II. cipitation by muriate of ammonia. (Aimed, der Pharm., xxxv. 119, and Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 60.) Various other processes, or modifications of those above described, have been proposed; but, for the preparation of small quantities of morphia by the apothecary, none are probably better adapted than that of the U. S. Pharma- copoeia, unless indeed the plan of Mohr, should be found to equal the repre- sentations in its favour. It has been already stated that morphia, obtained in the ordinary manner, contains a considerable proportion of narcotina. It is highly probable that this ingredient exercises no influence, either beneficial or injurious, upon the operation of the morphia; but, as the contrary has been supposed, various methods have been employed for separating it. The simplest and easiest is to submit the mixture to the action of sulphuric ether, which dissolves the nar- cotina and leaves the morphia. The agency of acetic acid may also be resorted to. Distilled vinegar, or diluted acetic acid of the same strength, will dissolve the morphia and leave the narcotina, and the former may be recovered from the acetic solution by saturating the acid with ammonia. Another mode is to dissolve the mixed bases in strong acetic acid (of 7° Baume, or sp. gr. 1-0511, for example), and expose the solution to heat. The narcotina is deposited, and the morphia, remaining in solution, may be precipitated by diluting the liquid and adding ammonia. (See Journ. de Pharm,, xvii. p. 640.) Witt- stock advises one of the following methods. Dissolve the impure morphia in dilute muriatic acid, evaporate to the point of crystallization, and strongly ex- press the crystals, which consist solely of the muriate of morphia, the narco- tina being retained in the mother waters:—or saturate the muriatic solution with common salt, which will render the liquor milky, and cause the narcotina to separate after some days; then precipitate the morphia by ammonia:—or pour into the diluted muriatic solution a weak ley of caustic potassa, which, if in slight excess, will dissolve the morphia at the moment of its separation, while the narcotina is precipitated; then immediately filter the liquor, and separate the morphia by neutralizing the alkali. If the potassa be in con- siderable excess a small portion of the narcotina is redissolved. (Berzelius, Traite de Chimie.) Mohr recommends to dissolve the morphia in dilute muriatic acid, and to boil the solution with lime, which throws down the nar- cotina and holds the morphia dissolved. The liquid being filtered yields the morphia upon the addition of sal ammoniac. (Annal. der Pharm., xxv. 123.) The proportion of pure morphia which Turkey opium is capable of affording, varies from nine per cent, or less, to fourteen per cent., according to the quality of the drug; but much less than the least quantity mentioned is often obtained, in consequence of the incomplete exhaustion of the opium, or the loss in the process for preparing it. Medical Properties. There can be no doubt that morphia is the chief, if not the exclusive narcotic principle of opium, from which, however, it differs somewhat in its mode of action. Whether the difference arises from the pecu- liar state of combination in which morphia exists in opium, or from other narcotic principles being associated with it, has not been determined; but the former would seem to be the probable cause, from the circumstance that, long before the discovery of this alkali, preparations of opium were habitually used, in which the properties of the medicine were somewhat similarly modified by the agency of vinegar, lemon-juice, or other vegetable acid. In consequence of its insolubility in water, morphia in its pure state is less certain in its effects than some of its saline compounds; as the mode and degree of its action must, in some measure, depend on the presence or absence of acid in the sto- mach, and perhaps on the peculiar character of the acid. Its salts are there- PART II. Morphia. 1039 fore always preferred. The acetate, sulphate, and muriate have been em- ployed. Between these there is a great similarity of action, and what may be said of one, in regard to its therapeutical effects, will equally apply to the others. They have the anodyne, soporific, and diaphoretic properties of opium; but are less stimulant, less disposed to constipate the bowels, and less apt to leave behind them headache, nausea, or other unpleasant effect. They are usually also more acceptable to the irritated stomach, and will often be re- tained, when opium or its tincture would be rejected. They are applicable to all cases where the object is to relieve pain, quiet restlessness, promote sleep, or allay nervous irritation in any shape; but are less efficient than opium in the suppression of morbid discharges, and as stimulants in low forms of dis- ease. We have found them especially useful in the mania arising from intem- perance. A great advantage which they possess is the convenience of their external application to blistered surfaces, and the certainty of their effects when thus applied. In cases which do not admit of the internal use of opium or its preparations, the acetate or sulphate of morphia, sprinkled, in triple the ordinary dose, upon a blistered surface denuded of the cuticle, will be found to exercise upon the system all the influence it is capable of exerting when taken into the stomach. Applied in this manner, these salts are peculiarly useful in relieving violent neuralgic pains, and controlling obstinate sickness of the stomach. When intended to act on the system through the medium of the skin, they should be applied preferably to the epigastrium; when to act locally, as near the affected part as possible. When given in doses nearly, but not quite sufficient to produce sleep, they sometimes give rise to a very troublesome condition of the brain, amounting almost to delirium; but this always subsides spontaneously, or vanishes immediately upon the increase of the dose. In over-doses, morphia and its salts produce the symptoms of narcotic poisons, though not perhaps in the same degree with a quantity of opium, equivalent in anodyne effect. The toxicological treatment is precisely the same as in the case of laudanum. (See Opium.) Strong coffee has been employed with great apparent advantage as an antidote. As the proportion of acid necessary to neutralize morphia is very small, the dose of the alkali is the same as that of its salts. One-sixth of a grain may be considered equivalent to a grain of opium of the medium strength. Off. Prep. Morphiae Acetas, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Morphiae Murias, U. S.; Morphiae Sulphas, U. S. W. MORPHIA ACETAS. U.S., Lond., Ed. Acetate of Morphia. " Take of Morphia, in powder, freed from narcotina by boiling with Sul- phuric Ether, an ounce; Distilled Water half a pint; Acetic Acid a sufficient quantity. Mix the Morphia with the Water; then carefully drop in the Acid, constantly stirring, until the Morphia is saturated and dissolved. Eva- porate the solution, by means of a water-bath, to the consistence of syrup. Lastly, dry the Acetate with a gentle heat, and rub it into powder." U S. " Take of Morphia six drachms; Acetic Acid three fluidrachms; Distilled Water four fluidounces. Mix the Acid with the Water, and pour the mix- ture upon the Morphia to saturation. Evaporate the solution with a gentle heat, so that crystals may form." Lond. "Take of Muriate of Morphia any convenient quantity. Dissolve it in fourteen times its weight of warm Water, and when the solution is cool, add Aqua Ammoniae gradually and with constant agitation until there is a per- manent but faint odour of ammonia in the fluid. Collect the precipitate on a calico filter, wash it moderately with cold water, and dissolve it by means 1040 Morphia. PART II. of a slight excess of Pyroligneous Acid [acetic acid, sp. gr. 1-034] in twelve parts of warm Water for every part of Muriate of Morphia that was used. Concentrate the solution over the vapour-bath and set it aside to crystallize. Drain and squeeze the crystals, and dry them with a gentle heat. More Ace- tate of Morphia may be obtained on concentrating the mother liquor." Ed. In all these processes, morphia is saturated with acetic acid; in the first two it is taken already prepared, in the last it is procured by the decompo- sition of the muriate by means of ammonia. Acetic acid is employed in pre- ference to vinegar for saturating the morphia, because it can leave no impurity in the resulting salt. The solution of the morphia in the water is an indica- tion that it is saturated. A small excess of acid is attended with no inconve- nience, as it is subsequently driven off by the heat. Care is requisite not to employ too great a heat in the evaporation; as the acetate is readily decom- posed, a portion of the acetic acid escaping, and leaving an equivalent portion of uncombined morphia. With attention to arrest the evaporation at a certain point, the acetate may be obtained in the state of crystals; but the crystal- lization is attended with some difficulty, and evaporation to dryness is almost universally preferred. Some recommend to dissolve the morphia in boiling alcohol, instead of suspending it in water, previously to the addition of the acetic acid. A less heat is thus required in the evaporation, and impurities in the morphia may often be detected, as they are apt to be insoluble in alcohol. To ascertain, in this case, whether the morphia is saturated, it is necessary to employ litmus paper, the blue colour of which should not be restored, if previously reddened by an acid. If the morphia used in preparing the acetate contain narcotina, it will be best to employ as the solvent distilled vinegar, or diluted acetic acid of the same strength, and to favour its solvent power by the application of heat. Under these circumstances it dissolves only the morphia, leaving the narcotina nearly or quite untouched. (Hodgson, Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., v. 35.) Acetate of morphia crystallizes in the form of slender needles united in fasciculi. It is readily dissolved by water, and less easily by alcohol. As ordinarily obtained, however, by evaporation to dryness, it is not entirely soluble in water, a portion of it being uncombined morphia. To render it soluble, all that is necessary is to add a little distilled vinegar. The Edinburgh College gives the following mode of testing its purity: " One hundred measures of a solution of ten grains in half a fluidounce of water and five minims of acetic acid, heated'near to 212°, and decomposed by a faint excess of ammonia, yield by agitation a precipitate which in 24 hours occupies 15-5 measures of the liquid." From an eighth to a quarter of a grain may be given for a dose, and re- peated, if necessary, in order to obtain the anodyne and soporific effect of the medicine. One-sixth of a grain is about equivalent to a grain of opium. It may be given in pill or solution. It is frequently employed externally, sprinkled on blistered surfaces, to obtain its effects upon the system. Vr. MORPHIA MURIAS. U.S., Ed. Morphia Hydrochloras. Lond. Muriate of Morphia. Hydrochlorate of Morphia. "Take of Morphia, in powder, an ounce; Distilled Water Jialf a pint; Muriatic Acid a sufficient quantity. Mix the Morphia with the Water; then carefully drop in the Acid, constantly stirring, till the Morphia is saturated and dissolved. Evaporate the solution by means of a water-bath, so that it may crystallize upon cooling. Dry the crystals upon bibulous paper." U. S. " Take of Opium, sliced, a pound; Crystals of Chloride of Lead two ounces, or a sufficient quantity; Purified Animal Charcoal three ounces and a half; PART II. Morphia. 1041 Hydrochloric [Muriatic] Acid, Distilled Water, Solution of Ammonia, each, a sufficient quantity. Macerate the Opium, for thirty hours, in four pints [Imperial measure] of Distilled Water, and bruise it; then digest it for twenty hours, and press it. Macerate the residue a second and a third time in Water, so that it may be deprived of taste, and as often bruise and press it. Mix the liquors, and evaporate them with a heat of 140° to the consist- ence of syrup. Then add three pints of Distilled Water, and, when all the dregs have subsided, pour off the supernatant liquor. To this add gradually two ounces of Chloride of Lead, or a sufficient quantity, previously dissolved in four pints of boiling Distilled Water, until nothing more is thrown down. Pour off the liquor, and wash the residue frequently with Distilled Water. Then evaporate the mixed liquors, as before, with a gentle heat, and set them aside to crystallize. Press the crystals in a linen cloth, then dissolve them in a pint of Distilled Water, and, having digested with an ounce and a half of Animal Charcoal, at 120°, filter the solution. Finally, having washed the charcoal, cautiously evaporate the liquors, in order to obtain pure crystals. To the liquor, poured off from the crystals first separated, add a pint of Water, and gradually drop in, occasionally shaking, sufficient Solution of Ammonia to precipitate all the Morphia, To this, washed with Distilled Water, add Hydrochloric Acid so as to saturate it; then digest with two ounces of Animal Charcoal, and filter. Lastly, having thoroughly washed the Charcoal, cau- tiously evaporate the liquors, so as to obtain pure crystals." Lond. "Take of Opium twenty ounces; Water eight pints [Imperial measure]; Muriate of Lime [chloride of calcium] one ounce, or a slight excess. Macerate the Opium in fragments for twenty-four hours in two pints of the Water; and separate the infusion, squeezing well the residue. Repeat the maceration suc- cessively with two pints more of the Water till the whole is made use of. Concentrate the whole infusions over the vapour-bath to one pint, and add the Muriate of Lime dissolved in four fluidounces of Water. Set the whole aside to settle; pour off the liquid; wash the sediment with a little water, adding the washings to the liquid. Evaporate the liquid sufficiently in the vapour-bath for it to solidify on cooling. Subject the cooled mass to very strong pressure in a cloth; redissolve the cake in a sufficiency of warm dis- tilled water; add a little fine powder of white marble, and filter; acidulate the filtered fluid with a very little muriatic acid; and concentrate a second time in the vapour-bath for crystallization. Subject the crystals again to very strong pressure in a cloth. Repeat the process of solution, clarification by marble and muriatic acid, concentration, and crystallization, until a snow-white mass be obtained. " On the small scale trouble and loss are saved by decolorizing the solution of muriate of morphia by means of a little purified animal charcoal after two crystallizations. But on the large scale it is better to purify the salt by re- peated crystallizations alone, and to treat all the expressed fluids, except the first, in the same way with the original solution of injure muriate of morphia. An additional quantity of salt may often be got from the first dark and resin- ous fluid obtained by expression, on merely allowing it to remain at rest for a few months, when a little muriate of morphia may be deposited in an impure condition. "The opium which yields the largest quantity of precipitate by carbonate of soda, according to the formula [given in page 518], yields muriate of mor- phia not only in greatest proportion, but likewise with the fewest crystalliza- tions." Ed. In relation to the process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, the remarks made upon the preparation of the sulphate of morphia are equally applicable here. 66 1042 Morphia. PART II. (See Morphiae Sulphas.) The London and Edinburgh processes are based upon the plan, originally suggested by Wittstock, of obtaining the muriate of morphia immediately from opium without the use'of alcohol. The Edinburgh process is that of Dr. Wm. Gregory, which was an improvement upon Witt- stock's. The London is a modification, but scarcely an improvement of Gregory's. In both processes, the meconate and a small proportion of sul- phate of morphia extracted by water from opium are decomposed; in the Edinburgh, by chloride of calcium, yielding muriate of morphia in solution, and meconate and sulphate of lime as precipitates; in the London, by chloride of lead, yielding muriate of morphia as in the former case in solution, but me- conate and sulphate of lead as precipitates. The remaining steps of the opera- tion consist in obtaining the muriate of morphia from the solution by evaporation and crystallization, and in freeing it from colouring impurities. For the latter purpose the Edinburgh College directs repeated solution, clarification by marble and muriatic acid, concentration, and crystallization; advising, when the pro- cess is conducted upon a small scale, the use of animal charcoal after two crys- tallizations. The London College spares the trouble of these repeated operations, and contents itself with the decolorizing influence of the animal charcoal. The Edinburgh College prevents waste by operating upon all the liquids expressed from the impure muriate of morphia, except that separated by the first expres- sion, in the same manner as upon the original infusion of opium after concen- tration and the addition of muriate of lime; the London, by precipitating the mother liquors with ammonia, saturating the precipitated morphia with muri- atic acid, and decolorizing with animal charcoal. Points deserving of particular notice in these processes are, to obtain the original infusion of opium as con- centrated as possible without leaving morphia behind, so as to shorten the period of evaporation; and to add the chloride of calcium or of lead before instead of after the concentration, as, according to Christison, a larger and purer product is obtained, in the former way, with fewer crystallizations. Dr. Christison says, in favour of Dr. Gregory's process, that the Edinburgh manu- facturers, who follow it, produce a salt of unrivalled purity and cheapness. But it is much better calculated for the large laboratory of the manufacturing chemist, than for the smaller operations of the apothecary, who will probably find the U. S. process more convenient. The muriate of morphia procured by the processes of the British Colleges is free from narcotina; but always contains a portion of muriate of codeia, which, however, is scarcely sufficient to affect its operation upon the system. Dr. Christison found the proportion to vary between a 60th in the muriate prepared from good Turkey opium, a 30th in that from inferior samples of the same variety, and a 12th in that from the East Indian. This impurity may be separated by precipitating the morphia by means of ammonia; the codeia being left in solution. Dr. A. T. Thomson has published a process for procuring muriate of mor- phia, which he has found considerably more productive than that of the British Colleges. After macerating the opium in water as directed by the Colleges for thirty hours, and expressing, he rubs it in a mortar with an equal weight of pure white sand, and enough water to form the mixture into a paste, which he places in a percolator, and subjects to the action of distilled water till the fluid passes without colour and taste. He then concentrates the liquor to the consistence of a thin syrup, adds diacetate of lead, dilutes the solution with twice its bulk of distilled water, allows it to stand for twenty-four hours, de- cants the supernatant liquid, washes the precipitate with warm water, adds the washings to the decanted solution, and concentrates to one-half. To free the liquid from any remaining acetate of lead, he adds diluted sulphuric acid PART II. Morphia. 1043 in slight excess, decants the liquid from the precipitate, washes the latter, adds the washings to the solution, and boils for some minutes to drive off acetic acid. To convert the sulphate of morphia now contained in the solution into muriate, he adds a saturated solution of chloride of barium, washes the pre- cipitate, evaporates the conjoined washings and solution to the point of crys- tallization, presses the crystals, dilutes and again evaporates the mother liquor so long as it affords crystals, which are purified by means of animal charcoal, and by repeated solution, evaporation, and crystallization. (Pharm. Journ., i. 459.) Muriate of morphia crystallizes in tufts of feathery acicular crystals. It is white, inodorous, bitter, soluble in 16 parts of water at 60°, and in its own weight at 212°, and soluble also in alcohol. A saturated solution in boiling water forms a solid crystalline.mass on cooling. The crystals are said to con- sist of one equivalent of morphia 292, one of muriatic acid 36-42, and six of water 54. Dr. Christison states that he constantly found the crystals, when dried at 150°, to contain 12-7 per cent, of water; and the Edinburgh College states that the loss of weight at 212° is not above 13 per cent. The salt may be known to be a muriate by the test of nitrate of silver, and to contain morphia by tests for that alkali. This preparation of morphia is much used in Great Britain, but, in this country, less than either the sulphate or acetate. The dose of it, equivalent to a grain of opium, is about one-sixth of a grain. Off. Prep. Morphia, Lond.; Morphiae Acetas, Ed.; Morphiae Muriatis So- lutio, Ed.; Trochisci Morphias, Ed.; Trochisci Morphiae et Ipecacuanhae, Ed. W. MORPHIA MURIATIS SOLUTIO. Ed. Solution of Muriate of Morphia. " Take of Muriate of Morphia one drachm and a half; Rectified Spirit five fluidounces; Distilled- Water fifteen fluidounces. Mix the Spirit and Water, and dissolve the Muriate of Morphia in the mixture with the aid of a gentle heat." Ed. The use of the alcohol is to prevent spontaneous decomposition. The solu- tion was intended to have the strength of laudanum. Eighteen minims con- tain about one-sixth of a grain of the muriate, equivalent to about a grain of opium. W. MORPHIA SULPHAS. U. S. Sulphate of Morphia. " Take of Morphia, in powder, an ounce; Distilled Water half a pint; Diluted Sulphuric Acid a sufficient quantity. Mix the Morphia with the Water, then carefully drop in the Acid, constantly stirring till the Morphia is saturated and dissolved. Evaporate the solution by means of a water-bath, so that it may crystallize upon cooling. Dry the crystals upon bibulous paper." U S. In this process the morphia is known to be saturated when it is wholly dissolved by the water. To ascertain whether the acid is added in excess, litmus paper may be resorted to. If the morphia employed contain narcotina, this will remain in the mother liquor, and will not contaminate the product. The mother liquor remaining after the first crystallization may be evaporated so as to afford a fresh supply of the sulphate; but if the morphia was not originally quite pure, the second product will contain the impurities, and should not be used till it has undergone farther preparation. When impure morphia is employed, the mother liquor should be mixed with alcohol, or boiled with washed animal charcoal and filtered, and then decomposed by 1044 Morphia.—Mucilagines. part ii. ammonia, which will precipitate the morphia. This may then be converted into the sulphate in the manner directed by the Pharmacopoeia. Another mode of obtaining sulphate of morphia, is to dissolve the alkali in boiling alcohol of 36° Baume (sp. gr. 0-8428), saturate it while hot with sulphuric acid, add animal charcoal previously washed with muriatic acid, boil for a few minutes, and filter the solution while at the boiling temperature. Upon cooling, it deposits most of the sulphate; and the remainder may be obtained by evaporating the mother liquor. In the evaporation of the solution of this salt, care should be taken not to carry the heat too far; for when pushed to incipient decomposition with an excess of acid, a new substance is formed containing no morphia. (See Am. Journ, of Pharm., xvii. 286.) Sulphate of morphia crystallizes in beautifully white, minute, feathery crys- tals, which are soluble in cold water, and in twice their weight of boiling water. They contain, according to Liebig, in 100 parts, 10-33 of sulphuric acid, 75-38 of morphia, and 14-29 of water. By exposure to a heat of 248° F. they lose 9-66 parts of the water, but cannot be deprived of the remainder without decomposition. Their equivalent composition is stated to be one equivalent of morphia 292, one of sulphuric acid 40, and six of water 54, of which five are water of crystallization, and may be expelled by heat. The tests for it are those for sulphuric acid and for morphia. The dose of sulphate of morphia is from an eighth to a quarter of a grain, which may be given in pill or solution. Off. Prep. Liquor Morphiae Sulphatis, U S. W. LIQUOR MORPHIA SULPHATIS. U. S. Solution of Sul- phate of Morphia. "Take of Sulphate of Morphia eight grains; Distilled Water half a pint. Dissolve the Sulphate of Morphia in the Water." U. S. Sulphate of morphia, as found in the shops, is not always entirely soluble in water. This sometimes, perhaps, arises from adulterations; but more fre- quently, in all probability, from the mode in which the sulphate is prepared. In the preparation of this salt, the quantity of water employed for the suspen- sion of the morphia is sometimes insufficient to hold the resulting sulphate in solution; and the consequence is that, upon the addition of sulphuric acid, the crystallization of the sulphate takes place before the whole of the morphia has been saturated by the acid. A portion of uncombined morphia is therefore necessarily mixed with the salt. This explanation is rendered still more pro- bable by the fact, that the addition of a little sulphuric acid usually remedies the defect, and renders the whole soluble. Pure sulphate of morphia is readily and entirely soluble in water. This solution is very convenient, by enabling the physician to prescribe a minute dose, which, in consequence of the great energy of the preparations of morphia, is often necessary. It has the advantage that it may be kept for a very considerable length of time unchanged. The full dose for an adult is from one to two fluidrachms, containing from an eighth to a quarter of a grain of the sulphate. W. MUCILAGINES. Mucilages. Mucilage, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, and in the sense in which it is employed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, is an aqueous solution of gum, or of substances closely allied to it. As used by the British Colleges it appears PART II. Mucilagines. 1045 to signify any bland, viscid, aqueous, vegetable solution, resembling that of gum in sensible properties. , W. MUCILAGO ACACIA. U.S. Mucilago. Ed. Mucilago' Gummi Arabici. Dub. Mistura Acaclze. Lond. Mucilage of Glum A rabic. "Take of Gum Arabic, in powder, four ounces; Boiling Water half a pint. Add the Water gradually to the Gum, rubbing them together till the mucilage is formed." U S. The London College takes ten ounces of powdered gum Arabic, and a pint [Imperial measure] of boiling water, and proceeds as above. The Edinburgh College directs nine ounces of gum Arabic to be dissolved in a pint [Imp. meas.] of cold water, without heat, but with occasional stirring, and then to be strained through linen or calico. The Dublin College takes four minces of the gum, in coarse powder, and four fluidounces of warm water, digests the ingredients with frequent agitation till the gum is dissolved, and strains the resulting mucilage through linen. Straining through linen is necessary to separate the foreign substances which are often mixed with gum Arabic. This mucilage is semitransparent, almost co- lourless if prepared from good gum, viscid, tenacious, of a feeble peculiar odour, and nearly tasteless. If the solution of gum should be coloured, it may be rendered colourless by the addition of a concentrated solution of chlorine; and, by boiling for about half an hour so as to drive off the chlorine and muriatic acid, it may be rendered fit for use. (Guerin.) By keeping, mucilage becomes sour, in consequence of the spontaneous generation of acetic acid; and this happens even though it be enclosed in well-stopped bottles. But, according to M. Guerin, the aqueous solution of pure gum undergoes no change in vacuo. Heat in its preparation is said to favour the production of acid, in which case the Edinburgh formula is preferable. Mucilage is employed chiefly in the for- mation of pills, and for the suspension or diffusion of insoluble substances in water. Off. Prep. Mistura Acaciae, Ed.; Mistura Amygdalarum, Ed.; Mistura Cretae, Land., Ed., Dub.; Mistura Guaiaci, Lond., Ed. W. MUCILAGO AMYLI. Ed., Dub. Decoctum Amyli. Lond. Mucilage of Starch. "Take of Starch four drachms; Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Rub the Starch with the Water gradually added; then boil for a short time." Lond, The Edinburgh College takes half an ounce of starch and a pint [Imp. meas.] of water; the Dublin, six drachms of the former and a pint of the latter; both proceed according to the directions of the London College. This mucilage has an opaline appearance, and gelatinous consistence, and is much used as a vehicle for laudanum and other active remedies given in the form of enema. In consequence of its demulcent properties, it may be use- fully emph >yed as an enema in irritation and inflammation of the mucous coat of the rectum and large intestines. Its unpleasant flavour, when it is prepared from ordinary starch, precludes its employment by the mouth. Off. Prep. Enema Opii, Lond. W. MUCILAGO TRAGACANTHA. U.S.,Ed. Mucilago Gummi Tragacanthae. Dub. Mucilage of Tragacanth. " Take of Tragacanth an ounce ; Boiling Water a pint. 3lacerate the Tragacanth in the Water for twenty-four hours, occasionally stirring; then triturate it so as to render the mucilage uniform, and strain forcibly through linen." U.S. 1046 Mucilagines.—Olea Destillata. part ii. The Edinburgh College takes two drachms of tragacanth and nine fluid- ounces of boiling water, macerates for twenty-four hours, then triturates, and expresses through linen or calico. The Dublin College takes two drachms of tragacanth, in powder, and eight fluidounces of water, macerates in a covered vessel till the gum is dissolved, and then strains through linen. A part only of tragacanth is soluble in water. The remainder swells up and forms a soft tenacious mass, which may be mechanically mixed with water, but does not form a proper solution. Hence trituration is necessary to complete the incorporation of the ingredients. This mucilage is thick and very viscid, but not permanent, as the water separates from the insoluble portion of the tragacanth on standing. It is chiefly used in making pills and troches. In consequence of great tenacity, it may be advantageously employed for the sus- pension of heavy insoluble substances, such as the metallic oxides, in water. Off. Prep. Trochisci Ipecacuanhae, U S.; Trochisci Magnesiae, U. S.; Tro- chisci Menthae Piperitae, U. S. W. OLEA DESTILLATA. Distilled Oils. For an account of the general properties of the volatile, essential, or distilled oils, the reader is referred to the head of Olea Vdlatilia in the first part of this work. The following are the different officinal directions for preparing them. OLEA DESTILLATA. U.S. " In the preparation of the Distilled Oils, put the substance from which the oil is to be extracted into a retort, or other vessel suitable for distillation, and add enough water to cover it, then distil into a large refrigeratory. Separate the Distilled Oil from the water which comes over with it. " In this manner prepare Oil of Anise, from Anise ; Oil or Caraway, from Caraway; Oil of Wormseed, from Wormseed; Oil of Fennel, from Fennel-seed; Oil of Partridge-berry, from Partridge-berry [leaves]; Oil of Pennyroyal [Oleum Hedeomae], from Pennyroyal; Oil of Juniper, from Juniper [berries]; Oil of Lavender, from Lavender [flowers]; Oil of Peppermint, from Peppermint; Oil of Spearmint, from Spearmint; Oil of Horsemint, from Horsemint; Oil of Origanum, from Origanum [Mar- joram] ; Oil of Pimento, from Pimento; Oil of Rosemary, from Rosemary [tops]; Oil of Savine, from Savine; and Oil of Sassafras, from Bark of Sassafras Root." U. S. OLEA DESTILLATA. Lond. " Oil of Anise, of Chamomile, of Caraway, of Juniper, of Lavender, of Peppermint, of Pennyroyal [Mentha Pulegium], of Spearmint, of Ori- ganum, of Pimento, of Rosemary, of Elder Flowers. "The fruit of Anise, Caraway, and Juniper, the flowers of Chamomile, Lavender, and Elder, the berries of Pimento, the tops of Rosemary, and the fresh herb of the other plants, are to be employed. Put any one of these into an alembic, and add sufficient Water to cover it; then distil the Oil into a large refrigeratory." Lond. VOLATILE OILS. Ed, " Volatile oils are obtained chiefly from the flowers, leaves, fruits, barks, and roots of plants, by distilling them with water, in which they have been PART II. Olea Destillata. 1047 allowed to macerate for some time. Flowers, leaves, and fruits generally yield the finest oils, and in greatest quantity, when they are used fresh. Many, however, answer equally well if they have been preserved by beating them into a pulp with about twice their weight of muriate of soda, and keeping the mixture in well-closed vessels. " Substances yielding volatile oils must be distilled with water, the proper proportion of which varies for each article, and for the several qualities of each. In all instances, the quantity must be such as to prevent any of the material from being empyreumatized before the whole oil is carried over. In operations where the material is of pulpy consistence, other contrivances must be resorted to for the same purpose. These consist chiefly of particular modes of applying heat, so as to maintain a regulated temperature not much above 212°. On the small scale, heat may be thus conveniently applied by means of a bath of a strong solution of muriate of lime, or by means of an oil-bath, kept at a stationary temperature with the aid of a thermometer. On the large scale, heat is often applied by means of steam under regulated pressure. In other operations it is found sufficient to hang the material within the still in a cage or bag of fine net-work; and sometimes the material is not mingled with the water at all, but is subjected to a current of steam passing through it. " The best mode of collecting the oil is by means of the refrigeratory de- scribed in the preface \pee page 772]; from which the water and oil drop together into a tall narrow vessel, provided with a lateral tube or lip near the top, and another tube rising from the bottom to about a quarter of an inch below the level of the former. It is evident that, with a receiver of this construction, the water will escape by the lower tube; while the volatile oil, as it accumulates, will be discharged by the upper one, except in the very few instances where the oil is heavier than the water. " By attending to the general principles now explained, Volatile Oils may be readily obtained of excellent quality from the flowers of Anthemis nobilis, Lavandula vera, and Ruta graveolens; from the fruit of Anethum graveolens bruised, Carum Carui bruised, Eugenia Pimenta bruised, Fo3niculum officinale bruised, Juniperus communis bruised, Piper Cu- beba ground, and Pimpinella Anisum ground; from the undeveloped dried flowers of Caryophyllus aromaticus; from the tops of Juniperus Sabina, and Rosmarinus officinalis; from the entire herb of Mentha Piperita, Mentha Pulegium, Mentha viridis, and Origanum Majorana [vul- gare?]; and also from the bruised root of Sassafras officinale." Ed. OLEA ESSENTIALIA. Dub. " Oil of Aniseed, of Caraway, of Fennel, from the seeds dried with a medium heat; of Sassafras, from the bark and wood; of Juniper, of Pi- mento, from the berries; of Lavender, from the flowers; of Peppermint, of Spearmint, of Origanum, of Pennyroyal, of Rosemary, of Rue, from the leaves and flowers of the plant while in flower; of Savine, from the leaves. " Put the substance, previously macerated in water, into an alembic; then, by means of the vapour of boiling water, distil into a receiver. Separate by a proper apparatus, the Oil which floats on the surface, or sinks to the bottom, according as it is lighter or heavier than water. In distilling the seeds of Caraway and Fennel, the leaves of Peppermint, Spearmint, and Pennyroyal, and the berries of Pimento, the liquor which comes over with the oil is to be kept for use in the manner directed under the head of Distilled Waters." Dub. The substances from which the volatile oils are extracted may be employed either in the recent or dried state. Certain flowers, however, such as orange 1048 Olea Destillata. PART II. flowers and roses, must be used fresh, or preserved with salt, as they afford little or no oil after exsiccation. Most of the aromatic herbs also, as pepper- mint, spearmint, pennyroyal, and marjoram, are usually distilled while fresh, and are directed in this state by the London College; although it is thought by some that, when moderately dried, they yield a larger and more grateful product. Dried substances, before being submitted to distillation, require to be macerated in water till they are thoroughly penetrated by this fluid; and, to facilitate the action of the water, it is necessary that, when of a hard or tough consistence, they should be properly comminuted by slicing, shaving, rasping, bruising, or other similar mechanical operation. The water which is put with the subject of distillation into the alembic, answers the double purpose of preventing the decomposition of the vegetable matter by regulating the temperature, and of facilitating the volatilization of the oil, which, though in most instances it readily rises with the vapour of boiling water, requires, when distilled alone, a considerably higher tempera- ture, and is at the same time liable to be partially decomposed. Some oils, however, will not ascend readily with steam at 212°; and in the distillation of these it is customary to use water saturated with common salt, which does not boil under 230°. Recourse may also be had to a bath of strong solution of chloride of calcium, or to an oil-bath, the temperature of which is regulated by a thermometer, as suggested by the Edinburgh College in their general directions (seepage 1047). Other oils again may be volatilized with water at a temperature below the boiling point; and, as heat exercises an injurious influence over the oils, it is desirable that the distillation should be effected at as Iowa temperature as possible. To prevent injury from heat it has been recommended to suspend the substance containing the oil in a basket, or to place it upon a perforated shelf, in the upper part of the alembic, so that it may be penetrated by the steam, without being in direct contact with the water. Another mode of effecting the same object is to distil in vacuo. Dr. Duncan stated that the most elegant volatile oils he had ever seen were pre- pared in this manner by Mr. Barry, the inventor of the process. The quantity of water added is not a matter of indifference. An excess above what is necessary acts injuriously by holding the oil in solution, when the mixed vapours are condensed; and, if the proportion be very large, it is possible that no oil whatever may be obtained separate. On the contrary, if the quantity be too small, the whole of the oil will not be distilled; and there will be danger of the substance in the alembic adhering to the sides of the vessel, and thus becoming burnt. Enough water should always be added to cover the solid material, and prevent this latter accident. Dried plants require more water than those which are fresh and succulent. The whole amount of materials in the alembic should not exceed three-fourths of its capacity; as otherwise there would be danger of the liquor boiling over. The form of the alembic has a considerable influence over the quantity of water distilled, which depends more upon the extent of surface than the amount of liquid submitted to evaporation. By employing a high and narrow vessel, we may obviate the disadvantage of an excess of water. The broad shallow alembic, suitable for the distillation of alcohol and the spirituous liquors, will not answer so well in this case. Sometimes the proportion of oil contained in the substance em- ployed is so small that it is wholly dissolved in the water distilled, even though the proportion of the liquid in the alembic is not greater than is absolutely essential. In this case it is necessary to redistil the same water several times from fresh portions of the plant, till the quantity of oil exceeds its solvent power. This process is called cohobation. PART II. Olea Destillata. 1049 The more volatile of the oils pass with facility along with the steam into the neck of the common still; but some which are less volatile are apt to condense in the head, and thus return into the alembic. For the distillation of the latter, a still should be employed with a large and very low head, having a rim or gutter around its internal circumference, into which the oils may he received as they condense, and thence pass into the neck. As, after the distillation of any one oil, it is necessary that the apparatus should be thoroughly cleansed before being used for the preparation of another, it is bet- ter that the condensing tube should be straight, than spiral as in the ordinary still. It should be recollected, moreover, that certain oils, such as those of anise and fennel, become solid at a comparatively high temperature; and that, in the distillation of these, the water employed for refrigeration should not be below 42°. F. The mixed vapours are condensed into a milky liquid, which is collected in a receiver, and after standing for some time separates into a clear solution of the oil in water, and into the oil itself, the latter floating on the surface, or sinking to the bottom, according as it is lighter or heavier than water. The distillation should be continued so long as the fluid which comes over has this milky appearance. The last step in the process is to separate the oil from the water. For this purpose the Florence receiver may be used. This is a conical glass vessel, broad at the bottom and narrow towards the top, and very near its base fur- nished with a tubulure or opening, to which is adapted, by means of a pierced cork, a bent tube so shaped as to rise perpendicularly to seven-eighths of the height of the receiver, then to pass off from it at right angles, and near the end to bend downwards. The condensed liquid being admitted through the opening at the top of the receiver, the oil separates, and rising to the top, oc- cupies the upper narrow part of the vessel, while the water remains at the bottom and enters the tube affixed to the receiver. When the surface of the liquid attains in the receiver a higher level than the top of the tube, the water will necessarily begin to flow out through the latter, and may be received in bottles. The oil thus accumulates so long as the process continues; but it is evident that the plan is applicable only to the oils lighter than water. For the heavier oils, cylindrical vessels may be employed, to be renewed as fast as they are filled. But, as all the water cannot be removed by these plans, it is necessary to resort to some other method of effecting a complete separation. An instrument called a separatory is usually employed for this purpose. It , consists of a glass funnel, bulging at the top, where it is furnished with a stop- per, and prolonged at the bottom into a very narrow tube. (See figure, page 75S.) The lower opening being closed, the mixed liquids are introduced and allowed to stand till they separate.' The orifice at the bottom is then opened, and the stopper at top being a little loosened so as to admit the air, the heavier liquid slowly flows out, and may be separated to the last drop from the lighter, which floats above it. If the oil is heavier than the water, it passes out of the separatory; if lighter it remains within. Another mode of separating the oil is to introduce into the vessel containing the two liquids one end of a cord of cotton, the other end hanging out, and terminating in a suit- able receptacle beneath the level of that immersed in the liquid. The oil at top passes through the cord, and may thus be wholly removed. The last drops may be collected by pressing the cord between the fingers. The water saturated with oil should be preserved for future distillations, as it can now dissolve no more of the oil, and will therefore yield a larger product. 1050 Olea Destillata. PART II. When first procured, the oil has a disagreeable empyreumatic odour, from which it may be freed by allowing it to stand for some days in vessels loosely covered with paper. It should then be introduced into small opaque bottles, which should be well stopped so as to exclude the air. When altered by ex- posure to air, the oils may sometimes be nearly or quite restored to their original appearance and quality by agitation with a little recently heated ani- mal charcoal; and the same method may be employed for freeing oils from adhering water. The volatile oils have the medical properties of the plants from which they are derived; and, as their remedial application has been mentioned under the heads of these plants respectively, it will be unnecessary to treat of it in this place. They may be administered dropped on a lump of sugar; or triturated with at least ten times their weight of sugar, forming an oleosaccharum, and then dissolved in water; or made into an emulsion with water, sugar, and gum Arabic. They are frequently kept dissolved in alcohol under the name of essences. W. OLEUM ANETHI. Ed. Oil of Dill. The fruit of dill yields about 3-5 per cent, of volatile oil. This is of a pale yellow colour, with the odour of the fruit, and a hot sweetish taste. Its spe- cific gravity is stated at 0-881. It is employed to prepare dill water, and may be given as a carminative in the dose of three or four drops; but it is little used in this country. W. OLEUM ANISI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Oil of Anise. The product of oil from anise is variously stated from 1-56 to 3-12 per cent. The oil employed in this country is almost all imported. It is colourless or yellowish, with the peculiar odour and taste of the seed. At 50° it crystal- lizes in flat tables, and does not melt under 62°. Its sp. gr. increases with age, and is variously given from 0-9768 to 0-9903. It is soluble in all pro- portions in alcohol of 0-806; but alcohol of 0-840 dissolves at 77° only 42 per cent. It consists of two oils, one solid at ordinary temperatures and heavier than water (stearoptene), the other liquid and more volatile (elcoptcne), both of which are said to have the same atomic constitution, and to consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (C10H6O). It absorbs oxygen from the air, and becomes less disposed to concrete. Oil of anise is said to be sometimes adulterated with spermaceti, wax, or camphor. The first two may be detected by their insolubility in cold alcohol, the last by its odour. The dose of the oil is from five to fifteen drops. Its comparative mildness adapts it to infantile, cases. The oil of star aniseed (oleum badiani), which resembles it in flavour, is frequently substituted for it in this country. Off. Prep. Syrupus Sarsaparillae Compositus, U S.; Tinctura Opd Ammo- niata, Ed,; Tinct. Opii Camphorata, U. S., Land., Ed., Dub.; Trochisci Glycyrrhizae et Opii, U S. W. OLEUM ANTHEMIDIS. Lond., Ed. Oil of Chamomile. This is never prepared and little used in this country. Baume obtained thirteen drachms of the oil from eighty-two pounds of the flowers. It has the peculiar smell of chamomile, with a pungent somewhat aromatic taste. When recently distilled it is of a sky-blue colour, which changes to yellow or brown- ish on exposure. The sp. gr. of the English oil is said to be 0-9083. It has sometimes been used in spasm of the stomach, and as an adjunct to purga- tive medicines. The dose is from five to fifteen drops. On the continent of Europe, an oil extracted from the Matricaria Chamo- PART II. Olea Destillata. 1051 milla is employed under the name of oil of chamomile. It is dark blue, thick, and nearly opaque, becoming brown and unctuous by time. It has the odour of the plant from which it is derived, and an aromatic taste. W. OLEUM CARI. U.S. Oleum Carui. Lond., Ed., Dub. Oil of Caraway. This oil is prepared to a considerable extent by our distillers. The fresh fruit yields on an average about 4-7 per cent. (Recluz); but the product is very variable. The oil of caraway is somewhat viscid, of a pale yellow colour becoming brownish by age, with the odour of the fruit, and an aromatic acrid taste. Its sp. gr. is 0-946 according to Baume, 0-931 according to Brande. Its constituents are carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. It is much used to impart flavour to medicines, and to correct their nauseating and griping effects. The dose is from one to ten drops. When oil of caraway is distilled with hydrated phosphoric acid, the distilled liquor being poured back into the retort until it ceases to have the smell of caraway, an oily liquid separates from the phosphoric acid, having a very dis- agreeable odour, and a strong taste. This product, to which the name of carvacrol has been applied, has been found to give immediate relief to tooth- ache, when inserted on cotton into the cavity of a carious tooth. (See Am. Journ. of Med. Sci, N. S. xv. 532.) Off. Prep. Confectio Scammonii, Lond., Dub.; Electuarium Sennae, Dub.; Pilulae Aloes Compositae, Lond., Dub; Pilulae Rhei Compositae, Lond. W. OLEUM CHENOPODII. U.S. Oil of Wormseed. This oil is peculiar to the United States. It is of a light yellow colour when recently distilled, but becomes deeper yellow, and even brownish by age. It has in a high degree the peculiar flavour of the plant. Its sp. gr. is 0-908. It is used as an anthelmintic, in the dose of from four to eight drops for a child, repeated morning and evening for three or four days, and then followed by a brisk cathartic. W. OLEUM COPAIBA. Ed, Oil of Copaiba. " Take of Copaiva one ounce; Water one pint and a half [Imperial mea- sure]. Distil, preserving the water; when most of the water has passed over, heat it, return it into the still, and resume the distillation; repeat this process so long as a sensible quantity of oil passes over with the water." Ed. This oil is sufficiently described under Copaiba, page 271. W. OLEUM FCENICULI. U.S., Ed. Oleum Fceniculi Dulcis. Dub. Oil of Fennel. Fennel seeds yield about 2-5 per cent, of oil. That used in this country is imported. It is colourless or yellowish, with the odour and taste of the seeds. Its sp. gr. is 0-997. It congeals below 50° into a crystalline mass, separable by pressure into a solid and liquid oil (stearoptene and clecptene), the former heavier than water, and less volatile than the latter, which rises first when the oil is distilled. As found in the shops, therefore, the oil of fennel is not uniform ; and Dr. Montgomery found that a specimen which he examined did not congeal at 22°. It consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; its formula being, according to Blanchet and Sill, C13Hs02. The dose is from five to fifteen drops. Off. Prep. Aqua Fceniculi, U S. W. 1052 Olea Destillata. PART II. OLEUM GAULTHERIA. U.S. Oil of Partridge-berry. This oil is a product of the United States, and is prepared chiefly in New Jersey. It is directed by the Pharmacopceia to be prepared from the leaves of the Gaultheria procumbens ; but the whole plant is usually employed. It has been obtained by Mr. Wm. Procter, jun., of Philadelphia, from the bark of the Betula lento, and has been supposed to exist also in the root of the Polygala paucifolia, and the roots and stems of the Spiraea ulmaria, Spirxa lobata, and Gaultheria hispidula, which have its peculiar flavour. The oil of partridge-berry when freshly distilled is nearly colourless, but as found in the shops has a brownish-yellow or reddish colour. It is of a sweet- ish, slightly pungent, peculiar taste, and a very agreeable characteristic odour, by which it may be readily distinguished from all other officinal oils. It is the heaviest of the known essential oils, having the sp. gr. 1-173. Its boiling point is 412°. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., iii. 199, and xiv. 213.) Its unusual weight affords a convenient test of its purity. Mr. Procter proved it to possess acid properties, and to be closely analogous to salicylous acid, one of the results of the decomposition of saliein by sulphuric acid and bichromate of potassa, and an ingredient in the oil of Spiraea ulmaria. (See Salix, page 623.) By M. Cahours it has since been shown to have the same composition as the salicy- late of methylene; and a product having its properties was obtained by dis- tilling a mixture of pyroxylic spirit, salicylic acid, and sulphuric acid. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 211, and xv. 241.) Oil of gaultheria is used chiefly, on account of its pleasant flavour, to cover the taste of other medicines. Off. Prep. Syrupus Sarsaparillae Compositus, U. S. W. OLEUM HEDEOMA. U.S. Oil of Pennyroyal. This, though analogous in properties to the oil of European pennyroyal, is derived from a distinct plant—Hedeoma pulegioides—peculiar to North Ame- rica. It has a light yellow colour, with the odour and taste of the herb. Its sp. gr. is 0-948. It may be used as a remedy in flatulent colic and sick stomach, to correct the operation of nauseating or griping medicines, and to impart flavour to mixtures. The dose is from two to ten drops. W. OLEUM JUNIPERI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Oil of Juniper. The proportion of oil which juniper berries afford is stated very differently by different authors. Trommsdorff obtained one per cent. The highest quantity given in the table of Recluz is 2-34, the lowest 0-31 per cent. The berries are most productive when bruised. The oil of juniper consumed in this country is brought from Europe. It is colourless, or of a light greenish- yellow, with a terebinthinate odour, and a hot acrid taste. Its sp. gr. is 0-911. It is not very soluble in alcohol. According to Blanchet, it contains two isomeric oils, of which one is colourless, and the other coloured and less volatile. It is, when pure, a carbo-hydrogen, and is said to have the same composition as oil of turpentine (C10HS); but it does not form a solid com- pound with muriatic acid. (Journ. de Pharm,, xxvi. 80.) Oil of turpentine is often fraudulently added, but may be detected by the specific gravity of the mixture, which is considerably less than that of the unadulterated oil of juniper. This oil is stimulant, carminative, and diuretic; and may be employed advantageously in debilitated dropsical cases, in connexion with other medi- cines, especially digitalis. It is this oil which imparts to Holland gin its peculiar flavour and diuretic power. The dose is from five to fifteen drops two or three times a day, and may be considerably increased. W. PART II. Olea Destillata. 1053 OLEUM LAVANDULA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Oil of La- vender. Dried lavender flowers yield from 1 to 1-5 per cent, of a very fluid, lemon- yellow oil, having the fragrance of the flowers, and an aromatic, burning taste. That met with in commerce has the sp. gr. 0-898 at 68° F., which is reduced to 0-877 by rectification. (Berzelius.) According to Brande, the sp. gr. of the oil obtained from the whole herb is 0-9206. Alcohol of 0-830 dissolves the oil of lavender in all proportions; that of 0-887, only 42 per cent. (Berze- lius.) Proust states that, when allowed to stand in imperfectly stopped bot- tles, it lets fall a crystalline deposit (stearoptene), which often amounts to one- fourth of the weight of the oil. It is said that the portion of oil first distilled is most agreeably fragrant, and is often kept separate, and sold at a higher price. The oil of lavender is used chiefly as a perfume, though possessed of carminative and stimulant properties, and sometimes useful in cases of nervous languor and headache. The dose is from one to five drops. The oil of spike is procured from the broad-leaved variety of lavender which grows wild in Europe, the Lavandula Spica of De Candolle. Its odour is less fragrant than that of the common oil of lavender, and is somewhat analo- gous to that of oil of turpentine, with which it is said to be often adulterated. It is much used by artists in the preparation of varnishes. Off. Prep. Tinctura Ammoniae Composita, Lond. W. OLEUM MENTHA PIPERITA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Oleum Mentha Piperitidis. Dub. Oil of Peppermint. Peppermint varies exceedingly in the quantity of oil which it affords. Four pounds of the fresh herb yield, according to Baume, from a drachm and a half to three drachms of the oil. The product is generally less than one per cent. This oil is largely distilled in the United States. It is of a greenish-yellow colour or nearly colourless, but becomes reddish by age. Its odour is strong and aromatic; its taste, warm, camphorous, and very pungent, but succeeded, when air is admitted into the mouth, by a sense of coolness. Its sp. gr. is stated differently from 0-902 to 0-920; its boiling point at 365°. Upon long standing it deposits a stearoptene, which, according to Kane, has the same com- position as the oil, viz., C^H^O^ Berzelius states that at 8° below zero the oil deposits small capillary crystals. Oil of peppermint is stimulating and carminative, and is much used in flatulence, nausea, spasmodic pains of the stomach and bowels, and as a corri- gent or adjuvant of other medicines. The dose is from one to three drops, and is most conveniently given rubbed up with sugar and then dissolved in water. The oil is also very frequently employed in the form of essence of peppermint, prepared by dissolving two fluidounces in a pint of alcohol, and given upon sugar in the dose of ten or twenty drops. This is now officinal under the name of Tinctura Olei Menthae Piperitae. Off. Prep. Aqua Menthae Piperitae, U. S., Lond.; Pilulae Rhei Compositae, U. S., Ed.; Spiritus Menthae Piperitae, Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Olei Menthae Piperitae, U S.; Trochisci Menthae Piperitae, U. S. W. OLEUM MENTHA PULEGII. Lond. Oleum Pulegii. Ed., Dub. Oil of European Pennyroyal. AI tout 1 part of this oil on an average is obtained from 100 parts of the plant. It is yellowish when freshly distilled, but becomes reddish by age. Its sp. gr. is stated differently from 0-925 to 0-978. It possesses medical properties similar to those of the oil of peppermint; but is seldom used in this country. The dose is from one to five drops. 1054 Olea Destillata. part ii. Off. Prep. Aqua Menthae Pulegii, Lond., Dub.; Spiritus Menthae Pulegii, Lond., Dub. W. OLEUM MENTHA VIRIDIS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Oil of Spearmint. According to Lewis, ten pounds of spearmint yield an ounce of oil; by others the product is stated not to exceed one part from five hundred. The oil is largely distilled in this country. It is pale yellow or greenish when recently prepared, but becomes red with age, and ultimately almost of a mahogany colour. Its flavour is analogous to that of the oil of peppermint, but is less agreeable and less pungent. Its sp. gr. is stated differently from 0-914 to 0-975; its boiling point, at 320°. Kane gives the formula C^H^O, as repre- senting its composition. It is used for the same purposes as the oil of pepper- mint, in the dose of from two to five drops. An essence of spearmint is pre- pared by dissolving two fluidounces of the oil in a pint of alcohol, and may be given in the quantity of from twenty to forty drops, upon a lump of sugar. This was introduced among the officinal tinctures in the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. Off. Prep. Aqua Menthae Viridis, U S., Lond., Dub.; Infusum Menthae Compositum, Dub.; Spiritus Menthae Viridis, Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Olei Menthae Viridis, U S. W. OLEUM MONARDA. U.S. Oil of Horsemint. This is prepared by our distillers from the fresh herb of Monarda punctata. It has a reddish-amber colour, a fragrant odour, and a warm, very pungent taste. It sometimes deposits a crystalline body, having the odour and taste of the oil, for which Mr. Procter proposes the name of mcmardin. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvii. 87.) Applied to the skin it acts as a powerful rubefacient, quickly producing heat, pain, redness, and even vesication. This property of the oil was made known to the profession by Dr. Atlee, of Philadelphia, who employed it externally with advantage in low forms of typhus fever, cbolera infantum, chronic rheumatism, and other affections in which rubefacients are indicated. In ordinary cases it should be diluted before being applied. It may be given internally as a stimulant and carminative, in the dose of two or three drops .mixed with sugar and water. W. OLEUM ORIGANI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Oil of Origanum. This is obtained from the common marjoram, Origanum vulgare, and is fre- quently called oil of marjoram. The plant varies exceedingly in the proportion which it affords. The mean product may be stated at from four to six parts from a thousand. The recent oil, when properly prepared, is of a yellow colour; but if too much heat is used in the distillation, it is said to be reddish, and it acquires the same tint by age. It may be obtained colourless by recti- fication. It has the odour of the plant, and a hot acrid taste. Kane gives its sp. gr. 0-867, its boiling point 354°, and its composition C^H^O. Ac- cording to Lewis its sp. gr. is 0-940, according to Brande 0-909. It is some- times used as an external irritant, and to allay the pain of toothache, by being introduced, on lint or cotton, into the cavity of a carious tooth. It is not em- ployed internally. It can scarcely be doubted that the oil directed by the Edinburgh College from the Origanum Majorana, or sweet marjoram, was intended for that of the O. vulgare; as the latter plant is indicated, under the name of Origanum, in the Materia Medica list of the College, where the former is not mentioned; and the oil is referred to in the Index of the Pharmacopoeia with the title of PART II. Olea Destillata. 1055 Oleum Origani. The oil of sweet marjoram is obtained from the plant by dis- tillation, in the quantity of from 2 5 to 6 parts from 1000. It is of a lemon- yellow colour, light, and camphorous, and is said upon long standing to de- posit a substance resembling camphor. It is not used in this country. Off. Prep. Linimentum Saponis Camphoratum, U. S. W. OLEUM PIMENTA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub? Oil of Pimento. The berries yield from 1 to more than 4 per cent, of oil, which, as found in the shops, has a brownish-red colour, and the odour and taste of pimento, though warmer and more pungent. It is said, when freshly distilled, to be colourless or yellowish. Nitric acid reddens it. Bonastre states that it com- bines with salifiable bases like the oil of cloves. Its sp. gr. has been stated at 1-021, but varies. It consists, like the oil of cloves, of two distinct oils, a lighter and heavier, the former of which comes over first in distillation. They may be separated by distilling the oil with caustic potassa. The light oil comes over, and the heavy remains combined with the potassa. The latter may be obtained by distilling the residue with sulphuric acid. The light oil is lighter than water, and is a pure carbo-hydrogen. The heavy has the acid property of forming crystalline compounds with the alkalies. The two are closely analogous to the light and heavy oils of cloves. (Pereira.) The oil of pimento may be given for the same purposes with the other aromatic stimu- lant oils. The dose is from three to six drops. Off. Prep. Aqua Pimentae, Lond.; Emplastrum Aromaticum, Dub. W. OLEUM ROSMARINI. U.S., Lond., Ed. Oleum Rorismarini. Dub. Oil of Rosemary. The fresh leaves of rosemary yield, according to Baume, 0-26 per cent, of oil; but the product is stated much higher by other authors. According to Brande, a pound of the fresh herb yields about a drachm of the oil, which is about one per cent. This oil is colourless, with an odour similar to that of the plant, though less agreeable. Its sp. gr. is 0-911, but is reduced to 0-8886 by rectification. It is soluble in all proportions in alcohol of 0-830; but re- quires for solution at 64°, forty parts of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-887. (Berze- lius.) Kane gives its sp. gr. 0-897, its boiling point 365°, and its composi- tion C^H^O,,. Kept in bottles imperfectly stopped, it deposits a stearoptene analogous to camphor, and sometimes amounting, according to Proust, to one- tenth of the oil. Bucholz states that it affords camphor when digested with from one-half its weight to an equal weight of potassa, and distilled. It is said to be sometimes adulterated with the oil of turpentine, which may be de- tected by mixing the suspected liquid with an equal volume of pure alcohol. The oil of rosemary is dissolved, and that of turpentine left. This oil is pos- sessed of stimulant properties, but is employed chiefly as an ingredient of rubefacient liniments. The dose is from three to six drops. Off. Prep. Linimentum Opii, Ed.; Linimentum Saponis Camphoratum, U.S.; Spiritus Ammoniae Aromaticus, Ed.; Spiritus Rosmarini, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Tinctura Saponis Camphorata, U. S., Ed. W. OLEUM RUTA. Ed., Dub. Oil of Rue. Rue yields a very small proportion of a yellow or greenish oil, which be- comes brown with age. It has the strong unpleasant odour of the plant, and an acrid taste. Kane gives its sp. gr. 0-837, its boiling point 446°, and its composition CisII„s03. It is stimulant and supposed to be antispasmodic, and has been given in hysteria, convulsions, and amenorrhcea. The dose is from two to five drops. W. 1056 OUa Destillata. PART II. OLEUM SABINA. U.S., Ed., Dub. Oil of Savine. The statements in relation to the proportion of volatile oil obtained from savine vary exceedingly. While according to Hoffmann and Murray the leaves afford about 16 per cent., others state the product at considerably less than 1 per cent. The highest percentage in Recluz's table, next to Hoffmann's, is about 1-7, in Christison's table 2-5. (Dispensatory.) The oil is nearly co- lourless or yellow, limpid, strongly odorous, and of a bitterish, extremely acrid taste. Kane gives its sp. gr. 0-915, its boiling point 315°, and its composi- tion CI0H8, equivalent to that of oil of turpentine. According to "Winckler, it is converted by sulphuric acid into an oil not distinguishable from that of thyme. (Chem. Gaz., Jan. 1847, p. 11.) The oil of savine is stimulant, emmenagogue, and actively rubefacient; and may be given for the same pur- poses as the plant in substance. It has been much employed empirically in amenorrhcea, and with a view to produce abortion, and in some instances with fatal effects. The dose is from two to five drops. W. OLEUM SAMBUCI. Lond. Oil of Elder Flowers. Elder flowers yield but a very small proportion of volatile oil, which is of a butyraceous consistence when cold, and scarcely deserves a place in the Phar- macopoeia. Off Prep. Aqua Sambuci, Lond. W. OLEUM SASSAFRAS. U.S., Ed., Dub. Oil of Sassafras. The proportion of oil yielded by the root of sassafras is variously stated from less than 1 to somewhat more than 2 per cent. The bark of the root, directed by the U. S. Pharmacopceia, would afford a larger quantity. The oil is of a yellow colour, becoming reddish by age. It has the fragrant odour of sassa- fras, with a warm, pungent, aromatic taste. It is among the heaviest of the volatile oils, having the sp. gr. 1-094. According to Bonastre, it separates, by agitation with water, into two oils, one lighter, the other heavier than water. Berzelius states that the first is often nothing more than oil of tur- pentine existing as an adulteration in the oil of sassafras. Nitric acid colours it red, and fuming nitric acid inflames it more readily than most other oils. It has the useful property of dissolving caoutchouc. When kept for a long time it deposits transparent crystals, having the same odour as the liquid oil. It is stimulant, carminative, and supposed to be diaphoretic; and may be em- ployed for the same purposes with the bark from which it is derived. The dose is from two to ten drops. Off. Prep. Syrupus Sarsaparillae Compositus, U S. W. ''OLEUM SUCCINI. U.S., Dub. Oil of Amber. " Take of Amber, in powder, any quantity. Put the Amber, previously mixed with an equal weight of sand, into a glass retort, which is to be only half filled; then distil, by means of a sand-bath, with a gradually increasing heat, an acid liquor, an oil, and a concrete acid impregnated with oil. Sepa- rate the Oil from the other matters, and keep it in well-stopped bottles." U.S. The unrectified oil of amber is not among the preparations directed by the London College, The Dublin College obtains it by the same process by which succinic acid is prepared. (See Acidum Succinicum.) The amber in this process undergoes decomposition, and affords, among other products, an empyreumatic oil, which floats in the receiver upon the surface of an acid liquor. The heat requisite for the complete decomposition of the amber cannot be supported by a glass retort, and, in order that all the oil which it is capable of yielding may be collected, the distillation should be PART II. Olea Destillata. 1057 performed in a tubulated iron or earthenware retort, which may be placed im- mediately upon the fire. The sand is added to prevent the amber from swell- ing too much. The oil may be separated from the acid liquor by means of the separating funnel. As first procured, it is a thick, very dark-coloured liquid, of a peculiar strong empyreumatic odour. In this state it is occasion- ally employed as a liniment; but for internal use it should be rectified. It is said that the scrapings of copal and the resin dammar are often substituted for amber, and yield an oil scarcely distinguishable from the genuine. (Pe- reira's Mat. Med.) Off. Prep. Oleum Succini Rectificatum, U. S., Dub. W. OLEUM SUCCINI RECTIFICATUM. U.S., Dub. Oleum Succini. Lond. Rectified Oil of Amber. " Take of Oil of Amber a pint; Water six pints. Mix them in a glass retort, and distil until four pints of the Water shall have passed with the oil into the receiver; then separate the Oil from the Water, and keep it in well- stopped bottles." U. S. The Dublin College employs a pound of oil of amber and six pints of water; distils until two-thirds of the water have passed into the receiver; and then separates the oil. " Put Amber into an alembic, and distil from a sand-bath, with a heat gra- dually increased, an Acid Liquor, an Oil, and a Salt contaminated with oil; then distil the Oil a second and third time." Lond. By successive (distillations the oil of amber is rendered thinner and more limpid, till at length it is obtained colourless. The first portions which distil are less coloured than those which follow, and may be separated for keeping, while the remainder is submitted to another distillation. For practical pur- poses, however, the oil is sufficiently pure when once redistilled, as directed in the processes of the U. S. and Dublin Pharmacopoeias. As usually found in the shops, the rectified oil is of a light yellowish-brown or amber colour. When quite pure it is colourless, as fluid as alcohol, of the sp. gr. 0*758 at 75°, and boils at 186°. It has a strong, peculiar, unpleasant odour, and a hot, acrid taste. It imparts these properties in some degree to water without being perceptibly dissolved. It is soluble in eight parts of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-S47 at 55°, in five parts of the sp. gr. 0-825, and in all proportions in absolute alcohol. The fixed oils -unite with it. On exposure to the light and air, it slowly changes in colour and consistence, becoming ultimately black and solid. It appears, when quite pure, to be a carbo-hydrogen, consisting, ac- cording to Dr. Dbpping, of 88-46 parts of carbon and 11-54 of hydrogen in 100 parts. (Chem. Gaz., Nov. 1845, p. 447.) Medical Properties and Uses. Rectified oil of amber is stimulant and anti- spasmodic, and occasionally promotes the secretions, particularly that of urine. It has been employed with advantage in amenorrhcea, and in various spas- modic and convulsive affections, as tetanus, epilepsy, hysteria, hooping-cough, and infantile convulsions from intestinal irritation, &c. The dose is from five to fifteen drops, diffused in some aromatic water by means of sugar and gum Arabic. Externally applied the oil is rubefacient, and is considerably em- ployed as a liniment in chronic rheumatism and palsy, and in certain spas- modic disorders, as hooping-cough and infantile convulsions. In the latter affection it should be rubbed along the spine, and was highly recommended by the late Dr. Parrish, mixed with an equal measure of laudanum, and diluted with three or four parts of olive oil and of brandy. Off. Prep. Tinctura Ammonire Composita, Lond. W. *67 1058 Olea Destillata.—Pilulae. PART II. OLEUM TEREBINTHINA PURIFICATUM. Lond., Ed. Oleum Terebinthina Rectificatum. Dub. Purified Oil of Tur- pentine, "Take of Oil of Turpentine a pint; Water four pi nts. Carefully distil the Oil." Lond, "Take of Oil of Turpentine one pint; Water four pints. Distil as long as Oil comes over with the Water." Ed, " Take of Oil of Turpentine two pints; Water four pints. Distil a pint and a half of the Oil." Dub. Oil of turpentine becomes impure by exposure, in consequence of the ab- sorption of oxygen and the production of resin. From this it may be freed by distillation, as above directed, or by the agency of alcohol. (See Oleum Terebinthinae.) The process for distilling it is attended with some inconve- nience, in consequence of the great inflammability of the vapour, and its rapid formation, which causes the liquor to boil over. In this country, the apothe- cary can almost always purchase the oil sufficiently pure for medical use with- out the necessity of rectifying it. The presence of a little resin does not interfere with its efficiency as a medicine. W. PILULAE. Pills. These are small globular masses of a size convenient for swallowing. They are well adapted for the administration of medicines which are unpleasant to the taste or smell, or insoluble in water, and do not require to be given in large doses. Deliquescent substances should not be made into pills, and those which are efflorescent should be previously deprived of their water of crystallization. Care should also be taken not to combine materials, the mutual reaction of which may result in a change of form. Some substances have a consistence which enables them to be made imme- diately into pills. Such are the softer extracts and certain gum-resins; and the addition of a little water to the former, and a few drops of spirit to the latter, will give them the requisite softness and plasticity, if previously want- ing. Substances which are very soft, or in the liquid state, are formed into the pilular mass by incorporation with dry and inert powders, such as crumb of bread, wheat flour, starch, and powdered gum Arabic. Powders must be mixed with soft solid bodies, as extracts, confections, soap, &c, or with tena- cious liquids, as syrup, molasses, honey, or mucilage. Heavy metallic pow- ders are most conveniently made into pills with the former; light vegetable powders with the latter. Mucilage is very often used; but pills made with it are apt when kept to become hard, and of difficult solubility in the liquors of the stomach, and, if metallic substances are mixed with it, the mass does not work well. A mixture of syrup and powdered gum Arabic is not subject to the same inconveniences, and is an excellent material for the formation of pills. Conserve of roses and molasses are among the best excipients, when the pills are to be long kept. For the same purpose of keeping the pill soft, a small portion of some fixed oil or deliquescent salt has been recommended as an addition to the mass. Many powders require only the addition of water. Such are all those which contain ingredients capable of forming an adhesive or viscid solution with this liquid. Care should always be taken that the matter added be not incompatible with the main ingredients of the pill. The materials should be accurately mixed together, and beat in a mortar f PART II. Pilulae. 1059 till formed into a perfectly uniform and plastic mass. This should be of such a consistence that the pills may preserve their form, without being so hard as to resist the solvent power of the gastric liquors. As pills often become very hard by time, it is convenient, in some instances, to keep the mass in a state fit to be divided when wanted for use. This may be done by wrapping it in bladders, putting it in covered pots, and occasionally moistening it as it be- comes dry. The mass, having been duly prepared, is made into pills by rolling it with a spatula into a cylinder of precisely the same thickness throughout, and of a length corresponding to the number of pills required. It is then divided as equally as possible by the hand, or more accurately by a machine made for the purpose. The pills receive a spherical form by being rolled between the fin- gers. In order to prevent their adhesion to one another, or to the sides of the vessel in which they may be placed, it is customary to agitate them with some dry powder, which gives them an external coating, that serves also to conceal their taste. For this purpose, carbonate of magnesia, starch, or powdered liquorice root may be used. Carbonate of magnesia is sometimes'incompati- ble with one of the ingredients of the pills, starch is almost too light, and liquorice root will, as a general rule, be found the best. The powder of lyco- podium is much employed on the continent of Europe; and it was formerly the custom to give the pill a coating of gold or silver leaf. It has been proposed by M. Garot to cover pills with gelatin, which answers the purpose of concealing their taste and odour, and counteracting deliques- cence or chemical change from exposure to the air, without interfering with their solubility in the stomach. He dips each pill, sustained on the point of a pin, into melted gelatin, withdraws it with a rotary motion, then fixes the pin in a paste so as to allow the coating to dry in the air, and, having pre- pared about fifty pills in this way, proceeds to complete the operation by hold- ing the pin in the flame of a taper so as to melt the gelatin near its point, and then withdrawing it from the pill so as to close up the orifice. The purest glue should be selected for this purpose, melted with the addition of two or three drachms of water to an ounce of the glue, and kept liquid by means of a salt-bath. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., x. 229.) Another plan of attaining the same objects, less effectual, but more conve- nient than the above, is to introduce the pills into a spherical box, to drop on them enough syrup simply to moisten their surface, then to give a rotary movement to the box until the pills are uniformly covered, and finally to add by degrees a powder consisting of equal parts of gum, sugar, and starch, shaking the box with each addition, and continuing the process until nothing more will adhere to the pills. The investing material may be rendered agreeable to the taste and smell by aromatic additions, if deemed advisable. (Journ, de Pharm., 3e sir., x. 32.) Still another method, proposed by Mr. E. K. Durden, is to cover the pill with a coating of collodion, which completely conceals the taste, without interfering with the activity of the medicine. The solution employed by Mr. Durden had the sp. gr. of 0-810; and two dippings gave a sufficient coating. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 183.) Pills which are to be long kept should be put into glass bottles with accurately fitting stoppers, so as to prevent the escape of moisture. Though the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, in almost every instance, orders the mass to be divided into pills; yet it should be understood rather as indicating the number of pills to be made from a certain quantity of the mass when particu- lar directions are not given by the physician, than as requiring the division to be made immediately after the materials have been mixed. It will generally 1060 Pilulae. PART II. be found convenient by the apothecary to keep a portion of the mass undi- vided. W. PILULA ALOES. U. S., Ed. Aloetic Pills. " Take of Aloes, in powder, Soap, each, an ounce. Beat them with water so as to form a mass, to be divided into two hundred and forty pills." U. S. The Edinburgh College directs equal quantities of Socotrine or East India aloes and Castile soap to be beat with conserve of red roses into a mass fit for forming pills. The soap, in this formula, not only serves to impart a proper consistence to the aloes, but is thought to qualify its operation and diminish its liability to irritate the rectum. Five pills, containing ten grains of aloes, may be given with a view to their purgative effect; but the preparation is usually employed as a laxative in habitual costiveness, in the quantity of One, two, or three pills, taken before .breakfast or dinner, or at bedtime. W. PILULA ALOES COMPOSITA. Lond., Dub. Compound Pills of Aloes. " Take of Aloes [Hepatic Aloes, Dub.], in powder, an ounce; Extract of Gentian half an ounce; Oil of Caraway forty minims; Syrup a sufficient quantity. Beat them together, till they are thoroughly incorporated." Lond,, Dub. A reaction takes place between the aloes and extract of gentian when rub- bed together, which renders the mass so soft as sometimes to require the addi- tion of a light powder. The use of syrup is therefore unnecessary and impro- per. This combination is well adapted as a laxative to the costiveness of sedentary and dyspeptic persons. The dose is from five to twenty grains, according to the degree of effect desired.* - W. PILULA ALOES ET ASSAFCETIDA. U. S., Ed. Pills of Aloes and Assafetida. " Take of Aloes, in powder, Assafetida, Soap, each, half an ounce. Beat them with water so as to form a mass, to be divided into one hundred and eighty pills." U.S. The Edinburgh College takes equal parts of Socotrine or East India aloes, assafetida, and Castile soap, and beats them into a mass with conserve of red roses. These pills are peculiarly adapted, by the stimulant and carminative pro- perties of the assafetida, to cases of costiveness attended with flatulence and * The following is the formula for the aloetic pills usually called dinner pills, or Lady Webster's pills. They are the pilulce stomachicce of the fifth edition of the Paris Codex, A. D. 1758. Take of the best Aloes six drachms; Mastich and Red Roses, each, two drachms; Syrup of Wormwood sufficient to form a mass, to be divided into pills of three grains each. Common syrup may be substituted for the syrup of wormwood. One or two of these pills, taken shortly before a meal, will usually produce one free evacuation. The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy has adopted the following formula? ibr the compound aloetic preparations commonly called Hooper's and Anderson's pills. " Hooper's female pills. R Aloe's Barbadensis gviij., Ferri Sulphatis Exsiccati ^ij., giss., vel Ferri Sulphatis Crystal, giv., Extracti Hellebori Sjij, Myrrhae ^ij., Saponis gij., Canellse in pulv. tritse Jj., Zingiberis in pulv. trit. §j.—Beat them well together into a mass with water, and divide into pills; each containing two and a half grains." (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., v. 25.) " Anderson's Scots pills. R Aloe's Barbadensis ^xxiv., Saponis ^iv., Colocynthidis ^j., Gambogise %]., Olei Anisi f^ss. Let the aloes, colocynth, and gamboge be reduced to a very fine powder; then beat them and the soap with water into a mass, of a proper consistence to divide into pills, each containing three grains." Ibid. PART II. Pilulas. 1061 debility of the digestive organs. Each pill contains about four grains of the mass. From two to five may be given for a dose. W. PILULA ALOES ET FERRI. Ed. Pills of Aloes and Lron. "Take of Sulphate of Iron three parts; Barbadoes Aloes two parts; Aro- matic Powder six parts; Conserve of Red Roses eight parts. Pulverize the Aloes and Sulphate of Iron separately; mix the whole ingredients; and beat them into a proper mass; which is to be divided into five-grain pills." Ed. It is said that the laxative power of aloes is increased, and its tendency to irritate the rectum diminished, by combination with the sulphate of iron. Christison's Dispensatory.) This combination is useful in constipation with ebility of stomach, especially when attended with amenorrhcea. The dose is from one to three pills. W. PILULA ALOES ET MYRRHA. U.S., Ed. Pilule Aloes cum Myrrha. Lond., Dub. Pills of Aloes and Myrrh. "Take of Aloes, in powder, two ounces; Myrrh, in powder, an ounce; Saffron half an ounce; Syrup a sufficient quantity. Beat the whole together so as to form a mass, to be divided into four hundred and eighty pills." U S. The processes of the London and Dublin Colleges differ from the above only in directing a double proportion of Saffron, in the specification of hepatic aloes by the latter, and in not dividing the mass. The Edinburgh College takes four parts of Socotrine or East India aloes, two parts of myrrh, and one part of saffron; and beats them with conserve of red roses. This composition has been long in use, under the name of Rufus's pills. It is employed as a warm stimulant cathartic in debilitated states of the sys- tem, attended with constipation, and retention or suppression of the menses. From three to six pills, or from ten to twenty grains of the mass may be given for a dose. W. PILULA ASSAFOETIDA. U.S. Assafetida Pills. " Take of Assafetida an ounce and a half; Soap half an ounce. Beat them with water so as to form a mass, to be divided into two hundred and forty pills." U. S. Each of these pills contains three grains of the gum-resin. They are a convenient form for administering assafetida, the unpleasant odour and taste of which render it very offensive in the liquid state. W. PILULA CALOMELANOS COMPOSITA. Ed., Dub. Pilu- le Hydrargyri Chloridi Composite. Lond. Compound Calomel Pills. Compound Pills of Chloride of Mercury. " Take of Chloride of Mercury [Calomel], Oxysulphuret of Antimony, each, two drachms; Guaiacum Resin [guaiac], in powder, half an ounce; Molasses two drachms. Rub the Chloride of Mercury with the Oxysulphuret of Antimony, then with the Guaiacum Resin and Molasses, so that they may be incorporated." Lond. The Edinburgh College takes of calomel and golden sulphuret of antimony, each, one part; guaiac, in fine powder, and treacle, each, two parts; mixes the solids in fine powder, then the treacle, and beats the whole into a mass, to be divided into six-grain pills. The Dublin College agrees with the London, employing half the quantity of the active ingredients, and a sufficient quan- tity of molasses. We prefer the title "compound calomel pills" of the Edinburgh and Dublin Pharmacopoeias; as, though not scientific, it is not, like- the London name, liable to be confounded with that of corrosive sublimate. The anti- 1062 Pilulae. part ii. monial employed by the Colleges is the same, though under different names, and is identical with the U. S. precipitated sulphuret. According to Vogel, % a reaction takes place between the calomel and sulphuret of antimony, result- ing in the production of chloride of antimony and sulphuret of mercury. (Anncd. der Pharm., xxviii. 236.) The preparation was originally introduced to the notice of the profession by Dr. Plummer, who found it useful as an alterative, and upon whose authority it was at one time much employed under the name of Plummer's pills. The combination is well adapted to the treat- ment of chronic rheumatism, and of scaly and other eruptive diseases of the skin, especially when accompanied with a syphilitic taint. Four grains of the mass contain about one grain of calomel. From three to six grains or more may be given morning and evening. W. PILULA CALOMELANOS ET OPII. Ed. Pills of Calomel and Opium. "Take of Calomel three parts; Opium one part; Conserve of Red Roses a sufficiency. Beat them into a proper mass, which is to be divided into pills, each containing two grains of Calomel." Ed. The proportion in which opium is united with calomel to meet different indications is so various, that such a combination as the above is scarcely a proper subject for officinal direction. W. PILULA CATHARTIC A COMPOSITA. U.S. Compound Cathartic Pills. "Take of Compound Extract of Colocynth, in powder, half an ounce; Extract of Jalap, in powder, Mild Chloride of Mercury [calomel], each, three drachms; Gamboge, in powder, two scruples. Mix them together; then with water form them into a mass, to be divided into one hundred and eighty pills." U.S. This cathartic compound was first made officinal in the second edition of the U. S. Pharmacopceia. It was intended to combine smallness of bulk with efficiency and comparative mildness of purgative action, and a peculiar tend- ency to the biliary organs. Such an officinal preparation was much wanted in this country, in which bilious fevers, and other complaints attended with congestion of the liver and portal circle generally, so much abound. The object of smallness. of bulk is accomplished by employing extracts and the more energetic cathartics; that of a peculiar tendency to the liver, by the use of calomel; and that of efficiency with mildness of operation, by the union of several powerful purgatives. It is a fact abundantly proved by experience, that drastic cathartics become milder by combination, without losing any of their purgative power. Nor is it difficult, in this case, to reconcile the result of observation with physiological principles. Cathartic medicines act on dif- ferent parts of the alimentary canal and organs secreting into it. In small doses, both the irritation which they occasion and their purgative effect are proportionably lessened. If several are administered at the same time, each in a diminished dose, it is obvious that the combined purgative effect of all will be experienced; while the irritation, being feeble in each part affected, and diffused over a large space, will be less sensible to the patient, and will more readily subside. In the compound cathartic pills, most of the active purgatives in common use are associated together in proportions corresponding with their respective doses, so that an excess of any one ingredient is guarded against, and violent irritation from this cause prevented. The name of the preparation may at first* sight seem objectionable, as it might be applied to any compound pills possessing cathartic properties; but, when it is considered PART II. Pilulae. 1063 that the ingredients cannot all be expressed in the title, that no one is suffi- ♦ ciently prominent to give a designation to the whole, and that the preparation is intended as the representative of numerous cathartics, and calculated for a wide range of application, the name will not be considered an inexcusable deviation from ordinary medical nomenclature. Three of the pills, containing lOf grains of the mass, are a medium dose for an adult. In this quantity are four grains of compound extract of colo- cynth, three of extract of jalap, three of calomel, and two-thirds of a grain of gamboge. A single pill will generally be found to operate as a mild laxative. In a full dose, the preparation acts vigorously on the bowels, producing bilious stools, generally without much pain or disorder of the stomach. It may be employed in most instances where a brisk cathartic is required; but is particu- larly applicable to the early stages of bilious fevers, to hepatitis, jaundice, and all those derangements of the alimentary canal or of the general health which depend on congestion of the portal circle. W. PILULA COLOCYNTHIDIS COMPOSITA. Dub. Pilule Colocynthidis. Ed. Compound Pills of Colocynth. " Take of Socotrine or East India Aloes, and Scammony, of each, eight parts; Colocynth four parts; Sulphate of Potash and Oil of Cloves, of each, one part; Rectified Spirit a sufficiency. Pulverize the Aloes, Scammony, and Sulphate of Potash together; mix with them the Colocynth previously reduced to fine powder; add the Oil of Cloves; and with the aid of a small quantity of Rectified Spirit beat the whole into a proper pill mass; which is to be divided into five-grain pills." Ed. " Take of Hepatic Aloes, Scammony, each an ounce; Pulp of Colocynth half an ounce; Castile Soap two drachms; Sulphate of Potassa, Oil of Cloves, each, a drachm; Molasses a sufficient quantity. Reduce the Aloes and Scam- mony to powder with the Sulphate of Potassa; then mix the Pulp of Colo- cynth and the Oil, and lastly, rub all together into a mass with the Soap and Molasses." Dub. The sulphate of potassa is intended to promote the more complete division of the aloes and scammony. Rectified spirit is directed in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, because it is believed to be retained by the mass more firmly than water, and thus to preserve the due consistence longer. The preparation is actively cathartic in the dose of from eight to sixteen grains. W. PILULA COLOCYNTHIDIS ET HYOSCYAMI. Ed. Pills of Colocynth and Henbane. "Take of the Colocynth-pill mass two parts; Extract of Hyoscyamus one part. Beat them well together, adding a few drops of Rectified Spirit if ne- cessary; and divide the mass into five-grain pills." Ed. It is asserted that the compound pill and compound extract of colocynth are almost entirely deprived of their griping tendency by combination, as above, with the extract of hyoscyamus, without losing any of their purgative power. The dose is from five to twenty grains. W. PILULA CONII COMPOSITA. Lond. Compound Pills of Hemlock. " Take of Extract of Hemlock five drachms; Ipecacuanha, in powder, a drachm; Mixture [Mucilage] of Gum Arabic a sufficient quantity. Beat them together until they are incorporated." Lond. An anodyne and expectorant combination, useful in chronic bronchial dis- eases. The dose is five grains three times a day. W. 1064 Pilulae. PART II. PILULA COPAIBA. U.S. Pills of Copaiba. " Take of Copaiba two ounces; Magnesia, recently prepared, a drachm. Mix them, and set the mixture aside till it concretes into a pilular mass, which is to be divided into two hundred pills." U S. When copaiba is mixed with pure magnesia, it gradually loses its fluidity, forming at first a soft tenacious mass, and ultimately becoming dry, hard, and brittle. The quantity of magnesia, and the length of time requisite for this change, vary with the condition of the copaiba; being greater in proportion to the fluidity of this substance, or, in other words, to its amount of volatile oil. The quantity of magnesia directed by the Pharmacopoeia, one-sixteenth of the weight of the copaiba, is sufficient to solidify the latter, as it is often found in the shops, in the course of six or eight hours; but, when the copaiba is fresh, or has been kept in closely stopped bottles, and retains, therefore, nearly the whole of its oil, it is necessary either to augment the proportion of magnesia, or to expose the mixture for a much longer time, or to diminish the volatile oil of the copaiba by evaporation. The magnesia combines chemically with the resin, but, in relation to the volatile oil, acts merely as an absorbent; for, when the solidified mass is submitted to the action of boiling alcohol, a part is dissolved, abandoning the magnesia with which it was mixed, while the resin combined with another portion of the earth remains undissolved. (Journ. de Pharm., xvii. 105.) According to Guibourt, copaiba not solidifiable by magnesia, may be made so by adding one-sixth of Bordeaux or common Eu- ropean turpentine. (Lbid., xxv. 499.) The magnesia employed should not have been allowed to become hydrated by exposure to a moist air or other- wise. (Lbid., 3e ser., v. 475.) In the preparation of the pills of copaiba, care should be taken to divide the mass before it has become too hard. The ad- vantage of this preparation is, that the copaiba is brought to the state of pill with little increase of bulk. Each pill contains nearly five grains of copaiba, and from two to six may be taken for a dose twice or three times a day. Hydrate of lime produces the same effect as magnesia, and, as stated by M. Thierry, in a shorter time, if employed according to his formula. He takes 15 parts of copaiba and 1 part of slaked lime, mixes them in a marble mortar, transfers the mixture to an open vessel, places this upon a sand-bath, and sus- tains the heat for four hours, occasionally stirring. The hydrate of lime must have been freshly prepared from recently burnt lime. The mixture loses only a twenty-fourth of its weight, which is chiefly the water of the hydrate. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., i. 310.) W. PILULA CUPRI AMMONIATI. Ed. Pills of Ammoniated Copper. "Take of Ammoniated Copper, in fine powder, one part; Bread-crumb six parts; Solution of Carbonate of Ammonia a sufficiency. Beat them into a proper mass, and divide it into pills, containing each half a grain of ammo- niated copper." Ed. This is a convenient form for administering ammoniated copper. One pill may be given night and morning, and the dose gradually increased to five or six pills. W. PILULA DIGITALIS ET SCILLA. Ed. Pills of Digitalis and Squill. "Take of Digitalis and Squill, of each, one part; Aromatic Electuary two parts. Beat them into a proper mass with Conserve of Red Roses; and divide the mass into four-grain pills." Ed. These pills combine the diuretic properties of digitalis and squill, and may be given in dropsy. One or two pills constitute a dose. W. PART II. Pilulae. 1065 PILULA FERRI CARBONATIS. U.S., Ed. Pills of Car- bonate of Lron. Vallet's Ferruginous Pills. "Take of Sulphate of Iron four ounces; Carbonate of Soda five ounces; Clarified Honey two ounces and a half; Syrup, boiling Water, each, a sufficient quantity. Dissolve the Sulphate of Iron and Carbonate of Soda, each, in a pint of the Water, and to each solution add a fluidounce of Syrup; then mix the two solutions in a bottle just large enough to contain them, close it accurately with a stopper, and set it by that the carbonate of iron may subside. Pour off the supernatant liquid, and, having washed the precipitate with warm water, sweetened with Syrup in the proportion of a fluidounce of the latter to a pint -of the former, until the washings no longer have a saline taste, place it upon a flannel cloth, and express as much of the water as possible; then im- mediately mix it with the Honey. Lastly, heat the mixture, by means of a water-bath, until it attains a pilular consistence." U S. "Take of the Saccharine Carbonate of Iron four parts ; Conserve of Red Roses one pail. Beat them into a proper mass, to be divided into five-grain pills." Ed, The effect of saccharine matter in protecting iron from oxidation has been explained under the heads of Ferri Carbonas Saccharatum and Liquor Ferri Iodidi. The U S. pill of carbonate of iron is another example of a ferrugi- nous preparation, in which the iron is protected from oxidation by the same means. The salts employed are the same as those used for obtaining the offi- cinal subcarbonate of iron; but, in forming that preparation, the carbonate which first precipitates absorbs oxygen, and loses nearly all its carbonic acid in the processes of washing and drying. When, however, as in the U. S. for- mula, above given, the reacting salts are dissolved in weak syrup instead of water, and the washing is performed with the same substance, the absorption of oxygen and loss of carbonic acid, during the separation of the precipitate, are almost completely prevented. It only remains, therefore, to preserve it unaltered, and to bring it to the pilular consistence, and this is effected by ad- mixture with honey, and evaporation by means of a water-bath. Of course it is essential to the success of this process, that the sulphate of iron should be pure ; otherwise some sesquioxide will be present in the product. The pro- cess just explained is that of M. Vallet, of Paris, after whom the preparation is popularly called. The Edinburgh pill of carbonate of iron is made in a different manner. The saccharine carbonate, a preparation peculiar to the Edinburgh Pharmacopceia, is brought to a pilular consistence by being mixed with conserve of roses. This process is inferior to that of Vallet; for, in the first place, the saccharine carbonate is admitted to contain sesquioxide of iron, and secondly, conserve of roses is a less efficient preservative of the pilular mass than honey. (See Ferri Carbonas Saccharatum.) Properties. The U. S. preparation is in the form of a soft pilular mass, of a uniform black colour, and strong ferruginous taste. When carefully prepared, it is wholly and readily soluble in acids. It contains nearly half its weight of carbonate of protoxide of iron. The Edinburgh pill may he supposed to con- tain one-third of ferruginous matter. Medical Properties and Uses. The U. S. pill of carbonate of iron, or Vallet's ferruginous mass, is admirably adapted to cases in which ferruginous prepara- tions are indicated. It is considered particularly useful in chlorosis, amenor- rhcea, and other female complaints, and appears to act favourably by increasing the colouring matter of the blood, causing the capillary system to become more fully injected, and the lips to assume a redder colour. It may be given in divided doses to the extent of from ten to thirty grains in the course of the day, and continued for a month or six weeks, if improvement takes place. As 1066 I}ilulae. PART II. the mass is not divided in the U. S. formula, it is necessary in prescription to indicate the weight of each pill, which may vary from three to five grains, ac- cording to the views of the prescriber. There can be but little doubt, that, in cases in which the alterative effects of iron are called for, Vallet's preparation is one of the best that can be employed. Its chief merits are its unchange- ableness and ready solubility in acids. For further information respecting it, see the favourable report made on Vallet's ferruginous pills to the French Royal Academy of Medicine, in 1837, by M. Soubeiran, republished in the Am. Journ. of Pharm., x. 244, and the paper on carbonate of iron by Pro- fessor Procter, contained in the same Journal, x. 272. B. PILULA FERRI COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond., Dub. Coin- pound Pills of Iron. " Take of Myrrh, in powder, two drachms; Carbonate of Soda, Sulphate of Iron, each, a drachm; Syrup a sufficient quantity. Rub the Myrrh with the Carbonate of Soda; then add the Sulphate of Iron, and again rub them; lastly, beat them with the Syrup so as to form a mass, to be divided into eighty pills." U.S. The directions of the British Colleges are essentially the same as the above. The London College orders a drachm of molasses, the Dublin, a drachm of brown sugar, instead of the syrup. With brown sugar alone, the reaction of the materials in our climate does not always produce sufficient moisture to give the mass a pilular consistence. The direction for dividing the mass into pills is peculiar to our Pharmacopoeia. This preparation is closely analogous to the Mistura Ferri Composita in pro- perties and composition. It is a good emmenagogue and antihectic tonic. As its peculiar advantages depend upon the presence of carbonate of protoxide of iron, which speedily changes into the sesquioxide on exposure, it is proper that only so much of the mass should be prepared as may be wanted for immediate use. It is said that the iron will be better preserved in the state of protoxide, if, instead of mixing the ingredients as directed in the Pharmacopceia, the operator should first dissolve the sulphate of iron, finely powdered, in the syrup, with a moderate heat, then add the carbonate of soda, stirring till effer- . vescence ceases, and lastly incorporate the myrrh. From two to six pills may be-given at a dose, three times a day. W. PILULA FERRI SULPHATIS. Ed. Pills of Sulphate of Iron. " Take of Dried Sulphate of Iron two parts; Extract of Taraxacum five parts; Conserve of Red Roses two parts; Liquorice-root powder three parts. Beat them together into a proper mass, which is to be divided into five-Grain pills." Ed. There may be some doubt of the propriety of mixing the sulphate of iron with the confection of roses, by the tannic acid of which it must be decom- posed. The dose is from five to twenty grains. W. PILULA GALBANI COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond., Dub. Pi- LULvE AsSAFCETiDiE. Ed. Compound Pills of Gralbanum. " Take of Galbanum, Myrrh, each, an ounce and a half; Assafotida half an ounce; Syrup a sufficient quantity. Beat them together so as to form a mass, to be divided into four hundred and eighty pills." U. S. The London College directs of Galbanum an ounce, of Myrrh and Saga- penum, each, an ounce and a half, of Assafetida half an ounce, and of Syrup a sufficient quantity ; and orders them to be beaten together until thoroughly incorporated. The Dublin College gives the same directions, substituting mo- lasses for the syrup. The Edinburgh College takes of assafetida, galbanum, PART II. Pilulae. 1067 and myrrh, each, three parts, conserve of red roses four parts or a sufficient quantity, mixes them, and beats them into a "proper pilular mass. This compound is given as an antispasmodic and emmenagogue in chlo- rosis and hysteria. The dose is from ten to twenty grains. W. PILULA GAMBOGIA COMPOSITA. Dub. Pilule Cam- BOGiiE Composite. Lond. Pilule Cambo&le. Ed. Compound Pills of Gamboge. "Take of Gamboge, in powder, a drachm; Aloes, in powder, a drachm, and a half; Ginger, in powder, half a drachm; Soap two drachms. Mix the ^ powders together; then add the Soap, and beat the whole together till they are thoroughly incorporated." Lond. The Dublin formula differs from the above only in designating hepatic aloes, and in the addition of molasses to impart more readily the pilular consistence. The Edinburgh College takes of gamboge, East India or Barbadoes aloes, and aromatic powder, each, one part, and of Castile soap two parts; pulverize* the gamboge and aloes separately, mixes all the powders, adds the soap, and then a sufficiency of syrup; and beats the whole into a proper pill mass. This is an active purgative pill; and may be given in the dose of ten or fif- teen grains. The formula is that of Dr. George Fordyce simplified. W. PILULA HYDRARGYRI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Mercurial Pills. Blue Pills. "Take of Mercury an ounce; Confection of Roses an ounce and a half; Liquorice Root, in powder, half an ounce. Rub the Mercury with the Con- fection till all the globules disappear; then add the Liquorice Root, and beat the whole into a mass, to.be divided into four hundred and eighty pills." U S. The process of the London College is the same with the above, one quarter only of the quantity of materials being used. The Dublin process differs from the London only in substituting extract of liquorice root for the root itself. Neither of these Colleges orders the mass to be divided into pills. The Edin- burgh process corresponds with that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that the relative quantity of the ingredients is expressed in parts, and the mass is divided into five-grain pills. This preparation is very generally known by the name of blue pill. The mercury constitutes one-third of the mass; and consequently the pill of our Pharmacopceia, which weighs three grains, contains one grain of the metal. The precise condition of the mercury in this preparation is somewhat un- certain. By far the greater portion is in a state of minute mechanical division, and not chemically altered. Some maintain that the whole of the metal is in this state, others, that a small portion is converted during the trituration into protoxide, and that this is the ingredient upon which the activity of the pill depends. The supposed oxidation is attributed partly to the influence of the air upon the surface of the metal, greatly extended by the separation of its particles, partly to the action of the substance used in the trituration. If the mercury be not oxidized during the trituration, there can be little doubt that it becomes so to a slight extent by subsequent exposure. The obvious changes which the mass undergoes by time can be explained in no other way; and protoxide of mercury is asserted to have been actually extracted from old mer- curial pill. Nevertheless, it scarcely admits of dispute, that the metal, quite independently of oxidation out of the body, is capable of producing the pecu- liar mercurial effects when introduced into the stomach, probably undergoing chemical changes there. According to M. Mialhe, mercury is slowly con- verted into corrosive subhmate in the stomach, under the combined agency of 1068 Pilulae. PART II. air and chloride of sodium. (Journ. de Pharm., Se sir., ii. 440.) All agree that the efficacy of the preparation is proportionate to the extinction of the mercury, in other words, to the degree in which the metallic globules disap- pear. This extinction may be effected by trituration with various substances; and manna, syrup, honey, liquorice, mucilage, soap, guaiac, and extract of dandelion have been recommended, among others, for this purpose: but the confection of roses has been adopted in all the Pharmacopoeias, as less liable to objection than any other. The mercury is known to be completely extin- guished, when, upon rubbing a small portion of the mass with the end of the finger upon a piece of paper or glass, no globules appear. Powdered liquorice root is added in order to give due consistence to the mass. As the trituration requires to be long continued, and renders the process very laborious, it is customary in Great Britain to prepare the mass by machinery; and at Apo- thecaries' Hall, in London, the trituration is effected by the agency of steam. The machine there employed consists of "a circular iron trough for the recep- tion of the materials, in which revolve four wooden cylinders, having also a motion on their axis." The preparation slowly changes colour upon being kept, assuming an olive and sometimes even a reddish tint, in consequence, probably, of the further oxidation of the mercury. Much of the mercurial pill employed in this country is imported from England.* Medical Properties and Uses: These pills are among the mildest of the mercurials, being less liable than most others to act upon the bowels, and exercising the peculiar influence of the remedy upon the system with less irri- tation. They are much employed for producing the sialagogue and alterative action of mercury. For the former purpose, one pill may be given two or three times a day; and in urgent cases the dose may be increased. Even this preparation sometimes disturbs the bowels. It should then be given combined with a little opium, or in very minute doses, as half a grain or a grain of the mass repeated every hour or two through the day, so as to allow of its absorp- tion before a sufficient quantity has been administered to act as an irritant. With a view to the alterative effect upon the digestive organs, one pill may be given every night, or every other night, at bedtime, and followed in the morn- ing, if the bowels should not be opened, by a small dose of laxative medicine. From five to fifteen grains of the mass are occasionally given as a cathartic, in cases requiring a peculiar impression upon the liver; but, when used for this purpose, it should always either be combined with or speedily followed by a more certain purgative. The blue mass may frequently be administered with advantage, suspended in water by the intervention of thick mucilage; and it forms an excellent addition to the chalk mixture in diarrhoea, particularly that of children, when the biliary secretion is deficient, or otherwise deranged. W. * This preparation is very apt to contain less than the due proportion of mercury. The fraud may be detected by the following plan of estimating the proportion of mer- cury, suggested liy Prof. Reid of New York, and modified by a committee of the Phila- delphia College of Pharmacy. A certain weight of the mercurial pill, say fifty grains, is mixed with about one-fourth of its weight of iron filings, and introduced into a small green glass bulb, at the end of a somewhat curved tube, the open extremity of which is inserted, through a cork, into alcohol contained in a broad-mouthed glass vial; another tube, open at both ends, passing through the cork in order to permit the escape of uncon- densed gases. Heat is then applied to the bulb by means of a spirit lamp, is gradually increased until the glass becomes red-hot, and continued for an hour. The alcohol in the vial dissolves the empyreumatic products, and, by being allowed to rise in the tube, and then expelled, serves to wash out any mercury that may be condensed upon its sides. The alcohol is poured off from the condensed mercury, which is then washed with fresh alcohol, dried, and weighed. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvii. 309 and 151.) PART II. Pilulae. 1069 PILULA HYDRARGYRI CHLORIDI MITIS. U.S. Pills of Mild Chloride of Mercury. Calomel Pills. " Take of Mild Chloride of Mercury [calomel] half an ounce; Gum Arabic, in powder, a drachm; Syrup a sufficient quantity. Mix together the Chloride of Mercury and the Gum; then beat them with the Syrup so as to form a mass, to be divided into two hundred and forty pills." U. S. This is a convenient form for administering calomel, of which one grain is contained in each pill. Soap, which was directed in the preparation of this pill in the first edition of the Pharmacopoeia, is objectionable on account of its chemical incompatibility with calomel. Mucilage of gum Arabic alone does not form a sufficiently plastic mass; but gum and syrup united, as in the officinal formula, answer admirably well, forming a mass which is easily made into pills, and which readily yields to the solvent power of the stomach. W. TILUL A HYDRARGYRI IODIDI. Lond. Pills of Iodide of Mercury. " Take of Iodide of Mercury a drachm ; Confection of the Dog Rose three drachms; Ginger, in powder, a drachm; Beat them together until they are incorporated." Lond. The dose of this preparation is from five to ten grains. W. PILULA IPECACUANHA COMPOSITA. Lond. Compound Pills of Ipecacuanha. "Take of Compound Powder of Ipecacuanha [Dover's powder] three drachms; Squill, recently dried,- Ammoniac, each, a drachm; Mixture [Mucilage] of Gum Arabic a sufficient quantity. Beat them together until they are incorporated." Lond. An anodyne, somewhat stimulating, and expectorant combination, applicable to cases of chronic bronchial disease. The dose is from five to ten grains. W. PILULA IPECACUANHA ET OPII. Ed. Pills of Ipeca- cuanha and Opium. " Take of Powder of Ipecacuan and Opium three parts; Conserve of Red Roses one part. Beat them into a proper mass, which is to be divided into four-grain pills." Ed. This is merely the Dover's powder in a pilular form; as there can scarcely be a doubt, that the College intended by the name "powder of ipecacuanha and opium," to designate the preparation which they now call " compound powder of ipecacuanha." These pills are narcotic and sudorific. The quan- tity of the mass equivalent to a grain of opium is about thirteen grains; but it is usually employed in smaller doses, W. PILULA OPII. U.S. Pilule Opii sive Thebaic^. Ed. Pills of Opium. "Take of Opium, in powder, a drachm; Soap twelve grains. Beat them with water so as to form a mass, to be divided into sixty pills." U. S. "Take of Opium one part; Sulphate of Potassa three parts; Conserve of Red Roses one part. Beat them into a proper mass, which is to be divided into five-grain pills." El. The process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is designed merely to furnish a convenient formula for putting opium into the pilular form, preferable to the mode sometimes practised of making the pills directly from the unpowdered mass of opium as found in commerce. The soap answers no other purpose 1070 Pilulae. PART II. than to give a due consistence, and is therefore in small proportion. Each pill contains a grain of opium. The object intended to be answered by the Edinburgh preparation is some- what uncertain. The proportion of the opium corresponds with that in the Pilulae Saponis Compositae of the other Pharmacopoeias, but the name given to the preparation indicates that there could be no intention to conceal its nature; while the direction to divide the mass into pills of five grains, each containing a grain of opium, shows that the design was not to offer the means of exhibiting small doses of that narcotic in the pilular form. The object probably was merely to separate the particles of opium by the intervention of sulphate of potassa, and thus to render it more soluble in the gastric liquors. In this case, the preparation ranks rather with the U S. pills of opium, with which we have placed it, than with the compound pills of soap. Of either of these pills, one is a medium dose in reference to the full effects of opium. W. PILULA PLUMBI OPIATA. Ed. Opiate pills of Lead. "Take of Acetate of Lead six parts; Opium one part; Conserve of Red Roses about one part. Beat them into a proper mass, which is to be divided into four-grain pills. This pill may be made also with twice the quantity of opium." Ed. This pill would be better left to extemporaneous prescription; the requisite proportion of opium to the acetate of lead varying constantly in different cases. Besides, to have two preparations under the same name, one containing twice as much opium as the other, must lead to great confusion, and is alto- gether objectionable. The tannic acid of the confection of roses will decom- pose a portion of the acetate; but the resulting tannate of lead is not inert. Each pill contains three grains of acetate of lead, which is generally too much for a commencing dose. W. PILULA QUINIA SULPHATIS. U.S. Pills of Sulphate of Quinia. "Take of Sulphate of Quinia an ounce; Gum Arabic, in powder, two drachms ; Syrup a sufficient quantity. Mix together the Sulphate of Quinia and the Gum; then beat them with the Syrup so as to form a mass, to be divided into four hundred and eighty pills." U S. Each pill contains a grain of sulphate of quinia, and twelve are equivalent to an ounce of good Peruvian bark. W. PILULA RHEI. U. S., Ed. Pills of Rhubarb. "Take of Rhubarb, in powder, six drachms; Soap two drachms. Beat them with water so as to form a mass, to be divided into one hundred and twenty pills." U. S. " Take of Rhubarb, in fine powder, nine parts; Acetate of Potash one part; Conserve of Red Roses five parts. Beat them into a proper mass, and divide it into five-grain pills." Ed. Rhubarb is so often given in the pilular form, that it is convenient both for the physician and apothecary to have an officinal formula, indicating the mode of preparing the pills, as well as the quantity of rhubarb to be contained in each. Soap, as directed by the U. S Pharmacopceia, has stood the test of long experience as a good excipient for rhubarb. The medicine is sufficiently disposed to constipate without the addition of the confection of roses, ordered by the Edinburgh College. The acetate of potassa directed by the College is probably intended to keep the pill soft. The U. S. formula is decidedly pre- ferable. According to both, each pill contains three grains of rhubarb. part ii. Pilulae. 1071 PILULA RHEI COMPOSITA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Compound Pills of Rhubarb. "Take of Rhubarb, in powder, an ounce; Aloes, in powder, six drachms; Myrrh, in powder, half an ounce; Oil of Peppermint half a fiuidrachm; Syrup of Orange Peel a sufficient quantity. Beat the whole together so as to form a mass, to be divided into two hundred and forty pills." U. S. The London College takes the same quantities of powdered rhubarb, aloes, and myrrh; mixes them; then adds a drachm of soap, half a fluidrachm of oil of caraway, and sufficient syrup; and beats them all together. The Edin- burgh College takes of rhubarb twelve parts, aloes nine parts, myrrh and Castile soap, each, six parts, oil of peppermint one part, and conserve of red roses five parts; mixes them, and beats them into a mass, which is divided into five- grain pills. This College also allows the pills to be made without oil of pep- permint, when so preferred. This is a warm tonic laxative, useful in costiveness with debility of stomach. From two to four pills, or from ten to twenty grains of the mass, may be taken twice a day. W. PILULA RHEI ET FERRI. Ed. Pills of Rhubarb andiron. " Take of Dried Sulphate of Iron four parts; Extract of Rhubarb ten parts; Conserve of Red Roses five parts. Beat them into a proper pill mass, and divide it into five-grain pills." Ed. Tonic and laxative in the dose of two or three pills. W. PILULA SAGAPENI COMPOSITA. Lond. Compound Pills of Sagapenum. "Take of Sagapenum an ounce; Aloes half a drachm; Syrup of Ginger a sufficient quantity. Beat them together until they are incorporated." Lond. A stimulant, antispasmodic, and laxative preparation, which may be used in cases of flatulent colic, with costiveness dependent on deficient irritability of the bowels. The dose is from ten to thirty grains. W. PILULA SAPONIS COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond. Pilule Saponis cum Opio. Dub. Compound Pills of Soap. "Take of Opium, in powder, half an ounce; Soap two ounces. Beat them together so as to form a pilular mass. U. S. The directions of the London and Dublin Colleges correspond with those of the U. S. Pharmacopceia. This preparation is useful by affording the opportunity of conveniently ad- ministering opium, in a pilnlar and readily soluble form, in small fractions of a grain. The name adopted in the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias was probably intended to conceal the nature of the preparation from the patient. That of the Dublin College is inappropriate; as opium, though in small pro- portion as to quantity, is yet the ingredient of greatest importance, and that which gives character to the pill. One grain of opium is contained in five of the mass. W. PILULA SCILLA COMPOSITA. U.S.,Lond., Dub. Pilu- le Scillae. Ed. Compound Pills of Squill, " Take of Squill, in powder, a drachm ; Ginger, in powder, Ammoniac, in powder, each, two drachms; Soap three drachms; Syrup a sufficient quantity. Mix the powders together; then beat them with the Soap, and add the Syrup so as to form a mass, to be divided into one hundred and twenty pills." U S. The London College employs the same materials, in the same quantities, and proceeds in the same manner, except that the mass is not divided into 1072 Pilulae.—Plumbum. PART II. pills. The Dublin process differs from the London only in employing three drachms of ginger, in adding the ammoniac without previously powdering it, and in giving the due consistence by molasses instead of syrup. The Edin- burgh College takes of squill, in fine powder, five parts; ammoniac, ginger in fine powder, and Spanish soap, each, four parts; conserve of red roses txco parts ; mixes the powders; then adds the other ingredients; and beats them into a uniform mass, whicb is divided into five-grain pills. This is a stimulant expectorant compound, depending for its virtues chiefly on the squill, and applicable to the treatment of chronic affections of the bron- chial mucous membrane. From five to ten grains maybe given three or.four times a day. The preparation should be made when wanted for immediate use, as the squill which it contains is liable to be injured by keeping. W. PILULA STYRACIS COMPOSITA. Lond. Pilule Sty- racis. Ed. Pilule e Styrace. Dub. Compound Pills of Storax. " Take of Storax, strained, three drachms ; hard Opium, in powder, Saffron, each, a drachm. Beat them together, until they are thoroughly incorporated." Lond. The process of the Dublin College is essentially the same as the above. The Edinburgh College takes of opium and saffron, each, one part, and of ex- tract of storax two parts, and beats them into a uniform mass, which is divided into four-grain pills. In these pills, the storax and saffron are added merely to conceal the taste and smell of the opium, as the name of the pills is intended to conceal their real character. This contrivance is deemed necessary; as some individuals have a prejudice against the use of opium, which reason cannot overcome. Five grains of the mass contain a grain of opium. W. PLUMBUM. Preparations of Lead. LIQUOR PLUMBI SUBACETATIS. U. S. Liquor Plumbi Diacetatis. Lond. Plumbi Subacetatis Liquor. Dub. Plumbi Diacetatis Solutio. Ed. Solution of Subacetate of Lead. " Take of Acetate of Lead sixteen ounces; Sernivitrified Oxide of Lead, in fine powder, nine ounces and a half; Distilled Water four pints. Boil them together in a glass or porcelain vessel for half an hour, occasionally adding Distilled Water so as to preserve fhe measure, and filter through paper. Keep the solution in closely-stopped bottles." U. S. The sp. gr. of this solution is 1-267. " Take of Acetate of Lead two pounds and three ounces; Oxide of Lead [litharge], rubbed into powder, a pound and four ounces; Water six joints [Imperial measure]. Boil for half an hour, occasionally stirring, and, when the solution has cooled, add enough Distilled Water to make it fill six pints; lastly filter." Lond. The sp. gr. of the solution is 1-260. " Take of Acetate of Lead six ounces and six drachms; Litharge, in fine powder, four ounces; Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Boil the Salt and Litharge with the Water for half an hour, stirring occasionally. When the solution is cold add Water, if necessary, to make up a pint and a half; and then filter. Preserve the solution in well-closed bottles." Ed. " Take of Sernivitrified Oxide of Lead one part; Distilled Vinegar twelve parts. Boil together in a glass vessel until eleven parts of the fluid remain; PART II. Plumbum. 1073 then let the liquor rest, and when the impurities have subsided, let it be fil- tered." Dub. Crystallized acetate of lead consists of one equivalent of acetic acid 51, one of protoxide of lead 111-6, and three of water 27=189-6. Litharge, as usually found in the shops, is an impure protoxide of lead. When a solution of the former is boiled with the latter, a large quantity of the protoxide is dissolved, and a subacetate of lead is formed, which remains in solution. The precise composition of the subacetate varies with the proportions of acetate of lead and of litharge employed. When the quantity of the latter exceeds that of the former by one-half or more, the acetic acid of the acetate unites, accord- ing to the highest chemical authorities, with two additional equivalents of protoxide, forming a trisacetate; when the two substances are mixed in pro- portions corresponding with their equivalent numbers, that is, in the propor- tion of 189-6 of salt to 111-6 of oxide, or 10 to 6 nearly, only one additional equivalent of protoxide unites with the acid, and a diacetate of lead is pro- duced. As the quantity of litharge directed in the former U. S. Pharmaco- poeia was intermediate between these proportions, it is probable that the solution which resulted contained both the diacetate and trisacetate. In the present edition, the proportions have been so arranged as to result in the pro- duction of the diacetate; and the preparation is thus rendered identical or nearly so with those of the London and Edinburgh Colleges. The former of these Colleges originally prepared this solution by boiling together vinegar and litharge; but, at the last revisal of their Pharmacopceia, a process was adopted analogous to that of our national standard. The preparation was newly introduced into the last edition of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. In executing the process, the litharge should be employed in the state of very fine powder, and, according to Thenard, should be previously calcined in order to decompose the carbonate of lead, which it always contains in greater or less proportion, and which is not dissolved by the solution of the acetate. The process of the Dublin College also results in the production of a sub- acetate of lead, one equivalent of the acetic acid of the vinegar combining directly with two equivalents of the protoxide of the litharge, to form a dia- cetate. That a trisacetate is not produced may be inferred from the fact, ascer- tained by Dr. Barker, that distilled vinegar dissolves only about one-twelfth of its weight of the litharge, which is not nearly sufficient to afford three equivalents of protoxide to one of the acid. Besides, according to Phillips and Duncan, the resulting salt has been proved by the analysis of Dr. Bostock to be composed of one equivalent of acid and two of base. The strength of the solution necessarily varies with the strength of the vinegar, and this is an objection against the Dublin process, to which the others are not equally liable. We are told by Phillips that the sp. gr. of the solution prepared with distilled vinegar of 1007 is 1-220, with that of 1-009 is 1-309; while Dr. Barker states the specific gravity of the saturated solution, prepared by himself with distilled vinegar, to be only 1-118 at 68°. Common vinegar yields a dark brown solution, and is therefore not employed. Properties. The solution of subacetate of lead of the U. S., Edinburgh, and London Pharmacopoeias is colourless, that of the Dublin College has a pale greenish-straw colour, arising from impurities in the distilled vinegar. Its taste is sweetish and astringent. When concentrated by evaporation, it de- posits on cooling crystalline plates, which, according to Dr. Barker, are flat rhomboidal prisms with dihedral summits. It has an alkaline reaction, ting- ing the syrup of violets green, and reddening tumeric paper. One of its most striking properties is the extreme facility with which it is decomposed. Car- bonic acid throws down a white precipitate of carbonate of lead, and this hap- 68 1074 Plumbum. part ii. pens by mere exposure to the air, or by mixture even with distilled water, if this has had an opportunity of absorbing carbonic acid from the atmosphere. It affords precipitates also with the alkalies, alkaline earths, and their carbo- nates, with sulphuric and muriatic acids free or combined, with hydrosulphuric acid and the hydrosulphates, with the soluble iodides and chlorides, and, ac- cording to Thenard, with solutions of all the neutral salts. Solutions of gum, tannin, most vegetable colouring principles, and many animal substances, par- ticularly albumen, produce with it precipitates consisting of the substance added and oxide of lead. It should be kept in well-stopped bottles. It is known to contain a salt of acetic acid by emitting an acetous smell when treated with sulphuric acid; and a salt of lead by yielding a white precipitate with an al- kaline carbonate, a yellow one with iodide of potassium, and a black one with hydrosulphuric acid. It is distinguished from the solution of acetate of lead by being precipitated by gum Arabic. Medical Properties and Uses. This solution is astringent and sedative, but is employed only as an external application. It is highly useful in inflamma- tion arising from sprains, bruises, burns, blisters, &c, to which it is applied by means of linen cloths, which sbould be removed as fast as they become dry. It always, however, requires to be diluted. From four fluidrachms to a fluid- ounce, added to a pint of distilled water, forms a solution sufficiently strong in ordinary cases of external inflammation. When applied to the skin denuded of the cuticle, the solution should be still weaker; as constitutional effects might result from the absorption of the lead. Paralysis is said to have been produced by its local action; but we have not witnessed such an effect. The solution has the common name of Goulard's extract, derived from a surgeon of Montpellier by whom it was introduced into general notice, though pre- viously employed. Off. Prep. Ceratum Plumbi Subacetatis, U. S., Lond,; Ceratum Saponis, U. S.; Liquor Plumbi Subacetatis Dilutus, U. S., Lond., Dub.; Plumbi Oxy- dum Hydratum, Lond, W. LIQUOR PLUMBI SUBACETATIS DILUTUS. U.S. Li- quor Plumbi Diacetatis Dilutus. Lond. Plumbi Subacetatis Li- quor Compositus. Dub. Diluted Solution of Subacetate of Lead. Lead-water. " Take of Solution of Subacetate of Lead two fluidrachms ; Distilled Water a pint. Mix them." U. S. The London College mixes a fluidrachm and a half of the solution with a pint [Imperial measure] of distilled water, and two fluidrachms of proof spirit; the Dublin, a fluidrachm of the solution, with a pint of distilled water, and a fluidrachm of proof spirit. This preparation is convenient; as, in consequence of the subsidence of the carbonate of lead usually formed on the dilution of the strong solution, it enables the apothecary to furnish clear lead-water when it is called for. The strength, though doubled in the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, might be still further increased without disadvantage. The British preparations are much too feeble. The old French Codex directed two drachms of the strong solution to a pound of distilled water, and an ounce of alcohol of 22° Baume, and thus formed the vegeto-mineral water of Goulard. The minute propor- tion of proof-spirit added by the British Colleges can have little sensible effect. W. PLUMBI CHLORIDUM. Lond. Chloride of Lead. "Take of Acetate of Lead nineteen ounces; boiling Distilled Water three pints [Imperial measure] ; Chloride of Sodium six ounces. Dissolve separately the Acetate of Lead and Chloride of Sodium, the former in three pints of Dis- part ii. Plumbum. 1075 tilled Water, the latter in one pint of Distilled Water. Then mix the solu- tions, and wash the precipitate, after it has become cool, with Distilled Water, and dry it." Lond. In this process, a mutual decomposition of the acetate of lead and chloride of sodium takes place; the sodium of the latter changing place with the lead of the former, so as to produce acetate of soda which remains in solution, and chloride of lead which is precipitated. Chloride of lead is soluble in thirty parts of water at 60°, and in twenty- two parts at 212°, and from its saturated boiling solution separates in small, brilliant, anhydrous crystals. It is colourless and fusible, and, upon cooling after fusion, assumes a horn-like appearance, from which it has received the name of horn lead, The London College gives as characters of it, besides its relation with water above mentioned, that it becomes yellow with heat, and black upon the addition of hydrosulphuric acid. It was introduced into the last edition of the London Pharmacopoeia merely as one of the substances em- ployed in the preparation of muriate of morphia. W. PLUMBI IODIDUM. Lond., Ed. Iodide of Lead. " Take of Acetate of Lead nine ounces; Iodide of Potassium seven ounces; Distilled Water a gallon [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Acetate of Lead. in six pints of the Water, and filter; and to these add the Iodide of Potassium previously dissolved in two pints of the Water. Wash the precipitate and dry it." Lond. " Take of Iodide of Potassium and Nitrate of Lead, of each, an ounce; Water a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the salts separately, each in one-half of the Water; add the solutions; collect the precipitate on a filter of linen or calico, and wash it with water. Boil the powder in three gal- lons of water acidulated with three fluidounces of Pyroligneous Acid [acetic acid]. Let any undissolved matter subside, maintaining the temperature near the boiling point; and pour off the clear liquor, from which the Iodide of Lead will crystallize on cooling." Ed. In the process of the London College, the acetate of lead gives up its metal to the iodine from which it receives the potassium—the operation taking place between single equivalents of the several ingredients. The acetate of potassa thus formed remains in solution, while the iodide of lead is precipitated. The saturating proportions of crystallized acetate of lead and iodide of potassium are 1896 of the former and 165-45 of the latter, or 9 to 783; so that the acetate is slightly in excess. The proportions should be as nearly as possible those of exact saturation. An excess of the iodide of potassium has the dis- advantage of holding a portion of the iodide of lead in solution; while, accord- ing to Christison, an excess of lead over the iodine disposes to the formation of the lemon-yellow insoluble oxyiodide of lead. The latter result is very apt to take place; as the acetate of lead is liable to contain an excess of oxide, and the iodide of potassium is often impure. To obviate the disadvantage of an excess of oxide in the acetate, it is recommended to add a little acetic acid to the solution of this salt before mixing it with the iodide of potassium. Besides the oxyiodide above mentioned, a carbonate of lead is liable to be formed from the frequent presence of the carbonate of potassa in the iodide of potassium of the shops. It is to free the precipitated iodide of lead from these impuri- ties that the Edinburgh College directs it to be boiled with water acidulated with acetic acid, which readily dissolves any carbonate or acetate of lead pre- sent, as well as the iodide, and deposits only the last upon cooling. M. Depaire, of Brussels, ascertained that, in the process in which acetate of lead and iodide of potassium are employed, a considerable amount of iodine remains in solution after the precipitation of the iodide of lead; and M, 1076 Plumbum. PART II. F. Boudet states that the quantity of the iodide resulting from the process is 10 per cent, less than theory would indicate. By the addition of nitric acid to the solution, after precipitation, an additional quantity of iodide of lead is obtained. M. Boudet ascribes this result to the formation of a portion of soluble iodide of potassium and lead, whenever iodide of lead and acetate of potassa are in contact. By substituting nitrate for acetate of lead, he found that a quantity of iodide of lead was obtained, as near that required by theory as the solubility of the iodide of lead permits. (Journ. de Pharm., 3es6\,xi. 274.) The Edinburgh College employs the nitrate instead of the acetate of lead as more easily obtained pure; and the statement above made affords another ground for the substitution. In the Edinburgh process, a double decompo- sition takes place, as in the London, resulting in the production of nitrate of potassa which is retained in solution, and iodide of lead which falls. The saturating proportions are 165-6 of the nitrate and 165-45 of the iodide, or almost precisely equal quantities. As obtained by the London process, iodide of lead is in the form of a bright yellow, heavy, tasteless, and inodorous powder. It is soluble in 1235 parts of cold water (Soubeiran, Trait, de Pharm.), and is considerably more soluble in boiling water, which, on cooling, deposits it in minute, shining, golden-yel- low, crystalline scales. In this form it is presented by the Edinburgh process. It melts by heat, and is dissipated in vapours which are at first yellow, and ultimately violet in consequence of the disengagement of the iodine. It con- sists of one equivalent of iodine 126-3, and one of lead 103-6=229-9. As a test of its purity, the Edinburgh College state that five grains are entirely dissolved, with the aid of heat, by a fluidrachm of their pyroligneous acid, diluted with a fluidounce and a half of distilled water; and golden crystals are copiously deposited when the solution cools. Medical Properties and Uses. This compound is supposed to have the resolvent properties of iodine, combined with those which are peculiar to lead, and was at one time recommended in tuberculous diseases, in which, however, it has proved wholly inefficient. It is said to have been usefully employed in the discussion of scrofulous tumours and other indolent swellings, and in the cure of obstinate ulcers; and for these purposes has been used both internally, and locally in the form of an ointment. According to Dr. Cogswell, if given for some time in small doses, it produces the effects of lead, but not those of iodine, upon the system. (Christison's Dispensatory.) The dose is from half a grain to three or four grains. Dr. O'Shaughnessy states that ten grains are borne without inconvenience. Off. Prep. Unguentum Plumbi Iodidi, Lond. W. PLUMBI NITRAS. Ed. Nitrate of Lead. " Take of Litharge four ounces and a half; Diluted Nitric Acid a pint [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Litharge to saturation with the aid of a gentle heat. Filter, and set the liquor aside to crystallize. Concentrate the residual liquid to obtain more crystals." Ed. In this process the nitric acid unites directly with the protoxide to form the nitrate. This is in beautiful white, nearly opaque, tetrahedral or octohedral crystals, which are permanent in the air, of a sweet astringent taste, soluble in water and alcohol, and composed of one equiv. of nitric acid, 54, and one of protoxide of lead 111-6, without water of crystallization. When heated the salt first melts and is then decomposed, with the evolution of nitrous fumes, and a residue of metallic lead. Nitrate of lead is not employed as a medicine, and was introduced into the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia merely as one of the substances employed in the preparation of the iodide of lead. It has recently, however, been found use- PART II. Plumbum.—Potassa. 1077 ful in the correction of fetid odours dependent on the presence of sulphuretted hydrogen or hydrosulphate of ammonia, which it decomposes. It is employed for this purpose in solution, which may be sprinkled in apartments, or applied to putrescent ulcers, or mixed with offensive discharges, the odour of which it is desirable to correct. It will not prevent the putrefaction of animal sub- stances; and there is no reason to suppose that it is capable of rendering con- tagious or marsh miasms innoxious. Ledoyen's disinfecting fluid is a solution of nitrate of lead. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 269.) Off. Prep. Plumbi Iodidum, Ed, ' W. PLUMBI OXYDUM HYDRATUM. Lond. Hydrated Oxide of Lead. "Take of Solution of Diacetate of Lead six pints; Distilled Water three gallons; Solution of Potassa six pints, or as much as may be required to pre- cipitate the Oxide. Mix them, and wash the precipitate with water until nothing alkaline remains." Lond. In this process the potassa takes the acetic acid of the diacetate and sepa- rates the protoxide of lead, which becomes a hydrate by uniting with a portion of water at the moment of separation, and, being insoluble, is precipitated in the form of a white powder. It was introduced by the London College into their Pharmacopoeia as one of the substances employed in their process for preparing sulphate of quinia; but, as this process has not been practically adopted, the hydrated oxide of lead may be considered as altogether useless in pharmacy. " • POTASSA. Preparations of Potassa. LIQUOR POTASSA. U. S., Lond. Potassje Aqua. Ed. Po- tassae Caustics Aqua. Dub. Solution of Potassa. "Take of Carbonate of Potassa apound; Lime half a pound; Boiling Distilled Water a gallon, Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in half a gallon of the Water. Pour a little of the Water on the Lime, and when it is slaked, add the remainder. Mix the hot liquors, and boil for ten minutes, stirring constantly; then set the mixture aside, in a covered vessel, until it becomes clear. Lastly, pour off the supernatant liquor and keep it in well-stopped bottles of green glass." U S. "Take of Carbonate of Potassa fifteen ounces; Lime eight ounces; boiling Distilled Water a gallon [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Carbonate of Po- tassa in half a gallon of the Water. Sprinkle a little of the Water upon the Lime in an earthen vessel, and, the Lime being slaked, add the remainder of the Water. The liquors being immediately mixed together in a close vessel, shake them frequently until they are cold. Then set the mixture by, that the carbonate of lime may subside. Lastly, pour off the supernatant liquor, and keep it in a well stopped green glass bottle." Lond. "Take of Carbonate of Potash (dry) four ounces; Lime, recently burnt, two ounces; Water forty-five fluidounces; [Imp. meas.]. Let the Lime be slaked and converted into milk of lime with seven fluidounces of the Water. Dissolve the Carbonate in the remaining thirty-eight fluidounces of Water; boil the solution, and add to it the milk of lime in successive portions, about an eighth at a time, boiling briskly for a few minutes after each addition. Pour the whole into a deep narrow glass vessel for twenty-four hours; and then with- draw with a syphon the clear liquid, which should amount to at least thirty- five fluidounces, and ought to have a density of 1-072." Ed, 1078 Potassa. PART II. " Take of Carbonate of Potassa from Pearlash, fresh burnt Lime, each, two parts ; Water fifteen parts. Sprinkle one part of the Water, previously heated, on the Lime, placed in an earthen vessel; and when it is slaked, mix the salt with it immediately, and then add the remainder of the Water. When the mixture has cooled, put it into a well-stopped bottle, and, shaking it frequently, keep it for three days. When the carbonate of lime has subsided, decant the supernatant liquor, and keep it in green glass bottles, well stopped. The specific gravity of this solution is 1-080." Dub. The object of these processes is to separate carbonic acid from the carbonate of potassa, so as to obtain the alkali in a caustic state. This is effected by hydrate of lime; and the chemical changes which take place are most intel- ligibly explained by supposing the occurrence of a double decomposition. The lime of the hydrate of lime, by its superior affinity, combines with the car- bonic acid, and precipitates as carbonate of lime; while the water of the hy- drate unites with the potassa, and remains in solution as hydrate of potassa. The proportion indicated by theory for this decomposition would be 69-15 of the dry carbonate to 28-5 of lime, or one eq. of each; but in practice it is found necessary to use an excess of lime. In the U. S. and Edinburgh for- mulae the alkaline salt is treated with half its weight of lime; in the London, with eight-fifteenths; and in the Dublin, with its own weight; proportions, the lowest of which exceeds the theoretical quantity. The disadvantages of using a large excess of lime, as is done by the Dublin College, are the neces- sity of employing larger vessels, on account of the bulk of the materials, and the loss of a portion of alkaline solution which is retained by the spongy resi- duum. The proportion of water employed has a decided influence on the result. If the water be deficient in quantity, the decomposing power of the lime, on account of its sparing solubility, will be lessened; and more .of it will be required to complete the decomposition of the carbonate than if the solu- tions had been more dilute. The quantity ordered is ample, in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh formulae, but is deficient in the Dublin process. Thus, taking the lime at the same quantity in each formula, the quantity of water directed is expressed by the following numbers nearly; 59 Ed., 58 U. S., 52 Lond., and 22 Dub. Straining must not be used; as the operation causes a prolonged contact with the air, and risk of the absorption of carbonic acid, and is apt, moreover, to introduce organic matter into the solution de- rived from the strainer. The direction to keep the solution in green glass bottles is judicious; as white flint glass is slightly acted on. As the solution of potassa is frequently made by the manufacturing chemist in considerable quantities, the following details, taken from Berzelius, of the best mode of conducting the process, may not be without their use. Dissolve one part of carbonate of potassa in from seven to twelve parts of water in a bright iron vessel, and decant the solution after it has become clear by stand- ing. Boil the solution in an iron vessel, and while it is boiling, add, at inter- vals, small quantities of slaked lime reduced to a thin paste with water; allowing the solution to boil a few minutes after each addition. One and a half parts of pure lime will be more than sufficient to decompose one part of the carbonate. When about half the hydrate of lime has been added, take out about a teaspoonful of the boiling solution, and after dilution and filtration through paper, test it by adding it to some nitric acid, or by mixing it with an equal bulk of lime-water. If the solution has not been completely freed from carbonic acid, the first reagent will cause an effervescence, and the second a milky appearance; in either of which events the addition of the lime must be continued as before, until the above-mentioned tests give negative indica- tions. In conducting the process, several advantages are gained by keeping the part II. Potassa. 1079 solution constantly boiling. One is that the carbonate of lime formed is in this way rendered granular and heavy, and more disposed to subside; an- other, that it prevents the precipitated carbonate from coalescing into a mass at the bottom of the vessel, an occurrence which causes the ebullition, when subsequently renewed, to take place imperfectly and by jerks; and a third, that any silica present is precipitated in combination with lime and potassa. The process here described is essentially the same with that introduced into the last edition of the Edinburgh Pharmacopceia. Properties, dec. Solution of potassa is a limpid, colourless liquid, without smell, and having an acrid caustic taste, and alkaline reaction. It acts rapidly on animal and vegetable substances, and when rubbed between the fingers, produces a soapy feel, in consequence of a partial solution of the cuticle. It dissolves gum, resins, and extractive matter, and by union with oily and fatty bodies forms soap. The officinal solution is never perfectly pure, but contains either some undecomposed carbonate, or free lime, in addition to minute por- tions of sulphate of potassa, chloride of potassium, silica, and alumina, im- purities usually present in the carbonate of potassa obtained from pearlash, which is used in its preparation. Undecomposed carbonate may be detected in the manner explained in the preceding paragraph, and free lime, by the production of a milky appearance on the addition of a few drops of carbonate of potassa, which serves to precipitate the lime as a carbonate. When satu- rated with nitric acid, it gives little or no precipitate with carbonate of soda, chloride of barium, or nitrate of silver. It is incompatible with acids, acidu- lous salts, and all metallic and earthy preparations held in solution by an acid; as also with all ammoniacal salts, and with calomel and corrosive sub- limate. The officinal solutions of potassa vary in strength; the U.S. solution having the specific gravity of 1-056; the London, of 1-063; the Edinburgh, of 1-072; and the Dublin, of 1-080. These solutions are quite dilute; that of the London College, wbich is of medium strength, containing only eight per cent, of the hydrated alkali. (Phillips?) On account of its strong attrac- tion for carbonic acid, the solution of potassa should be carefully preserved from contact with the air. B. Medical Properties and Uses. Solution of potassa is antacid, diuretic, and antilithic. It has been much employed in calculous complaints, under the impression that it has the property of dissolving urinary concretions in the kidneys and bladder; but experience has proved that the stone once formed cannot be removed by remedies internally administered, and the most that the alkaline medicines can effect, is to correct that disposition to the super- abundant secretion of uric acid, or the insoluble urates, upon which gravel and stone often depend. For this purpose, however, the carbonated alkalies are preferable to caustic potassa, as they are less apt to irritate the stomach, and to produce injurious effects when long continued,. It has been proposed to dissolve calculi by injecting immediately into the bladder the solution of potassa in a tepid state, and so much diluted that it can be held in the mouth; but this mode of employing it has not been found to answer in practice. This solution has also been highly recommended in lepra, psoriasis, and other cuta- neous affections; and is said to have proved peculiarly useful in scrofula; but in all these cases it probably acts simply by its antacid property, and is not superior to the carbonate of potassa or of soda. Externally it has been used in a diluted state as a stimulant lotion in rachitis and arthritic swellings, and concentrated, as an escharotic in the bite of rabid or venomous animals. The dose is from ten to thirty minims, repeated two or three times a day, and gradually increased in cutaneous affections to one or two fluidrachms; but the remedy should not be too long continued, as it is apt to debilitate the stomach. It may be given in sweetened water or some mucilaginous fluid. 1080 Potassa. part ii. Veal broth and table beer have been recommended as vehicles; but the fat usually present in the former would be liable to convert the alkali into soap, and the acid in the latter would neutralize it. In dyspeptic cases it may be associated with the simple bitters. In excessive doses it irritates, inflames, or corrodes the stomach. Oils and the milder acids, such as vinegar and lemon-juice, are the antidotes to its poisonous action. They operate by neu- tralizing the alkali. It is employed pharmaceutically in the preparation of the Precipitated Sulphuret of Antimony (U.S., Lond., Ed.), Tartrate of Iron and Potassa (U S., Lond.), Ethereal Oil (U. S, Lond,), Binoxide of Mercury (Lond.), Black Oxide of Mercury (Dub.), and Hydrated Oxide of Lead (Lond.). Off. Prep. Potassa, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassa cum Calce, Ed., Dub. W. POTASSA. U.S., Ed. Potassae Hydras. Lond. Potassa Caustica. Dub. Potassa. Hydrate of Potassa. Caustic Potassa. " Take of Solution of Potassa a gallon. Evaporate the water rapidly, in a clean iron vessel, over the fire, till ebullition ceases, and the Potassa melts. Pour this into suitable moulds, and keep it, when cold, in well-stopped bot- tles." U. S. The London formula is essentially the same with the above. "Take any convenient quantity of Aqua Potassae; evaporate it in a clean and covered iron vessel, increasing gradually the heat, till an oily-looking fluid remains, a drop of which, when removed on a rod, becomes hard on cooling. Then pour out the liquid upon a bright iron plate, and as soon as it solidifies, break it quickly, and put it into glass bottles secured with glass stoppers." Ed. " Take of Water of Caustic Potassa any quantity. Evaporate it over the fire in a perfectly clean silver or iron vessel, until the ebullition shall have ceased, and the saline matter, on increasing the heat, shall remain perfectly at rest in the vessel. Pour out the liquefied Potassa on a silver or iron plate, and, whilst concreting, cut it into pieces of a proper size, which are imme- diately to be introduced into a well-stopped bottle. The operator should carefully avoid the drops which are ejected from the vessel during the evapo- ration." Dub. The concrete alkali, obtained by these processes, is the hydrate of potassa, sufficiently pure for medical purposes. The solution of the alkali freed from carbonic acid having been obtained by another formula (see Liquor Potassae), the formation of the present preparation requires merely the evaporation of this solution, until the whole of its uncombined water is driven off. The evaporation is required to be performed in metallic vessels, as those of glass or earthenware are acted, on by the alkali; and it should be completed as quickly as possible, in order to abridge the period during which the solution would be liable to absorb carbonic acid from the atmosphere. When poured out on a metallic plate, the cake, just as it concretes, may be marked with a knife in the directions in which it is to be divided, and when cold it readily breaks in those directions. A better plan, however, is to run the fused alkali into suitable moulds, as directed in the U. S. and London formulae. These should be made of iron and have a cylindrical shape, which is the most con- venient form of the alkali for the use of the surgeon. Green glass bottles with ground stoppers are the best adapted for preserving this preparation, as white flint glass is slightly acted on. Properties, &c. In its officinal impure form, potassa is usually in sticks which have a fibrous fracture, a dingy gray or greenish colour, occasionally a bluish tint, and the peculiar odour of slaking lime. It is extremely caustic PART II. Potassa. 1081 and very deliquescent, and dissolves in less than its weight of water. It is also readily soluble in alcohol. When exposed to a low red heat it melts, and at bright redness is volatilized. On account of its deliquescent property, and its strong attraction for carbonic acid, it requires to be kept in very accurately stopped bottles. In the state here described, the alkali always contains combined water as a part of its composition. It contains also several impurities, which, however, do not interfere with its medicinal value; such as sulphate of potassa, chloride and teroxide of potassium, sesquioxide of iron, lime, silica, alumina, and a portion of the alkali itself still in a carbonated state. The insoluble impurities, according to the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, should not exceed 1-25 per cent. It may be freed from impurity by digestion in alcohol, which takes up only the pure hydrated alkali, evaporating the alcoholic solution to dryness, and fusing the dry mass obtained. Pure hydrate of potassa, when thus procured, is usually called alcoholic potassa. It is generally in the form of flat white pieces, which are dry, hard, and brittle, and extremely caustic. Its other properties are similar to those of the impure hydrate above described. It may be discriminated from the other fixed alka- lies (soda and lithia) by affording, when in solution, a crystalline precipitate (cream of tartar) with an excess of tartaric acid, and a yellow one with chlo- ride of platinum. The officinal potassa, apart from impurities, consists of one eq. of dry potassa 47-15, and one of water 9=56-15. Dry potassa is formed of one eq. of potassium 39-15, and one of oxygen 8=47-15. (See Potassium.) B. Medical Properties and Uses. This is the old causticum commune acer- rimum, or strongest common caustic. It is a very powerful escharotic, quickly destroying the life of the part with which it comes in contact, and extending its action to a considerable depth beneath the surface. In this latter respect, it differs from the nitrate of silver or lunar caustic, to which it is, therefore, preferred for the purposes of forming issues and opening abscesses. It has been used for removing stricture of the urethra; but, in consequence of its tendency to spread, it may, unless carefully applied, produce such a destruc- tion of the lining membrane, as to open a passsge for the urine into the cel- lular tissue, and thus involve the patient in danger. The most convenient mode of employing the caustic for the formation of an issue, is to apply to the skin a piece of linen spread with adhesive plaster, having a circular open- ing in its centre corresponding to the intended size of the issue, and then to rub upon the skin, within the opening, a piece of the caustic previously moist- ened at one end. The application is to he continued till the life of the part is destroyed, when the caustic should be carefully washed off with a wet sponge or wet tow, or neutralized by vinegar. The preparation is also em- ployed for forming solutions of potassa of definite strength, whether for medicinal or pharmaceutic use. A solution of one drachm and a half of caustic potassa in two fluidounces of distilled water, is highly recommended by Dr. Hartshorne, of Philadelphia, as an application to the spine in tetanus. It may be applied by means of a sponge attached to the end of a stick, which should be drawn quickly along the back from the nape of the neck to the sacrum. It produces a very powerful rubefacient effect. The U. S. Pharmacopceia employs caustic potassa in the preparation of the black oxide of mercury. Off. Prep. Potassa cum Calce, Lond. W. POTASSA CUM CALCE. Lond,, Ed, Potassa Caustica cum Calce. Dub. Potassa with Lime. " Take of Hydrate of Potassa, Lime, each, an ounce. Rub them together, and keep them in a well-stopped vessel." Lond. 1082 Potassa. PART II. " Take any convenient quantity of Aqua Potassae; evaporate it in a clean, covered iron vessel to one-third of its volume; add slaked Lime till the fluid has the consistence of firm pulp. Preserve the product in carefully covered vessels." Ed. " Evaporate Water of Caustic Potassa to one-fourth; then add as much fresh burnt Lime, in powder, as will form a mass of the proper consistence, which is to be preserved in a well-stopped bottle." Dub. The London preparation is a mere mixture of hydrate of potassa with lime. The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges employ the solution of potassa, which is first concentrated, and then thickened by the addition of lime until the mixture becomes a pulpy mass, consisting of the mixed hydrates of potassa and lime. The Edinburgh and Dublin " potassa with lime," like the officinal potassa, is used as a caustic; but is more manageable than the latter preparation, owing to the presence of the lime, which renders it milder, slower in its operation, and less deliquescent, and causes it to spread less beyond the part intended to be affected. This preparation was formerly called causticum commune mitius, or milder common caustic. The London preparation is a powder, sometimes called Vienna caustic, and is still slower in producing an eschar. It is prepared for use by being made up into a paste with a little alcohol. The paste is applied to the part to be cauterized for ten or fifteen minutes, and is conveniently limited in its operation by a piece of adhesive plaster, in the manner explained under potassa. Dr. Filhos has improved the Vienna caustic by forming it in sticks. To prepare it thus, the potassa is perfectly fused in an iron spoon, and one-third of its weight of quicklime is added in divided portions; the whole being stirred with an iron rod. The fused mass is then run into lead tubes, closed at one end, about three inches long, and from a quarter to half an inch in diameter in the clear. The sticks are kept, still enclosed in the lead tubes, with the open end downwards, in thick glass tubes, containing some powdered quicklime, and closed with a cork, between which and the stick some cotton is put to steady the caustic. When employed, as much of the caustic is uncovered at the end, by scraping off the lead, as it is proposed to use. This form of caustic is particularly recommended for cauterizing the neck of the uterus. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., vi. 137.) B. POTASSA ACETAS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Acetate of Potassa. "Take of Acetic Acid a pint; Carbonate of Potassa a sufficient quantity. Add the Carbonate of Potassa gradually to the Acetic Acid till it is satu- rated ; then filter, and evaporate cautiously, by means of a sand-bath, until a dry salt remains. Keep this in closely-stopped bottles." U. S. "Take of Carbonate of Potassa a pound; Acetic Acid twenty-six fluid- ounces [Imp. meas.]; Distilled Water twelve fluidounces [Imp. meas.]. To the acid, previously mixed with the Water, add the Carbonate of Potassa to saturation; then strain. Evaporate the liquor in a sand-bath, with a heat cautiously applied, until the salt is dried." Lond, " Take of Pyroligneous Acid a pint and a half [Imp. meas.] ; Carbonate of Potash (dry) seven ounces or a sufficiency. Add the Carbonate gradually to the Acid till complete neutralization is accomplished. Evaporate the solu- tion over the vapour-bath till it is so concentrated as to form a concrete mass when cold. Allow it to cool and crystallize in a solid cake ; which must be broken up and immediately put into well-closed bottles." Ed. "Take of Carbonate of Potassa from Crystals of Tartar any required quantity. Pour on it, by repeated additions, Distilled Vinegar of a medium heat, and in quantity about five times the weight of the salt. When the PART II. Potassa. 1083 effervescence shall have ceased, and the liquor have been evaporated for some time, repeat the addition of Distilled Vinegar at intervals until effervescence shall have completely ceased. Evaporate to dryness, and, by cautiously raising the heat, liquefy the salt. When the salt has cooled, dissolve it in water, filter the solution, and boil it down, until, when removed from the fire, it shall form, on cooling, a mass of crystals, which should be perfectly white. Put these immediately into bottles, which should be carefully stopped." Dub. The process for forming acetate of potassa is a case of single elective affinity. The form of acid employed for generating the salt in the several Pharmacopoeias, is acetic acid (U. S. and London), pyroligneous acid (Edin- burgh), corresponding nearly with the U. S. and London acetic acid, and dis- tilled vinegar (Dublin). (Seepage 781.) Distilled vinegar is not proper for forming this salt, on account of its containing organic matter, which gives the solution, when concentrated, a reddish or brownish colour. This colouring matter is destroyed in the Dublin process by fusing the salt, dissolving it in water, and concentrating the solution so that it may concrete into a mass on cooling. When this process is followed, great care must be taken not to use too high a heat in effecting the fusion; otherwise part of the acetic acid will be decomposed, and a colourless salt will not be obtained. H. Oenicke, in order to avoid this decomposition, and to get the salt white, recommends the solution of a small portion of the fused salt, as a test, in the smallest possible quantity of water. If the solution is colourless, the salt has been heated long enough. The salt is then dissolved in the smallest adequate portion of water, and the solution, previously acidulated with a little acetic acid, is evapo- rated in a water-bath to dryness. The other formulae require the use of a pure acid, which forms, when saturated with the carbonate of potassa, a colourless solution. This is evaporated to dryness, according to the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, and to such a degree as to concrete into a mass when cold, according to the Edinburgh. The quantity of carbonate necessary for saturation cannot be accurately determined beforehand, and, therefore, it is injudicious in the London College to attempt to fix it in the formula. A better plan is that of the U. S. formula, in which a sufficient quantity for saturation is directed to be taken, the exact amount to be determined in the process. The same plan is adopted by the Edinburgh College, with the addition of indicating about the quantity required. As a sufficiency of the carbonate is ordered, it would seem quite unnecessary for the College to di- rect that it should be dry. For drying the acetate of potassa, Dr. Christison considers the heat of a vapour-bath too low, and that of a sand-bath apt to become too high. He, therefore, recommends the use of a bath of chloride of calcium, when operating on a small scale. In conducting the evaporation, it is best to have the solution always slightly acid; for if the alkali predomi- nate, it will react upon the acetic acid when the solution is concentrated, and give rise to discoloration. Acetate of potassa may be obtained, also, by double decomposition between acetate of lead and sulphate of potassa. When thus procured it is very white and pure, but liable to the objection, for medical use, that it may possibly contain lead. Another method by double decomposition is between acetate of lime and sulphate of potassa. Properties, d:c. Acetate of potassa, when pure, is a white salt, perfectly neutral to test paper, unctuous to the touch, and possessing a warm, pungent, saline taste. When unskilfully prepared, it is apt to be more or less coloured. Its state of aggregation differs with the manner in which it is prepared. As obtained by evaporating the solution to dryness, agreeably to the directions of the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias, it is in the form of soft fibrous 1084 Potassa. PART II. masses. As usually prepared and found in the shops, it has a foliated texture, which is given to it by fusion and cooling. On account of this appearance it was formerly called foliated earth of tartar. This salt is extremely deliques- cent, and, if exposed to the air, becomes converted into a liquid of an oleagin- ous appearance. It is on account of this property that it must always be preserved in well-stopped bottles. It dissolves in about half its weight of water, and twice its weight of alcohol. Anything remaining undissolved by these menstrua is impurity. Heated above its point of fusion it is decom- posed into acetone and carbonate of potassa; the acetic acid being resolved into this volatile liquid and carbonic acid. When treated with sulphuric acid, acetic acid vapours are copiously evolved, and sulphate of potassa is formed. The most usual impurities contained in it are the sulphate and tartrate of potassa, chloride of potassium, and the salts of lead and copper. A soluble sulphate may be detected by chloride of barium; and chloride of potassium, or any soluble chloride, by nitrate of silver added to a dilute solution. If tartrate of potassa be present, it will remain undissolved when the salt is acted on by alcohol. Lead and copper may be detected by sulphuretted hy- drogen and ferrocyanuret of potassium; the former test producing with the lead a blackish, and the latter with the copper a brown precipitate. Since the introduction of the cheap method of obtaining pure acetic acid from wood, this salt has scarcely been subject to adulteration. Acetate of potassa is in- compatible with the mineral acids, which expel the acetic acid; with sulphate of soda and sulphate of magnesia; with corrosive sublimate and nitrate of sil- ver; and with several other earthy and metallic salts. This salt exists in the juices of many plants, and especially in the sap of trees, and is the principal source of the carbonate of potassa existing in the ashes of wood. It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, one of potassa 47-15, and two of water 18=116-15. Medical Properties and Uses. Acetate of potassa acts as a diuretic in doses of from a scruple to a drachm, and as a mild cathartic when given to the extent of two or three drachms. It is employed in dropsies, and often with good effect. The late Dr. Duncan considered it to be a medicine of great efficacy, and one of our best saline deobstruents. We have ourselves used it in dropsical affections, and can bear testimony to its powers. The acetate, ready prepared, being an expensive preparation, the salt, equally efficacious, may be made extemporaneously in the liquid form by saturating distilled vinegar with the carbonate of potassa. Two drachms of the carbonate, satu- rated with vinegar, will sometimes produce in hydropic cases ten or twelve stools, and a copious discharge of urine. (Duncan.) Acetate of potassa, like the other alkaline salts containing a vegetable acid, may be given in the uric acid diathesis, to render the urine alkaline; for the experiments of Wbhler have shown that the acid of these salts undergoes decomposition in the di- gestive and assimilating processes, while the alkali enters the current of the circulation. From the decided property which this salt possesses of increasing the secretion of the kidneys, it was formerly called sal diureticus, or diuretic salt. Off. Prep. Acidum Aceticum, Dub.; Ferri Acetatis Tinctura, Dub.; Hy- drargyri Acetas, Dub.; Pilulae Rhei, Ed.; Tinctura Acetatis Ferri cum Alcohol, Dub.; Zinci Acetatis Tinctura, Dub. B. POTASSA CARBONAS. U. S., Lond., Ed. Potass^ Car- bonas e Lixivo Cinere. Dub. Carbonate of Potassa. Carbonate of Potassa from Pearlash. " Take of Impure Carbonate of Potassa [pearlash] three pounds; Water two pints and a half. Dissolve the Impure Carbonate of Potassa in the Water, and filter the solution; then pour it into a clean iron vessel, and evaporate the PART II. Potassa. 1085 water over a gentle fire till the solution thickens; lastly, remove it from the fire, and stir it constantly with an iron spatula till the salt granulates." U S. "Take of Impure Carbonate of Potassa two pounds; Distilled AYater a pint and a half [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Impure Carbonate of Potassa in the Water, and strain; then pour off the solution into a proper vessel, and evaporate the water that the liquor may thicken; afterwards stir it constantly with a spatula until the salt concretes. Carbonate of Potassa may be prepared more pure from the crystals of Bicarbonate of Potassa heated to redness." Lond. " Take of Pearlash, in coarse powder, cold Water, each, one part. Mix them by trituration, and macerate for a week, in a wide vessel, with occa- sional agitation. Then filter the lixivium, and evaporate it to dryness in a very clean silver or iron vessel. Towards the end of the evaporation, stir the saline mass constantly with an iron spatula. Having in this manner reduced it to a coarse powder, preserve it in close vessels. If the Pearlash is not sufficiently pure, roast it in a crucible until it becomes white, before dissolv- ing it in the Water." Dub. The Edinburgh College, in the last edition of its Pharmacopoeia, has re- moved carbonate of potassa from among the " Preparations," and placed it in the Materia Medica list with this note. " Carbonate of potash not quite pure, obtained by lixiviating, evaporating, and granulating by fusion and re- frigeration the potashes [pearlash] of commerce." The object of the above processes is to purify the impure carbonate of potassa, or pearlash. This generally contains certain insoluble impurities, as well as small portions of sulphate and silicate of potassa, and chloride of potassium, as explained under another head. (See Potassse Carbonas Impu- rus.) By dissolving it in a due proportion of water, and filtering the solu- tion, the insoluble impurities are got rid of, as well as the greater part of the foreign salts, which, being much less soluble than the carbonate of potassa, are excluded by the superior affinity of this salt for the water. The proper way of conducting the purification is to mix the impure carbonate with an equal weight of cold water, and to allow the mixture to stand for a day or two, stirring it frequently to promote the action of the water. The clear liquor, obtained by decantation or filtration, is then evaporated to dryness. The different officinal processes are conducted very much in this way; cold water being employed, and equal weights of alkali and water being used in the Dublin formula, and about equal weights in the processes of the U. S. and London Pharmacopoeias. The prolonged contact of the water with the salt, and the occasional stirring of the mixture, ordered by the Dublin Col- lege, are useful directions. In no case should the undissolved residue be washed with a fresh portion of water, as, by such a proceeding, the foreign salts, which it is the object of the process to separate, would be dissolved. Iron or silver vessels are directed, because these metals are not acted on by the alkali, while glass is attacked by it. In granulating the salt by stirring, it is better to keep it on the fire until the process is finished than to remove it the moment it thickens. According to Berzelius, a more productive process for purifying pearlash, though the salt is not so pure as when obtained in the way just described, is to dissolve the impure salt in more than its weight of water, to evaporate the solution till it has the density of 1-52, and then to put it in a cool place, that the foreign salts, principally sulphate of potassa and chloride of potassium, may crystallize. The solution is then decanted, and evaporated to dryness. Iyropcrties, dec. Carbonate of potassa, as found in the shops, is in the form of a coarse granular white powder, having a nauseous, alkaline taste, I 1086 Potassa. PART II. and acting as an alkali on vegetable colours. It is very soluble in water, dissolving in its weight of that liquid; but is insoluble in alcohol. It is extremely deliquescent, and hence a portion of it, exposed to the air for some time, attracts so much water as completely to dissolve into an oily liquid, called by the older chemists, oleum tartari per deliquium. On ac- count of this property, carbonate of potassa should be kept in bottles with accurately ground stoppers. If exposed, in its usual state, to a red heat, it retains its carbonic acid, but loses about sixteen per cent, of water. When pure it is completely soluble in water; but, generally, a small insoluble por- tion is left of earthy matter. An aqueous solution, when saturated with an acid, slowly deposits a slight gelatinous precipitate, derived from silica. The usual impurities are earthy matter, sulphate of potassa, chloride of potassium, and silica in the state, probably, of silicate of potassa. When dissolved in water and supersaturated with nitric acid, it affords a faint cloudiness with chloride of barium, and a slight precipitate with nitrate of silver; effects showing the presence of minute portions of a sulphate and of a chloride. If the indications of these tests are more decided, the salt is below the officinal standard of purity. It is incompatible with acids and acidulous salts, muriate and acetate of ammonia, lime-water, chloride of calcium, sulphate of mag- nesia, alum, tartar emetic, nitrate of silver, ammoniated copper and ammo- niated iron, sulphate of iron and tincture of chloride of iron, calomel and cor- rosive sublimate, acetate and subacetate of lead, and sulphate of zinc. It is not decomposed by tartrate of iron and potassa, and, therefore, may be asso- ciated with it in prescriptions. Composition. Carbonate of potassa, after exposure to a red heat, is an anhydrous salt, consisting of one eq. of carbonic acid 22, and one of potassa 47-15 = 69-15. As obtained by the officinal formulae, it is, according to Mr. Phillips, a sesquihydrate, consisting of two eqs. of carbonate and three of water. B. Medical Properties and Uses. Purified pearlash is the form of carbonate of potassa usually employed in this country, where it is frequently, though incorrectly, called salt of tartar, the latter name being strictly applicable to the purer carbonate, obtained by decomposing cream of tartar. It is occa- sionally used as an antacid in dyspepsia, as a diuretic in dropsy, and as an antilithic in gravel attended with red deposits from the urine; but the pur- pose to which it is most commonly applied is the formation of the neutral mixture and effervescing draught. (See Liquor Potassae Citratis.) It is worthy of observation, that its solution, on exposure to the air, or on the addition of an acid, deposits flocculi consisting of hydrate of silica, resulting from the decomposition of the silicated potassa, which is always present as an impurity. The spontaneous deposition of silica is owing to the absorption of carbonic acid. Carbonate of potassa is also used with much advantage in some cases of jaundice, in which it probably operates by entering the circu- lation and directly exciting the hepatic function. It has enjoyed some popu- lar reputation mixed with cochineal in hooping-cough, and is supposed by some, in common with other alkaline remedies, to operate favourably in those inflammations in which there is a disposition to the exudation of coagulable lymph, or the formation of false membranes. It is considered among the most effectual remedies in obstinate cutaneous eruptions, in which it is em- ployed both internally and externally. The dose is from ten to thirty grains, given in some aromatic water sweetened with sugar. In large quantities it acts as a corrosive poison, and is capable of producing death in a few hours. The antidotes are the fixed oils and vegetable acids. As an external remedy in cutaneous affections, it is used in the form of PART II. Potassa. 1087 bath, of lotion, and of ointment. From eight to sixteen ounces may be used for a single bath, the quantity being gradually increased. Lotions may be made by dissolving two or three drachms in a pint of water; and ointments by rubbing from ten grains to a drachm with an ounce of lard. Carbonate of Potassa is used in the formulae for Sulphuric Ether (Lond., Dub.), Spirit of Ammonia (Lond.), Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia (U.S., Lond.), and Fetid Spirit of Ammonia (Lond.). Off. Prep. Decoctum Aloes Compositum, Lond., Ed.; Enema Aloe's, Lond,; Liquor Potassae, U.S., Lond., Ed.; Liquor Potassae Arsenitis, Lond., Ed.; Liquor Potassae Carbonatis, U.S., Lond.; Liquor Potassae Ci- tratis, U. S.; Magnesiae Carbonas, Dub.; Mistura Ferri Composita, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassae Acetas, U.S., Lond., Ed.; Potassae Bicarbonas, U.S., Lond,, Ed., Dub.; Potassae Bisulphas, Dub.; Potassae Sulphas, Dub.; Potassae Tartras, U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub.; Potassii Bromidum, Lond.; Po- tassii Iodidum, U. S., Lond., Ed.; Potassii Sulphuretum, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. POTASSA CARBONAS PURUS. U.S. Potass^ Carbonas Purum. Ed. Potass^ Carbonas e Tartari Crystallis. Dub. Pure Carbonate of Potassa. Carbonate of Potassa from Crystals of Tartar. Salt of Tartar. " Take of Bitartrate of Potassa [cream of tartar] two pounds; Nitrate of Potassa a pound. Rub them separately into powder; then mix and throw them into a brass vessel heated nearly to redness, that they may undergo com- bustion. From the residue prepare the Pure Carbonate of Potassa, in the manner directed for the Carbonate." U. S. " Pure Carbonate of Potash may be most readily obtained by heating crys- tallized Bicarbonate of Potash to redness in a crucible, but more cheaply by dissolving Bitartrate of Potash in thirty parts of boiling Water, separating and washing the crystals which form on cooling, heating these in a loosely covered crucible to redness so long as fumes are discharged, breaking down the mass, and roasting it in an open crucible for two hours, with occasional stirring, lixiviating the product with Distilled Water, filtering the solution thus obtained, evaporating the solution to dryness, granulating the salt towards the close by brisk agitation, and heating the granular salt nearly to redness. The product of either process must be kept in well-closed vessels." Ed. " Take of Crystals of Tartar any quantity. Heat them to redness in a silver crucible, loosely covered, until they cease to emit vapours. Reduce the residue to a coarse powder, and roast it for two hours in the same crucible, without a cover, stirring it frequently; then boil it with twice its weight of water for a quarter of an hour, and, after the requisite subsidence, pour off the clear liquor. Repeat this three times. Filter the mixed solutions, and evaporate them in a silver vessel. Granulate the residual salt by frequently stirring it while it is becoming dry, and then heat it to dull redness. Before it is perfectly cold, take it out of the vessel, and preserve it in well-stopped bottles." Dub. The product of the above processes is a carbonate of potassa, purer than that described under the preceding head. In the U. S. formula the salts em- ployed undergo decomposition by the deflagration to which they are subjected; the tartaric and nitric acids are totally decomposed, and sufficient carbonic acid is formed, as one of the products of their decomposition, to saturate the com- mon base of the two salts, and thus to generate carbonate of potassa. The alkali, however, is mixed with a portion of redundant charcoal, which gives to it a black colour; and from its colour and use in this state it was formerly 1088 Potassa. PART II. called black flux. It is freed from carbonaceous matter by solution in water, filtration, evaporation, and granulation. The Dublin College forms this carbonate by incinerating the bitartrate with- out nitre; and this forms the second process of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. The tartaric acid, which consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, is decom- posed, and gives rise, among other products, to carbonic acid, which combines with the potassa. The matter, after ignition, contains, besides carbonate of potassa, certain impurities derived from those pre-existing in the bitartrate. These are carbonate of lime, arising from the decomposition of tartrate of lime, alumina, silica, and minute portions of the oxides of iron and manga- nese ; and, being all insoluble in water, are left behind when the mass is acted on by that liquid, the alkaline carbonate alone being taken up. The London College does not recognise a separate preparation under the title of " pure carbonate of potassa," but, to the formula for preparing the ordinary carbonate, subjoins directions for obtaining the pure carbonate by igniting the bicarbonate. (See preceding article.) When thus prepared, the second equivalent of carbonic acid, and the water of crystallization of the bicarbonate are expelled, and nothing remains but the carbonate in a very pure state. This is a ready and eligible mode of obtaining a pure carbonate of potassa, and forms the first process given in the Edinburgh Pharmacopceia. Properties, dec. Pure carbonate of potassa, obtained from cream of tartar or from the bicarbonate, differs from the same salt procured from pearlash only in containing fewer impurities. When obtained from cream of tartar, it was formerly called salt of tartar, in allusion to its source; but at present this name is commonly applied to any pure carbonate of potassa, without reference to its mode of preparation. It may, indeed, be very much doubted whether the real salt of tartar is often kept in our shops; the ordinary carbonate as purified from pearlash being generally substituted for it, and answering every medicinal purpose that could be expected from the use of the purer salt. Medical Properties and Uses. These are precisely the same with those of the carbonate of potassa described in the preceding article. The pure carbo- nate furnishes the best material for forming the solution of citrate of potassa, or neutral mixture. Off. Prep. Liquor Potassae Arsenitis, U. S., Dub.; Potassae Acetas, Dub.; Potassae Carbonatis Aqua, Dub. B. LIQUOR POTASSA CARBONATIS. U. S., Lond. Potass^ Carbonatis Aqua. Dub. Solution of Carbonate of Potassa. " Take of Carbonate of Potassa a pound; Distilled Water, twelve fluid- ounces. Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the water, and filter the" solu- tion." U.S. "Take of Carbonate of Potassa twenty ounces; Distilled Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the water, and strain." Lond. "Take of Carbonate of Potassa from Crystals of Tartar one part; Dis- tilled Water two parts. Dissolve and filter. The specific gravity of this solution is 1-320." Dub. This is simply a solution of carbonate of potassa in water, and furnishes a convenient form for the administration of the salt. An ounce is dissolved in a fluidounce of water in the U. S. formula, and in an imperial fluidounce in the London. This will be understood, when the fact is adverted to that the London pint contains twenty Imperial fluidounces. The London solution is somewhat stronger than that of the U. S. Pharmacopceia; because the Im- perial fluidounce weighs a little less than a fluidounce, wine measure. Thus, the sp. gr. of the London solution is 1-473; of the U. S. solution, 1-446. The PART II. Potassa. 1089 Dublin process differs in using the pure form of the carbonate, and in fur- nishing a solution considerably weaker. These solutions should be colourless and inodorous, and possess the general alkaline qualities of the salt from which they are formed. The dose of the U. S. or London solution is from ten minims to a fluidrachm, sufficiently diluted with water or other bland liquid. Off. Prep. Potassae Hydriodas, Dub. B. POTASSA BICARBONAS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Bicarbo- nate of Potassa. " Take of Carbonate of Potassa four pounds; Distilled Water ten pints. Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the Water, and pass Carbonic Acid through the solution till it is fully saturated. Then filter and evaporate the filtered liquor that crystals may form, taking care that the heat does not exceed 160°. Pour off the supernatant liquid, and dry the crystals upon bibulous paper. Carbonic Acid is obtained from Marble by the addition of dilute Sulphuric Acid." U. S. " Take of Carbonate of Potassa six pounds; Distilled Water a gallon [Im- perial measure]. Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the Water; after- wards pass Carbonic Acid through the solution to saturation. Apply a gentle heat, so that whatever crystals have been formed may be again dissolved. Then set aside the solution, that crystals may be again formed; and, having poured off the liquor, dry them. Carbonic Acid is very easily obtained from Chalk, rubbed to powder, and mixed with water to the consistence of a syrup, upon which Sulphuric Acid is then poured, diluted with an equal weight of water." Lond. " Take of Carbonate of Potassa from Pearlash, one part; Distilled Water two parts. Dissolve, and expose the solution, in a suitable apparatus, to a current of Carbonic Acid gas, evolved from white marble by the action of dilute Muriatic Acid, until the liquid becomes turbid. Then filter it, and again expose it to the stream of Carbonic Acid gas, until the alkali is saturated. Lastly, put the solution in a cool place, that crystals may form, which are to be dried without heat, and kept in a well-stopped bottle." Dub. " Take of Carbonate of Potash six ounces; Carbonate of Ammonia three ounces and a half. Triturate the Carbonate of Ammonia to a very fine pow- der; mix it with the Carbonate of Potash; triturate them thoroughly toge- ther, adding by degrees a very little water, till a smooth and uniform pulp be formed. Dry this gradually at a temperature not exceeding 140°, triturating occasionally towards the close; and continue the desiccation till a fine powder be obtained, entirely free of ammoniacal odour." Ed. In these processes, the monocarbonate of potassa, consisting of one eq. of acid and one of base, is combined with an additional equivalent of carbonic acid. In the U. S., London, and Dublin processes the combination is effected by passing a stream of this acid through a solution of the carbonate, so long as it is absorbed. The solution employed is directed of different strengths. In the U. S. formula, the distilled water taken is about three times the weight of the carbonate; in the London and Dublin processes, it is twice the weight of the latter. As the bicarbonate of potassa requires four times its weight of water to dissolve it, the quantity of water ordered in. these pro- cesses would seem not to be sufficient to dissolve the new salt; unless it be assumed that the solution becomes heated in consequence of the reaction. The non-solution of the whole of the new salt is not material, in case filtra- tion is not practised, which would remove part of the bicarbonate with the impurities. The London College omits filtration, applies a gentle heat to dis- solve any crystals which may have formed, and allows them to form again more perfectly by the slow cooling of the solution. In conducting the pro- 69 1090 Potassa. PART II. cess filtration is not necessary, provided the carbonate of potassa employed is perfectly pure; but the Pharmacopoeias order the carbonate, as procured from pearlash, and when thus obtained it always contains silica. As, during the progress of the saturation, the silica is deposited, this should be got rid of by straining, conducted in such a way as to avoid the removal of a part of the bicarbonate. These two objects might, probably, be effected by heating the solution before filtration, taking care that the temperature does not exceed 160°. A heat thus regulated would keep the bicarbonate in solution, with- out risk of its decomposition. In the U. S. process filtration is performed after the saturation is completed; in the Dublin, so soon as the solution be- comes turbid by the liberation of silica. If it be questionable whether the proportion of water used in the U. S. formula is sufficient, the lesser quantity ordered by the Dublin College must be quite inadequate to hold in solution the generated salt. On a small scale the formation of this bicarbonate is best performed in a Wolfe's apparatus of three bottles; the first containing water,, to wash the carbonic acid gas, the two others, solutions of the carbonate. The bottles should be connected by means of wide tubes, to prevent their being obstructed by the crystals formed. On a large scale, the saturation is per- formed in strong vessels, into which the carbonic acid is driven under pres- sure. Sulphuric acid is always used by the manufacturing chemist for gene- rating the carbonic acid; but for small operations, muriatic acid, diluted with twice its bulk of water, is more convenient; inasmuch as it generates with the marble or chalk a soluble salt (chloride of calcium), which does not interfere with the extrication of the carbonic acid, as the insoluble sulphate of lime does. In the Edinburgh process, carbonate of ammonia, in very fine powder, is thoroughly incorporated with carbonate of potassa, by the assistance of a little water, so as to form a uniform pulp, which is dried by a gentle heat. By the combined influence of the volatility of the ammonia, and the affinity of the carbonate of potassa for carbonic acid, the carbonate of ammonia is totally decomposed; its carbonic acid generating the bicarbonate with the potassa, and its ammonia being evolved during the drying of the pulp, which is thus reduced to the state of a fine powder. This process is alleged by Dr. Chris- tison to be superior to the other process, " in point of economy, dispatch, and certainty in small operations." Mr. Brande gives the following proportions for the preparation of bicarbo- nate of potassa on the large scale; "100 lbs. of purified carbonate of potassa are dissolved in 17 gallons of water, which, when saturated with carbonic acid, yield from 35 to 40 lbs. of crystallized bicarbonate; 50 lbs. of carbonate of potassa are then added to the mother-liquor, with a sufficient quantity of water to make up 17 gallons, and the operation repeated." Wohler states that charcoal, when mixed with the carbonate, facilitates by its porosity, in a remarkable degree, the formation of the bicarbonate. Thus he found that when crude tartar was charred in a covered crucible, and the carbonaceous mass, after having been slightly moistened with water, was sub- jected to a stream of carbonic acid, the gas was absorbed with great rapidity, and heated the mass so considerably, as to render it necessary to surround the vessel with cold water, to prevent the decomposition of the bicarbonate that had been formed. When the temperature diminished, the saturation was known to be completed. The mass was lixiviated in the smallest quantity of water at the temperature of from 85° to 100°, and the solution, after filtration and cooling, deposited the greater part of the bicarbonate in fine crystals. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., x. 82, from the Annalen der Physik und Chemie.) M. Behrens has proposed to obtain bicarbonate of potassa by partially satu- rating the carbonate, dissolved in an equal weight of water, with acetic acid gradually added. Up to a certain point, no carbonic acid is extricated, and PART II. Potassa. 1091 a precipitate takes place of pure bicarbonate of potassa, equal to half the weight of the carbonate employed. After the bicarbonate is separated, the saturation may be completed, and acetate of potassa obtained. (Journ. de Pharm., Se sir., iv. 464.) A similar production of the bisalt takes place when the carbonate is treated with weak lemon-juice, in forming the citrate. (Seepage 1093.) According to Berzelius, the cheapest method of obtaining the bicarbonate of potassa is to suspend a concentrated solution of the purified carbonate, con- tained in a stoneware dish, within a cask over a liquid undergoing the vinous fermentation. The alkali is thus surrounded by an atmosphere of carbonic acid, and, by absorbing it, crystallizes into bicarbonate in the course of five or six weeks. Distillers and brewers prepare this salt with great facility by sus- pending the alkaline solution in the fermenting tun. The salt in powder called sal aerafus, made principally in New England, is, we believe, prepared in this way. In composition it is between a carbonate and bicarbonate. Properties, dec. Bicarbonate of potassa is in transparent, colourless, in- odorous crystals, slightly alkaline to the taste and to test paper, permanent in the air, and having the shape of irregular eight-sided prisms with two-sided summits. It dissolves in four times its weight of cold water, and in five-sixths of its weight of boiling water, by which it is partially decomposed, and con- verted into sesquicarbonate. It is insoluble in alcohol. Exposed to a low red heat, it loses 30-7 per cent., comprising half its carbonic acid and the whole of its water of crystallization, and returns to the state of carbonate, which, when thus obtained, is free from silica, and otherwise very pure. This method is now adopted by the Lond. and Ed. Colleges for obtaining the pure carbonate. Supersaturated with nitric acid, it should give a clear solution, the transparency of which is not disturbed by chloride of barium, nitrate of silvery *)r carbonate of soda. When a perfect bicarbonate, its solution, unless heated, does not precipitate a solution of sulphate of magnesia. This negative indication, however, cannot be depended upon as showing the absence of car- bonate; for, according to Dr. Christison, no precipitate will be occasioned, even when fifty per cent, of this impurity is present. Bicarbonate of potassa does not decompose calomel. When dissolved in 40 parts of water, it pro- duces a white haze merely with a solution of corrosive sublimate; but if it contain so little as a hundredth part of carbonate, a brick-red precipitate is immediately produced. ( Christison.) Another way of detecting the presence of carbonate is to add starch sugar to a heated solution of the suspected bicar- bonate. If any carbonate be present, the mixture turns yellow or brown. (Chevallier.) Bicarbonate of potassa consists of two eqs. of carbonic acid 44, one of potassa 4745, and one of water 9=100-15. Medical Properties. The medical properties of this salt are the same as those of the carbonate, to which it is preferable from its milder taste, and greater acceptability to the stomach. The dose is from twenty grains to a drachm. Off.Prep. Liquor Potassae Effervescens, Lond., Ed.; Pulveres Efferves- centes, Ed. B. LIQUOR POTASSA EFFERVESCENS. Lond. Potassa Aqua Eefervescens. Ed. Effervescing Solution of Potassa. " Take of Bicarbonate of Potassa a drachm; Distilled Water a pint [Im- perial measure]. Dissolve the Bicarbonate of Potassa in the Water; and pass into it Carbonic Acid, compressed by force, more than is sufficient for saturation. Keep the solution in a well-stopped vessel." Lond. The Edinburgh formula is the same as the above. This preparation may be considered as the bicarbonate of potassa dissolved in carbonic acid water. It is, however, altogether superfluous in this country, 1092 Potassa. PART II. in consequence of the general introduction into the shops of carbonic acid water (artificial Seltzer water), which may be readily employed for dissolving any desired proportion of the bicarbonate, with the result of forming a much brisker preparation. This solution has the general sparkling qualities and acidulous taste of carbonic acid water; the alkaline taste being covered in a great measure by the large excess of carbonic acid. The after-taste is more purely saline than that of the corresponding preparation made with soda. (See Liquor Sodse Effervescens.) B. LIQUOR POTASSA CITRATIS. U.S. Solution of Citrate of Potassa. Neutral Mixture. " Take of fresh Lemon-juice half a pint; Carbonate of Potassa a sufficient quantity. Add the Carbonate of Potassa gradually to the Lemon-juice till it is perfectly saturated; then filter. Or, " Take of Citric Acid half an ounce; Oil of Lemons two minims; Water half a pint; Carbonate of Potassa a sufficient quantity.t Rub the Citric Acid with the oil of Lemons, and afterwards with the Water till it is dissolved; then add the Carbonate of Potassa gradually till the Acid is perfectly satu- rated; lastly, filter." U.S. These are equivalent preparations; the solution of citric acid flavoured with oil of lemons being intended as a substitute for fresh lemon-juice when this cannot be had. In. both, the potassa of the carbonate unites with the citric acid, and the carbonic acid is liberated. A portion of the latter remains in the solution, and a portion escapes with effervescence. The result, therefore, is a solution of citrate of potassa in water impregnated with carbonic acid. When lemon-juice is employed, the solution has a greenish colour; but pre- pared with the pure acid it is colourless. A flocculent precipitate is, in either case, apt to exhibit itself in small quantity, owing to the silicate of potassa generally present as an impurity in the carbonate of potassa. This gives up its base to the citric acid, and the silica is deposited in the state of a hydrate. It is to separate this impurity that the solution is directed to be filtered. About 33 grains of pure and perfectly dry carbonate of potassa, or 45 grains of the hydrated salt found in the shops, are sufficient to saturate a fluidounce of good lemon-juice; but the strength of the juice is variable, and the car- bonate is apt to absorb moisture from the air, so that precision as to quantities cannot be readily attained. Hence the propriety of the direction to add the alkaline carbonate to saturation. The point of saturation may be determined by the cessation of effervescence, the absence of either an acid or alkaline taste, and still more accurately by litmus paper, which should not be rendered bright-red by the solution, nor blue if previously reddened by an acid. The bicarbonate of potassa has been sometimes employed instead of the carbonate to saturate the acid. It is recommended by its greater purity; and, as it contains no silicate of potassa, it produces no precipitate of hydrate of silica. But as the carbonate is less expensive, and the impurities which it contains are not such as affect its medicinal efficacy, it has been preferred in the arrangement of the officinal formula. About one-third more of the bicar- bonate is required than of the dry carbonate to saturate the acid. The inequality of strength in the lemon-juice renders the neutral mixture more or less uncertain; though, if the apothecary select ripe and sound fruit, and express the juice bimself, the preparation will be found to approach suf- ficiently near a uniform standard for all practical purposes. Nevertheless, if the physician wish absolute precision, he may order the neutral mixture to be made with crystallized citric acid as directed in the second officinal formula; or he may pursue the following plan suggested in former editions of this work. Dissolve two drachms of bicarbonate of potassa in two fluidounces of water; part ii. Potassa. 1093 saturate the solution with good fresh lemon-juice, and strain; and lastly add enough water to make the mixture measure six fluidounces. A fluidounce of this solution may be given for a dose. Effervescing draught. Under this name, the citrate of potassa is often pre- pared extemporaneously, and given in the state of effervescence. The most convenient mode of exhibition is to add to a fluidounce of a mixture consist- ing of equal parts of lemon-juice and water, half a fluidounce of a solution containing fifteen grains of carbonate of potassa, or twenty grains of the bi- carbonate. Should effervescence not occur, as sometimes happens, when the carbonate is used, in consequence of the weakness of the lemon-juice, more of the juice should be added; as, unless sufficient acid is present to neutralize the potassa, part of the carbonate passes into the state of bicarbonate, and the gas is thus prevented from escaping. A solution of citric acid of the strength of that directed in the officinal formula may be substituted for lemon-juice, if this is not to be had. The fifteen grains of carbonate of potassa above men- tioned are scarcely sufficient to saturate the lemon-juice, if of ordinary strength; but a little excess of the acid renders the preparation more agreeable to the taste. Some prefer the bicarbonate in the preparation of the effervescing draught, because it will always effervesce with lemon-juice, no matter what may be the strength of the latter. But this is an objection. The carbonate serves, by the absence of effervescence, to indicate when the lemon-juice is very weak in acid; and the defect may then be easily remedied by the addition of more juice. When the bicarbonate is used, if there should be a deficiency of acid, it is not discovered; and the patient takes a considerable portion of undecomposed bicarbonate, instead of the full quantity of citrate intended. The citrate of potassa in substance has within a few years been introduced into notice, and is now kept in many shops. It is very readily obtained by evaporating to dryness a solution of citric acid saturated by carbonate of po- tassa. It is a deliquescent and very soluble salt, of difficult crystallization. Its solution in water was proposed by Mr. Scattergood as a substitute for the neutral mixture, which is liable to the disadvantage, when prepared with lemon-juice, of being of uncertain strength. According to Mr. Scattergood, fifty grains of it equal the amount of the salt contained in a fluidounce of ordinary lemon-juice saturated with potassa. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., v. 16.) Medical Properties and, Uses. The solution of citrate of potassa has long been used under the name of neutral mixture, saline mixture, or effervescing draught. It is an excellent refrigerant diaphoretic, adapted to almost all cases of fever with a hot dry skin, and especially to the paroxysms of our re- mittent and intermittent fevers. The effervescing draught is peculiarly useful. The carbonic acid serves to cover the taste of the citrate of potassa, and adds to the diaphoretic powers of the salt its own cordial influence over the stomach. No preparation with which we are acquainted is equally efficacious in allaying irritability of stomach, and producing diaphoresis, in our remittent fevers. It is usually also very grateful to the patient. In order to increase the sedative and diaphoretic properties of the neutral mixture, it is customary to add to it a portion of tartar emetic; and a little sweet spirit of nitre will be found an excellent adjuvant in fevers with nervous disturbance. Should the solution irritate the bowels, as occasionally happens, it may be combined with a little laudanum or solution of sulphate of morphia. Sugar may be added if desired by the patient. The dose of the officinal solution is a tablespoonful or half a fluidounce, which should be somewhat diluted when taken. The whole of each effer- vescing draught, prepared as above stated, is to be taken at once. The solid citrate may be given in the quantity of twenty-five grains, dissolved in a fluid- 1094 Potassa. part ii. ounce of water. Each dose should be repeated every hour, two, or three hours, according to the urgency of the symptoms. W. POTASSA NITRAS PURIFICATUM. Dub. Purified Nitrate of Potassa. " Take of Nitrate of Potassa one part. Dissolve it in two parts of boiling Water, filter the solution and set it aside, so that, on cooling, crystals may form." Dub. The purified nitre of commerce is sufficiently pure for medicinal use; so that this formula of the Dublin College is entirely unnecessary. The pro- perties of nitre, and the manner in which it is purified, have been fully ex- plained under another head. (See Potassse Nitras.) Off. Prep. Mthex Nitrosus, Dub. B. POTASSA SULPHAS CUM SULPHURE. Ed. Sulphate of Potassa with Sulphur. "Take of Nitrate of Potash and Sulphur equal parts. Mix them thoroughly; throw the mixture in small successive portions into a red-hot crucible; and when the deflagration is over, and the salt has cooled, reduce it to powder, and preserve it in well-closed bottles." Ed. When the mixture, indicated in this formula, is thrown into a red-hot crucible, each successive portion melts, and the sulphur floats on the Surface with the appearance of a brown oil, burns vividly, and gives rise to a copious evolution of sulphurous acid gas. The product of the deflagration is a gray- ish-white friable mass, intermixed apparently with undecomposed sulphur. The nature of this preparation has not been well determined. On the sup- position that it is the sulphate of potassa, mixed with a portion of sulphur, as the Edinburgh name implies, its formation may be thus explained. By the combined influence of the sulphur and of the heat employed, the nitric acid of the nitre is totally decomposed, and is thus enabled to furnish sufficient oxygen to convert a portion of the sulphur into sulphuric acid, which, as soon as formed, combines with the base of the nitre, to form the sulphate of potassa. This is left mixed with a portion of sulphur which has escaped combustion; but the greater part of the latter undergoes ordinary combustion, and is dis- sipated as sulphurous acid fumes. Supposing the saline matter to be a sulphate containing a little free sul- phur, this combustible is evidently used in great excess; but whether this excess is necessary to obtain the exact preparation desired by the Edinburgh College, it is not easy to determine. The late Dr. Duncan ascertained that the product amounted only to four-tenths of the materials employed. It is, therefore, smaller than it ought to be, even supposing that the residue con- sisted of nothing but sulphate of potassa. Dr. Duncan was of opinion that the preparation under consideration cannot be viewed as a sulphuretted sulphate, and for the following satisfactory rea- sons. In the first place, it is more soluble in water than sulphate of potassa, and forms a yellowish solution, the water leaving undissolved only a small residue of a black colour, which is not sulphur. In the second place, it ex- hales during solution a sulphurous smell, and its taste is sulphurous. These facts seem to show that a small portion of sulphite of potassa is present in the preparation, or at least some sulphurous acid in loose combination. It does not yield sulphuretted hydrogen on the addition of an acid, and is not precipi- tated by the salts of lead. These characters are inconsistent with the opinion of Mr. John Mackay, of Edinburgh, that this preparation contains sulphuret of potassium. (See Pharm. Journ. and Trans, for Jan. 1842.) Properties, dec. This salt has an acid and sulphurous taste, and an acid reaction with test paper. When pulverized, it yields a pale yellowish-white PART II. Potassa. 1095 powder. It is soluble in eight times its weight of cold water. It is, however, not a uniform preparation; different specimens, apparently prepared with equal care, exhibiting some difference in properties. It was called by the earlier che- mists sal polychrestus Glaseri, or sal polychrest. Its other properties coincide generally with those of sulphate of potassa, which may be considered as its basis. Medical Properties and Uses. The medical effects of this preparation differ but little, if at all, from those of sulphate of potassa. Its action on the system is stated by Dr. Duncan to resemble that of the sulphurous mineral waters which contain a portion of neutral salt. The dose is from half a drachm to a drachm. B. POTASSA BISULPHAS. Lond., Ed., Dub. Bisulphate of Potassa. " Take of the Salt which remains after the distillation of Nitric Acid two pounds; Sulphuric Acid apound; boiling Water six pints [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Salt in the Water, and add the Acid to it, and mix. Lastly, boil down the solution, and set it aside that crystals may form." Lond. The Edinburgh formula is the same with the London, the sulphuric acid being merely taken by measure, equivalent to a pound by weight. " Take of commercial Sulphuric Acid two parts; Carbonate of Potassa from Pearlash a sufficient quantity; Water six parts. Mix one part of the Sul- phuric Acid with the Water, and saturate the mixture with the Carbonate of Potassa; then add the other part of the Acid to the liquor, and evaporate it, so that on cooling crystals may form." Dub. The Dublin process for forming this bisalt is more precise than those of the London and Edinburgh Colleges, but at the same time less economical. The object being to obtain a salt, containing twice as much sulphuric acid as exists in the neutral sulphate, it is plain that by dividing the acid employed into two equal parts, and saturating one of these parts with potassa, the resulting neu- tral sulphate must be converted into a bisulphate by the addition of the other part. By this process a pure bisulphate cannot be obtained in crystals. If the attempt be made to procure them by allowing a moderately concentrated solution to cool, crystals of neutral sulphate will be chiefly deposited. In order to get the bisulphate pure by the Dublin process, the solution must be so far concentrated as to form on cooling a uniform crystalline mass. In explaining the other formulae, it is only necessary to recall to the reader's attention a part of the explanations given under the head of Nitric, Acid. It was there stated that, for the proper decomposition of nitre for the purpose of obtaining nitric acid, it is necessary to use two eqs. of sulphuric acid to one of the salt. Con- sequently, the salt which remains after the distillation of nitric acid is really a bisulphate, and would seem only to require to be dissolved, and the solution filtered and duly evaporated, in order to obtain the salt in crystals. But Mr. Phillips states that, when the bisulphate of potassa is dissolved in water, and the solution is allowed to crystallize, some sulphate and much sesquisulphate are obtained instead of bisulphate, owing to the water retaining a part of the excess of acid in solution. This result is prevented by the sulphuric acid directed to be added by the London and Edinburgh Colleges, and, conse- quently, the real bisulphate is obtained in crystals. Properties, &c. Bisulphate of potassa is a white salt, having the form of a right rhombic prism, so flattened as to be tabular, and a bitter and ex- tremely acid taste. It is soluble in twice its weight of cold water, a*id in less than its weight of boiling water. Alcohol does not dissolve it, but, when added to an aqueous solution, precipitates the neutral sulphate. Exposed to the air, it effloresces slightly on the surface, and, when moderately heated, readily melts, and runs like oil. At a red heat it loses water and the excess of acid, 1096 Potassa. part n. and is reduced to the state of neutral sulphate. From its excess of acid, it acts precisely as an acid on the carbonates, causing them to effervesce. It is incom- patible with alkalies, earths, and their carbonates, with many of the metals, and most oxides. This salt was formerly called sal enixum. It consists of two eqs. of sulphuric acid 80, one of potassa 47-15, and two of water 18 = 145-15. Medical Properties and Uses. Bisulphate of potassa unites the properties of an aperient with those of a tonic, and may be given in cases of constipation with languid appetite, such as often occur in convalescence from acute dis- eases. Dr. Paris states that it forms a grateful adjunct to rhubarb. It answers, also, according to Dr. Barker, for preparing an aperient effervescing draught at little expense. Equal weights, a drachm for instance, of the bisul- phate and of carbonate of soda, may be dissolved separately, each in two fluid- ounces of water, then mixed, and taken in the state of effervescence. The dose of the bisulphate is one or two drachms. B. POTASSA TARTRAS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tartrate of Potassa. Soluble Tartar. " Take of Carbonate of Potassa sixteen ounces; Bitartrate of Potassa [cream of tartar] in fine powder, three pounds or a sufficient quantity; Boiling Water a gallon. Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the Water; then gradually add the Bitartrate of Potassa to the solution till it is perfectly saturated, and boil. Filter the liquor, evaporate it until a pellicle forms, and set it aside to crystallize. Pour off the liquid, and, having dried the crystals on bibulous paper, keep them in closely-stopped bottles." U S. "Take of Bitartrate of Potassa, powdered, three pounds; Carbonate of Po- tassa sixteen ounces, or a sufficient quantity; boiling Water six pints [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the boiling Water; then add the Bitartrate of Potassa, and boil. Strain the liquor, and afterwards boil it down till a pellicle appears, and set it aside that crystals may form. The liquor being poured off, dry these, and again evaporate the liquor that crystals may form." Lond. The Edinburgh process is the same as the London. "Take of Carbonate of Potassa from Pearlash five parts; Bitartrate of Po- tassa fourteen parts; boiling Water forty'-five parts. Add gradually the Bitar- trate of Potassa, in very fine powder, to the Carbonate of Potassa, dissolved in the Water. Filter the solution through paper, and evaporate it, so that on cooling crystals may form." Dub. In these processes, the excess of acid in the bitartrate is saturated by the potassa of the carbonate, the carbonic acid is extricated with effervescence, and the neutral tartrate of potassa is formed. On account of the greater solubility of the carbonate than of the bitartrate, the former is first dissolved, and the latter added to the solution to full saturation. As the bitartrate is gradually added, the mutual action of the salts should be promoted by constant stirring; and the addition should be continued so long as effervescence takes place, which is a better mode of proceeding than to add any specified quantity of the bisalt; since, from its variable quality, it is impossible to adjust pre- cisely the proportions applicable to all cases. It is necessary that the solution should be exactly neutral, or a little alkaline; and hence, if inadvertently too much bitartrate has been added, the proper state may be restored by adding a little of the alkaline carbonate. When the saturation has been completed, the solution is filtered in order to separate the tartrate of lime, which appears in white flocks, and which is always present in cream of tartar as an impurity. The evaporated liquor should then be placed in warm earthenware vessels, to ensure a slow refrigeration; and, after remaining at rest for several days, the crystals begin to form. In order that the crystallization should proceed favour- PART II. Potassa. 1097 ably, it is necessary, according to Baume, that the solution should be somewhat alkaline. Iron vessels should not be used in any part of the process; as this metal is apt to discolour the salt. Tartrate of potassa is sometimes made in the process for preparing tartaric acid. When thus obtained, the excess of acid of the bitartrate is neutralized by means of carbonate of lime. This generates an insoluble tartrate of lime, and leaves the neutral tartrate in solution, from which it may be obtained by evaporation and crystallization. (See Acidum Tartaricum.) Properties, dr. Tartrate of potassa, prepared according to the officinal pro- cesses, is in white crystals, which are slightly deliquescent, and usually in the form of irregular six-sided prisms with dihedral summits. Its taste is saline and bitter. It dissolves in about twice its weight of cold water, and in much less boiling water, and is nearly insoluble in alcohol. Exposed to heat it undergoes fusion, swells up, blackens, and is decomposed; being converted into carbonate of potassa. For medicinal use it should always be crystallized; but, as it ordinarily occurs in the shops, it is in a white granular powder, ob- tained by evaporating the solution to dryness, while it is constantly stirred. In this state it is said to require four times its weight of water for solution. It is never purposely adulterated; but, if it be obtained by evaporation to dryness, it is liable to contain an excess of carbonate or of bitartrate of potassa, when it will have either an alkaline or acid reaction. It is decomposed by all the strong acids, and by many acidulous salts, which cause the precipitation of minute crystals of bitartrate of potassa, by abstracting one eq. of alkali from two of the salt. Acetate of lead occasions a white precipitate of tartrate of lead, distinguishable from sulphate of lead by being wholly soluble in diluted nitric acid. Tartrate of potassa is composed of one eq. of tartaric acid 66, and one of potassa 47-15=113-15. According to Berzelius, the crystals contain no water of crystallization. Medical Properties and Uses. Tartrate of potassa is a mild cooling purga- tivs, operating, like most of the neutral salts, without much pain, and pro- ducing watery stools. It is applicable to febrile diseases, and is occasionally combined with senna, the griping effects of which it has a tendency to obviate. The dose is from a drachm to an ounce, according to the degree of effect desired. B. POTASSII BROMIDUM. Lond. Bromide of Potassium. " Take of Bromine two ounces; Carbonate of Potassa two ounces and a drachm; Iron Filings an ounce; Distilled Water three pints [Imperial mea- sure]. First add the Iron, and afterwards the Bromine, to a pint and a half of the Distilled Water. Set them by for half an hour, frequently stirring them with a spatula. Apply a gentle heat, and when a greenish colour occurs, pour in the Carbonate of Potassa dissolved in the remainder of the Water. Strain, and wash what remains in two pints [Imperial measure] of boiling Distilled AVater, and again strain. Evaporate the mixed liquors, so that crystals may form." Lond. In the first step of this' process, a solution of bromide of iron is formed; and this, by the addition of the solution of carbonate of potassa, is decomposed so as to generate carbonate of the protoxide of iron which precipitates, and bromide of potassium in solution. By straining, the precipitated carbonate is separated, and from the strained liquor crystals of bromide of potassium are obtained by due evaporation. Properties, dr. Bromide of potassium is a permanent, colourless, anhy- drous salt, crystallizing in cubes or quadrangular prisms, and having a pun- gent, saline taste, similar to that of common salt, but more acrid. It is very soluble in cold water, more so in hot, and but slightly soluble in aleohol. 1098 Potassa. PART II. When heated it decrepitates, and, at a red heat, fuses without decomposition. The following characters are given of bromide of potassium by the London College. " Totally soluble in water. It does not alter the colour of litmus or turmeric. Chloride of barium throws down nothing from the solution. Sulphuric acid and starch added together render it yellow. Subjected to heat it loses no weight. Ten grains of this salt decompose just 14-28 grains of nitrate of silver, and precipitate a yellowish bromide of silver, which is dis- solved by ammonia, and but very sparingly by nitric acid." The object of adding sulphuric acid along with the starch is to set the bromine free. If iodine be set free at the same time, the starch will give rise to a violet or feeble blue colour. To test for iodine in this salt, Lassaigne recommends to add to its solution a few drops of a weak solution of chlorine, and then to in- troduce a piece of starched white paper. If iodine be present, the starch will become violet, or faintly blue. If the salt decomposes more nitrate of silver than is above stated, its saturating power is greater than it should be, and the presence of a chloride, probably of potassium or sodium, may be suspected. Bromide of potassium consists of one eq. of bromine 78-4, and one of potas- sium 39-15=117-55. Medical Properties. Bromide of potassium is deemed alterative and resolv- ent. In 1828, Pourche used it with benefit, both internally and in the form of ointment, in the treatment of bronchocele and scrofula. It was introduced into the London Pharmacopceia of 1836, in consequence of the favourable results obtained by Dr. Williams, of London, from its use as an internal re- medy in several cases of enlarged spleem According to Ricord, it produces the same effects in secondary syphilis as the iodide of potassium, but acts more slowly. (Seepage 1104.) The same view is taken of its slow action in syphilis by Dr. John Egan. This surgeon, after experimenting with the bromide of potassium for a period of four years in the Westmoreland Lock Hospital, found its effects, in secondary and tertiary syphilis, slow and unsatis- factory, when compared with those of iodide of potassium. While the iodide generally increased the appetite and improved the powers of digestion, the bromide not unfrequently produced nausea and deranged the digestive organs. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci. xiv., 206, from the Dublin Med. Press.) Bromide of potassium may be given in the form of pill, or dissolved in water, in doses of from three to ten grains, three times a day. The ointment may he made by mixing from a scruple to two drachms of the bromide with an ounce of lard. Of this from half a drachm to a drachm may be rubbed on a scrofulous tumour, or other part where its local action is desired, once in twenty-four hours. Sometimes bromine is added to this ointment in the proportion of thirty minims to the ounce of lard. B. POTASSII CYANURETUM. U.S. Cyanuret of Potassium. " Take of Ferrocyanuret of Potassium, in powder, eight ounces; Distilled Water six fluidounces. Expose the Ferrocyanuret to a moderate heat until it becomes nearly white, and is wholly deprived of its water of crystallization. Put the residue in an earthen retort, with the beak loosely stopped, and ex- pose it to a red heat for two hours, or till gas ceases to be disengaged. With- draw the retort from the fire, close the orifice with lute, and then let the whole remain until quite cold. Break the retort, remove the black mass, reduce it to coarse powder, introduce it into a bottle of the capacity of twelve fluid- ounces, and then add the Distilled Water. Agitate the mixture occasionally for half an hour, throw it on a filter, evaporate the filtered solution rapidly to dryness, and keep the dry mass in a closely-stopped bottle." U. S. In order to understand the process adopted for obtaining this new officinal of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, it is necessary to bear in mind that the ferro- PART II. Potassa. 1099 cyanuret of potassium consists of two eqs. of cyanuret of potassium, one of cyanuret of iron, and three of water. The salt is first deprived of its water of crystallization by exposure to a moderate heat, and then calcined at a red heat for two hours, in order to decompose the cyanuret of iron. The product of the calcination is a black, porous mass, consisting of cyanuret of potassium, mixed with carburet of iron and charcoal. As the cyanuret is very prone to absorb oxygen, especially when hot, whereby it is decomposed, atmospheric air is excluded from the retort, while it is cooling, by luting its orifice. When the whole is cold, the black mass is reduced to coarse powder, and exhausted by cold distilled water, which dissolves the cyanuret of potassium, and leaves the carburet of iron and charcoal behind. The filtered liquor, therefore, is an aqueous solution of cyanuret of potassium, which is obtained in a solid state by a rapid evaporation to dryness. During the evaporation, a small portion of the cyanuret is decomposed, attended with the evolution of ammonia, and the production of formiate of potassa. A portion of this salt, therefore, con- taminates the cyanuret, as obtained by this process; but the quantity is too small to interfere with its medicinal action. The decomposition here referred to takes place between one eq. of cyanuret of potassium and four of water, and is represented by the following equation, in which the cyanogen is ex- pressed by its full symbol NCa, and formic acid by C3H03;—K,NC2-f 4110 =NII + KO,C2H03. This decomposition is avoided by exhausting the black mass with boiling alcohol of 60 per cent. (0-896) instead of water. The alcoholic solution, by evaporation to a pellicle, lets fall the salt upon cooling, as a crystalline precipitate, perfectly white and pure. _ _ According to the process of the French Codex, this cyanuret is obtained in the dry way, without the use of any solvent. The calcination is performed in a coated stoneware retort, half-filled with the ferrocyanuret, to which a tube is attached for collecting the gaseous products. When these cease to be dis- engaged, the heat is gradually raised to a very high temperature, at which it is kept for a quarter of an hour. When the calcination is thus conducted, the retort will be found to contain a black matter, covered by a fused layer of pure cyanuret of potassium, resembling white enamel. This is detached by means of a knife, and immediately transferred to a bottle, with an accurately fitting stopper. The black matter, under the name of black cyanuret, is also kept for medicinal use; but the dose of this cannot be accurately fixed, on account of its containing, at different times, more or less impurity. The French Codex process is commended by Mr. Donovan, of Dublin, as being the best for obtaining this salt, He has modified it by substituting an iron mercury bottle for the stoneware retort. The details of his mode of pro- ceeding are given by him in the Pharm. Journ. and Trans., ii. 578._ The process of Wiggers, which is said to excel all others, consists in pass- in" hydrocyanic acid into a receiver, containing an alcoholic solution of potassa. The hydrocyanic acid is formed by slowly distilling two parts of ferrocyanuret of potassium, contained in a retort, with one and a half parts of sulphuric acid, previously diluted with an equal weight of water and allowed to cool. The acid is made to pass into a cooled receiver, furnished with a safety tube, and containing one part of pure hydrate of potassa, dissolved in three or four parts of alcohol of 90 per cent. (0822.) As soon as the ebullition slackens, the operation should be stopped; and the liquor in the receiver will be found thick from the precipitated cyanuret of potassium, mixed with the alcoholic solution of the undecomposed potassa. The precipitate is then collected on a filter, freed from the mother-water, washed with alcohol, and, without being removed from the filter, pressed and dried. (Pharm, Trans., Dec, 1841.) The ferro- cyanuret of potassium yields about a tenth of its weight of cyanuret by this process. It will be noticed that the hydrocyanic acid is here generated by the 1100 Potassa. part ii. same process as that adopted for obtaining it in the last U. S., Lond., and Ed. Pharmacopoeias; but, instead of being condensed by itself, it is allowed to pass into a solution of potassa. (Seepage 786.) The following process, proposed by Liebig and modified by C. Clemm, gives a large product of cyanuret of potassium, but contaminated with cyanate of potassa. Mix eight parts of fer- rocyanuret of potassium, well dried, with three of dry carbonate of potassa, and heat the mixture in a covered iron crucible to dull redness. The fused mass becomes successively brown and yellow; and finally, when it becomes clear, which will be known by its concreting in a brilliant white mass on a warm glass rod dipped into the liquid, it is to be poured out into a deep iron or porcelain vessel, kept in a warm place, in order that the mass may solidify slowly. Two eqs. of ferrocyanuret of potassium react with two eqs. of carbonate of potassa. The iron is set free, the carbonic acid evolved, and a compound of five eqs. of cyanuret of potassium and one of cyanate of potassa is formed. The iron oc- cupies the lower part of the mass, and may be readily separated by a hammer. The reaction which takes place is explained by the following equation:— 2(FeCy,2KCy) + 2(KO,C03)=5KCy + KO,CyO + 2Fe+2COa. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., Aug. 1842.) The cyanate of potassa may be readily de- tected by saturating the cyanuret, as thus obtained, with an acid, which will cause an effervescence of carbonic acid, and the generation of a salt of ammonia. Properties. Cyanuret of potassium is a white substance, having a sharp, somewhat alkaline and bitter-almond taste, and an alkaline reaction. If yel- low it contains iron. It is deliquescent in moist air, very soluble in water, and sparingly soluble in strong alcohol. The salt and its solution, when ex- posed to the air, exhale the odour of hydrocyanic acid, and become weaker; but the change takes place slowly. Orfila found that the salt, after fourteen days' exposure, by which it was almost entirely liquefied, still possessed ener- getic poisonous properties. He thinks, therefore, that the bad effects of open- ing the containing bottle, in dispensing the medicine, have been exaggerated. Unfortunately, the salt varies in quality as found in the shops, independently of the effects of time and exposure. Mr. David Stewart, of Baltimore, ex- amined six samples of this cyanuret, on sale, and found them to vary consider- ably in purity. Besides water, the usual impurities are carbonate, cyanate, and formiate of potassa. Effervescence on the addition of an acid shows a carbonate or cyanate, and blackening when heated, a formiate. Cyanuret of potassium consists of one eq. of cyanogen and one of potassium. Medical Properties. Cyanuret of potassium is pre-eminently poisonous, act- ing precisely like hydrocyanic acid as a poison and as a medicine. (See Acidum Hydrocyanicum.) The grounds on which it has been proposed as a substitute for that acid by Robiquet and Villerm6, are its uniformity as a chemical pro- duct, and its less liability to undergo decomposition. The dose is the eighth of a grain, dissolved in half a fluidounce of distilled water, to which may be added half a fluidrachm of syrup of lemons, if the prescriber wishes to set free hydrocyanic acid. (Donovan.) The spurious cyanuret, formed by calcining dried muscular flesh with potash, consists principally of carbonate of potassa, and is but slightly poisonous. (Orfila.) A solution, made with from one to four grains to the fluidounce of water, has been recommended in neuralgic and other local pains, applied by means of pieces of linen. Mr. Guthrie found that a solution of from three to six grains to the fluidounce of distilled water, formed an admirable remedy, applied by drops every other day, for removing the olive-coloured stains of the conjunctiva, caused by nitrate of silver. B. POTASSII IODIDUM. U.S.,Lond., Ed. Potass.e Hydriodas. Dub. Iodide of Potassium. Hydriodate of Potassa. " Take of Iodine six ounces; Iron Filings three ounces; Carbonate of Po- PART II. Potassa. 1101 tassa four ounces, or a sufficient quantity; Distilled Water four pints. Mix the Iodine with three pints of the Distilled Water, and add the Iron Filings, stirring frequently with a spatula for half an hour. Apply a gentle heat, and, when the liquor assumes a greenish colour, add gradually the Carbonate of Potassa, previously dissolved in half a pint of the Distilled Water, until it ceases to produce a precipitate. Continue the heat for half an hour, and then filter. Wash the residuum with half a pint of the Distilled Water boiling hot, and filter. Mix the filtered liquors, and evaporate so that crystals may form. Pour off the liquid, and dry the crystals on bibulous paper." U. S. The London College takes six ounces of iodine, two ounces of iron filings, four ounces of carbonate of potassa, and six pints [Imp. meas.] of distilled water, and proceeds as above; except that the quantity of carbonate of potassa in solution, added to the solution of iodide of iron, is taken at a fixed weight, and not left to be determined by the amount necessary to complete the pre- cipitation, and that, after the precipitation of the carbonate of iron, heat is not applied for half an hour before the liquid is filtered. "Take of Iodine (dry) five ounces; fine Iron Wire three ounces; Water four pints [Imp. meas.]; Carbonate of Potash (dry) two ounces and six drachms. With the Water, Iodine, and Iron Wire prepare the solution of iodide of iron as directed [under Ferri Iodidi Syrupus]. Add immediately, while it is hot, the Carbonate of Potash previously dissolved in a few ounces of water, stir carefully, filter the product, and wash the powder on the filter with a little water. Concentrate the liquor at a temperature short of ebulli- tion, till a dry salt be obtained, which is to be purified from a little red oxide of iron and other impurities, by dissolving it in less than its own weight of boiling water, or still better by boiling it in twice its weight of rectified spirit, filtering the solution, and setting it aside to crystallize. More crystals will be obtained by concentrating and cooling the residual liquor." Ed. " Take of Iodine one part; Sulphuret of Iron, in coarse powder, five parts; Sulphuric Acid seven parts ; Distilled Water forty-eight parts ; Water of Carbonate of Potassa a sufficient quantity; Rectified Spirit six parts. Mix the Iodine by trituration with sixteen parts of the Water, and put the mixture into a glass vessel. Pour the Acid, previously diluted with thirty- two parts of the Water, on the Sulphuret, contained in a matrass; and, by means of a tube adapted to the neck of the matrass, and reaching to the bot- tom of the vessel containing the Iodine and Water, transmit the gas through the mixture, until the Iodine entirely disappears. Filter the liquor, and im- mediately evaporate it, by a superior heat, to one-eighth part, and again filter it. Then gradually add as much Water of Carbonate of Potassa as will be sufficient to saturate the acid, which is known by the cessation of the effer- vescence. Then expose the mixture to heat until the residual salt is dry and of a white colour. On this pour the Spirit, and digest by the aid of heat. Lastly, from the remaining salt, pour off the solution, evaporate it to dryness, and keep the residuum in a close vessel." Dub. In the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, the process of Baup and Caillot was substituted for that previously adopted for obtaining iodide of potassium. The French Codex and London Pharmacopceia had previously adopted this process; and the Edinburgh College, upon making this iodide officinal for the first time in the last edition of its Pharmacopoeia, has selected it also. The first step of the process is to form the iodide of iron in solution, precisely as is done in the* formula for that compound; and the second to de- compose it by carbonate of potassa, which gives rise to iodide of potassium in solution, and a precipitate of carbonate of protoxide of iron. The solution of iodide of potassium is then separated by filtration from the precipitated car- bonate, and evaporated so that crystals may form. As the precipitated car- 1102 Potassa. PART II. bonate, after the filtration, still retains a portion of the solution of iodide of potassium, it is washed, in order to dissolve this portion, and the resultino- solution, after filtration, is added to that first obtained. Messrs. T. and H Smith, of Edinburgh, instead of washing the precipitate, prefer the plan of pressing it strongly in a cloth, in order to extract the remains of the solution. The mass left is broken up in a portion of distilled water equal to about two- thirds of the weight of the iodine employed, and pressed a second time. Proceeding thus, less water is used, and less evaporation is necessary. The London College takes the iron at one-third the weight of the iodine, instead of one-half as in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia; and the Messrs. Smith prefer the London proportion, which still gives the iron in excess. The London process varies disadvantageous^, in several particulars, from that of the U.S. Phar- macopceia. In the first place it is not easy to fix beforehand the quantity of carbonate of potassa necessary to decompose the iodide of iron, on account of the variable quality both of iodine and the alkaline carbonate. It is, there- fore, better to add the alkaline solution only so long as it produces a precipi- tate ; and, this rule being adopted, the quantity added in different operations will be found sometimes more and sometimes less. The direction of the London College to strain immediately after the addition of the alkaline car- bonate, gives rise to the inconvenience of obtaining a liquid, which becomes turbid from a fresh formation of the ferruginous precipitate, and which requires a new filtration before it can be submitted to evaporation. This inconveni- ence is avoided by continuing the heat for half an hour after the addition of the alkaline solution, during which interval the salts fully react on each other, and the precipitate is rendered less bulky, and more easily separable by the subsequent filtration. The London College has erred in using in the different steps of its process, a quantity of water inconveniently large, which causes a waste of time and fuel in bringing the solution of the iodide of potassium to the necessary degree of concentration. The Edinburgh College, for no obvious reason, abandons the proportion of the iodine to the iron of 2 to 1, given in its formula for Ferri Iodidi Syrupus, and adopts the ratio of 2 to 1-2, thus using a still greater excess of metal. The carbonate of potassa is ordered in less proportion than in the U.S. and London formulse, because it is directed to be dry. We have already expressed our preference of the plan of using a quantity of the alkaline carbonate, just adequate to complete the decomposition of the iodide of iron; and the use of the pure carbonate, obtained by igniting the crystallized bicarbonate, as is done bv the Messrs. Smith, would form an improvement in the process. The pro- portion of alkaline carbonate taken by the London and Edinburgh Colleges is not in excess, provided the iodine be dry; but if it contain considerable moisture, the carbonate ordered will be more than sufficient to decompose the iodide of iron formed. The solution of iodide of potassium, obtained by filtration, is directed by the Edinburgh College to be evaporated to dryness, and the dry salt is freed from iron and other impurities by solution in water or alcohol, filtration, and crystallization. The evaporation to dryness here directed would be unnecessary, if the plan had been adopted of com- pleting the reaction between the iodide of iron and alkaline carbonate, by the application of heat for a short time before filtration. However carefully the alkaline solution may be added, so as just to decompose the iodide of iron, the concentrated solution prepared for crystallization will show an alkaline reaction. This excess of alkali is best neutralized by gradually adding a solution of iodide of iron, until the liquid ceases to restore the blue colour of reddened litmus. A new filtration must now be practised to separate the additional precipitate. By the Messrs. Smith this solution is evaporated to dryness, and the dry salt carefully fused in an iron pot, in order to free it PART II. Potassa. 1103 from colour. It is then dissolved; and the solution, by filtration, concentra- tion, and cooling, furnishes a perfectly pure iodide nearly to the very last. In the Dublin process, a stream of hydrosulphuric acid gas being passed through water in which iodine is diffused, the gas is decomposed, its sulphur is precipitated, and its hydrogen, by combining with the iodine, generates hydriodic acid which remains in solution. The sulphur being separated by filtration, and the solution duly concentrated, the acid is converted into iodide of potassium by saturating it with carbonate of potassa. By evaporation to dryness the iodide is obtained in the solid state. But lest it should be con- taminated with some iodate and carbonate of potassa, the dry mass is digested with rectified spirit, which takes up the iodide, and leaves these salts behind. The alcoholic solution is then evaporated to dryness, and the pure iodide obtained in the solid state. This process is not an eligible one; as it requires the formation of hydriodic acid, and the use of alcohol. Another process for preparing iodide of potassium, is to add iodine to a hot solution of caustic potassa until the alkali is neutralized, when iodide of potas- sium and iodate of potassa will be generated, to evaporate to dryness, and to fuse the dry mass by a gentle red heat, in order to decompose the iodate. The fused mass is then dissolved in water, and the solution crystallized. Accord- ing to Mr. Scanlan, the deoxidation of the iodate is easily effected by the in- termixture of powdered charcoal with the two salts before they are subjected to heat. (Pereira). The quantity of charcoal necessary is about an eighth of the weight of the fused salts. Pypers has proposed the following process. Mix, by the aid of a moderate heat, 100 parts of iodine, 75 of carbonate of potassa, 30 of iron filings, and 120 of water, and, having dried the mixture, expose it to a red heat. The resulting reddish powder is then treated with water, and the solution obtained, filtered and evaporated to dryness. By this process, which is characterized as being easy and expeditious, 100 parts of iodine yield 135 of very white, slightly alkaline iodide of potassium. The ingredients here employed show that this process is virtually the same as that of Baup and Caillot. Properties, dr. Iodide of potassium is in opaque white or transparent crystals, permanent in a dry air, slightly deliquescent in a moist one, and hav- ing a sharp saline taste. According to the Messrs. Smith, of Edinburgh, it is not at all deliquescent when perfectly pure. It generally crystallizes in cubes. It is soluble in about two-thirds of its weight of cold water, and freely in rectified spirit. Its solution is decomposed by sulphuric acid, which acts by generating hydriodic acid, which speedily undergoes decomposition, with evolution of free iodine; and, if starch be added after the lapse of a few mi- nutes, a blue colour is generated. The starch test will not give the charac- teristic blue colour, if added simultaneously with the acid, unless the iodide ' of potassium contains iodate of potassa, which impurity causes an immediate I liberation of iodine. The blue colour being produced by the starch and acid, simultaneously added, is, therefore, an indication of impurity. (Am. Journ, of Pharm., for Jan. 1849, from Pharm. Journ.) The aqueous solution is capable of taking up a large quantity of iodine, forming a liquid, containing the ioduretted iodide, of a deep brown colour. Exposed to heat it fuses, with- out losing weight, into a crystalline and pearly mass, and at a red heat is volatilized without decomposition. The most usual impurities contained in this salt are the chlorides of potassium and sodium, bromide of potassium, and iodate and carbonate of potassa. The presence of a chloride may be de- termined by the use of nitrate of silver. This test will throw down nothing from the pure salt but iodide of silver, which is scarcely soluble in ammonia; while chloride of silver is readily soluble in it. If then a solution of the iodide be precipitated by an excess of nitrate of silver, and agitated with am- 1104 Potassa. PART II. monia, the latter will dissolve any chloride which may have been thrown down, and yie d it agam as a white precipitate on being saturated with nitric acid! It on the other hand, the iodide of potassium be pure, the ammonia will only take up a minute quantity of iodide of silver, and the addition of the nitric acid will scarcely disturb the transparency of the solution. The present low price of bromide of potassium, compared with that of the iodide, has caused the former to be used to adulterate the latter. In order to detect bromine, >I. Personne first precipitates from an aqueous solution of the suspected iodide, the whole of the iodine as protiodide of copper, by successively adding, in ex- cess, a solution of sulphate of copper, and aqueous sulphurous acid; and then treats the filtered liquid with ether and chlorine water, the whole bein^ shaken together and left at rest. If bromine be present, the ether, which rises to the surface, will be tinged of a reddish-yellow colour. The iodate and carbonate may be detected by their insolubility in alcohol. The iodate may be detected also by adding a solution of tartaric acid to a solution of the suspected iodide. Bitartrate of potassa will be precipitated, and, if the iodide be pure, a yellow colour is soon developed from the action of the air on the liberated hydriodic acid; but, if any iodate be present, the test will set free both iodic and hydri- odic acid, which, by their reaction, will instantly develope free iodine. (Pereira.) Carbonate of potassa is generally present in the proportion of from one to ten per cent. Dr. Christison has detected 74£ per cent, and Dr. Pereira as high as 77 per cent. An adulteration by the carbonate under ten per cent, does not alter the crystalline appearance of the iodide, but gives it an increased tendency to deliquesce. When it is greater it renders the salt granular and highly deliquescent. This impurity may be detected by lime-water, which causes a milkiness (carbonate of lime), and by tincture of iodine, the colour of which is destroyed. Iodide of potassium consists of one eq. of iodine 126-3 and one of potassium 39-15 = 165-45. It contains no water of crystallization. Medical Properties and Uses. This salt produces very marked effects on the secretions in general, which it increases, and into which it readily passes. It has a tendency to irritate the mucous membrane of the air-passages, as is shown by its sometimes occasioning an affection like cold in the head. When its use is long continued, it occasionally excites ptyalism, distinguishable from that produced by mercury by the absence of inflammation and fetor. Its ob- vious_ effects on the system are very variable, arising probably either from peculiarities of constitution, or from the unequal quality of the medicine itself Thus, in some cases it produces nausea, pain in the stomach, and diarrhoea in moderate doses; and in others is borne in large doses without inconvenience. Sometimes it increases the appetite and the flesh. By some practitioners it is preferred for the purpose of producing the constitutional effects of iodine Dr. De Renzy, of Carnew, used it with great success in haemoptysis, and Dr Graves, of Dublin, employed it with advantage in a very obstinate erythematic swelling of the hand. Dr. Williams, of London, considers it applicable to the treatment of various forms of secondary syphilis. He used it with suc- cess, in a majority of cases, in removing hard periosteal nodes, and found it beneficial in the treatment of tubercular forms of venereal eruptions. It is also considered as one of the best alterative remedies in mercurio-syphilitic sorethroat. Ricord bears testimony to its valuable powers in the treatment of secondary syphilis. Dr. Isaac Parrish, of this city, employed it successfully in strumous inflammation of the eye, given in the compound syrup of sarsa- parilla. It appeared promptly to relieve the severe neuralgic, circumorbital pain. MM. Guillot and Melsens gave it with advantage, in doses of from a drachm to a drachm and a half daily, in mercurial tremors and lead poison Dr. G. L. Upshur, of Virginia, recommends its use in the suppurative stage of pneumonia. The dose is from two to ten grains or more three times a PART II. Potassa. 1105 day, given in solution. Ricord rarely exceeded three scruples a day. Some practitioners have reported the exhibition of enormous doses, such as two, four, and even six drachms daily without inconvenience. Dr. Buchanan, of Glas- gow, assures us that he has given the pure salt in doses of half an ounce, with- out any precaution being observed by the patient, except that of drinking freely of diluents. Notwithstanding this testimony, Dr. Lawrie, of the same city, reports several cases of dryness and irritation of the throat, ending in severe spasmodic croup, and one case of death following the sudden occurrence of dyspnoea, caused by the use of small doses of this iodide. Iodide of potassium passes quickly into the urine, in which it may be de- tected by first adding to the cold secretion a portion of starch, and then a few drops of nitric acid, when a blue colour will he produced. According to Ricord, this salt produces in some constitutions peculiar effects, such as various eruptions of the skin, excessive diuresis, vascular injection of the conjunctiva and tumefaction of the eyelids, cerebral excitement like that produced by alcoholic drinks, and discharges from the urethra and vagina, re- sembling blennorrhoea. Eruptions of the skin were also observed by Dr. A. Van Buren, as a very common effect of large and long continued doses of iodide of potassium, given to patients in the Bellevue Hospital. (N. Y. Journ, of Med., viii. 208.) These various effects go off upon the suspension of the medicine. Iodide of potassium is employed as an external application in the form of ointment, either alone or mixed with iodine. Off. Prep. Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum, U. S.; Liquor Iodini Compositus, U. S., Lond,, Ed.; Plumbi Iodidum, Lond,, Ed.; Tinctura Iodini Composita, U. S., Lond.; Unguentum Iodini Compositum, U S., Lond., Ed.; Un- guentum Potassae Hydriodatis, Dub. B. POTASSII SULPHURETUM. U.S., Lond., Ed. Potass* Sul- phuretum. Dub. Sulphuret of Potassium, Sulphuret of Potassa. "Take of Sulphur an ounce; Carbonate of Potassa tivo ounces. Rub the Carbonate of Potassa, previously dried, with the Sulphur; melt the mixture in a covered crucible over the fire; then pour it out, and when it is cold put it into a bottle, which is to be well-stopped." U. S. " Take of Sulphur an ounce; Carbonate of Potassa four ounces. Rub them together, and place the mixture over the fire in a covered crucible, until they unite." Lond, The Edinburgh and Dublin processes are essentially the same as the London. When carbonate of potassa is melted with half its weight of sulphur, as in the U. S. process, the carbonic acid is expelled. Four eqs. of potassa and ten of sulphur may be supposed to react on each other. Three eqs. of potassa are decomposed into three eqs. of potassium and three of oxygen. The three eqs. of potassium unite with nine eqs. of sulphur to form three eqs. of ter- sulphuret of potassium. The three eqs. of oxygen, by uniting with the re- maining eq. of sulphur, form sulphuric acid, which combines with the un- decomposed eq. of potassa to form sulphate of potassa. Thus the U. S. preparation may be considered to be a mixture of tersulphuret of potassium with sulphate of potassa; and the^rench Codex sulphuret, made from the same proportion of carbonate and sulphur, is stated in that work to have the same composition. It may be presumed that the product of the processes of the British Pharmacopoeias has the same constituents, plus a certain propor- tion of undecomposed carbonate of potassa, on account of the large excess of alkali taken. In performing the process, tbe fused mass should be poured out on a marble slab, and, as soon as it concretes, should be broken into pieces^ and immediately transferred to a well-stopped bottle. The Pharmacopoeias use the carbonate of potassa from pearlash; but in the 70 1106 Potassa. PART II. process of M. Henry, which is stated to be the best yet devised, the pure car- bonate of potassa is employed. His formula is as follows. Mix two parts of real salt of tartar with one of roll sulphur reduced to powder, and put the mix- ture into flat-bottomed matrasses, which should be only two-thirds filled. These are placed on a sand-bath, and the fire is applied, so as, at first, to produce only a gentle heat, which is afterwards increased. Care must be taken that the necks of the matrasses do not become obstructed. The heat is continued until the matter is brought to the state of tranquil fusion, when it is allowed to cool. The mass obtained, which is compact, smooth, and of a fine yellow colour, is broken into pieces, and preserved in well-stopped bottles. Properties, dec. Sulphuret of potassium, when properly prepared, is a hard brittle substance, having a nauseous, alkaline, and bitter taste. Its colour is liver-brown, and hence its former name of hepar sulphuris, or liver of sulphur. The colour of the surface of a fresh fracture is brownish-yellow. It is ino- dorous when dry, but emits a slightly fetid smell when moist, owing to the extrication of a little sulphuretted hydrogen gas. It is completely soluble in water, forming an orange-yellow liquid, and exhaling the smell of sulphuretted hydrogen. By exposure to the air it attracts oxygen, and the sulphuret of potassium is gradually converted into sulphate of potassa, when the preparation becomes inodorous, and white on the surface. The solution is decomposed by the mineral acids, which extricate sulphuretted hydrogen, and precipitate the ex- cess of sulphur. It is also incompatible with solutions of most of the metals, which are precipitated as sulphurets. B. Medical Properties and Uses. Sulphuret of potassium is a local irritant, and, in small and repeated doses, is said to increase the frequency of the pulse, the heat of skin, and the different secretions, especially the mucous. Occa- sionally it vomits and purges. It acts, moreover, as an antacid, and produces the alterative effects of sulphur. By some it is maintained to be sedative, and directly to reduce the action of the heart. It probably does so, when taken in considerable quantities, by the developement of sulphuretted hydrogen. In over-doses, it acts, according to Orfila, as a violent poison, corroding the sto- mach, and depressing the powers of the nervous system. Acetate of lead, or acetate of zinc may be used as an antidote; but the latter is preferable, as less likely to act injuriously in an over-dose, and having besides emetic pro- perties. The complaints in which it has been most advantageously employed are chronic rheumatism and gout, and various cutaneous affections. It has been given also in painters' colic, asthma, and chronic catarrh, and acquired a short-lived reputation as a remedy in croup, after the publication of the essay to which the prize offered by Napoleon for the best dissertation on that dis- ease was awarded. It is said, in some cases of cancer, to have assisted the palliative operation of hemlock. In consequence of forming insoluble sul- phurets with the metallic salts, it has been proposed as an antidote for some of the mineral poisons; but Orfila has proved that it does not prevent their effects. Dissolved in water it has proved very efficacious as an external appli- cation in cutaneous diseases, and in scabies is an almost certain remedy. It may be used for this purpose in the form of lotion, bath, or ointment. For a lotion it may be dissolved in water in the proportion of from fifteen to thirty grains to the fluidounce, and for a bath, the same quantity or rather more may be added to a gallon of water. A very small proportion of muriatic or sul- phuric acid may in either case be added to the solution. The ointment is made by mixing half a drachm of the sulphuret with an ounce of lard. The dose of sulphuret of potassium is from two to ten grains, repeated several times a day, and given in pill with liquorice, or in solution with syrup. In infantile cases of croup, from one to four grains were given every three or four hours. W. PART II. Potassa.—Pulpae. 1107 POTASSA SULPHURETI AQUA. Dub. Water of Sulphuret of Potassa. " Take of Washed Sulphur one pail; Water of Caustic Potassa eleven parts. Boil for ten minutes, and filter through paper. Keep the liquor in well-stopped bottles. The specific gravity of this solution is 1117." Dub. When sulphur is boiled with a solution of caustic potassa, sulphuret of potassium and hyposulphite of potassa are formed in solution. Accordingly, this preparation is not a solution of sulphuret of potassa, as it is called by the Dublin College; neither is it identical with an aqueous solution of the pre- ceding preparation. Properties, dec. This liquid has an unctuous feel and a deep orange colour. It is decomposed by acids, which cause an effervescence of hydrosulphuric acid, and a milky appearance from the precipitation of sulphur. It is similar in medical properties to the last preparation, and is used internally and ex- ternally for the most part in cutaneous eruptions. The dose is from ten minims to a fluidrachm, diluted with water, and given two or three times a day. When used as a bath it imparts an orange colour to the skin. B. PULPjE. Pulps. The following general directions are given in the Pharmacopoeias in relation to the extraction of pulps. " Fruits of which the pulps are to be extracted, if unripe, or ripe and dry, are to be boiled in a little water until they become soft. Then the pulps, ex- pressed through a hair sieve, are to be slowly evaporated to a proper consist- ence." Dub. "Set pulpy fruits, if unripe, or ripe and dry, in a moist place to soften; then express the pulps through a hair sieve; afterwards boil them with a gentle fire, frequently stirring; lastly, evaporate the water by means of a water-bath, until the pulps become of a proper consistence. Of fruits which are ripe and fresh, express the pulp or juice through a sieve, without boiling." Lond. There are very few fruits the pulps of which are now employed in phar- macy. For these few the directions of the Dublin College are preferable to those of the London, which are, indeed, impracticable; as dried fruits often do not become sufficiently moist, by mere exposure in a damp place, to admit of the subsequent treatment ordered, and, besides, would almost always become mouldy. W. CASSIA FISTULA PULPA. U.S. Cassia. Lond. Cassi* Pulpa. Ed. Cassia Fistula. Dub. Pulp of Purging Cassia. " Take of Purging Cassia, bruised, a convenient quantity. Pour boiling water on the bruised pods so that the pulp maybe softened; then strain, first through a coarse sieve, and afterwards through a hair one, and evaporate by means of a water-bath to the proper consistence." U. S. " Pour boiling Water upon bruised Cassia Pods, so that the pulp may be washed out, and press this first through a coarse sieve, and afterwards through a hair sieve; then evaporate by means of a water-bath until the pulp acquires a proper consistence." Lond. Cassia pulp has a blackish colour, a slight rather sickly odour, and a sweet mucilaginous taste. It is apt to become sour by exposure. For its composi- tion and effects, see Cassia Fistida. Off. Prep. Confectio Cassiae, Lond,; Confect. Sennae, U S., Lond. W. 1108 Pulpae.—Pulveres. part ii. PRUNI PULPA. U. S. Pulp of Prunes. " Take of Prunes a convenient quantity. Soften the Prunes in the vapour of boiling water, and, having separated the stones, beat the remainder in a marble mortar, and press it through a hair sieve." U. S. The prunes may be softened, as above directed, by placing them on a per- forated plate or diaphragm, or a wire sieve, or suspending them in a net, over boiling water. Off.Prep. Confectio Sennse, U.S. W. TAMARINDI PULPA. U.S. Tamarindus. Lond., Ed. Tama- rindus Indica. Dub. Pulp of Tamarinds. "Take of Tamarinds a convenient quantity. Digest them with a small quantity of water until they become of a uniform consistence ; then separate the seeds and filaments by pressing through a hair sieve." U S. They should be digested in an unglazed earthenware vessel over hot ashes, or by means of a sand-bath. Off. Prep. Confectio Cassiae, Lond ; Confectio Sennae, U S., Lond. W. PULVERES. Powders. The form of powder is convenient for the exhibition of substances which are not given in very large doses, are not very disagreeable to the taste, have no corrosive property, and do not deliquesce rapidly on exposure. As the effect of pulverization is to expose a more extended surface to the action of the air, care should betaken to keep substances which are liable to be injured by such exposure in closely-stopped bottles. In many instances it is also important to exclude the light, which exercises a very deleterious influence over numerous medicinal agents when minutely divided. In relation to sub- stances most liable to injury from these causes, the best plan is to powder them in small quantities as they are wanted for use. Powders may be divided into the simple, consisting of a single substance, and the compound, of two or more mixed together. The latter only are em- braced under the present head. In the preparation of the compound powders, the ingredients, if of different degrees of cohesion or solidity, should be pul- verized separately and then mixed. An exception, however, to this rule is the employment of one substance to facilitate by its hardness the minute di- vision of another, as in the powder of ipecacuanha and opium. Deliquescent substances, and those containing fixed oil in large proportion, should not enter into the composition of powders; the former, because they render the prepa- ration damp and liable to spoil; the latter, because they are apt to become rancid, and impart an unpleasant odour and taste. The lighter powders may in general be administered in water or other thin liquid; the heavier, such as those of metallic substances, require a more con- sistent vehicle, as syrup, molasses, honey, or one of the confections. Resinous powders, if given in water, require the intervention of mucilage or sugar. The Dublinr College gives the following general directions for the prepara- tion of powders: " The substances to be powdered, having been previously dried, are to be beaten in an iron mortar. The powder is then to be separated, by sifting it through a hair sieve, and is to be kept in close vessels." These directions are not sufficiently explicit. The whole substance in the mortar should not be beaten till completely pulverized; as the portion already pow- dered interferes with the action of the pestle upon the remainder, while the finer matter is apt to be dissipated; so that there is a loss both of time and ma- PART II. Pulveres. 1109 terial. The proper plan is to sift off the fine powder after a short trituration, then to return the coarser parts to the mortar, and to repeat several times this alternate pulverization and sifting, until the process is completed. W. PULVIS ALOES COMPOSITUS. Lond., Dub. Compound Powder of Aloes. " Take of Aloes an ounce and a half; Guaiacum Resin an ounce ; Com- pound Powder of Cinnamon half an ounce. Rub the Aloes and the Guaiacum fr Resin, separately, into powder; then mix them with the Compound Powder of Cinnamon." Lond. The Dublin College give the same directions, particularizing the hepatic aloes, and substituting their own aromatic powder for the compound powder of cinnamon of the London College. The tendency of pulverized guaiac to concrete, and the excessively bitter taste of aloes, which is but imperfectly concealed by the aromatic addition, render the form of powder ineligible for the exhibition of these medicines. The preparation is a warm stimulant cathartic, but is little used. The dose is from fifteen to thirty grains. W. PULVIS ALOE'S ET CANELLA. U S. Pulvis Aloes cum CanellA. Dub. Powder of Aloes and Canella. Hiera Pier a. "Take of Aloes [hepatic, Dub.~\ a pound; Canella three ounces. Rub them separately into a very fine powder, [into powder, Dub.~\ and mix them." U. S., Dub. This preparation has long been known under the name of hiera picra. The canella serves to correct the griping property, and imperfectly to cover the taste of the aloes; but the bitterness of the latter is still very obvious in the mixture, which would be better given in the form of pill. It is a popular remedy in amenorrhcea, and may be used for all the purposes to which aloes is applied. It is sometimes administered in domestic practice, infused in wine or spirit. The dose is from ten to twenty grains. W. PULVIS ALUMINIS COMPOSITUS. Ed. Compound Pow- der of Alum. "Take of Alum four ounces; Kino one ounce. Mix them, and reduce them to fine powder." Ed. A solution of alum is decomposed by a solution of kino, and it is probable that the same effect takes place when the two substances, mixed in the state of powder, are introduced into the stomach; but whether their astringency is materially affected by the change is uncertain. The preparation may be em- ployed in diarrhoea, menorrhagia, and hemorrhage from the stomach or bowels, and externally to suppress hemorrhage, or as an astringent application to flabby ulcers. The dose is from five to twenty grains. W. PULVIS AROMATICUS. U.S., Ed., Dub. Pulvis Cinna- momi Compositus. Lond. Aromatic Powder. " Take of Cinnamon, Ginger, each, two ounces; Cardamom deprived of the capsules, Nutmeg, grated, each, an ounce. Rub them together into a very fine powder." U. S. The London College dirfbts two ounces of cinnamon, an ounce and a half of cardamom, an ounce of ginger, and half an ounce of long pepper; the Edinburgh, equal parts of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger; the Dublin, two ounces of cinnamon, an ounce of cardamom seeds freed from their capsules, an ounce of ginger, and a drachm of long pepper. The cardamom seeds should always be separated from their capsules be- fore pulverization; and the powder, when prepared, should be kept in well- 1110 Pulveres. PART II. stopped bottles. The London and Dublin preparations are more pungent than those of the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, in consequence of the long pepper which they contain. These powders are stimulant and carmina- tive, and may be given in the dose of from ten to thirty grains, in cases of enfeebled digestion accompanied with flatulence; but they are chiefly used as corrigents and adjuvants of other medicines. Off. Prep. Confectio Aromatica, U.S.,Ed.; Confectio Opii, U.S.,Ed.; Pilulae Aloes et Ferri, Ed.; Pilulae Cambogiae, Ed.; Pulvis Aloes Comp., Lond., Dub. W. PULVIS ASARI COMPOSITUS. Dub. Compound Powder of Asarabacca. "Take of dried Leaves of Asarabacca an ounce; dried Lavender Flowers a drachm. Rub them together to powder." Dub. This is an agreeable and efficacious errhine, useful in some cases of obsti- nate headache, toothache, and chronic ophthalmia. Five or six grains, snuffed up the nostrils at bedtime, excite sneezing and a copious discharge of mucus, which continues to flow on the following day. W. PULVIS CRETA COMPOSITUS. Lond., Ed., Dub. Com- pound Powder of Chalk. " Take of Prepared Chalk half apound; Cinnamon four ounces; Tormentil, Gum Arabic, each, three ounces; Long Pepper half an ounce. Rub them separately into very fine powder, and then mix them." Lond., Dub. "Take of Prepared Chalk, four ounces; Cinnamon, in fine powder, owe drachm and a half; Nutmeg, in fine powder, a drachm. Triturate them well together." Ed. In the Edinburgh preparation, the aromatics are in too small a quantity to serve any other purpose than to give an agreeable flavour to the chalk, which is the only active ingredient. The powder of the London and Dublin Colleges is, on the contrary, warm, stimulant, and astringent, as well as antacid; and is well calculated for diarrhoea, connected with acidity and without inflamma- tory symptoms. In such a combination, however, the proper proportion, and even the choice of the ingredients, vary so much with the symptoms of the case, that they might with propriety be left to extemporaneous prescription. The dose is from ten to twenty grains, given in mucilage or sweetened water, and frequently repeated. Off. Prep. Pulvis Cretae Comp. cum Opio, Lond., Ed., Dub. W. PULVIS CRETA COMPOSITUS CUM OPIO. Lond., Dub. Pulvis Cretae Opiatus. Ed. Compound Powder of Chalk with Opium. " Take of Compound Powder of Chalk six ounces and a half; hard Opium, in powder, four scruples. Mix them." Lond., Dub. " Take of Compound Chalk Powder six ounces; Powder of Opium four scruples. Triturate them together thoroughly." Ed. The addition of the opium greatly increases the efficacy of the compound powder of chalk in diarrhoea; and its equal diffusion through the powder pre- sents this advantage, that it may be conveniently given in minute doses ap- plicable to infantile cases. Two scruples of the London or Dublin powder, and thirty-seven grains of the Edinburgh, contain a grain of opium. In the diarrhoea of adults from ten to twenty grains may be given for a dose, and repeated several times a day, or after each evacuation. W. PULVERES EFFERVESCENTES. Ed. Effervescing Powders. " Take of Tartaric Acid one ounce; Bicarbonate of Soda one ounce and 54 grains, or Bicarbonate of Potassa one ounce and 160 grains. Reduce the PART II. Pulveres. 1111 Acid and either Bicarbonate separately to fine powder, and divide each into sixteen powders. Preserve the acid and alkaline powders in separate papers of different colours." Ed. This is a formula, introduced into the last edition of the Edinburgh Phar- macopoeia, for a preparation which has been long in use under the name of Soda powders. The common soda powders contain the ingredients in some- what different proportions; consisting of twenty-five grains of the acid in one paper, and thirty of the bicarbonate in the other. They are always prepared with the bicarbonate of soda; while the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia allows a choice between that and the bicarbonate of potassa. This want of precision is highly objectionable in officinal formulae. If it was thought advisable that the practitioner should have the opportunity of prescribing either of these preparations at his option, they should have had different names. The powders are administered in solution. An acid and an alkaline pow- der may be dissolved in separate portions of water and then mixed; or they may be thrown together, or successively into the same portion of water. The whole draught should be half a pint or somewhat less. It may be rendered more agreeable by adding two or three fluidrachms of syrup of ginger or orange peel to the water, before dissolving the powders. The rationale is simple. The tar- taric acid seizes the alkali of the bicarbonate, forming a tartrate of soda or of potassa as the case may be, while the carbonic acid escapes with effervescence. The effervescing powders are refrigerant and very slightly laxative; and afford an agreeable and refreshing drink, suitable to febrile complaints. W. PULVIS IPECACUANHA ET OPII. U.S. Pulvis Ipeca- cuanha .Compositus. Lond., Ed., Dub. Powder of Ipecacuanha and Opium. Dover's Powder. " Take of Ipecacuanha, in powder, Opium, in powder, each, a drachm ; Sul- phate of Potassa an ounce. Rub them together into a very fine powder." U. S. All the British Colleges employ the same ingredients as above, and in the same proportions. The London having ordered them in the state of pbwder, simply directs them to be mixed together. The Edinburgh orders eight times the amount of the materials, and directs them to be triturated thoroughly together. The Dublin first rubs the opium and sulphate of potassa together into powder, and then mixes the pulverized ipecacuanha with them. The sulphate of potassa in this preparation serves, by the hardness of its particles, to promote that minute division and consequent thorough intermix- ture of the opium and ipecacuanha, upon which the peculiar virtues of the compound depend. It also serves to dilute the active ingredients, and thus allow of their division into minute doses adapted to the complaints of chil- dren. This composition, though usually called Dover's powder, does not precisely correspond with that originally recommended by Dr. Dover, which was prepared as follows. Four ounces of nitrate of potassa and the same quantity of sulphate of potassa were mixed together in a recl-hot crucible, and afterwards very finely powdered; one ounce of opium, sliced, was then added, and ground to powder with the saline mixture; lastly, an ounce of ipecacuanha and an ounce of liquorice root, in powder, were mixed with the other ingredients. This process was adopted in the former French Codex, and has been retained with very slight change in the present, This powder is an admirable anodyne diaphoretic, not surpassed, perhaps, by any other combination in its power of promoting the cutaneous secretion. Opium itself has a strong tendency to the skin, evinced both by the occa- sional diaphoresis, and by the itching and tingling sensation which it excites. While the vessels of the skin are stimulated by this ingredient, the secreting orifices are relaxed by the ipecacuanha, and the combined effect is much 1112 Pulveres. PART II. greater than that which results from either separately. At the same time the general stimulating influence of the opium, and its tendency to operate injuriously on the brain, are counteracted; so that the mixture may be given with safety in cases which might not admit of the use of opium alone. The preparation is applicable to all cases not attended with much fever or cerebral disease, or sick stomach, in which there is an indication for profuse diapho- resis, especially in painful affections, or those connected with unhealthy dis- charges. It is admirably adapted to the phlegmasiae, particularly rheumatism and pneumonia, when complicated with a typhoid tendency, or after sufficient depletion. Under similar circumstances, it is useful in dysentery, diarrhoea, and the various hemorrhages, especially that from .the uterus. It is some- times also given in dropsy. In bowel affections, and whenever the hepatic secretion is deranged, it is frequently combined with small doses of calomel. Ten grains of the powder contain one grain of opium. The dose is from five to fifteen grains, given diffused in water, or mixed with syrup, or in the form of bolus, and repeated at intervals of four, six, or eight hours, when it is desirable to maintain a continued diaphoresis. Its action may be materially promoted by warm drinks, such as lemonade, or balm tea, which, however, should not be given immediately after the powder, as they might provoke vomiting. Off. Prep. Pilulae Ipecacuanhae Compositae, Lond.; Pilulae Ipecacuanhae et Opii, Ed. W. PULVIS JALAPA COMPOSITUS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Compound Powder of Jalap. "Take of Jalap, in powder, an ounce; Bitartrate of Potassa, in powder, two ounces. Mix them." U. S. The London College takes three ounces of jalap, six ounces of bitartrate of potassa, and two drachms of ginger. The Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges take the same ingredients in the same proportion as the U. S. Pharmacopceia, and direct them to be rubbed together to a very fine powder. The bitartrate, by being rubbed with the jalap, is thought to favour its more minute division, while it increases its hydragogue effect. A combina- tion of these two ingredients, though with a larger proportion of cream of tartar (see Jalapa), is much used in this country as a cathartic in dropsy and scrofulous affections of the joints and glands. The dose of the officinal powder is from thirty grains to a drachm. W. PULVIS KINO COMPOSITUS. Lond., Dub. Compound Pow- der of Kino. "Take of Kino fifteen drachms; Cinnamon half an ounce; hard Opium a drachm. Rub them separately to a very fine powder, and then mix them." Lond., Dub. This is an anodyne astringent powder, useful in some forms of diarrhoea, but of which the composition would be better left to extemporaneous pre- scription, as the proportion of the ingredients should vary with the circum- stances of the case. Twenty grains contain one grain of opium. The dose is from five grains to a scruple. W. PULVIS PRO CATAPLASMATE. Dub. Powder for a Cata- plasm,. " Take of Flaxseed which remains after the expression of the oil one part; Oatmeal two parts. Mix them." Dub. This is a good material for the formation of poultices, but hardly deserves a place among the officinal preparations. The unpressed flaxseed meal is preferable to that which has been pressed, as the oil which it contains causes it to retain longer a soft consistence. W. PART II. Pulveres.—Quinia. 1113 PULVIS RHEI COMPOSITUS. Ed. Compound Poioder of Rhubarb. "Take of Magnesia one pound; Ginger, in fine powder, two ounces; Rhubarb, in fine powder, four ounces. Mix them thoroughly, and preserve the powder in well-closed bottles." Ed, This is a good laxative antacid, well adapted to bowel complaints, especially in children. The dose for an adult is from half a drachm to a drachm; for a child two or three years old, from five to ten grains. W. PULVIS SALINUS COMPOSITUS. Ed., Dub. Compound Saline Powder. " Take of Pure Muriate of Soda, Sulphate of Magnesia, each, four ounces ; Sulphate of Potassa three ounces. Dry the salts separately with a gentle heat, and pulverize each, then triturate them well together, and preserve the mix- ture in well-closed vessels." Ed. The Dublin process is essentially the same as the above. This is an aperient powder, and may be given with advantage in costive habits, in the dose of two or three drachms, dissolved in half a pint of water or carbonic acid water, before breakfast. W. PULVIS SCAMMONII COMPOSITUS. Lond., Ed., Dub. Compound Powder of Scammony. " Take of Scammony, hard Extract of Jalap, each, two ounces; Ginger half an ounce. Rub them separately to a very fine powder; and then mix them." Lond., Dub. " Take of Scammony, and Bitartrate of Potash, equal parts. Triturate them together to a very fine powder." Ed. It should be observed that the Edinburgh compound is essentially different from that of the London and Dublin Colleges; but we do not think that either of them is an eligible preparation. The cream of tartar in the former can serve little other purpose than to aid in the pulverization of the scammony, which requires no peculiar care in this respect. In the latter, though the ginger may tend to correct the griping property of the purgative ingredients, the ex- tract of jalap too closely resembles the scammony in its operation to exert any important modifying influence upon it. The dose of the London powder is from ten to twenty grains, of the Edinburgh from fifteen to thirty. W. PULVIS TRAGACANTHA COMPOSITUS. Lond., Ed. Com- pound Poioder of Tragacanth. " Take of Tragacanth, in powder, Gum Arabic, in powder, Starch, each, an ounce and a half; Sugar [refined] three ounces. Rub the Starch and Sugar together to powder, then add the Tragacanth and Gum Arabic, and mix them all." Lond. The Edinburgh process corresponds with the above. This is applicable to the general purposes of the demulcents; but is chiefly employed in Great Britain as a vehicle for heavy insoluble powders. The dose is from thirty grains to a drachm. W. QUINIA. Preparations of Quinia. QUINIA SULPHAS. U.S. QuinaDisulphas. Lond. Quina Sulphas. Ed, Quinina Sulphas. Dub. Sulphate of Quinia. "Take of Yellow Bark, in coarse powder, four pounds; Muriatic Acid three fluidounces; Lime, in powder, yji>e ounces; Water five gallons; Sul- 1114 Quinia. PART II. phuric Acid, Alcohol, Animal Charcoal, each, a sufficient quantity. Boil the Bark in one-third of the Water mixed with one-third of the Muriatic Acid, and strain through linen. Boil the residue twice successively with the same quantity of Water and Acid as before, and strain. Mix the decoctions, and, while the liquor is hot, gradually add the Lime, previously mixed with two pints of water, stirring constantly until the Quinia is completely preci- pitated. Wash the precipitate with Distilled Water, and, having pressed and dried it, digest it in boiling Alcohol. Pour off the liquor and repeat the di- gestion several times, until the Alcohol is no longer rendered bitter. Mix the liquors, and distil off the Alcohol, until a brown viscid mass remains. Upon this substance, removed from the vessel, pour about half a gallon of Distilled Water, and, having heated the mixture to the boiling point, add as much Sul- phuric Acid as may be necessary to dissolve the impure alkali. Then add an ounce and a half of Animal Charcoal, boil for two minutes, filter the liquor while hot, and set it aside to crystallize. Should the liquor, before filtration, be entirely neutral, acidulate it very slightly with Sulphuric Acid; should it, on the contrary, cbange the colour of litmus paper to a bright red, add more Animal Charcoal. Separate the crystals from the liquor, dissolve them in boiling water slightly acidulated with Sulphuric Acid, add a little Animal Charcoal, filter, and set aside to crystallize. Wrap the crystals in bibulous paper, and dry them with a gentle heat. The mother-waters may be made to yield an additional quantity of Sulphate of Quinia by precipitating the Quinia with Solution of Ammonia, and treating the precipitated alkali with Water, Sulphuric Acid, and Animal Charcoal, as before." U. S. The London College exhausts yellow bark by water acidulated with sul- phuric acid, throws down the acid by hydrated oxide of lead, washes the pre- cipitate with distilled water, boils down the liquors to a fourth part, filters, adds water of ammonia in order to decompose the kinate of quinia, washes the precipitated quinia till the water ceases to be rendered alkaline, saturates the residue with diluted sulphuric acid, digests with animal charcoal, filters, and finally, having thoroughly washed the charcoal, cautiously evaporates the liquor so that it may crystallize. This process, however, has not been found to answer well in practice. It may not be irrelevant to mention here that the London College, though it thus gives a process for the preparation of sulphate of quinia, places the alkali itself, under the name of Quina, in its catalogue of the Materia Medica. "Take of Yellow Bark, in coarse powder, one pound; Carbonate of Soda eight ounces; Sulphuric Acid half a fluidounce; Purified Animal Charcoal two drachms. Boil the bark for an hour in four pints [Imperial measure] of water, in which half the carbonate of soda has been dissolved; strain, and express strongly through linen or calico; moisten the residuum with water and express again; and repeat this twice. Boil the residuum for half an hour with four pints of water and half the Sulphuric Acid; strain, express strongly, moisten with water, and express again. Boil the residuum with three pints of water and a fourth part of the Acid; strain and squeeze as before. Boil again the residuum with the same quantity of water and Acid, strain and squeeze as formerly. Concentrate the whole acid liquids to about a pint; let the product cool; filter it, and dissolve in it the remainder of the Carbonate of Soda. Collect the impure quinia on a cloth, wash it slightly, and squeeze out the liquor with the hand. Break down the moist precipitate in a pint of dis- tilled water, add one fluidscruple of Sulphuric Acid, heat it to 212°, and stir occasionally. Should any precipitate retain its gray colour, and the liquid be neutral, add Sulphuric Acid drop by drop, stirring constantly, till the gray colour disappears. Should the liquid redden litmus, neutralize it with a little .carbonate of soda. Should crystals form on the surface, add boiling distilled PART II. Quinia. 1115 water to dissolve them. Filter through paper, preserving the funnel hot; set the liquid aside to crystallize; collect and squeeze the crystals; dissolve them in a pint of distilled water heated to 212°; digest the solution for fifteen mi- nutes with the Animal Charcoal; filter and crystallize as before. Dry the crystals with a heat not exceeding 140°. The mother-liquors of each crys- tallization will yield a little more salt by concentration and cooling." Ed, The Imperial measure is employed in the above process. The Dublin College exhausts the bark by digestion with water acidulated with sulphuric acid, adds to the liquor sufficient lime to saturate the acid, dries the precipitate on blotting paper, digests it with rectified spirit, filters, distils to dryness, adds diluted sulphuric acid to the residuum in slight excess, and . finally crystallizes by concentration and cooling. The present U. S. process, which is essentially that of the French Codex, differs from the one given in the Pharmacopoeia of 1830, in the use of muri- atic instead of sulphuric acid for acidulating the water first employed, and in the greater minuteness of the details. Both this and the French Codex process, as well as that of the Dublin College, are modifications of the plan originally proposed by M. Henry, jun., of Paris, for which he received a prize from the French Academy of Sciences, and wbich has been almost univer- sally employed where alcohol is not too expensive. Henry's process, with all its details, may be found in previous editions of this work. An explanation of the several directions given in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia will be useful to the student, by enabling him to comprehend each step of the process. The yellow bark (Calisaya, or royal yellow) is the variety selected, because this contains quinia in the largest proportion, and most free from admixture with cinchonia. The alkali exists in the bark combined with kinic acid, and probably also with one or more of the colouring principles, as suggested by M. Henry. As in this latter state it is of difficult solubility, if it be not in- soluble in water, the whole of the quinia cannot be extracted from the bark by means of that liquid alone. Berzelius, however, attributes the difficulty of exhausting the bark to the circumstance, that water converts the native neutral kinates into soluble superkinates which are dissolved, and insoluble subkinates which remain. By adding muriatic or sulphuric acid to the water in such quantities as to be in excess in relation to the quinia, the whole of the alkali combines with the acid to form a very soluble muriate or sulphate, in which state it exists, together with various impurities, in the decoctions procured by the first steps of the process. By the addition of lime to the filtered and mixed decoctions, the salt of quinia is decomposed, giving up its acid to the lime, while the quinia is liberated, and, being insoluble in water, is precipitated—the water retaining most of the impurities. If sulphuric acid was employed in the commencement of the process, sulphate of lime is deposited along with the quinia; but if muriatic acid was employed, the re- sulting chloride of calcium is retained in solution; and a reason is thus afforded for the preference of the latter acid. But, in either case, the excess of lime, and a compound formed of the lime and colouring matter, which is insoluble both in water and alcohol, are thrown down with the alkali. The precipitate having been washed in order to remove from it everything soluble in water, the next step is to separate the quinia from the insoluble impurities. This is accomplished by the agency of alcohol, which dissolves the former, and leaves most of the latter behind. The whole of the alkali having been abstracted, the alcoholic solution of quinia is then concentrated so as to afford a brown viscid mass, which is impure quinia. Portions of this may be re- served, if thought advisable, for the preparation of other salts of quinia. The mass is treated with boiling distilled water acidulated with sulphuric acid, which forms a disulphate (the officinal sulphate) with the quinia, and, 1116 Quinia. PART II. being somewhat in excess, enables the salt to be readily dissolved. The ani- mal charcoal now added should be the unpurified bone-black, the carbonate of lime contained in which neutralizes a portion of the sulphuric acid, and thus facilitates the crystallization of the sulphate of quinia when the solution cools. Should the quantity of the bone-black added be sufficient to render the solution quite neutral, so as in no degree to affect litmus paper, as much sulphuric acid should be added as will give the paper a slightly vinous tint; for otherwise the crystallization may commence before the liquor is com- pletely filtered. If, on the contrary, the bone-black has been deficient, and the solution colours litmus paper cherry-red, more of that substance is to be added. This, however, is merely an incidental advantage of the animal char- coal; its chief use being to decolorize the liquid. The second crystallization is necessary to obtain the salt of quinia free from colour; and sometimes it cannot be rendered perfectly white without a third. It is essential that the heat employed in drying the crystals should be gentle, in order to prevent their efflorescence. The small quantity of cinchonia contained in Calisaya bark is extracted along with the quinia; but, as the sulphate of the former is more soluble than that of the latter, it remains in the mother liquors. According to M. Calvert, the proportion of sulphate of quinia obtained from bark is never certain when muriatic acid is employed as the solvent, and lime as the precipitant; for quinia is dissolved by a solution of chloride of calcium, and by lime-water; and a portion, therefore, remains in the liquid unprecipitated, which is greater when the lime employed is in excess. Hav- ing ascertained by experiment that quinia is not dissolved by a solution of soda, and in scarcely appreciable proportion by chloride of sodium, he pro- poses to substitute this alkali for the lime; first neutralizing the excess of acid by the carbonate, and then precipitating the quinia by caustic soda. (Journ. de Pharm., et de Chim., 3e se'r., ii. 388.) The Edinburgh process was contrived so as to avoid the use of alcohol, which is so costly in Great Britain as materially to affect the economy of the operation. The object of the first boiling with water and carbonate of soda, is to get rid of the colouring principles, resin, and kinic acid, while the quinia is left behind. The residuum is next exhausted by means of water acidulated with sulphuric .acid, which affords an impure solution of sulphate of quinia. This, after being sufficiently concentrated, is decomposed by carbonate of soda, which seizes the acid and precipitates the quinia with some colouring matter. The remaining steps of the operation are similar to those of the U. S. process, except that animal charcoal is employed only previous to the last crystalliza- tion ; and the advantage incidentally obtained from it, of neutralizing the acid when in excess, is gained in the Edinburgh process by the use of carbonate of soda. Both Pereira and Christison speak favourably of this process. According to the French Codex, 1000 parts of yellow bark ought to yield from 29 to 30 parts of sulphate of quinia, when treated by the process first described. But this amount is not often reached. The late Mr. John Farr, of Philadelphia, who was largely concerned in the manufacture of sulphate of quinia, informed us that the Calisaya bark employed by him yielded an ave- rage product of about two per cent, of the salt. Sulphate of quinia may be obtained from any of the varieties of Peruvian bark by the above processes; but, should any other than the Calisaya bark be employed, a large proportion of sulphate of cinchonia will result, and, being much more soluble than the sulphate of quinia, will remain dissolved in the residuary liquor after the crystalbzation of the latter. To obtain the cincho- nia separate, the following method, originally suggested by Pelletier and Caventou, may be employed. Magnesia, lime, or a solution of potassa is added to the mother waters in excess. The cinchonia is precipitated together PART II. Quinia. 1117 with a portion of quinia which has remained in the solution, and with the excess of magnesia or lime, if one of these earths has been employed. The precipitate is collected on a filter, washed with hot water, then dried, and treated with boiling alcohol, which dissolves the vegetable alkalies. The alco- holic solution is filtered while hot, and the residue afterwards treated in the same manner with successive portions of alcohol, till quite exhausted. The solutions having been mixed, are concentrated by the distillation of the alco- hol, and allowed to cool, when they deposit cinchonia in the crystalline state. Successive evaporations and refrigerations afford new crops of crystals, and the process should be continued till no more can be obtained. The cincho- nia thus procured, if impure, should be reconverted into a sulphate and treated as before, animal charcoal being employed to free it from colour. The quinia remaining in the mother liquors, as it will not crystallize, may be ob- tained by evaporation to dryness. To obtain the sulphate of cinchonia, mix the alkali with a small quantity of water, heat the mixture, and add gradu- ally dilute sulphuric acid sufficient to saturate it; then boil with animal char- coal previously washed with muriatic acid, and filter the liquor while hot. Upon cooling it will deposit crystals of the sulphate, and, by repeated evapo- ration and crystallization, will yield all the salt which it bolds in solution.* * A new mode of extracting quinia and other active vegetable principles has recently been proposed, which, if found as successful on trial as it is said to have been in the hands of its proposer, promises to supersede many of the processes now in use. From the experiments of M. Lebourdais, it would appear that purified animal charcoal has the property of abstracting from many vegetable products not only their colouring, but their sapid principles also, and afterwards of yielding the active matter uncombined to boiling alcohol, from which it is obtained by evaporation. M. Lebourdais deprived Peru- vian bark of all its soluble principles by repeated maceration in alcohol of 0923, filtered the resulting liquors, removed the alcohol by distillation, and mixed the liquid residue with a decoction made by boiling the same bark twice in distilled water. Acetate of lead was added to precipitate the resinous matter; and the liquor, having been filtered, was made to pass slowly through purified animal charcoal (see page 882) by which it was deprived of colour and taste. The charcoal was then washed, dried, and treated with alcohol of 0-848. The alcoholic solution thus obtained, upon being evaporated, yielded the quinia perfectly pure. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 92, from Ann. de Chim. et de Phys.)-—Note to eighth edition. Quinoidine or Amorphous Quinia. Upon the evaporation of the mother liquor left after the crystallization of sufphate of quinia in the preparation of that salt, a dark-coloured substance is obtained, having the appearance of an extract. This was habitually em- ployed by the late Dr. Emlen and one of the authors of this work, so early as about the year 1824, in the cure of intermittent fever, in which it proved equally effectual with the pure sulphate, though only about half as strong. It was adopted in the edition of the U. S. Pharmacopceia for 1830, under the name of "impure sulphate of quinia ," but was abandoned in the edition of 1840, on account of the difficulty of ascertaining its purity. Serturner supposed that he had discovered a new alkaline principle in this product; but his conclusions were invalidated by the experiments of MM. Henry and Delondre, which went to prove that the alkaline matter contained in it consisted of quinia and cinchonia, obscured by admixture with a yellowish substance that interfered with their crystalliza- tion. Nevertheless, under the name of quinoidine, or chinoidine, given to the supposed new alkali by Sertiirner. there is employed in Europe a substance precipitated from the mother liquor of sulphate of quinia by means of an alkaline carbonate, having a yellowish- white or brownish colour, and, when moderately heated, agglutinating into a mass of a rosinous appearance. This substance was found by Dr. F. L. Winckler to contain an uncrystallizable alkaline principle, having the same combining weight as quinia, and differing from that alkali only in the want of the property of crystallization, and in form- ing uncrystallizable salts with the acids. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, May, 1847, p. 310.) Liebig afterwards proved it to be identical in composition with ordinary quinia, to which he considers it as bearing the same relation that uncrystallizable sugar bears to the crystal- lizable. This substance has been found equally effectual with quinia in the cure of in- termittents. In an economical point of view, it is highly important that it should be employed. There can be little doubt that it enters into some of the extracts of bark, which have been put forth as peculiarly valuable preparations for the cure of intermit- 1118 Quinia. PART II. Properties. Sulphate of quinia is in fine silky, slightly flexible, needle- shaped crystals, interlaced among each other, or grouped in small star-like tufts. Its taste is intensely bitter, resembling that of the yellow bark. It effloresces slightly on exposure to the air, and, at a moderate heat, loses its crystalline form in consequence of the escape of its water of ciystallization. At the temperature of 212° it becomes luminous, especially when rubbed. At about 240° it melts, assuming the appearance of wax. It is very slightly soluble in cold water, requiring, according to M. Baup, 740 parts at 54° F. for solution, while at the boiling point it is dissolved in thirty parts of water, which deposits it upon cooling. Its cold solution is opalescent. It is soluble in about 60 parts of cold alcohol of 0-835, but only to a very small extent in ether. The diluted acids, even tartaric and oxalic acids in excess, dissolve it with great facility.. With an additional equivalent of sulphuric acid it forms another sulphate, which is much more soluble in water than the officinal salt, and crystallizes from its solution with much greater difficulty. This is now generally believed to be strictly neutral, and therefore entitled to the name of sulphate of quinia; while the officinal salt is thought to contain two equivalents of base to one of acid, and is therefore properly a subsulphate or disulphote of quinia. The latter name has been adopted by the London College. In the U. S., Dublin, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, as well as in the French Codex, the name of sulphate of quinia, originally given to the officinal salt, under the impression that it was neutral, is still applied to it. Hence has arisen a confusion of nomenclature which must be embarrassing to the student. Ac- cording to M. Baup, the proper sulphate, formerly called supersulphate, is soluble in 11 parts of water at 54° F., and in its own water of crystallization at the boiling point. It is very soluble in diluted, and somewhat less so in absolute alcohol. It may be obtained by adding to a boiling concentrated solution of the ordinary sulphate, as much sulphuric acid as already exists in the salt, and then evaporating the solution. Composition. The officinal sulphate of quinia, the disulphate of chemists, is the only one used in medicine, and to this we have allusion in the present work, whenever sulphate of quinia is mentioned without any distinguishing epithet. In the crystalline form it is stated to consist of one equivalent of sulphuric acid 40, two eqs. of quinia 324, and eight eqs. of water 72=436. On exposure to the air, or to a heat of 212°, it effloresces, losing one-half of its water of crystallization (according to Soubeiran, six eqs.); and at 240° it loses one-half of the remainder, retaining two eqs. or about 4 per cent, of water, of which it cannot be deprived without decomposition. (Phillips.) tents. It must not be confounded with the substance obtained by evaporating the mother liquors, which is of uncertain composition and strength. The chief objection to it is its liability to adulteration. The amorphous quinia, as Liebig calls it, is entirely soluble in dilute sulphuric acid and in alcohol: and, if its solution in a dilute acid yield upon the addition of ammonia exactly as much precipitate as there was of the original substance dissolved, it may be considered pure. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 181.) M. Roder succeeded by the following process in converting amorphous quinia into the crystallizable. One part of commercial quinoidine, not previously precipitated by an alkali, was dissolved in four parts of alcohol of 0-8G5, and a solution of half a part of protochloride of tin in two parts of water added. The liquid was separated from the dark resinous deposit which formed, and was precipitated by ammonia. The precipi- tate was well washed, dried, and exhausted by alcohol; half the original quantity of protochloride of tin was added to the resulting liquid, which was again precipitated by ammonia; and the precipitate, well washed and dried, was exhausted by alcohol. A solu- tion of pure quinia was thus obtained, which, saturated with sulphuric acid, yielded crystals of sulphate of quinia. M. Roder obtained from two different samples of quino- idine 40 and 43 per cent, of quinia, 10 and 9 per cent, of cinchonia, 30 and 28 per cent. of resin, and 20 per cent, of water; so that this product is somewhat more than half as strong as pure quinia. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 49.)—Note to seventh and eighth editions. PART II. Quinia. 1119 Incompatibles and Tests. Sulphate of quinia is decomposed by the alkalies, their carbonates, and the alkaline earths. In solution, it affords white pre- cipitates with potassa, soda, and ammonia, which are partly soluble in an excess of alkali. It is also precipitated by astringent infusions, the tannic acid of which forms a white insoluble compound with quinia. The soluble salts of lead and of baryta occasion precipitates; and that produced by the salts of baryta is insoluble in the acids. A freshly prepared solution of chlo- rine, added to a solution of the sulphate of quinia, and followed by the addi- tion of water of ammonia, occasions an emerald-green colour, and, in certain proportions, the deposition of a green precipitate. Adulterations. Sulphate of quinia has often been adulterated. Sulphate of lime, and other alkaline or earthy salts, gum, sugar, mannite, starch, stearin or margarin, caffein, saliein, and sulphate of cinchonia, are among the sub- stances which are said to have been fraudulently added. By attending to the degree of solubility of the sulphate in different menstrua, and to its chemical relations with other substances already described, there can be little difficulty in detecting these adulterations. The presence of any mineral substance not readily volatilizable, may be at once ascertained by exposing the salt to a red heat, which will completely dissipate the sulphate of quinia, leaving the mineral behind. A volatile ammoniacal salt may be detected by the smell of ammonia emitted upon the addition of potassa. Gum and starch are left behind by alcohol, and fatty matters by water acidulated with sulphuric acid. Sugar and mannite cause a solution of the salt in acidulated water to have a sweet taste, after the precipitation of the quinia by an alkaline carbonate. Saliein imparts the property of becoming red upon the contact of sulphuric acid; but, accord- ing to Pelletier, this change of colour does not take place unless the proportion of saliein exceeds one-tenth. If only in this proportion, the saliein must be isolated. To 1 part of the suspected salt, 6 parts of concentrated sulphuric acid may be added, and to the brown liquid which results, 125 parts of water. The saliein is thus separated, and may be obtained by filtration, in the form of a bitter white powder, becoming bright red with sulphuric acid. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvii. 156.) Caffein alters the solubility of the medicine in different menstrua. According to M. Calvert, a saturated solution of sul- phate of quinia in cold water gives, with a solution of chloride of lime, a pre- cipitate soluble in an excess of the latter; while a solution of sulphate of cin- chonia of the same strength, treated in the same manner, gives a precipitate which is insoluble in a great excess of the reagent. The same effect is pro- duced with lime-water, and solution of ammonia; and solution of chloride of calcium, while it furnishes a precipitate with a solution of sulphate of cin- chonia, yields none with a solution of sulphate of quinia. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., ii. 394.)* The Edinburgh College gives the following mode of testing the purity of sulphate of quinia. "A solution of ten grains in a fluidounce of distilled water and two or three drops of sulphuric acid, if decomposed by a solution of half an ounce of carbonate of soda in two waters [twice its weight of water], and heated till the precipitate shrinks and fuses, yields on cooling a solid mass, which when dry weighs 7-4 grains, and in powder dissolves en- tirely in solution of oxalic acid." Medical Properties and Uses. Sulphate of quinia produces upon the sys- tem, so far as we are enabled to judge by observation, the same effects with Peruvian bark, without being so apt to nauseate and oppress >the stomach. (See Cinchona.) Its effects upon the brain are even more striking than * For a mode of ascertaining, with considerable precision, the proportion of sulphate of cinchonia contained in any sample of sulphate of quinia, the reader is referred to a paper by M. O. Henry, in the Journal de Pharm., 3e ser., xiii. 102, and to a translation of it in the American Journ. of Pharm., xx. 231. 1120 Quinia. PART II. those of cinchona, probably because it is given in larger proportional doses. Even in ordinary doses, it often produces considerable cerebral disturbance, evinced by a feeling of tightness or distension in the head, ringing, buzzing, or roaring in the ears, hardness of hearing, &c. Some individuals are more liable to these effects than others, and in some even small doses produce them. A certain degree of this observable action on the brain is rather desirable than otherwise, as the evidence that the medicine is affecting the system. In very large quantities, as from a scruple to a drachm or more, besides the phenomena mentioned, it has been observed to occasion severe headache, vertigo, deafness, diminution or loss of sight, dilated and immovable pupil, loss of speech, general tremblings, intoxication or delirium, coma, and great prostration. In some instances the pulse has been remarkably diminished in frequency, down to fifty or even less in the minute. In an instance recorded by Giacomini, in which a man took by mistake about three drachms, the patient became insensible, and some hours afterwards was found by the phy- sician in a state of general prostration, from which he recovered under the use of laudanum and aromatic waters. (Ann. de Therap., A. D. 1843, p. 176.) Besides its effects on the brain, sulphate of quinia sometimes occa- sions great gastric and intestinal irritation, marked by oppression at stomach, nausea, abdominal pains, vomiting, and purging. In general these effects of excessive doses gradually pass off, although partial deafness often continues for several days, and sometimes much longer. It is even said that permanent deafness has resulted. Though sulphate of quinia has been proved by the experiments of Dr. Baldwin, of Montgomery, Alabama, to be fatal to dogs, if prevented from being vomited by a ligature round the oesophagus, in quan- tities varying from fifteen or twenty grains to two drachms, with the symp- toms of narcotic poisoning; yet we have seen no well-authenticated case of death from its direct action on the human subject in health. Given largely in diseased states it has been the obvious cause of fatal results, not so much however by its peculiar action, as by co-operating with the disease in estab- lishing intense local irritation or inflammation, especially in the brain. Though capable, therefore, of doing mischief if improperly used, sulphate of quinia can scarcely be ranked among the poisons. From its occasional effect in diminishing the frequency of the pulse and the general strength, it has been supposed to be essentially sedative in large doses. Such an opinion, unless well founded, might lead to hazardous prac- tice. In most instances in which the effect was observed, the patient was in a morbid state, sometimes labouring under malignant diseases; and in such cases it is well known that powerful stimulants often have the effect of diminishing the frequency of the pulse. In the case observed by Giacomini, the patient was not seen until some hours after taking the sulphate, and might have been in the condition of universal prostration which follows all excessive excitement. Besides, stimulants in large doses sometimes produce apparent prostration by an overwhelming influence upon one of the organs essential to life, and especially on the brain. In the present state of our knowledge, it is safest to consider the sulphate of quinia in a greater or less degree excitant, in whatever dose it may be taken. Sulphate of quinia may be substituted for cinchona in all diseases to which the latter is applicable; and, in the treatment of intermittents, has almost entirely superseded the bark. It has the advantage over that remedy, not only that it is more easily administered in large doses, and more readily retained by the stomach, but that, in cases which require an impression to be made through the rectum or the skin, it is much more effectual; because, from the smallness of its bulk, it is more readily retained in the former case, part ii. Quinia. 1121 and. more speedily absorbed in the latter. Still we cannot be certain that there are not other active principles in bark besides the quinia and cinchonia, the latter of which possesses properties analogous to those of the former; nor that the mode of combination in which these principles exist, may not in some measure modify their therapeutic effects. The question can be solved only by careful and long-continued observation. In the mean time, we may resort to the bark if the sulphate of quinia should not answer the ends in view; and instances have occurred, under our own notice, in which it has proved successful in intermittents after the salt has failed. Sulphate of quinia may be given in pill or solution, or suspended in water by the intervention of syrup and mucilage. The form of pill is usually pre- ferred. (See Pilulse Quiui.se Sulphatis.) The solution may be readily effected by the addition of a little acid of almost any kind to the water. Eight grains of the sulphate will dissolve in a fluidounce of water, acidulated with about twelve minims of the diluted sulphuric acid, or aromatic sulphuric acid of the Pharmacopoeias; and this is the most eligible mode of exhibiting the medi- cine in the liquid form. The addition of a small proportion of sulphate of morphia or of laudanum will often be found advantageous, when the stomach is disposed to be sickened, or the bowels to be disturbed by the quinia. Twelve grains of the sulphate of quinia are equivalent to about an ounce of good bark. The dose varies exceedingly, according to the circumstances of the patient and the object to be accomplished. As a tonic simply, a grain may be given three or four times a day, or more frequently in acute cases. In intermittents, from twelve to twenty-four grains should be given between the paroxysms, divided into smaller or larger doses according to the condition of the stomach, or the length of the intermission. From one to four grains may be given at once, and some even advise the whole amount. In malig- nant intermittents and remittents, the quantity may be increased to thirty grains or even a drachm between the paroxysms. M. Maillot gave one hundred and twenty-eight grains, in the course of a few hours, in a case of malignant fever occurring in Northern Africa, with the happiest results. The caution, however, is necessary, not to employ this heroic practice against easily conquerable diseases. Very large doses of the sulphate have recently been given in acute rheumatism, and with great asserted success; but the oc- currence of at least one fatal case from inflammation of the brain should lead to some hesitation in this employment of the remedy. When the stomach will not retain the medicine, it may be administered with nearly as much efficacy by enema; from six to twelve grains, with two fluidounces of liquid starch, and from twenty to forty drops of laudanum, being injected into the rectum, in ordinary cases, every six hours. Should circumstances reader this mode of application impracticable, an equal quantity, diluted with arrow root or other mild powder, may be sprinkled, at the same intervals, upon a blistered sur- face denuded of the cuticle. The epigastrium, or the inside of the thighs and arms, would be the proper place for the blister. The sulphate has also been employed by friction in the form of ointment, in cases of malignant intermittent. The ointment should be made by incorporating a saturated alcoholic solution of the salt with lard, and should be applied to the inside of the thighs and arms. It is said that quinia is more readily absorbed when united with a fatty acid. This union may be effected by mixing solutions of soap and of a salt of quinia. The quinia soap is precipitated. Solutions of sulphate of quinia have been advantageously employed as local applications to indolent ulcers, and chronic mucous inflammations. (Wedder- burn and Fearn, N. Orleans Med. and Surg. Journ.. iii. 161 and 341.) Off. Prep. Pilulae Quiniae Sulphatis. U S. W. 71 1122 Soda. PART II. SODA. Preparations of Soda. SODiE CARBONAS EXSICCATUS. U.S. Sod^b Carbonas Exsiccata. Lond. Sod^j Carbonas Siccatum. Ed., Dub. Dried Carbonate of Soda, " Take of Carbonate of Soda a convenient quantity. Expose it to heat, in a clean iron vessel, until it is thoroughly dried, stirring constantly with an iron spatula; then rub it into powder." U. S. The London College takes a pound of the salt, exposes it to heat in a proper vessel until it is dried, and, having subjected it to a red heat, rubs it to powder. The Edinburgh College heats any convenient quantity in a shallow vessel till it is dry, then urges it with a red heat in a crucible, and reduces it to powder when cold. " Liquefy the crystals of Carbonate of Soda in a silver crucible over the fire. Then, having increased the heat, stir the liquefied salt, until by the evaporation of the water, it becomes dry. Reduce the residual salt to fine powder, and keep it in close vessels." Dub. Carbonate of soda contains ten equivalents of water of crystallization, and, when heated, readily undergoes the watery fusion. Upon continuing the heat, the water is dried off, and a white porous mass remains, which is easily reduced to powder. The London and Edinburgh Colleges expose the dry mass to a red heat before powdering it. Dried carbonate of soda is in the form of a white powder, and differs in no respect from the carbonate, except in being devoid of water of crystallization. (See Sodse Carbonas.) Medical Properties and Uses. This preparation was introduced into prac- tice by Dr. Beddoes, who extolled its virtues in calculous complaints. It is applicable to the cure of such affections, only when dependent on a morbid secretion of uric acid. Its advantage over the common carbonate is that it admits of being made into pills, in consequence of being in the dried state. As the water of crystallization forms more than half of the carbonate, the dose of the dried salt must be reduced in proportion. From five to fifteen grains may be given three times a day in the form of pill, prepared with soap and aromatics. The general medical properties of this salt have been given under another head. (See Sodse Carbonas.) Off. Prep. Sodae Bicarbonas, Ed. B. SODiE CARBONATIS AQUA. Dub. Water of Carbonate of Soda. & " Take of Carbonate of Soda any quantity. Dissolve it in Distilled Water so as to form a solution of the specific gravity 1024. A solution of this density is obtained by dissolving an ounce of Carbonate of Soda in a pint of Distilled Water." Dub. This preparation furnishes a solution of carbonate of soda of determinate strength, each fluidounce of which contains half a drachm of the salt. It is convenient for prescribing the alkali in solution, and for forming effervescing draughts, each fluidounce being saturated, on an average, by half a fluidounce of lemon juice. The dose is from one to two fluidounces, sufficiently diluted with water, and given two or three times a day. B. SOLLE BICARBONAS. U.S., Ed., Dub. Sod,e Sesquicar- bonas. Lond. Bicarbonate of Soda. Sesquicarbonate of Soda. " Take of Carbonate of Soda, in crystals, a convenient quantity. Break the crystals in pieces, and put them into a wooden box, having a transverse PART II. Soda. 1123 partition near the bottom pierced with numerous small holes, and a cover which can be tightly fitted on. To a bottle having two tubulures, and half filled with water, adapt two tubes, one connected with an apparatus for gene- rating carbonic acid and terminating under the water in the bottle, the other commencing at the tubulure in which it is inserted, and entering the box by an opening near the bottom, beneath the partition. Then lute all the joints, and cause a stream of Carbonic Acid to pass through the water into the box until the Carbonate of Soda is fully saturated. Carbonic Acid is obtained from Marble by the addition of dilute Sulphuric Acid." U S. " Fill with fragments of Marble a glass jar, open at the bottom and tubu- lated at the top; close the bottom in such a way as to keep in the Marble without preventing the free passage of a fluid ; connect the tubulature closely by a bent tube and corks with an empty bottle, and this in like manner with another bottle, filled with one part of Carbonate of Soda and two parts of Dried Carbonate of Soda well triturated together; and let the tube be long enough to reach the bottom of the bottle. Before closing the last cork closely, immerse the jar to the top in diluted Muriatic Acid, contained in any convenient vessel; when the whole apparatus is thus filled with carbonic acid gas, secure the last cork tightly; and let the action go on till next morning, or till the gas is no longer absorbed by the salt. Bemove the damp salt which is formed, and dry it, either in the air without heat, or at a temperature not above 120°." Ed, " Take of Carbonate of Soda seven pounds ; Distilled Water a gallon [Im- perial measure]. Dissolve the Carbonate of Soda in the Water, and strain; then pass Carbonic Acid into the solution to saturation, that the salt may subside. Dry this with a gentle heat, after it has been wrapped and pressed in a linen cloth." Lond. " Take of Carbonate of Soda two parts ; Water five pails. Dissolve, and in a proper apparatus, expose the solution to a stream of Carbonic Acid gas, evolved during the solution of White Marble in dilute Muriatic Acid, until it ceases to absorb gas; and let it remain at rest that crystals may be formed. Then, with a heat not exceeding 120°, evaporate the solution that crystals may again be formed, which are to be mixed with those first obtained, dried, and preserved in a close vessel." Dub. The object of these processes is to combine the soda with an additional equivalent of carbonic acid, whereby it becomes converted into the bicarbonate. The process adopted in the last U. S. Pharmacopoeia, is that which has been practised for many years in the United States, and which was described in 1830, by Dr. Franklin R. Smith, in the first volume of the Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. This process is attributed to Dr. Smith by Soubeiran, who characterizes it as the best that can be employed. (JSvuv. Traite de Pharm.) It was adopted in the French Codex on its revision of 1837. A stream of carbonic acid is passed into a suitable vessel, containing the crys^Jlized carbonate placed on a diaphragm, pierced with numerous holes. As the bicarbonate combines with much less water of crystallization than is contained in the carbonate, it follows that, during the progress of the saturation of the carbonate, a considerable quantity of water is liberated. This water would finally dissolve the bicarbonate formed, were it not for the diaphragm, through which it is allowed to drain off, holding in solution a part of the carbonate. When the saturation is completed, the pieces of crystals, still supported on the diaphragm, are found to have retained their original form, but to have become of a porous texture. The process newly adopted in the last Edinburgh Pharmacopceia is that of Berzelius. In the U. S. process, the excess of water over the quantity neces- sary for the bicarbonate is allowed to drain off; but it holds a certain portion 1124 Soda. PART II. of carbonate in solution, which thus escapes the action of the carbonic acid. To avoid this result it is only necessary to prepare a carbonate, containing just sufficient water of crystallization to accommodate the bicarbonate; and the process recommended by Berzelius accomplishes this purpose. Thus, the salt which he prepares to be submitted to the carbonic acid, is an intimate mixture, in fine powder, of four parts of effloresced carbonate, with one of the crystallized salt. The proportion adopted by the Edinburgh College is differ- ent; namely, two parts of the dried carbonate to one of the crystallized car- bonate, and is such as to afford a slight excess of water over that required to constitute the bicarbonate. Hence the Edinburgh process furnishes a damp salt, which is dried in the air without heat, or at a temperature not exceeding 120°. The apparatus employed by the College for generating the carbonic acid is precisely the self-regulating reservoir devised by Dr. Hare on the prin- ciple of Gay-Lussac's. The empty bottle, placed between the generating apparatus and that containing the salt, is intended to detain any impurity which may be carried over with the stream of carbonic acid. Artus has given a process for obtaining bicarbonate of soda, similar to that of Wohler for forming the corresponding salt of potassa. (See page 1090.) In this process, the effloresced monocarbonate, mixed with half its weight of freshly ignited and finely powdered charcoal, is saturated by a stream of car- bonic acid, derived from the fermentation of sugar. The presence of the char- coal greatly promotes the absorption. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1843, p. 254.) The London College employs the old process of dissolving the carbonate in water before submitting it to the action of carbonic acid. The solution, when saturated, lets fall the sparingly soluble bicarbonate in minute crystals, which are pressed in a linen cloth, and dried by a gentle heat. In this process, the mother-water is not evaporated, although it contains a considerable portion of bicarbonate. The reason of this omission is, no doubt, the difficulty of apply- ing heat in such a manner as not to decompose the salt. The Dublin process is similar to the London. The points of difference are that a weaker alkaline solution is employed, and that the mother-water is evaporated at a heat not exceeding 120° for the production of a second crop of crystals. Both these processes are unproductive, and, besides, furnish an imperfect bicarbonate. Properties, dec. As obtained by the U. S. formula, bicarbonate of. soda is in opaque, porous masses, made up of numerous, aggregated crystalline grains, and having a snow-white colour. For the convenience of the apothecary these masses are reduced to powder. As procured by the Edinburgh process, it is in small, white, opaque, irregular scales. The London and Dublin prepara- tion is in minute, colourless, indistinct crystals. Bicarbonate of soda is per- manent in the air, and slightly alkaline to the taste and to turmeric paper. It is soluble in thirteen parts of cold water. When the solution is exposed to heat, the salt gradually parts with carbonic acid, and, at the temperature of 212°, is converted into sesquicarbonate. At a red heat, the water of crys- tallization and the second equivalent of carbonic acid are expelle..,'and the anhydrous monocarbonate is left. One eq., or 84-3 parts of the crystallized bicarbonate should lose, on complete decomposition by dilute sulphuric acid, two eqs. or 44 parts of carbonic acid. The salt is seldom so perfect as to withstand this test; as good commercial samples generally contain from two to three per cent, of carbonate. The presence of this impurity may be known by a decided alkaline taste and reaction, by a cold solution of the salt yielding a precipitate with sulphate of magnesia, and by a solution in forty parts of water, affording, without agitation, an orange-coloured or reddish-brown pre- cipitate with corrosive sublimate; whereas the pure salt produces a slight opalescence only with the latter test. This test is adopted in the Edinburgh Pharmacopceia, and, according to Dr. Christison, readily detects one per cent. PART II. Soda. 1125 of carbonate. The pure bicarbonate is not precipitated by chloride of plati- num, or, when supersaturated with nitric acid, by chloride of barium or nitrate of silver. The non-action of these tests proves the absence of salts of potassa, and of sulphates and chlorides. The incompatibles of this salt are the same as those of the carbonate, except sulphate of magnesia in the cold, which de- composes the carbonate, but not the bicarbonate. Composition. Bicarbonate of soda, when perfect, consists of two eqs. of carbonic acid 44, one of soda 31-3, and one of water 9 = 84-3; but, as found in the shops, it seldom contains so large a proportion of carbonic acid. The London College calls the product of its formula, a sesquicarbonate; but, though it may contain less carbonic acid than the bicarbonate, it by no means has a constant composition corresponding with that of the sesquisalt. Indeed, it has been proved by Hermann, that the sesquicarbonate, called trona when native, cannot be formed by crystallization from aqueous solutions. The London name for this salt should, therefore, be abandoned, as an unsuccess- ful attempt to express its composition when imperfectly made. It is admitted that the bicarbonate is now made nearly perfect on a large scale. Medical Properties and Uses. This salt has the general medical properties of the carbonate; but, from its mild taste and less irritating qualities, proves more acceptable to the palate and stomach. It is often resorted to in calcu- lous cases, characterized by predominant uric acid. When the carbonate is given in these cases, its continued use is liable to induce phosphatic deposits, after the removal of the uric acid. According to D'Arcet, who made the observation at the springs of Arichy, this objection does not lie to the bicar- bonate, especially when taken in carbonic acid water; for this salt, by its superabundant acid, has the power of maintaining the phosphates in solution, even after the alkali has caused the uric acid to disappear. The same remark is applicable to the bicarbonate of potassa. Bicarbonate of soda has been given in infantile croup, with apparent advantage in promoting the expectora- tion of the false membrane, in the dose of a grain every five minutes, dissolved in milk and water. The dose for an adult is from ten grains to a drachm, and is taken most conveniently in a glass of carbonic acid water. This salt is principally consumed in making soda and Seidlitz powders. (Seepage 52.) It is sometimes made into lozenges. (See Trochisci Sodse Bicarbonatis.) Off. Prep. Liquor Sodae Effervescens, Lond., Ed.; Pulveres Effervescentes, Ed.; Trochisci Sodae Bicarbonatis, Ed. B. LIQUOR SODiE EFFERVESCENS. Lond. SoDiE Aqua Eb- FERVESCENS. Ed. Effervescing Solution of Soda. "Take of Sesquicarbonate of Soda a drachm; Distilled Water a pint [Im- perial measure]. Dissolve the Carbonate of Soda in the Water, and pass into it, compressed by force, more Carbonic Acid than is sufficient for saturation. Keep the solution in a well-stopped vessel." Lond. The Edinburgh formula corresponds with the above. This is merely a solution of bicarbonate of soda in carbonic acid water, in the proportion of three grains to the Imperial fluidounce. The names given to this preparation are incorrect. Indeed, the authors of the London Pharma- copoeia appear to have been undecided what to call it; as they have denominated it by another name, " Soda? Carbonatis Liquor Effervescens," in their "Notes." B. AQUA CARBONATIS SODiE ACIDULA. Dub. Acidulous Water of Carbonate of Soda, " Take of Carbonate of Soda any quantify. Dissolve it in such a quantity of Water that each pint may contain a drachm of Carbonate of Soda. Then, in an apparatus adapted for retaining the gas, subject it to a stream of car- 1126 Soda. PART II. bonic acid gas, evolved during the solution of pieces of White Marble in Muriatic Acid, diluted with six times its weight of water, until the carbonic acid is in excess." Dub. This preparation is a solution of carbonate of soda in carbonic acid water. As, however, an excess of carbonic acid is passed into the solution, the alkali may be presumed to become a bicarbonate; and if so, the preparation is equiva- lent to that last described. This solution, however, is superfluous as an offi- cinal preparation; as it may be made extemporaneously by adding any desired quantity of carbonate of soda to carbonic acid water. B. LIQUOR SODiE CHLORINATE. U.S., Lond. Solution of Chlorinated Soda. Solution of Chloride of Soda, Labarraque1 s Disinfecting Soda Liquid. 11 Take of Chlorinated Lime apound; Carbonate of Soda two pounds; Water a gallon and a half Dissolve the Carbonate of Soda in three pints of the Water, with the aid of heat. To the remainder of the Water add, by small portions at a time, the Chlorinated Lime previously well triturated, stirring the mixture after each addition. Set the mixture by for several hours that the dregs may subside; then decant the clear liquid, and mix it with the solution of Carbonate of Soda. Lastly, decant the clear liquor from the precipitated carbonate of lime, pass it through a linen cloth, and keep it in bottles secluded from the light." U. S. "Take of Carbonate of Soda a pound; Distilled Water forty-eight fluid- ounces [Imperial measure]; Chloride of Sodium four ounces; Binoxide of Manganese three ounces; Sulphuric Acid four ounces. Dissolve the Carbonate of Soda in two pints of Water. Then put the Chloride of Sodium and Bin- oxide of Manganese, rubbed to powder, into a retort; and add to them the Sulphuric Acid, previously mixed with three fluidounces of Water and cooled. Heat the mixture, and pass the chlorine first through five fluidounces of Water, and afterwards into the solution of Carbonate of Soda above directed." Lond. This solution was first brought into notice as a disinfecting agent by La- barraque, an apothecary of Paris. It was afterwards found to possess valuable medicinal properties. The process of the U. S. Pharmacopceia is that of Payen, which was adopted in the French Codex of 1837. It consists in decomposing a solution of carbonate of soda by one of chlorinated lime. Carbonate of lime is precipitated and the chlorinated soda remains in solution. The proportion employed gives an excess of carbonate of soda, the presence of which renders the solution more permanent. The London process is that of Labarraque. All the chlorine generated from the prescribed quantity of the materials for forming that gas, is passed into the solution of carbonate of soda; and when the gas is limited to this quantity, no carbonic acid is disengaged. The chlo- rine is first passed through water to free it from muriatic acid, which, if suf- fered to come over, would convert the alkali into common salt. Properties. The U. S. solution is a colourless liquid. The London preparation has a pale-yellow colour, and a sharp, saline, astringent taste. When it is boiled, chlorine is not given off, nor is its bleaching property sensibly impaired; and, when carefully evaporated, a mass of damp crystals is obtained, which, when redissolved in water, possess the properties of the original liquid. Both solutions contain an excess of carbonated alkali, and, therefore, have an alka- line reaction. Hence they are precipitated by lime-water, which throws down carbonate of lime. They both decolorize the solution of sulphate of indigo, and emit a slight odour of chlorine. Exposed to the air, carbonic acid is absorbed, and chlorine slowly evolved. It is on this property of gradually evolving chlorine that their disinfecting power depends. Nature and Composition. The chemical nature of these solutions is dif- part II. Soda. 1127 ferent. Assuming the chlorinated lime to be essentially hypochlorite of lime with chloride of calcium (see page 151), the U.S. solution will contain hypo- chlorite of soda with chloride of sodium. Besides these there will be present more or less carbonate of soda, according as there happens to be in the chlo- rinated lime less or more chlorine to decompose it. In all cases, however, there will be an excess of carbonate; as the best chlorinated lime does not contain sufficient chlorine to effect its entire decomposition, in the proportion in which it is taken in the formula. The constitution of the London prepara- tion is more complicated. As it is a peculiarity in its formation that no car- bonic acid is evolved, it is necessary to assume the presence of all the carbonic acid of the carbonate of soda; and hence it is considered to be a combination of hypochlorite of soda, chloride of sodium, and bicarbonate of soda. The reaction is supposed to take place between four eqs. of carbonate of soda and two of chlorine. By a transfer of carbonic acid from two eqs. of carbonate to the remaining two eqs. of the same salt, two eqs. of bicarbonate are formed, and two of soda left. The sodium and oxygen of one eq. of soda, unite, each, with one eq. of chlorine, so as to form one eq. of chloride of sodium, and one of hypochlorous acid. This acid then unites with the remaining eq. of soda to form hypochlorite of soda. The view here taken makes these solutions analogous in constitution; but differing in one containing the carbonate, the other the bicarbonate of soda. In the London preparation, half the soda is bicarbonated; in the U.S. solution, from a half to a third is monocarbonated, according to the quality of the chlorinated lime used. According to Millon's views, both solutions contain oxychloride of sodium (Na202Cl), or, which is the same thing, chloride of soda, containing two eqs. of soda to one of chlo- rine (2NaO,Cl); thus making the compound assimilate in constitution to the sesquioxide of sodium (Xaa03). Mr. B. Kavanagh, of Dublin, finds that a solution of alum has its alumina precipitated upon being added to the London chlorinated soda liquid, without effervescence of carbonic acid, but with the evolution of chlorine on the application of heat. Hence he infers that the soda, not combined with carbonic acid in the preparation, is united with chlo- rine and not with hypochlorous acid, and accordingly conceives that he has proved the correctness of Millon's views. The London solution, though made on Labarraque's plan, is considerably stronger than his preparation; for the London College dissolves the carbonate in about three times its weight of water, before transmitting the chlorine; whereas Labarraque dissolved it in four times its weight. Medical I'wqwrtics and Uses. Solution of chlorinated soda is stimulant, antiseptic, and resolvent. Internally it has been employed in diseases termed putrid or malignant, as typhus fever, scarlatina maligna, &c. The conditions which indicate the propriety of its use are great prostration of strength, fetid evacuations, and dry and furred tongue. Under such circumstances it pro- motes urine, creates a moisture on the skin, and improves the secretions and evacuations. It has also been given in dysentery, accompanied with pecu- liarly fetid stools, in dyspepsia attended with putrid eructations, and in glandular enlargements and chronic mucous discharges. Other diseases in which it has been recommended, are secondary syphilis, scrofula, bilious dis- orders, and chronic diseases of the skin. M. Chailly speaks in praise of it in suppressed or deficient menstruation. In asphyxia from sulphuretted hydrogen it forms, like chlorinated lime, an efficacious antidote. The dose of the U. S. solution is from thirty drops to a teaspoonful, given in a cupful of water or mild aqueous liquid, and repeated every two or three hours. As a local remedy it is found useful in all affections attended with fetor, such as gangrenous, cancerous, scrofulous, and syphilitic ulcers, ulceration of the gums, carbuncle, ozaena, mortification, putrid sorethroat, &c. In these 1128 Soda. part n. cases it is applied as a gargle, wash, ingredient of poultices, or imbibed by lint. In the sloughing of the fauces attendant upon severe cases of scarla- tina, Dr. Jackson, late of Northumberland, found it efficacious, used as a gargle, or injected into the throat. In the sore mouth from ptyalism, it forms a good mouth-wash, when diluted with eight parts or more of water. In fetid discharges from the vagina, uterus, and bladder, it has been employed with advantage as an injection, diluted with from fifteen to thirty parts of water for the vagina and uterus, and with sixty parts when the object is to wash out the bladder by means of a double canula. The solution of chlori- nated soda has also been applied successfully to burns, and to cutaneous eruptions, particularly psoriasis, tinea capitis, scabies, and obstinate herpetic affections. In these cases it is diluted with from ten to thirty parts of water, the strength varying according to circumstances. For the cure of sore nip- ples, Dr. Chopin found nothing so successful as frequently repeated lotions with this solution. Solution of chlorinated soda is a powerful disinfectant; and is better suited for disinfecting operations on a small scale than chlorinated lime. In the bed-chambers of the sick, especially with infectious diseases, it will be found highly useful, sprinkled on the floor or bed, and added to the vessels intended to receive the excretions. B. SODiE ET POTASSiE TARTRAS. U. S., Dub. Sod^e Potas- sio-Tartras. Lond. Potass^ et Sod^e Tartras. Ed. Tartrate of Potassa and Soda. Tartarized Soda, Rochelle Salt. " Take of Carbonate of Soda a pound; Bitartrate of Potassa [cream of tartar], in powder, sixteen ounces; Boiling Water five pints. Dissolve the Carbonate of Soda in the Water, and gradually add the Bitartrate of Potassa. Filter the solution, and evaporate until a pellicle forms; then set it aside to crystallize. Pour off the liquor, and dry the crystals on bibulous paper. Lastly, again evaporate the liquor, that it may furnish more crystals." U S. The London and Edinburgh processes correspond with the above. "Take of Carbonate of Soda five parts ; Bitartrate of Potassa, in very fine powder, seven parts; boiling Water fifty parts. Dissolve the Carbonate of Soda in the Water, and gradually add the Bitartrate of Potassa. Filter the liquor through paper, evaporate, and set it aside, so that on slow cooling crystals may form." Dub. This is a double salt, consisting of tartrate of potassa combined with tartrate of soda. The theory of its formation is exceedingly simple, being merely the saturation of the excess of acid in the bitartrate of potassa by carbonate of soda, the carbonic acid of which is extricated with effervescence. The proper quantities of the materials for mutual saturation are 143-3 parts of carbonate to 188-15 of bitartrate, or one eq. of each. This gives the ratio of 10 to 13-1. The proportion adopted in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharma- copoeias, is as 10 to 13-33, which is very near the theoretical quantities. As the salts employed are apt to vary in composition and purity, the carbonate from the presence of more or less water of crystallization, and the bitartrate from that of tartrate of lime, it is, perhaps, best in all cases, after indicating the nearest average proportion as a general guide, to present to the operator the alternative of using the cream of tartar to the point of exact saturation. Properties. Tartrate of potassa and soda is in the form of colourless, trans- parent, slightly efflorescent crystals, often very large, and having the shape, when carefully prepared, of right prisms, with ten or twelve unequal sides. As ordinarily crystallized, they are generally in half prisms, as if split in the direction of their axis. The salt is of a saline and slightly bitter taste. It dis- solves in five times its' weight of cold water, and in much less boiling water. PART II. Soda. 1129 Any undissolved residue is impurity, probably tartrate of lime or bitartrate of potassa, or both. When exposed to a strong heat, the tartaric acid is de- stroyed, and a mixture of the carbonates of potassa and soda is left. It sometimes contains tartrate of lime, which may be removed by solution and crystallization; but, when the crystals are large and well defined, it may be assumed to be pure. It is incompatible with most acids, and with all acidu- lous salts except the bitartrate of potassa. It is also decomposed by the acetate and subacetate of lead, by the soluble salts of lime, and by those of baryta, unless the solution of the tartrate be considerably diluted. The way in which acids act in decomposing it, is by combining with the soda, and throwing down bitartrate of potassa as a crystalline precipitate. This double salt was discovered by Seignette, an apothecary of Rochelle; and hence it is frequently called Seignette s salt, or Rochelle salt. Tartrate of potassa and magnesia, formed by saturating cream of tartar with carbonate of magnesia, has been proposed by M. Maillier as a safe and pleasant purgative. (Journ. de Pharm., xiii. 252.) Composition. Tartrate of potassa and soda consists of two eqs. of tartaric acid 132, one of potassa 47-15, one of soda 31-3, and eight of water 72 — 282-45; or, considered asadouble salt, of one eq. of tartrate of potassa 113-15, and one of tartrate of soda 97-3, with the same quantity of water. Midical Properties and Uses. This salt is a mild, cooling purgative, well suited to delicate and irritable stomachs, being among the least unpalatable of the neutral salts. As it is not incompatible with tartar emetic, it may be associated with that salt in solution. It is an ingredient in the effervescing aperient called Seidlitz powders. (See page 52.) The dose as a purge is from half an ounce to an ounce. Given in small and repeated doses it does not purge, but is absorbed, and renders the urine alkaline. (Millon and Laveran, Journ. de Pharm., oe sdr., vi. 222.) B. SOD.E MURIAS PURUM. Ed. Pure Muriate tf Soda. Pure Chloride of Sodium. "Take any convenient quantity of Muriate of Soda; dissolve it in boiling water; filter the solution, and boil it down over the fire, skimming off the crystals which form. Wash the crystals quickly with cold water and dry them." Ed. This new formula of the Edinburgh College is unnecessary. If commercial samples of chloride of sodium cannot be found pure enough to form muriatic acid, the salt may be purified as a preparatory step to the process for obtaining that acid; as is ordered by the College in the formula for Acidum Muria- ticum Purum, where the directions for purifying the salt are unnecessarily repeated, after the admission of a distinct formula for that purpose. Pure muriate of soda is ordered by the College, with needless refinement, as an ingredient in the compound saline powder. Off. Prep. Pulvis Salinus Compositus, Ed. B. SOD^E PHOSPHAS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Phosphate of Soda. "Take of Bone, burnt to whiteness and powdered, ten qwunds; Sulphuric Acid six pounds; Carbonate of Soda a sufficient quantity. Mix the powdered Bone with the Sulphuric Acid in an earthen vessel; then add a gallon of water, and stir them well together. Digest for three days, occasionally adding a little water to replace that which is lost by evaporation, and frequently stirring the mixture. At the expiration of this time, pour in a gallon of boiling water, and strain through linen, gradually adding more boiling water, until the liquid passes nearly tasteless. Set by the strained liquor that the dregs may subside, 1130 Soda. PART II. from which pour off the clear solution, and boil it down to a gallon. To this solution, poured off from the dregs and heated in an iron vessel, add by de- grees the Carbonate of Soda previously dissolved in hot water, until efferves- cence ceases, and the phosphoric acid is completely neutralized; then filter the liquor, and set it aside to crystallize. Having removed the crystals, add, if necessary, a small quantity of Carbonate of Soda to the liquor, so as to render it slightly alkaline; then alternately evaporate and crystallize, so long as crystals are produced. Lastly, preserve the crystals in a well-stopped bottle." u. s. The Edinburgh College takes the same materials and in the same proportion, and proceeds substantially as above. The two pints and four fluidounces (Im- perial measure) of sulphuric acid ordered by the College weigh six pounds. The London College made this salt officinal for the first time in its Pharma- copoeia for 1836, but has placed it in the list of the Materia Medica. " Take of burnt Bones, in powder, ten ports ; Commercial Sulphuric Acid seven parts. Mix the powder, in an earthen vessel, with the Sulphuric Acid, add gradually seven parts of water, and stir the mixture. Digest for three days, occasionally adding more water to prevent the mixture from becoming dry, and continue the stirring : then add seven jxiris of boiling water, and strain through linen, repeatedly pouring on boiling water, until all the acid is washed out. Set the liquor by that the dregs may subside, from which pour it off when clear, and reduce it by evaporation to one-half. Then add eight parts of Carbonate of Soda, dissolved in hot water, and filter; and by alter- nate evaporation and refrigeration, let crystals be formed, which are to be kept in a well-stopped vessel. If the salt be not sufficiently pure, dissolve it again in water and recrystallize." Dub. The incombustible part of bones is obtained by burning them to whiteness, and consists of a peculiar phosphate of lime, called bone-phosphate, associated with some carbonate of lime, &c. (See Os.) When this is mixed with sul- phuric acid, the carbonate of lime is entirely decomposed, giving rise to effer- vescence. The phosphate of lime undergoes partial decomposition; the greater part of the lime, being detached, precipitates as sulphate of lime, while the phosphoric acid, set free, combines with the undecomposed portion of the phos- phate, and remains in solution as a superphosphate of lime, holding dissolved a small portion of the sulphate of lime. In order to separate the superphos- phate from the precipitated mass of sulphate of lime, boiling water is added to the mixture, the whole is strained, and the sulphate washed as long as superphosphate is removed^which is known by the water passing through in an acid state. The different liquids which have passed the strainer, consisting of the solution of superphosphate of lime, are mixed and allowed to stand, and by cooling a portion of sulphate of lime is deposited, which is got rid of by decantation. The bulk of the liquid is now reduced by evaporation, and, in consequence of the diminution of the water, a fresh portion of sulphate of lime is deposited, which is separated by subsidence and decantation as before. The superphosphate of lime solution being heated, is now saturated by means of a hot solution of carbonate of soda. The carbonic acid is extricated with effervescence, and the alkali, combining with the excess of acid of the super- phosphate, generates phosphate of soda; while the superphosphate of lime, by the loss of its excess of acid, becomes the neutral phosphate, and precipi- tates. It is recommended by tbe editor of the Dublin Hospital Gazette to have both solutions boiling hot, in order to insure the full extrication of the carbonic acid, and the complete precipitation of the phosphate of lime. The phosphate of lime is separated by a new filtration; and the filtered liquor, con- sisting of the solution of phosphate of soda, is evaporated so as to crystallize. In the U. S. and Edinburgh process, the calcined bone is to the acid as 10 PART II. Soda. 1131 to 6; in the Dublin process as 10 to 7. The proportion recommended by Berzelius is intermediate—as 10 to 6-66. The acid, in the officinal processes, is added to the calcined bone in the concentrated state, and afterwards diluted with more or less water. In the process given by Berzelius it is first diluted with twelve times its weight of water. The Dublin College prescribes the quantity of carbonate of soda to effect the saturation; but the exact quantity cannot be known beforehand, and must vary under different circumstances. All the writers state that this salt crystallizes more readily by allowing its solution to be slightly alkaline ; and a remarkable fact is that a neutral solu- tion, when it crystallizes, leaves a supernatant liquid which is slightly acid and uncrystallizable. Hence it is necessary, after getting each successive crop of crystals, to render the mother-water neutral or slightly alkaline, before it will furnish an additional quantity. M.-Funcke, a German chemist, has given the following cheap and expedi- tions method for obtaining phosphate of soda. Add to the powdered calcined bone, diffused in water, sufficient dilute sulphuric acid to decompose all the carbonate of lime which it contains. As soon as the effervescence has ceased, the matter is acted on with nitric acid, which dissolves the phosphate of lime, and leaves the sulphate. The nitric solution of the phosphate is then treated with sulphate of soda, equal in quantity to the bone employed; and, after the reaction is completed, the nitric acid is recovered by distillation. In conse- quence of a double decomposition, sulphate of lime and phosphate of soda are formed, the latter of which is then separated from the sulphate by the action of water, and crystallized in the usual manner. Properties, dr. Phosphate of soda is in large, colourless crystals, which are transparent at first, but quickly effloresce and become opaque when exposed to the air, and which have the shape of oblique rhombic prisms. It possesses a pure saline taste, resembling that of common salt. With tests it displays a slight alkaline reaction. It dissolves in four parts of cold water, and two of boiling water, but is insoluble in alcohol. Before the blowpipe it first under- goes the aqueous fusion, and afterwards, at a red heat, melts info a globule of limpid glass, which becomes opaque on cooling. It is not liable to any adul- terations, but sometimes contains carbonate of soda, from this salt being added in excess; in which case it will effervesce with acids. If it contain sulphate of soda, or any other soluble sulphate, the precipitate caused by chloride of barium will be a mixture of sulphate and phosphate of baryta, and will not be totally soluble in nitric acid. If a chloride be present, the yellow precipitate caused by nitrate of silver will be a mixed one of chloride and phosphate of silver, not entirely soluble in the same acid. It is incompatible with soluble salts of lime, with which it gives a precipitate of phosphate of lime, and with neutral metallic solutions. Phosphate of soda is found in several of the ani- mal secretions, particularly the urine. When crystallized it consists of one eq. of phosphoric acid 72, two of soda 62-6, and twenty-five of water 225 = 359-6. When heated gently, it loses twenty-four eqs. of water, retaining one which acts the part of a base. At a red heat the remaining eq. of water is driven off, and the salt is altered in its properties, and becomes pyrophosphate of soda, which is characterized by giving a ichite precipitate with nitrate of silver. Medical Properties and Uses. This salt was introduced into practice about the year 1800, by Dr. Pearson, of London. It is a mild purgative, and, from its pure saline taste, is well adapted to the cases of children, and of persons of delicate stomach. The dose is from one to two ounces, and is best given in gruel or weak broth, to which it communicates a taste, as if seasoned with common salt. Off. Prep. Ferri Phosphas, U. S. B. 1132 Spiritus. PART II. SPIRITUS. U. S., Lond., Dub. Spirits. Ed. Spirits, according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, are alcoholic solutions of volatile principles, obtained by distillation. They are prepared chiefly from aromatic vegetable substances, the essential oils of which rise with the vapour of alcohol, and condense with it in the receiver. Some of the oils, however, will not rise at the temperature of boiling alcohol, but may be distilled with water. In this case it is necessary to employ proof spirit or diluted alcohol, with the water of which the oil comes over in the latter part of the process. As the proof spirit of the shops is often impregnated with foreign matters, which give it an unpleasant flavour, it is better to use alcohol which has been carefully rectified, and to dilute it with the due proportion of water, as directed by the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. In preparing 'the spirits, care should be taken to avoid the colour and empyreumatic flavour arising from the decomposition of the vegetable matter by heat. Sufficient water must, therefore, be added to cover the vegetable matter after the alcohol shall have been distilled; and, as a general rule, the heat should be applied by means of a water-bath, or of steam. The aromatic should be macerated for some days with the alcohol, before being submitted to distillation; as the oil, being thus dissolved, rises more readily with the spirituous vapour than when confined in the vegetable tissue. It is necessary, during the process, frequently to renew the water in the refrigeratory, as otherwise a considerable portion of the vapour will escape condensation. A good apparatus for the purpose is described and figured in page 772. The aromatic spirits are used chiefly to impart a pleasant odour and taste to mixtures, and to correct the nauseating and griping effects of other medi- cines. They serve also as carminatives in flatulent colic, and agreeable stimu- lants in debility of stomach; but their frequent use may lead to the formation of intemperate habits, and should, therefore, be avoided. W. SPIRITUS ANISI. Lond. Spirit of Aniseed, " Take of Anise [seeds], bruised, ten ounces; Proof Spirit a gallon [Im- perial measure]; Water two pints [Imperial measure]. Mix them ; then with a gentle fire, distil a gallon." Lond. SPIRITUS ANISI COMPOSITUS. Dub. Compound Spirit of Aniseed. "Take of Anise Seeds, bruised, Angelica Seeds, bruised, each, half a pound; Proof Spirit a gallon; Water sufficient to prevent empyreuma. Macerate for twenty-four hours, and distil a gallon." Dub. The dose of this and the preceding preparation, as stomachics and carmina- tives, is one or two fluidrachms. The compound spirit is a simplification of the Irish usquebaugh. W. SPIRITUS ARMORACIiE COMPOSITUS. Lond., Dub. Compound Spirit of Horse-radish. "Take of Horse-radish [root], sliced, Dried Orange Peel, each, twenty ounces; Nutmeg, bruised, five drachms; Proof Spirit a gallon [Imperial measure]; Water two pints [Imp. measure]. Mix them; then, with a slow fire, distil a gallon." Lond. The Dublin College takes of horse-radish and orange peel, each, a pound; bruised nutmeg half an ounce; proof spirit a gallon; and water sufficient to prevent empyreuma; macerates for twenty-four hours, and distils a gallon. PART II. Spiritus. 1133 This may be used advantageously as an addition to diuretic remedies, in dropsy attended with debility, especially in the cases of drunkards. The dose is from one to four fluidrachms. Off. Prep. Infusum Armoraciae Compositum, Lond. W. SPIRITUS CARUI. Lond., Ed., Dub. Spirit of Caraway. " Take of Caraway [seeds], bruised, twenty-two ounces; Proof Spirit a gallon [Imperial measure]; Water two pints [Imperial measure]. Mix them; then with a slow fire distil a gallon." Lond, " Take of Caraway Seeds, bruised, a pound; Proof Spirit a gallon; Water sufficient to prevent empyreuma. Macerate for twenty-four hours and distil a gallon." Dub. " Take of Caraway, bruised, half a pound; Proof Spirit seven pints [Impe- rial measure]. Macerate for two days in a covered vessel; add a pint and a half [Imp. meas.] of water; and distil off seven pints." Ed. The dose as a carminative is one or two fluidrachms. SPIRITUS CASSLZE. Ed. Spirit of Cassia. "Take of Cassia, in coarse powder, one pound. Proceed as for the spirit of caraway." E<1. (See Spiritus Carui.) This is essentially the same as the spirit of cinnamon. SPIRITUS CINNAMOMI. Lond., Ed., Dub. Spirit of Cinna- mon. "Take of Oil of Cinnamon two drachms; Proof Spirit, a gallon [Imperial measure]; Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Mix them; then with a slow fire distil a gallon." Lond. " Take of Cinnamon Bark, bruised, apound; Proof Spirit a gallon; Water sufficient to prevent empyreuma. Macerate for twenty-four hours, and distil a gallon." Dub. By the Dublin College the spirit is also prepared by distilling together six scruples of the oil, and a gallon of proof spirit. The Edinburgh College pre- pares it from a pound of cinnamon, in coarse powder, in the same manner as spirit of caraway. (See Spiritus Carui.) The spirit of cinnamon is an agreeable aromatic cordial, and may be given in debility of the stomach in the dose of one or two fluidrachms. Off. Prep. Infusum Digitalis, Ed.; Infus. Bhei, Ed.; Mistura Cretae, Ed. SPIRITUS JUNIPERI COMPOSITUS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. + Compound Spirit of Juniper. "Take of Juniper [berries], bruised, a pound; Caraway [seeds], bruised, Fennel-seed, bruised, each, an ounce and a half; Diluted Alcohol a gallon • Water two pints. Macerate the Juniper, Caraway, and Fennel-seed in the Diluted Alcohol for twenty-four hours; then add the Water, and with a slow fire distil a gallon." U. S. "Take of Juniper Fruit, bruised, fifteen ounces; Caraway [seeds], bruised, Fennel [seeds], bruised, each, two ounces; Proof Spirit a gallon [Imperial measure]; Water two pints [Imperial measure]. Mix them; then with a slow fire distil a gallon." Lond, The Dublin and Edinburgh processes are essentially the same with that of the U. S. Pharmacopceia; the Edinburgh directing seven pints [Imp. meas.] of Proof Spirit, and two pints [Imp. meas.] of water, macerating for two days, and distilling seven Imperial pints. This spirit is a useful addition to diuretic infusions and mixtures in debili- tated cases of dropsy. The dose is from two to four fluidrachms. Off. Prep. Mistura Creasoti, Ed. W. 1134 Spiritus. PART II. SPIRITUS LAVANDULAE. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Spirit of Lavender. " Take of Fresh Lavender [flowers] two pounds ; Alcohol a gallon ; Water two pints. Mix them, and with a slow fire distil a gallon." U.S. The London College takes two pounds and a half of the fresh flowers, a gallon [Imperial measure] of rectified spirit, and two pints of water; mixes them; and distils a gallon. The Dublin College employs two pounds of the flowers, a gallon of proof spirit, and sufficient water to prevent empyreuma; macerates for twenty-four hours; and distils five pints. The Edinburgh College takes two pounds and a half of the fresh flowers, and a gallon [Imperial mea- sure] of rectified spirit; mixes them, and with the heat of a vapour-bath distils seven pints. The Dublin process, in which proof spirit is employed, is said to yield a product less highly impregnated with the oil of lavender than the others. Mr. Brande asserts that the dried flowers produce as fragrant a spirit as the fresh. Spirit of Lavender is used chiefly as a perfume, and as an ingredient in other preparations. The perfume usually sold under the name of lavender xoater is not a distilled spirit, but an alcoholic solution of the oil, with the ad- dition of other odorous substances. The following is given by Mr. Brande as one of the most approved recipes for preparing it. "Take of rectified spirit of wine five gallons, essential oil of lavender twenty ounces, essential oil of bergamot five ounces, essence of ambergris [made by digesting one drachm of ambergris and eight grains of musk in half a pint of alcohol] half an ounce. Mix." Off. Prep. Linimentum Camphorae Compositum, Lond., Dub.; Mistura Ferri Composita, U.S.; Spiritus Lavandulae Compositus, U. S., Lond., Ed. Dub. W. SPIRITUS LAVANDULAE COMPOSITUS. U.S., Ed., Dub. Tinctura Lavandula Composita. Lond. Compound Spirit of Lavender. "Take of Spirit of Lavender three, pints; Spirit of Rosemary a pint; Cin- namon, bruised, an ounce; Cloves, bruised, two drachms; Nutmeg, bruised, half an ounce; Red Saunders, rasped, three drachms. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." U. S. The London College takes a pint and a half [Imperial measure] of spirit 4 of lavender, half a pint [Imp. meas.] of spirit of rosemary, two drachms and a half of bruised cinnamon, the same quantity of bruised nutmegs, and five drachms of sliced red saunders; and proceeds as above. The Edinburgh College takes two pints [Imp. meas.] of spirit of lavender, twelve fluidounces of spirit of rosemary, an ounce of cinnamon in coarse powder, two drachms of bruised cloves, half an ounce of bruised nutmeg, and three drachms of red saunders; macerates for seven days, and then strains the liquor through calico. The Dublin College orders half an ounce only of cinnamon, and an ounce of red saunders, and digests for ten days; but in other respects conforms with the directions of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. This is a delightful compound of spices, much employed as an adjuvant and corrigent of other medicines, and as a remedy for gastric uneasiness, nausea,' flatulence, and general languor or faintness. The dose is from thirty drops to a fluidrachm, and is most conveniently administered on a lump of sugar. Off. Prep. Aqua Laurocerasi, Ed.; Liquor Potassae Arsenitis, U. S., Lond., Ed. W. PART II. Spiritus. 1135 SPIRITUS MENTHA PIPERITA. Lond., Dub. Spiritus Mentha. Ed. Spirit of Peppermint. " Take of Oil of Peppermint three drachms; Proof Spirit a gallon [Impe- rial measure] ; Water a-pint [Imperial measure]. Mix them; then with a slow fire distil a gallon." Lond. The Edinburgh College prepares this spirit from one pound and a half of fresh peppermint, in the same manner as spirit of caraway. (See Spiritus Carui.) " Take of Oil of Peppermint, by weight, half an ounce; Rectified Spirit a gallon. Add the Spirit to the Oil, and pour on them as much water as will prevent empyreuma, after distillation; then, by a gentle fire, distil a gallon." Dub. The spirit of peppermint has no advantage over a simple solution of the oil in alcohol. Such a solution is usually kept in the shops, under the name of essence of peppermint, and was adopted among the officinal preparations, at the last revision of the U. S. Pharmacopceia, with the title of tincture of oil of peppermint. (See Tinctura Olei Menthse Piperitse.) W. SPIRITUS MENTHiE PULEGII. Lond., Dub. Spirit of European Pennyroyal. This is prepared by the London College from the oil of European penny- royal, in the manner directed by the same College for the preparation of spirit of peppermint. The Dublin College prepares it by distilling together six scruples of the oil and a gallon of proof spirit. It is never used in this country. W. SPIRITUS MENTHiE VIRIDIS. Lond., Dub. Spirit of Spear- mint. This is prepared by the London and Dublin Colleges from the oil of spear- mint, in the manner directed by the two Colleges respectively for the pre- paration of the spirit of peppermint. The two spirits are used for the same purposes, in the dose of from thirty drops to a fluidrachm. W. SPIRITUS MYRISTICiE. U.S.,Lond., Ed. Spiritus Nucis Moschata. Dub. Spirit of Nutmeg. "Take of Nutmeg, bruised, two ounces; Diluted Alcohol a gcdlon; Water a pint. Mix them, and with a slow fire distil a gallon." U. S. The London and Edinburgh Colleges take two ounces and a half of bruised nutmegs, a gcdlon [Imp. meas.] of proof spirit, and a pint [Imp. meas.] of water; mix them; and distil a gallon. The Dublin College macerates to- gether for twenty-four hours two ounces of bruised nutmeg, a gallon of proof spirit, and enough water to prevent empyreuma, and then distils a gallon. The spirit of nutmeg is used chiefly for its flavour, as an addition to other medicines. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. Off. Prep. Mistura Ferri Composita, Loud., Ed. W. SPIRITUS PIMENTAE. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Spirit of Pimento. "Take of Pimento, bruised, two ounces ; Diluted Alcohol a gallon; Water a pint. Macerate the Pimento in the Diluted Alcohol for twenty-four hours; then add the Water, and with a slow fire distil a gallon." U. S. The London College orders it to be prepared in the same manner as spirit of nutmeg; the Edinburgh, from half a pound of bruised pimento, in the „ame manner as spirit of caraway. The Dublin macerates together for twenty- 1136 Spiritus.—Spongia. PART II. four hours three ounces of bruised pimento, a gallon of proof spirit, and suf- ficient water to prevent empyreuma, and then distils a gallon. This preparation may be used for the general purposes of the aromatic spirits, in the dose of one or two fluidrachms. W. SPIRITUS ROSMARINI. U.S., Lond., Ed. Spiritus Roris- marini. Dub. Spirit of Rosemary. " Take of Oil of Rosemary [by weight] two drachms; Alcohol a gallon; Water a pint. Mix them, and with a slow fire distil a gallon." U S. The London College takes two drachms of oil of rosemary, a gallon (Im- perial measure) of rectified spirit, and a pint (Imp. meas.) of water; mixes them; and then, with a slow fire, distils a gallon. The Edinburgh College takes two pounds and a half of rosemary, and proceeds as for the spirit of lavender. The Dublin College employs a pound and a half of the fresh tops and a gallon of proof spirit, and distils five pounds with a moderate heat. This College also prepares the spirit by distilling together six scruples of the oil, and a gallon of proof spirit. Spirit of rosemary is a grateful perfume, and is used chiefly as an ingre- dient in lotions or liniments. Off. Prep. Linimentum Ammoniae Compositum, Ed.; Linimentum Sa- ponis, Lond., Dub.; Spiritus Lavandulae Compositus, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. SPONGIA. Preparation of Sponge. SPONGIA USTA. U.S. Pulvis Spongia Ustje. Dub. Burnt Sponge. "Take of Sponge a convenient quantity. Cut it into pieces, and beat it, that any extraneous matters may be separated; then burn it in a close iron vessel until it becomes black and friable; lastly, rub it into very fine pow- der." U.S. The Dublin process does not materially differ from the above. The sponge is decomposed, the volatile matters being driven off by the heat, and a black friable coal remaining. Preuss found that, of 1000 parts of sponge submitted to calcination, 343-848 were dissipated; and the residue consisted of 327-0 parts of carbon and insoluble matters, 112-08 of chloride of sodium, 16-43 of sulphate of lime, 21-422 of iodide of sodium, 757 of bromide of magnesium, 103-2 of carbonate of lime, 35-0 of phosphate of lime, 4-73 of magnesia, and 28-72 of protoxide of iron. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1837, 169.) Herberger found in burnt sponge one per cent, of iodide of potassium, and 0-5 per cent, of bromide of potassium. (Annul, der Pharm., xx. 204.) As the remediate value of burnt sponge depends chiefly upon the presence of iodine, it cannot be esteemed good unless it afford purple fumes when acted on by sulphuric acid assisted by heat. It is said that the prepara- tion is most efficient as a remedy, when the sponge is kept on the fire no longer than is necessary to render it friable. The powder is then of a much lighter colour. Guibourt recommends that the sponge selected for burning should be unwashed, of a strong odour, firm, and compact, that it should be put into a roaster similar to that sometimes used for coffee, and heated over a moderate fire till it becomes of a blackish-brown colour, that it should then be removed, powdered, and enclosed in a well-stopped glass bottle. It is best when recently prepared; as the iodine is dissipated by time, and the speci- part ii. Spongia.—Stannum.—Strychnia. 1137 mens at first richest in this principle, contain little of it at the end of a year. (Journ. de Chim. MM., Dec. 1831.) According to Herberger, the fine and coarse sponges do not materially differ in the proportion of their organic con- stituents ; so that the coarse may be selected for this operation. Burnt sponge has been highly recommended in goitre, glandular swellings of a scrofulous character, and obstinate cutaneous eruptions. It is most con- veniently administered mixed with syrup or honey, in the form of an electuary, with the addition of some aromatic, as powdered cinnamon. The dose is from one to three drachms. W. STANNUM. Preparation of Tin. PULVIS STANNI. U.S. Stanni Pulvis. Ed,, Dub. Powder of Tin. " Take of Tin a convenient quantity. Melt it in an iron vessel over the fire, and, while it is cooling, stir it until it is reduced to a powder, which is to be passed through a sieve." U. S. " Melt tin in an iron vessel; pour it into an earthenware mortar, heated a little above the melting point of the metal; triturate briskly as the metal cools, ceasing as soon as a considerable proportion is pulverized; sift the product, and repeat the process with what remains in the sieve." Ed. " Take of very pure Tin any quantity. Having melted it over the fire, agitate it strongly while congealing, so that it may be converted into a pow- der, which, when cold, is to be passed through a sieve." Dub. Tin, being a very fusible metal, is easily granulated by fusion and subse- quent agitation when in the act of congealing. On a small scale, the pro- cess is most conveniently performed in a wooden box, the inside of which has been well rubbed with chalk. This should be afterwards washed away by water; and, as the granulated powder is of unequal degrees of fineness, the coarser particles must be separated by a sieve. For the properties of this metal and the tests of its purity, see Stannum. Medical Properties and Uses. Powder of tin is used exclusively as an an- thelmintic, and is supposed to act by its mechanical properties. It is considered particularly adapted to the expulsion of the Ascaris lumbricoides, and is some- times employed to expel the tapeworm. For internal exhibition it should be free from oxidation. The dose is half an ounce, mixed with molasses, given for several successive mornings, and then followed by a brisk cathartic. Dr. Alston was in the habit of administering larger doses for the expulsion of the tapeworm. He began by giving an ounce on an empty stomach, which was followed, for two successive days, by half an ounce each day, and finally by a brisk purge. B. STRYCHNIA. Strychnia. STRYCHNIA. U. S., Lond. Strychnia. "Take of Nux Vomica, rasped, four pounds; Lime, in powder, six ounces; Muriatic Acid three fluidounces; Alcohol, diluted Sulphuric Acid, Solution of Ammonia, Purified Animal Charcoal, AVater, each, a sufficient quantity. Di- gest the Nux Vomica in two gallons of Water, acidulated with a fluidounce of the Muriatic Acid, for twenty-four hours; then boil for two hours, and straiu 72 1138 Strychnia. PART II. with expression through a strong linen bag. Boil the residuum twice succes- sively in the same quantity of acidulated Water, each time straining as before. Mix the decoctions and evaporate to the consistence of thin syrup; then add the Lime previously mixed with a pint of Water, and boil for ten minutes, frequently stirring. Pour the mixture into a double linen bag, and, having washed the precipitate well with water, press, dry, and powder it. Treat the powder repeatedly with boiling Alcohol, until deprived of its bitterness; mix the liquors; and distil off the Alcohol by means of a water-bath. Mix the residue with Water, and, having applied heat, drop in sufficient Diluted Sul- phuric Acid to neutralize and dissolve the Strychnia; then add Purified Animal Charcoal, boil for a few minutes, filter, evaporate, and crystallize. Dissolve the crystals in Water, and add sufficient Solution of Ammonia to precipitate the Strychnia. Lastly, dry the precipitate on bibulous paper." U. S. "Take of Nux Vomica, bruised, two pounds; Rectified Spirit three gallons [Imperial measure]; Diluted Sulphuric Acid, Magnesia, Solution of Ammonia, each, a sufficient quantity. Boil the Nux Vomica with a gallon of the Spirit, for an hour, in a retort, with a receiver fitted to it. Pour off the liquor, and boil the residue again, and a third time, with another gallon of the Spirit, and with the Spirit recently distilled, and pour off the liquor. Press the Nux Vomica, and, having mixed and filtered the liquors, distil the Spirit. Evapo- rate the residue to the proper consistence of an extract. Dissolve this in cold water and filter. Evaporate the solution, with a gentle heat, to the consistence of syrup. To this, while yet warm, gradually add the Magnesia to saturation, shaking them together. Set aside for two days, and then pour off the super- natant liquor. Press what remains wrapped in a linen cloth. Boil it in Spirit, then filter, and distil the Spirit. Add to what remains a very little Diluted Sulphuric Acid mixed with water, and macerate with a gentle heat. Set it aside for twenty-four hours that crystals may form. Press these and dissolve them. To their solution in water add Ammonia, occasionally shaking, that the Strychnia may be thrown down. Lastly, dissolve this in boiling Spirit, and set it aside that pure crystals may form." Lond. " Take of Nux Vomica one pound; Quicklime one ounce and a half; Recti- fied Spirit a sufficiency. Subject the Nux Vomica for two hours to the vapour of steam, chop or slice it, dry it thoroughly in the vapour-bath, or hot air-press, and immediately grind it in a coffee-mill. Macerate it for twelve hours in two pints [Imperial measure] of water, and boil it; strain through linen or calico, and squeeze the residuum; repeat the maceration and decoction twice with a pint and a half of water. Concentrate the decoctions to the consistence of thin syrup; add the Lime in the form of milk of lime; dry the precipitate in the vapour-bath; pulverize it, and boil it with successive portions of Recti- fied Spirit till the Spirit ceases to acquire a bitter taste. Distil off the Spirit till the residuum be sufficiently concentrated to crystallize on cooling. Purify the crystals by repeated crystallizations." Ed, It should be recollected that the British Imperial measure is employed by the London and Edinburgh Colleges throughout these processes. In preparing strychnia, the first step is properly to comminute the nux vomica. This may be done by rasping the seeds, or, as directed in the Edin- burgh Pharmacopoeia, by first softening them by steam, then slicing, drying, and grinding them. The next object is to extract the strychnia. For this purpose water acidulated with muriatic acid is employed in the U. S. process, alcohol in the London, and water alone in the Edinburgh. In the two latter, the native igasurate of strychnia is taken up, in the first, the muriate, which is a very soluble salt. The menstruum of the U. S. Pharmacopceia is less costly than the London, and probably more effective than the Edinburgh. PART II. Strychnia. 1139 Besides, when alcohol is used, it is necessary to evaporate the tincture, and then treat the extract with water, in order to get an aqueous solution of the alkali. The salt of strychnia existing in the solution is next decomposed either by lime, as in the U. S. and Edinburgh processes, or by magnesia, as in the London. The alkaline base is precipitated along with the excess of lime or magnesia and impurities. The strychnia is extracted from the pre- cipitate by boiling alcohol, and may be obtained in crystals by the concentra- tion of the solution. But in this state it is much coloured and impure. The Edinburgh College contents itself with directing it to be purified by repeated solution and crystallization. In the two other processes, the impure strychnia is converted into a sulphate by the addition of sulphuric acid, and precipitated again by ammonia; being, while in the state of the sulphate, decolorized, ac- cording to the directions of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, by means of animal charcoal. The London College proceeds one step further, and obtains the alkali in crystals by dissolving the precipitated powder in boiling alcohol, and setting the solution aside to crystallize. Throughout the process, the brucia contained in the nux vomica attends the strychnia, and is only left behind in the mother liquors, when the latter alkali crystallizes from the alcoholic solu- tion upon cooling; brucia being much more soluble than strychnia in cold alcohol. It would, therefore, be better to conclude the U. S. process by one or more solutions and crystallizations in alcohol, as directed by the London and Edinburgh Colleges. With this addition, we should give the preference to our own officinal process. To free the strychnia entirely from brucia requires repeated crystallizations, and a little of the latter principle is consequently almost always retained; but the impurity is not injurious; as the effects of the two alkalies upon the system are very similar. The bean of St. Ignatius yields strychnia more easily and more largely than nux vomica; but is less plentiful.* If thought desirable, brucia may he in great measure separated from the strychnia of the shops, by dissolving the latter in very dilute nitric acid, filter- ing, and concentrating to the point of crystallization. The nitrate of brucia crystallizes in short, thick, dense prisms, grouped together; the nitrate of strychnia in radiated tufts of long, light, capillary needles. By gentle agita- tion with water, the latter salt is suspended and may be poured off, leaving the former. The alkalies may be obtained by dissolving the salts separately in water, and precipitating with ammonia. (Christison.) As usually kept in the shops, strychnia is a grayish-white powder. When rapidly crystallized from its alcoholic solution, it has the form of a white, granular powder; when slowly crystallized, that of elongated octohedra, or quadrilateral prisms with quadrilateral terminations. It is permanent in the air, inodorous, but excessively bitter, with a metallic after taste. So intense is its bitterness, that one part of it is said to communicate a sensible taste to 600,000 parts of water. It melts like a resin, but is not volatile, being de- composed at a comparatively low temperature. It is soluble in 6667 parts of water at 50°, and about 2000 at the boiling point. Boiling officinal alcohol dissolves it without difficulty, and deposits it upon cooling. In absolute alco- hol and in ether it is very sparingly soluble. The volatile oils dissolve it freely. It has an alkaline reaction on test paper, and forms salts with the acids. Nitric acid does not redden it if perfectly pure, but almost always reddens it as found in the shops, in consequence of the presence of brucia. M. Eugene Marchand proposes the following test, by which a very minute * M. J. F. Molyn proposes, previously to the extraction of strychnia, to subject nux vomica to fermentation, by which the saccharine and gummy matters of the seeds are decomposed, and lactic acid is formed, whicli decomposes the iganurate of strychnia and brucia, producing with these bases very soluble lactates. For the particulars of his pro- cess, see the Am. Journ. of Pharm, xix. 99. 1140 Strychnia.—Styrax. part ii. proportion of strychnia may be detected. If a little of the alkali be rubbed with a few drops of concentrated sulphuric acid containing one-hundredth of nitric acid, it will be dissolved without change of colour; but if the least quantity of peroxide of lead be added to the mixture, a magnificent blue colour will be instantly developed, which will pass rapidly into violet, then gradually to red, and ultimately become yellow. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., iv. 200.) Professor Otto recommends as a test a minute quantity of solution of chromate of potassa, which, added to the solution of strychnia in concen- trated sulphuric acid, produces a splendid violet colour. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 77.) Strychnia consists of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen; but the proportion of its constituents is very differently given by different authors. Liebig states the composition to be N^^H^O^ The salts of strychnia are for the most part soluble and crystallizable. Their solution is decomposed by the alkalies and their carbonates, and by tannic, but not by gallic acid; and is not affected by the salts of sesquioxide of iron. Strychnia is apt to contain impurities, of which the chief, besides brucia, are colouring matter, and lime or magnesia. The Edinburgh College gives the following test of its purity. " A solution of 10 grains in 4 fluidrachms of water by means of a fluidrachm of pyroligneous acid, when decomposed by one fluidounce of con- centrated solution of carbonate of soda, yields on brisk agitation a coherent mass, weighing when dry 10 grains, and entirely soluble in solution of oxalic acid." Medical Properties and Uses, dec. The effects of strychnia upon the sys- tem are identical in character with those of nux vomica, and it is employed for the same purposes as a medicine. (See Nux Vomica, page 478.) It ope- rates in the same way by whatever avenue it may enter into the circulation; but is said to act most powerfully when injected into the veins or applied to a fresh wound. The blood of an animal under its influence produces similar effects in another if transfused into its veins. In over-doses it is a most vio- lent poison. Pelletier and Caventou killed a dog in half a minute with one- sixth of a grain of the pure alkali. One grain or even less might prove fatal in the human subject. A case, however, is recorded in which recovery took place after seven grains had been swallowed; but the medicine was probably impure. (See Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., N. S., xxx. 562.) According to M. Duclos, the poisonous effects of strychnia upon animals subside under the ap- plication of negative electricity, while they are aggravated by the positive. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm,, xvi. 154.) Different persons are very differ- ently susceptible to its action, and some are powerfully affected by the smallest doses. Besides, being more or less impure as kept in the shops, it cannot be relied on with certainty. Hence the necessity of great caution in prescribing it, and of carefully watching the patient during its use. The best plan is always to begin with very small doses, and gradually increase till its effects are observed. From one-twelfth to one-sixth of a grain internally, and from a quarter to half a grain externally, upon a blistered surface, may be employed at first; but, if the alkali is very pure, the dose may be still further reduced with propriety. It is most conveniently administered in the form of pill. It may be given also in the saline state, which is produced by dissolving it in water acidulated with sulphuric, muriatic, nitric, or acetic acid. W. STYRAX. Preparation of Storax. STYRAX PURIFICATA. U.S. Styrax Colatus. Lond. Extractum Styracis. Ed. Purified Storax. " Take of Storax, Alcohol, each, a sufficient quantity. Dissolve the Storax PART II. Styrax.—Sulphur. 1141 in the Alcohol, and strain the solution; then distil off the alcohol with a gentle heat, until the Storax acquires the proper consistence." U. S. The purification of storax is directed by the London College, in a similar manner, under the head of the gum-resins. " Take any convenient quantity of Storax, in fine powder. Exhaust it by boiling it in successive quantities of Rectified Spirit; filter the spirituous solu- tions; distil off the greater part of the Spirit; evaporate the remainder over the vapour-bath to the consistence of a thin extract." Ed. Storax, as found in the shops, is usually so much adulterated as to render its purification necessary, before it can be applied to the purposes for which it is officinally directed. As it is wholly soluble in alcohol, and little of its active matter is driven off at the boiling point of that fluid, there can be no chemical objection to the above process. Another method, sometimes fol- lowed, is to express, between heated iron plates, the balsam from the foreign matters with which it is associated; but, if the process be not very carefully conducted, the heat employed to melt the storax will be sufficient to dissipate a portion of the benzoic acid, which is one of its essential ingredients. Off. Prep. Pilulae Styracis Compositae, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Tinctura Ben- zoini Composita, U S., Lond., Dub. W. SULPHUR. Preparations of Sulphur. SULPHUR PRiECIPITATUM. U. S. Lac Sulphuris. Pre- cipitated Sulphur. Milk of Sulphur. " Take of Sulphur [sublimed] a pound; Lime a pound and a half; Water two gallons; Muriatic Acid a sufficient quantity. Slake the Lime with a small portion of the Water, and, having mixed it with the Sulphur, add the remainder of the Water, boil for two or three hours, occasionally adding water so as to preserve the measure, and filter. Dilute the filtered liquor with an equal bulk of water; then drop into it sufficient Muriatic Acid to precipitate the Sulphur. Lastly, wash the precipitate repeatedly with water till the washings are tasteless, and dry it." U. S. In this process two eqs. of lime react with six of sulphur, so as to form two eqs. of bisulphuret of calcium, and one of hyposulphurous acid, which latter then unites with one eq. of lime to form hyposulphite of lime. On the addition of the muriatic acid, six eqs. of sulphur are precipitated (four from the two eqs. of bisulphuret of calcium and two from the one eq. of hyposulphurous acid), and the calcium and oxygen unite with the muriatic acid, so as to form chloride of calcium and water. This acid is the most eligible precipitant for the sulphur, as it gives rise to chloride of calcium, which is a very soluble salt, and easily washed away. Sulphuric acid is altogether inadmissible; as it generates sulphate of lime, which, from its sparing solubility, becomes necessarily intermingled with the precipitated sulphur. According to Schweitzer, the best material from which to precipi- tate the sulphur is the sulphuret of potassium, formed by boiling sulphur with caustic potassa. Dr. Otto, of Brunswick, finds that the sulphuret of potassium is apt to contain sulphuret of copper, and, therefore, prefers sul- phuret of calcium. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, Jan. 1845.) Properties, dr. Precipitated sulphur is in friable lumps having a white colour, with a pale yellowish-green tint, and consisting of finely divided par- ticles, slightly cohering together. When recently prepared, it is devoid of taste, but possesses a peculiar smell. When long exposed, in a moist state, to the air, it becomes strongly contaminated with sulphuric acid. (Annalen 1142 Sulphur.—Syrupi. part ii. der Pharm., xx. 151.) From its colour it was formerly called lac sulphuris or milk of sulphur. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves in a boiling solu- tion of caustic potassa. When of a brilliant white colour, the presence of sulphate of lime may be suspected, in which case the sulphur will not be wholly volatilized by heat. If pure it communicates a harsh feel when rubbed between the fingers, owing to the friction between the crystalline particles. (Dr. Bridges.) We have seen a sample of so-called precipitated sulphur, which consisted almost entirely of sulphate of lime. Precipitated sulphur differs from sublimed sulphur, in being in a state of more minute division, and in presenting, after fusion, a softer and less brittle mass. Its peculiarities are supposed to depend upon a portion of water, which, however, is present in too small a quantity to constitute a regular hydrate. According to Rose, its white colour is occasioned by the presence of a small proportion of bisulphuretted hydrogen. Soubeiran states that it always contains some sulphuretted hydrogen, which causes it to differ as a therapeutic agent from sublimed sulphur. Medical Properties and Uses. Precipitated sulphur possesses similar medi- cal properties to those of sublimed sulphur. Its state of extreme division renders it more readily suspended in liquids; but its liability to become acid by keeping is an objection to it. It is sometimes selected for forming oint- ments, which have the advantage to the eye of being of a lighter colour than when made with sublimed sulphur. The dose is from two to three drachms. (See Sulphur.) B. SULPHURIS IODIDUM. U.S. Iodide of Sulphur. "Take of Iodine four ounces; Sulphur an ounce. Rub the Iodine and Sulphur together in a glass, porcelain, or marble mortar until they are tho- roughly mixed. Put the mixture in a matrass, close the orifice loosely, and apply a gentle heat so as to darken the mass without melting it. When the colour has become uniformly dark throughout, increase the heat so as to melt the Iodide; then incline the matrass in different directions, in order to return into the mass any portions of Iodine which may have condensed on the inner surface of the vessel; lastly, allow the matrass to cool, break it, and put the Iodide into bottles, which are to be well stopped." U. S. The above process is that of the French Codex. The combination may be conveniently effected in a Florence flask. The resulting iodide has a grayish- black colour, and radiated crystalline appearance like sulphuret of antimony. Its smell resembles that of iodine, and it stains the cuticle in a similar man- ner. It is entirely volatilized by heat, and when boiled with water is decom- posed, iodine escaping with the steam, and sulphur being deposited nearly pure. It has not been analyzed, but is probably a bisulphuret. Iodide of sulphur has been used by Biett, Rayer, Lugol, and others, as an external application in various skin diseases, such as tinea capitis, lupus, lepra, &c. It is applied in the form of ointment, made by mixing from ten to thirty grains of the iodide with an ounce of lard. Of this a drachm may be used at each friction. B. SYRUPI. Syrups. Syrups are concentrated solutions of sugar in watery fluids, either with or without medicinal impregnation. When the solution is made with pure water, it is named syrup or simple syrup, when with water charged with one or more medicinal agents, it is called in general terms a medicated syrup, and receives its particular designation from the substance or substances added. PART II. Syrupi. 1143 Medicated syrups are prepared by incorporating sugar with vegetable infu- sions, decoctions, expressed juices, fermented liquors, or simple aqueous solu- tions. When the active matter of the vegetable is not readily soluble in water, or is volatilized or decomposed by a heat of 212°, it is sometimes ex- tracted by diluted alcohol, the spirituous ingredient of which is subsequently driven off. Medicated syrups are also occasionally prepared by adding a tinc- ture to simple syrup, and evaporating the alcohol. Since the introduction into use of the process of filtration by displacement, it has been applied very advantageously to the preparation of various syrups, especially of those made from vegetables of which the active principle is injured or dissipated by de- coction. But, unless the operator be at once skilful and very careful, there will be great danger of imperfectly extracting the active matters, and thus making a feeble preparation. For the mode of properly conducting this pro- cess the reader is referred to pages 763 and 769. The quality and quantity of the sugar employed are points of importance. Refined sugar should always be preferred, as it often saves the necessity of clarification, and makes a clearer and better flavoured syrup than the impure kinds. The U. S. Pharmacopoeia simply directs sugar, but explains that it is the purified or refined sugar which is indicated by that term. In relation to the quantity of sugar, if in too small proportion, fermentation is apt to occur; if too abundant, crystallization. The proper proportion is about two parts to one of the liquid. A somewhat smaller quantity will answer where an acid, such as lemon juice, or vinegar, is used. As it is desirable, in many instances, that the active matters should be in as concentrated a state as possible in the syrup, it is often necessary to eva- porate a large proportion of the watery fluid in which they are dissolved. This may be done either before the addition of the sugar or afterwards. In either case, care is requisite not to apply a heat too great or too long con- tinued, lest the active principles should be injured. When these are very volatile or easily decomposed by heat, it is necessary to dispense with con- centration altogether. Some substances which are volatilized or decomposed at the temperature of boiling water, remain fixed and unaltered at that which is necessary for the evaporation of alcohol. These, as before observed, may be dissolved in diluted alcohol, and the concentration effected by evaporating the spirituous part of the solvent. Independently of the injury which the medicinal ingredient of the syrup may sustain, the syrup itself is apt to be- come brown by a long-continued application of heat, even when the degree is not excessive. It is recommended, therefore, that syrups which admit of concentration, should be boiled briskly over a lively fire, so as to accomplish the object as quickly as possible. It is important to be able to ascertain positively when they have attained the due consistence. An operator skilled in their preparation can judge with sufficient accuracy by various familiar signs;—such as the slowness with which the parts of a drop of syrup coalesce, when previously separated by the edge of a blunt instrument; and the re- ceding of the last portion of each drop, when the syrup, after being cooled, is poured out drop by drop. A pellicle forming upon the surface of the syrup when it cools, indicates that it has been too much boiled. But these signs are not to be relied on except by those who have acquired much experience. The easiest method of ascertaining the proper point of concentration is by the use of Baume's hydrometer. This should stand at 30° in boiling syrup (30 £ in hot weather) and at 35° in the syrup when it is cool. Another very accurate though less ready method is to ascertain the sp. gr. by weighing a portion of the liquid. Syrup when boiling should have a sp. gr. of about 1-261__when cold, about 1-319. Thomson and Duncan are mistaken in giv- ing the proper sp. gr. of cold syrup as 1385. We found that of a specimen 1144 Syrupi. PART II. of simple syrup made with two pounds and a half of sugar to a pint of water, to be 1326 at 68° F.; and this consistence is rather too great for practical convenience in cold weather. A third method of ascertaining the pro- per point of concentration is by the thermometer, which, in boiling syrup of the proper consistence, stands at 221° F. This indication is founded on the fact, that the boiling point of syrup rises in proportion to the increase of its density. When carefully prepared with double refined sugar, syrups generally re- quire no other clarification than to remove any scum wbich may rise to their surface upon standing, and to pour them off from any dregs which may sub- side. Should they, however, want the due degree of clearness, they may be filtered through flannel, or, when not likely to be injured by the treatment, may be clarified by means of the white of eggs or animal charcoal, as men- tioned under the head of Syrupus. The medicated syrups are liable to undergo various alterations, according to their nature and mode of preparation. The acid syrups, when too much boiled, often let fall a copious wbite precipitate, which is said to be a saccha- rine matter analogous to the sugar of grapes, produced by the reaction of the acid upon the sugar. It has been shown that, even at ordinary tempera- tures, acids slowly convert common sugar into the sugar of grapes, which, being less soluble than the former, is gradually deposited in the form of crystalline grains. Syrups which contain too little sugar are apt to pass into the vinous fermentation, in consequence of the presence of matters which act as a ferment. Those which contain too much deposit a portion in the crys- talline state; and the crystals, attracting the sugar remaining in solution, gradually weaken the syrup, and render it liable to the same change as when originally made with too little sugar. The want of a due proportion of saccharine matter frequently also gives rise to mouldiness, when air has ac- cess to the syrup. It is said that syrups, enclosed, while they are still hot, in bottles, are apt to ferment; because the watery vapour, rising to the sur- face and there condensing, diminishes the proportion of sugar, so as to pro- duce a commencement of chemical action, which gradually extends through the whole mass. When syrups undergo the vinous fermentation, they be- come covered at the surface with froth, produced by the disengagement of carbonic acid, and acquire-a vinous odour from the presence of alcohol; while their consistence is diminished by the loss of a portion of the sugar, which has been converted into that liquid. When the quantity of alcohol has in- creased to a certain point, the fermentation ceases or goes on more slowly, owing to the preservative influence of that principle; and, as the active in- gredient of the syrup has frequently undergone no material change, the pre- paration may often be recovered by boiling so as to drive off the alcohol and carbonic acid, and concentrate the liquid sufficiently. A syrup thus revived is less liable afterwards to undergo change, because the principles which acted as ferments have been diminished or consumed. It is obvious that syrups which depend for their virtues upon a volatile ingredient, or one readily changeable by heat, cannot be restored to their original condition. At best, syrups are too apt to change, and various measures have been proposed for their preservation. According to Dr. Macculloch, the addition of a little sulphate of potassa, or of chlorate of potassa, which is tasteless, prevents their fermentation. M. Chereau has found sugar of milk effectual to the same end, in the instance of the syrup of poppies; and it may prove useful in others. The proportion which he employs is 32 parts of the sugar of milk to 1000 of the syrup. Mr. E. Durand has found that 1-3 per cenf. of Hoffmann's anodyne (Spiritus JStheris Sulphurici Compositus), added tb syrups, has the property of completely arresting or preventing fermentation, PART II. Syrupi. 1145 probably through the agency chiefly of the oil of wine which it contains. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 185.) But the best plan is to make small quantities of syrups at a time, and to keep them, unless when wanted for im- mediate use, in bottles ciuite full and well stopped, which should be put in the cellar or other cool place. The following general officinal directions are given in relation to syrups. " Syrups whose density is not precisely determined by the process, should have the specific gravity 1-261 when boiling, and about 1-319 at ordinary temperatures." U S. " Let the syrups be preserved in a place where the heat never exceeds 55°." Lond. It would be difficult to comply exactly with such a rule in this country. "When no mention is made of the weight of sugar or the mode of dis- solving it, syrups are to be prepared according to the following rule. Take of Refined Sugar, in fine powder, twenty-nine ounces; of the Liquor pre- scribed a pint. Add the Sugar by degrees, and digest it with a medium heat [from 100° to 200° F.] in a covered vessel, frequently shaking, till it is dis- solved ; then set aside the solution for twenty-four hours ; remove the scum, and pour off the syrup from the dregs, if there be any." Dub. W. SYRUPUS. U. S., Lond. Syrupus Simplex. Ed., Dub. Syrup. Simple Syrup. " Take of Sugar [refined] two pounds and a half; Water a pint. Dis- solve the Sugar in the Water with the aid of heat, remove any scum which may form, and strain the solution while hot." U S. "Take of Sugar [refined] ten pounds; Water three pints [Imperial meas- sure]. Dissolve the Sugar in the Water with a gentle heat." Lond. " Take of Pure Sugar ten pounds; boiling Water three pints [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Sugar in the Water with the aid of a gentle heat." Ed. "Take of Refined Sugar, finely powdered, twcuty-nine ounces; Water a pint. Add the Sugar gradually to the Water, and digest it with a medium heat [from 100° to 200° F.] in a close vessel till it is dissolved, frequently stirring; afterwards pour off from the dregs, if there be any." Dub. This syrup, when properly prepared, is inodorous, of a sweet taste without peculiar flavour, thick, viscid, nearly colourless, and perfectly transparent. If somewhat turbid, as it is apt to be when made with sugar not well refined, it may be clarified by beating the white of an egg to a froth with three or four ounces of water, mixing this with the syrup, boiling the mixture for a short time that the albumen may coagulate, and taking off the scum which rises to the surface, or separating it by filtration through paper or flannel. Two gal- lons of the syrup may be thus clarified. Any colour and peculiar flavour which it may possess, may be removed by treating it, at the same time, with a small proportion (about 5 per cent.) of animal charcoal. The white of egg is beaten to a froth in order that, when it coagulates, it may be rendered by the air which it contains specifically lighter than the syrup, and thus rise to the surface. If not thus treated, it floats, when coagu- lated, in the syrup, or sinks to the bottom. Now it is obvious that, if the syrup and albumen be heated together, the latter must be deprived of a por- tion of the air which it contains, before the point of coagulation is attained, and thus be rendered less disposed to rise to the surface. Guibourt, therefore, recommends that the albumen should not be added till the syrup is boiling hot, and should then be poured into it from a height, in order to increase the quantity of air entangled in it. M. Salles, an apothecary of Clermond-Ferrand, in France, recommends that 1146 Syrupi. PART II. syrups which require clarification should be treated in the following manner. Allow the liquor with which the syrup is to be prepared, without previously decanting or filtering it, to become quite cold; then mix with it the white of eggs unbeaten, in the proportion of one egg for every five or six pounds (avoirdupois) of sugar employed; and, having added the sugar or honey, boil the whole for half an hour, or until a portion of the syrup upon cooling ex- hibits flocculi of albumen floating in a transparent medium. During the ebullition care must be taken to agitate the syrup in such a manner as to pre- vent the formation of foam upon its surface. When allowed to cool, the co- agulated albumen with impurities subsides, and the clear syrup floats above, and may be drawn off or decanted. In this process the albumen sinks because not incorporated with air. M. Salles calls it clarification per descensum, and states that it is applicable to all syrups of a density below 30° Baume at the boiling point. (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 490.) Syrup is very useful in the formation of pills and mixtures, and in various other pharmaceutical operations in which sugar in solution is required. Off. Prep. Confectio Opii, Lond,, Dub.; Infusum Catechu, Ed,; Syrupus Rhei Aromaticus, U. S.; Syrupus Tolutani, U S., Ed,, Dub.; Syrupus Zin- giberis, u. s. w. SYRUPUS ACETI. Ed. Syrup of Vinegar. " Take of Vinegar, French in preference, eleven fluidounces ; Pure Sugar fourteen ounces. Boil them together." Ed. Syrup of vinegar forms with water a refrigerant and grateful drink in febrile complaints. It may be added to barley water and other farinaceous and mucilaginous beverages and mixtures, when a vegetable acid is not contra- indicated. W. SYRUPUS ALLII. U.S. Syrup of Garlic. "Take of Fresh Garlic, sliced, six ounces; Distilled Vinegar a pint; Sugar [refined] two pounds. Macerate the Garlic in the Vinegar, in a glass vessel, for four days; then express the liquor, and set it by that the dregs may sub- side ; lastly, add the Sugar to the clear liquor, and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup." U. S. This preparation is made upon correct principles, as vinegar is a much better solvent of the active matter of garlic than water. In the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopceia, the proportion of garlic was judiciously increased to three times its former amount. The syrup is given in chronic catarrhal affec- tions of the lungs, and is particularly beneficial in infantile cases, by the sti- mulus which it affords to the nervous system. A teaspoonful may be given for a dose to a child a year old. W. SYRUPUS ALTHiEiE. Lond., Ed., Dub. Syrup of Marsh- mallow. "Take of Marshmallow Root, bruised, eight ounces; Sugar [refined] two pounds and a half; Water four pints [Imperial measure]. Boil down the Water with the Root to one-half, and express the liquor when cool. Set it by for twenty-four hours that the dregs may subside; then pour off the liquor, and having added the Sugar, boil down to the proper consistence." Lond. The Edinburgh process corresponds with the above, except that it closes with dissolving the sugar with the aid of heat, without boiling down the syrup. The Dublin College takes half apound of the fresh root, two jwunds of refined sugar, and four pints of water, and proceeds in the same manner as the London College. This syrup contains a considerable quantity of starch, besides mucilage, and is very liable to ferment. The French prepare it with cold water, and part ii. Syrupi. 1147 thus avoid the starch. It is simply demulcent; but is inferior to the muci- lage of gum Arabic, and in this country is very seldom prepared. W. SYRUPUS AMYGDALiE. U.S. Syrup of Almonds. Syrup of Orgeat. " Take of Sweet Almonds a pound; Bitter Almonds four ounces; Water three pints; Sugar six pounds. Having blanched the Almonds, rub them in a mortar to a very fine paste, adding, during the trituration, three fluidounces of the Water and a pound of the Sugar. Mix the paste thoroughly with the remainder of the Water, strain with strong expression, add the remainder of the Sugar to the strained liquor, and dissolve it with the aid of a gentle heat. Strain the Syrup through fine linen, and, having allowed it to cool, put it into bottles, which must be well stopped, and kept in a cool place." U. S. This process corresponds closely with that of the French Codex. Orange- flower water, however, which is an ingredient of the French preparation, is wanting in ours. It may be added to the syrup in the quantity of half a pint immediately after the sugar is dissolved. This is an elegant syrup much employed in Europe, and occasionally in this country. It is demulcent, nutritive, and, in consequence of the hydro- cyanic acid of the bitter almonds, somewhat sedative. It is said very much to impair the odour of musk and of assafetida, when mixed with them. (An- nuaire de Thirap., 1843, p. 59.) It may be added to cough mixtures, or used for flavouring drinks administered in complaints of the chest. W. SYRUPUS AURANTII CORTICIS.Z7.aS'. Syrupus Aurantii. Lond,, Ed., Dub. Syrup of Orange Peel. "Take of Orange Peel, bruised, two ounces; Boiling Water a pint; Sugar [refined] two pounds and a half. Macerate the Orange Peel in the Water, in a covered vessel, for twelve hours, and strain; then add the Sugar, and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup." U. S. The British Colleges direct the fresh peel of Seville Oranges. The London College takes two ounces and a half of the fresh peel, a pint [Imperial mea- sure] of boiling water, and three pounds of refined sugar; macerates the peel in the water for twelve hours, in a lightly covered vessel; then pours off the liquor, and adds the sugar to it. The Edinburgh College takes the same materials in the same quantities; infuses the peel in the water for twelve hours in a covered vessel, pours off the liquor, filters if necessary, adds the sugar, and dissolves it with the aid of heat. The Dublin College employs eight ounces of the peel, six pints of boiling water, and the quantity of sugar in its general directions (page 1145); and dissolves the sugar without heat. In the preparation of this syrup, the solution of the sugar in the infusion of orange peel should be effected with as little heat as possible, in consequence of the volatile nature of the active principle of the peel; and to facilitate the solution, the sugar should be previously powdered. The syrup has an agreeable flavour, for which alone it is employed. Pre- pared according to the U. S. process, it is apt to ferment in warm weather. To obviate this result, a syrup may be made by adding a fluidounce of the tincture of orange peel to a pint of simple syrup. This preparation is little inferior to the officinal, though the presence of the spirit may in some in- stances be objectionable. Professor Procter proposes to prepare the syrup in the following manner. Two ounces of recently dried sweet orange peel, in powder, is subjected to percolation with a mixture of two parts of alcohol and one of water until six fluidounces are obtained; the tincture is mixed with about two and a half pounds of sugar, in coarse powder, which is then spread on paper until the alcohol has evaporated; and, finally, the sugar thus prepared is 1148 Syrupi. PART II. dissolved in a pint of water at a boiling heat. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 97.) » K J , Off. Prep. Confectio Aromatica, U.S., Ed.; Electuarium Cassiae, Dub. ; Pilulae Rhei Compositae, U S. W. SYRUPUS CROCI. Lond., Ed. Syrup of Saffron, "Take of Saffron ten drachms; boiling Water a pint [Imperial measure]; Sugar [refined] three pounds. Macerate the Saffron in the Water for twelve hours, in a lightly covered vessel; then strain the liquor, and add the Sugar." Lond, The Edinburgh College takes the same materials, in the same quantities, and proceeds in the manner directed for syrup of orange peel. This is slightly stimulant, but is valued chiefly for its fine colour. W. SYRUPUS IPECACUANHA. U.S., Ed. Syrup of Ipecacu- anha. " Take of Ipecacuanha, in coarse powder, an ounce; Diluted Alcohol a pint; Syrup two pints. Macerate the Ipecacuanha in the Alcohol for four- teen days, and filter. Evaporate the filtered liquor to two fluidounces, and again filter; then mix it with the syrup, and evaporate by means of a water- bath to the proper consistence. " Syrup of Ipecacuanha may also be prepared by putting the Ipecacuanha, previously moistened with Diluted Alcohol, into an apparatus for displace- ment; pouring upon it gradually Diluted Alcohol until a pint of filtered liquor is obtained; then evaporating to two fluidounces, and completing the process as above directed." U S. " Take of Ipecacuanha, in coarse powder, four ounces; Rectified Spirit one pint [Imperial measure]; Proof Spirit and Water, of each, fourteen fluid- ounces; Syrup seven pints. Digest the Ipecacuanha in fifteen fiuidounces of the Rectified Spirit at a gentle heat for twenty-four hours; strain, squeeze the residuum, and filter. Repeat this process with the residuum and Proof Spirit, and again with the Water. Unite the fluids, and distil off the Spirit, till the residuum amount to twelve ounces; add to the residuum five fluidounces of the Rectified Spirit, and then the Syrup." Ed. By the U. S. process, a tincture of ipecacuanha is first formed with diluted alcohol, then concentrated, and incorporated with syrup. The alternative of preparing the tincture by maceration or percolation is allowed; but the latter mode should be resorted to only by those- experienced in the process. The tincture is by concentration reduced chiefly to an aqueous solution of the active principles of ipecacuanha; and the water contained in it is evaporated after incorporation with the syrup. The French Codex dissolves the alcoholic extract of ipecacuanha in water, and then mixes it with syrup; but it is ob- vious that the U. S. process is preferable, as it spares the continued heat re- quisite to reduce the tincture to dryness. The Edinburgh process is unneces- sarily complex; and the addition of the rectified spirit to the syrup, if thought necessary for its preservation, might have been dispensed with, had the direc- tion been given to concentrate the syrup. This syrup is chiefly applicable to the cases of children. One fluidounce of it, prepared according to the U. S. formula, should contain the virtues of fifteen grains of ipecacuanha. The dose of it, as an emetic, is for an adult from one to two fluidounces, for a child a year or two old, from one to two fluidrachms, to be repeated every fifteen or twenty minutes till it operates. As an expectorant, the dose for an adult is one or two fluidrachms, for a child from five to twenty minims. The Edinburgh syrup is somewhat, but not materially weaker. W. PART II. Syrupi. 1149 SYRUPUS KRAMERIA. U.S. Syrup of Rhatany. " Take of Extract of Rhatany two ounces; Water a pint; Sugar two pounds and a half Dissolve the Extract in the Water and filter; then add the Suga"r, and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup." U S. In making this syrup care should be taken to select the extract of rhatany as free as possible from insoluble matter; and that prepared according to the U. S. process will be found the best. (See Extractum Kramerise.) This preparation affords a convenient mode of exhibiting rhatany to infants. The dose for an adult is half a fluidounce, for a child a year or two old, twenty or thirty minims. W. SYRUPUS LIMONIS. U. S., Dub. Syrupus Limonum. Lond., Ed. Syrup of Lemons. "Take of Lemon-juice, strained, a pint; Sugar [refined] two pounds. Add the Sugar to the Juice, and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup." U. S. " Take of Juice of Lemons, strained, a pint [Imp. meas.] ; Sugar [refined] two pounds and a half. Dissolve the Sugar in the Lemon-juice, with a gentle heat; then set it aside for twenty-four hours; afterwards remove the scum, and pour off the clear liquor from the dregs, if there be any." Lond. "Take of Lemon-juice, freed from impurities by subsidence and filtration, a pint [Imp. meas.] ; Sugar two pounds and a half. Dissolve the Sugar in the Lemon-juice with the aid of a gentle heat, and after twenty-four hours' rest remove the scum, and pour the clear liquor from the dregs." Ed. " Take of Juice of fresh Lemons two pints. As soon as the dregs have subsided, put the Juice into a matrass, and subject it for fifteen minutes to the heat of boiling water. When cold, strain it through a sieve, and form a syrup." Dub. This syrup forms a cooling and grateful addition to beverages in febrile complaints, and serves to conceal the taste of saline purgatives given in solu- tion. W. SYRUPUS MORI. Lond. Syrup of Mulberries. " Take of Mulberry Juice, strained, a pint [Imperial measure]; Sugar [refined] two pounds and a half. Dissolve the Sugar in the Mulberry Juice, with a gentle heat, and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup of Lemons." Lond. This may be used for the same purposes with lemon syrup. In like man- ner syrups may be prepared from various succulent fruits, such as strawber- ries, raspberries:, pineapples, d-e. When the juice is thick, it may be diluted with from one-third of its bulk to an equal bulk of water, previously to the addition of the sugar. In the preparation of raspberry syrup, which, as ordinarily made, is apt to gelatinize, M. Blondeau recommends that the strained juice be allowed to stand from eight to fifteen hours, according to the temperature, in order to ferment. The juice separates into two portions, the upper thick, the lower clear. The latter is to be separated by straining, and made into a syrup with the usual proportion of sugar. These syrups are employed to flavour drinks, and are much used as grateful additions to car- bonic acid water. W. SYRUPUS PAPAVERIS. Lond., Ed. Syrupus Papaveris Somniferi. Dub. Syrup of Poppies. "Take of Poppy [capsules] three pounds; Sugar [refined] five pounds; boiling Water five gallons [Imperial measure]. Boil down the Capsules in the Water to two gallons, and press strongly. Boil down the strained liquor again to four pints, and strain it while hot. Set it by for twelve hours, that 1150 Syrupi. PART II. the dregs may subside, then boil down the clear liquor to two pints, add the Sugar, and dissolve." Lond. "Take of Poppy-heads, without the seeds, one pound and a half; boiling Water fifteen pints [Imperial measure] ; Pure Sugar three pounds. Slice the Poppy-heads, infuse them in the Water for twelve hours, boil down to five pints, strain, and express strongly through calico, boil again clown to two pints and a half; then add the Sugar, and dissolve it with the aid of heat." Ed. " Take of the Capsules of the White Poppy, dried, deprived of their seeds, and bruised, seventeen ounces; boiling Water two gallons. Macerate the Capsules in the Water for twenty-four hours; then, by means of a water-bath, boil down to a gallon, and strongly express. Boil down the strained liquor again to two pints, and strain it while hot. Set it by for twelve hours, that the dregs may subside; then boil down the clear liquor to a pint and form a syrup." Dub. It is presumed that, in the London process, as well as in the two others, the capsules are to be deprived of the seeds. As they contain variable pro- portions of the narcotic principle, the syrup prepared from them is necessarily of variable strength. It is, moreover, very apt to spoil. Its place might, with great propriety, be supplied by a syrup prepared from one of the salts of morphia, which would keep well, and have the advantage of uniform strength. Four grains of the sulphate of morphia dissolved in a pint of syrup, would afford a preparation at least equal to the average strength of the syrup of poppies, and much more certain in its operation. Mr. Southall recommends that the syrup of poppies should be prepared with a cold infusion made by percolation; the same proportions being employed as directed by the London Pharmacopoeia. The virtues of the capsules are thus extracted with- out those principles which cause the syrup to ferment speedily. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 140, from Lond, Pharm. Transact.) The syrup of poppies is employed, chiefly in infantile cases, to allay cough, quiet restlessness, relieve pain, and promote sleep. The dose is from half a fluidrachm to a fluidrachm for an infant, from half a fluidounce to a fluid- ounce for an adult. W. SYRUPUS RHAMNI. Lond., Ed., Dub. Syrup of Buckthorn. "*Take of fresh Juice of Buckthorn [berries] four pints [Imperial mea- sure] ; Ginger, sliced, Pimento, in powder, each, six drachms; Sugar [re- fined] four pounds. Set by the Juice for three days, that the dregs may subside, and then strain it. To a pint of the clear Juice add the Ginger and Pimento; then macerate for four hours with a gentle heat, and strain. Boil down the remainder of the Juice to a pint and a half; mix the liquors; add the Sugar and dissolve it." Lond. The Edinburgh process is the same as the above. " Take of the fresh Juice of Buckthorn Berries two pints and a half; Ginger Root, sliced, Pimento Berries, in powder, each, three drachms. Set by the Juice, that the dregs may subside, and then strain it. Add the Ginger and Pimento to ten ounces of the clear Juice, macerate for twenty-four hours, and filter. Boil down the remaining Juice to a pint, mix the liquors, and form a syrup." Dub. The syrup of buckthorn is a brisk cathartic, but, having an unpleasant taste, and being apt to gripe violently, is very seldom employed. In Europe it is used occasionally as an adjunct to other medicines in cathartic and diuretic mixtures. The dose is from half a fluidounce to a fluidounce. The patient should drink freely of thin gruel, or other demulcent beverage, during its operation. W. PART II. Syrupi. 1151 • SYRUPUS RHEI. U.S. %Syrup of Rhubarb. " Take of Rhubarb, bruised, two ounces; Boiling Water a pint; Sugar [refined] two pounds. Macerate the Rhubarb in the Water for twenty-four hours, and strain; then add the Sugar, and proceed in the manner directed - for Syrup." U S. This is a mild cathartic, adapted to the cases of infants, to whom it may be given in the dose of one or two fluidrachms. It has been proposed to form the syrup of rhubarb in the manner directed in the,U. S. Pharmacopoeia for the aromatic syrup, by first preparing a tincture with diluted alcohol, then evaporating the spirituous portion by means of a water-bath, and incorporating the remainder with sugar. It is questionable, » however, whether this would be an improvement on the officinal formula; as, though a stronger syrup might be obtained, there would be some risk tbat a portion of the alcohol might remain, and render the preparation too stimu- lating to meet the indication for which it was originally intended. W. SYRUPUS RHEI AROMATICUS. U.S. Aromatic Syrup of Rhubarb. " Take of Rhubarb, bruised, two ounces and a half; Cloves, bruised, Cin- namon, bruised, each, half an ounce; Nutmeg, bruised, two drachms; Diluted Alcohol tiro pints; Syrup six pints. Macerate the Rhubarb and Aromatics in the Diluted Alcohol for fourteen days,-and strain; then, by means of a water-bath, evaporate the liquor to a pint,^and, while it is still hot, mix it with the Syrup previously heated. " Aromatic Syrup of Rhubarb may also be prepared by putting the Rhubarb and Aromatics, previously reduced to coarse powder and moistened with Di- luted Alcohol, into an apparatus for displacement; pouring upon them gradually Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained; then evapo- rating to a pint, and completing the process as above directed." U. S. Of these two modes of proceeding, the first should always be preferred by those not experienced in conducting the process of filtration by displacement. In preparing the syrup, the apothecary should be careful to employ aromatics of the best quality, and to effect the evaporation of the tincture, according to the officinal direction, by means of a water-bath.. .' The aromatic syrup of rhubarb is a warm stomachic laxative, too feeble for adult cases, but well calculated for the bowel-complaints of infants, which are so frequent in our cities during the summer season, and as a remedy for which this preparation, or one analogous to it, has been long in use under the name of spiced syrup of rhubarb. The dose for an infant with diarrhoea is a fluidrachm, repeated every two hours till the passages indicate by their colour that the medicine has operated. W. SYRUPUS RHCEADOS. Lond., Ed. Syrupus Papaveris Rhcradis. Dub. Syrup of Red Poppy. " Take of Red Poppy [petals] apound; boiling Water a pint [Imperial measure]; Sugar [refined] two pounds and a half. To the Water heated by a water-bath, gradually add the Petals, occasionally stirring; then, having re- moved the vessel, macerate for twelve hours; express the liquor, and when the dregs have subsided add the Sugar, and dissolve it." Lond, The Edinburgh process is a close imitation of the London. " Take of the fresh Petals of the Red Poppy a pound; boiling Water twenty fluidounces. Add the Petals gradually to the boiling Water; then, having removed the vessel from the fire, macerate with an inferior heat [be- tween 90° and 100°] for twelve hours; express the liquor, and set it by that the dregs may subside; lastly, add the Sugar, and form a syrup." Dub. 1152 Syrupi. PART II. The object of introducing the petals into water heated by a water-bath is that they may shrink by being scalded, as otherwise they could not be com- pletely immersed in the quantity of water directed. After this has been accomplished, they should be immediately removed from the fire, lest the liquor should become too thick and ropy. The fine red colour of this syrup is its only recommendation. It has no medical virtues, and is very liable to ferment. W. SYRUPUS ROSA. Lond., Dub. Syrupus Rosa Centifolia. Ed. Syrup of Roses. "Take of Hundred-leaved Roses, dried, seven ounces; Sugar [refined] six- pounds; boiling Water three pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate the petals in the water for twelve hours, and strain. Evaporate the strained liquor, by means of a water-bath, to two pints; then add the Sugar, and dissolve it." Lond. The Dublin process differs from the above only in having four pints [wine measure] of water, evaporating to two pints and a half, and using the propor- tion of sugar directed in its general formula. (See page 1145.) "Take of fresh Damask-rose Petals one pound; boiling Water three pints [Imp. meas.]; Pure Sugar three pounds. Infuse the Petals in the Water for twelve hours, strain the liquor, and dissolve the Sugar in it with the aid of heat." Ed. This syrup is gently laxative, and, on account of its mildness, may be given with advantage to infants and persons of delicate habit. It is without the fragrance of the rose; but has a reddish colour which is rendered bright red by acids, and green or yellow by alkalies. The dose is from two fluidrachms to one or two fluidounces. Off. Prep. Confectio Cassiae, Lond.; Confectio Scammonii, Lond. W. SYRUPUS ROSA GALLICA. Ed. Syrup of Red Roses. "Take of dried Red-rose Petals two ounces; boiling Water one pint; Pure Sugar twenty ounces. Proceed as for the Syrup of damask-rose." Ed. The syrup of red roses is mildly astringent; but is valued more for its fine red colour, on account of which it is occasionally added to mixtures. Off. Prep. Electuarium Catechu, Ed. W. SYRUPUS SARSAPARILLA. Dub. Syrupus Sarz.e. Lond., Ed. Syrup of Sarsaparilla. "Take of Sarsaparilla, sliced, fifteen ounces; boiling Water a gallon [Im- perial measure]; Sugar fifteen ounces. Macerate the Sarsaparilla in the AVater for twenty-four hours; then boil down to four pints, and strain the liquor while hot; afterwards add the Sugar and evaporate to the proper consistence." Lond. The Edinburgh process is the same as the above. The Dublin College obtains in the same manner four pints of a concentrated strained decoction, and prepares a syrup with this, according to the general directions of the College. (Seepage 1145.) This syrup is necessarily a weak if not inert preparation; the virtues of sar- saparilla being only partially extracted by water, at least by the quantity of this menstruum ordinarily employed, and being injured or destroyed by long boiling. It is scarcely used in this country, our own compound syrup being preferred. W. SYRUPUS SARSAPARILLA COMPOSITUS. U.S. Com- pound Syrup of Sarsaparilla. "Take of Sarsaparilla, bruised, two pounds; Guaiacum Wood, rasped, three ounces; Hundred-leaved Roses, Senna, Liquorice Root, bruised, each, two ounces; Oil of Sassafras, Oil of Anise, each, five minims; Oil of Partridge- PART II. Syrupi. 1153 berry three minims; Diluted Alcohol ten pints; Sugar eight pounds, Macerate the Sarsaparilla, Guaiacum Wood, Roses, Senna, and Liquorice Root in the Diluted Alcohol for fourteen days; then express and filter. Evaporate the tincture by means of a water-bath to four pints, filter, add the Sugar, and pro- ceed in the manner directed for Syrup. Lastly, having rubbed the Oils with a small quantity of the Syrup, mix them thoroughly with the remainder. " Compound Syrup of Sarsaparilla may also be prepared in the following manner:—Take of Sarsaparilla, ground into coarse powder, two pounds; Guaiacum Wood, rasped, three ounces; Hundred-leaved Roses, Senna, Li- quorice Root, each, in coarse powder, two ounces; Oil of Sassafras, Oil of Anise, each, five minims; Oil of Partridge-berry three minims; Water a suffi- cient quantity ; Sugar eight pounds. Mix the Sarsaparilla, Guaiacum Wood, Roses, Senna, and Liquorice Root with three pints of Water, and allow the mixture to stand for twenty-four hours. Then transfer the whole to an ap- paratus for displacement, and pour on water gradually until one gallon of fil- tered liquor is obtained. Evaporate this to four pints; then add the Sugar, and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup. Lastly, having rubbed the Oils with a small portion of the Syrup, mix them thoroughly with the re- mainder." U. S. In the original edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia published in 1820, a process for a syrup of sarsaparilla was adopted, intended to represent the famous French Sirop> de Cuisinier. This was very much improved in the revised edition published in 1830 ; and the amended process is retained with little alteration in the present edition, being the first of the two quoted above. In the original process, the sarsaparilla was subjected to long decoction with water. Now it has been proved that diluted alcohol more thoroughly extracts the acrid principle of the root, upon which its activity probably depends, than water, and that this principle is either dissipated or destroyed by the long-continued application of a boiling heat.* In the present formula, therefore, which em- ploys diluted alcohol as the menstruum, the root is more completely exhausted of its active matter; while the heat applied to the concentration, being no higher than is requisite for the evaporation of the alcohol, is insufficient to in- jure the preparation. The spirituous menstruum has, moreover, the advantage of not dissolving the inert, fecula, which encumbers the syrup prepared by de- coction, and renders it liable to spoil. At the last revision of the Pharmacopoeia, the pale or hundred-leaved roses were very properly substituted for the red; as their slightly laxative property accords better with the character of the pre- paration. The operator should be careful to comply exactly with the directions of the Pharmacopoeia in relation to the period of maceration, and the use of the water-bath. The essential oils, being intended solely to communicate an agreeable flavour, are used in very small proportion. The only objection to this process is that a portion of the resin, extracted by the alcohol from the guaiacum wood, is deposited during the evaporation of the tincture; but this is separated by the filtration directed, and is therefore of no disadvantage to the preparation. It is perhaps unfortunate that the second process above quoted was adopted by the revisers of the Pharmacopoeia. It yields a handsome syrup, containing a certain amount of the active matter of the sarsaparilla; but has been shown by the experiments of Mr. Husband to have less of the sensible properties, * See a paper by J. Hancock, M. D., republished in the Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., i. 295; a communication by M. Beral to the Journal de Pharmacie, xv. 657; another by M. Soubeiran in the same Journal, xvi. 38 ; and a paper by T. J. Husband in the American Journ. of Pharm., xv. 6. 73 1154 Syrupi. PART II. and consequently, in all probability, of the medical virtues of the root, than the syrup prepared with diluted alcohol. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 6.) We would strongly advise an adherence to the first of the two officinal formulae. But the practitioner should be aware that much of the sarsaparilla as it exists in the market is nearly or quite inert, and should be prepared to meet with disappointment in the use of this or any other preparation, unless satisfied of the good quality of the drug from which it is made. Corrosive sublimate, which is often given in connexion with this syrup, is said to be completely decomposed by it, being converted into calomel. M. Lepage, of Gisors, proposes as a substitute the iodo-hydrargyrate of potassium (see Appendix), which he has found not to undergo decomposition. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., viii. 63.) The dose of the syrup of sarsaparilla is half a fluidounce, equivalent to somewhat less than a drachm of the root, to be taken three or four times a day. W. SYRUPUS SCILLA. U S., Ed. Syrup of Squill. " Take of Vinegar of Squill a pint; Sugar [refined] two pounds. Add the Sugar to the Vinegar of Squill, and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup." U S. # " Take of Vinegar of Squill three pints; Pure Sugar, in powder, seven pounds. Dissolve the Sugar in the Vinegar of Squill, with the aid of a gentle heat and agitation." Ed. This syrup is much employed as an expectorant, especially in combination with a solution of tartarized antimony. The dose is about a fluidrachm. In infantile cases of catarrh and other pectoral complaints, it is sometimes given, in the same dose, as an emetic. W. SYRUPUS SCILLA COMPOSITUS. U.S. Compound Syrup of Squill. Hive-syrup. "Take of Squill, bruised, Seneka, bruised, each, four ounces; Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa forty-eight grains; Water four pints ; Sugar three pounds and a half. Pour the Water upon the Squill and Seneka, and having boiled to one-half, strain, and add the Sugar; then evaporate to three pints, and, while the Syrup is still hot, dissolve in it the Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa. " Compound Syrup of Squill may be advantageously prepared in the fol- lowing manner by those familiar with the process of displacement:— " Take of Squill, in coarse powder, Seneka, in coarse powder, each, four ounces ; Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa forty-eight grains ; Alcohol half a pint; Water a sufficient quantity ; Sugar three pounds and a half. Mix the Alcohol with two pints and a half of Water, and macerate the Squill and Seneka in the mixture for twenty-four hours. Put the whole into an apparatus for displacement, and add as much Water as may be necessary to .make the filtered liquor amount to three pints. Boil the liquor for a fwiMniites, eva- porate to one-half, and strain; then add the Sugar, and evaporate until the resulting Syrup measures three pints. Lastly, dissolve the Tartrate of Anti- mony and Potassa in the Syrup, while it is still hot." U. S. This is intended as a substitute for that very popular preparation called Coxe's hive-syrup, from which it differs chiefly in containing sugar instead of honey. Prepared according to the directions of the former Pharmacopoeia, it invariably fermented from the want of sufficient concentration. This defect was corrected at the last revision of the Pharmacopoeia, when also sugar was substituted for honey, in consequence of the uncertain consistence and consti- tution of the latter. It will be observed that two formulae are given above, in part II. Syrupi. 1155 the former of which the virtues of the squill and seneka are extracted by long boiling with water, in the latter, by percolation with water to which a small portion of alcohol has been added. Either of them will furnish an efficient product; but the latter is preferable when skillfully performed; as it avoids in great measure the injurious influence of boiling upon the seneka, exhausts both this and the squill more readily in consequence of the addition of alcohol to the menstruum, and affords a solution of their active principles less embar- rassed with inert matters calculated to favour fermentation. In this process, the filtered liquor is raised to the boiling point in order to coagulate the albu- men, after which the evaporation should be conducted at a lower temperature. But the inexperienced operator should follow the first formula; for, if the percolation be not properly effected, the syrup will inevitably be weaker than it is designed to be.* The compound syrup of squill combines the virtues of seneka, squill, and tartar emetic, of the last of which it contains one grain in every fluidounce. It is emetic, diaphoretic, expectorant, and frequently cathartic, and may be given with advantage in mild cases of croup, in the latter stages of severe cases when the object is to promote expectoration, and in other pectoral affections in which the same indication is presented. As an emetic in inflammatory croup and infantile catarrh, we decidedly prefer a simple solution of tartar emetic in water. The dose of the compound syrup of squill is, for children, from ten drops to a fluidrachm, according to the age, and should be repeated in cases of croup every fifteen or twenty minutes till it vomits. As an ex- pectorant for adults the dose is twenty or thirty drops. W. SYRUPUS SENEGA. U.S. Syrup of Seneka. "Take of Seneka, bruised, four ounces; Water a pint; Sugar [refined] a pound. Boil the Water with the Seneka to one-half, and strain; then add the Sugar, and proceed in the manner directed for Syrup. Syrup of Seneka may also be prepared in the following manner:— "Take of Seneka, in coarse powder, four ounces; Water a sufficient quan- tity; Sugar fifteen ounces. Mix the Seneka with four fluidounces of Water, and allow the mixture to stand for twelve hours; then put it into an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pour Water upon it until the liquid passes nearly tasteless. Evaporate the filtered liquor to half a pint, strain, and, having added the Sugar, proceed in the manner directed for Syrup." U. S. The latter of these processes is preferable for an experienced operator, as it avoids the injury to the seneka resulting from long boiling; but they who are not practically acquainted with the process of percolation should employ the former. This is an active preparation, and affords a very convenient mode of exhi- biting seneka in pectoral complaints. It may be given as a stimulant expec- torant in the dose of one or two fluidrachms. W. * In the Pharmacopreia of 1830, this preparation was named Mel Seilla Compositum, or compound honey of squill. The following was the officinal process: " Take of Squill, bruised, Seneka, bruised, each, four ounces ,• Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa forty eight grains; Clarified Honey two pounds. Pour the Distilled Water upon the Squill and Se- neka, and boil to one-half; strain, and add the Clarified Honey; then boil down to three pints, in which dissolve the Tartrate of Antimony ami.Potassa." The preparation thus made was insufficiently concentrated, measuring only 20£° Baume, instead of 30°, which is the proper standard of density for syrup. It therefore speedily fermented. By boiling, however, down to two pints instead of three, it will have the proper consistence, and will keep much better. But in this case only 3i grains of tartar emetic should be added, so that there may still be one grain of the antimonial to each fluidounce of the syrup, 1156 Syrupi. PART II. SYRUPUS SENNA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Syrup of Senna. "Take of Senna two ounces; Fennel-seed, bruised, an ounce, Boiling Water a pint; Sugar fifteen ounces. Digest the Senna and Fennel-seed in the Water, with a gentle heat, for an hour; then Strain, add the Sugar, and evaporate to the proper consistence." U. S. " Take of Senna two ounces and a half; Fennel [seeds], bruised, ten drachms; Manna three ounces; Sugar [refined] fifteen ounces; boiling Water a pint [Imperial measure]. Macerate the Senna and Fennel in the Water with a gentle heat for an hour. Strain the liquor, and mix with it the Manna and Sugar; then boil down to the proper consistence." Lond. "Take of Senna four ounces ; boiling Water one pint and four fluidounces [Imperial measure]; Treacle forty-eight ounces. Infuse the Senna in the Water for twelve hours; strain and express strongly through calico, so as to obtain a pint and two fluidounces at least of liquid. Concentrate the Treacle in the vapour-bath as far as possible, or till a little taken out upon a rod be- comes nearly concrete on cooling; and, while the Treacle is still hot, add the infusion, stirring carefully, and removing the vessel from the vapour-bath as soon as the mixture is complete. If Alexandrian Senna be used for this pre- paration, it must be carefully freed of Cynanchum leaves by picking it." Ed. The molasses in the Edinburgh syrup almost completely covers the taste of the senna; and the preparation, according to Dr. Christison, is very effectual, and seldom occasions nausea or griping. The U. S. and London processes are liable to the objection, that considerable evaporation is necessary to bring the syrup to the proper consistence; so that, if a boiling heat be employed, the senna may be injured. This syrup is intended chiefly as a cathartic for chil- dren, to whom it may be given in the dose of one or two fluidrachms.* \\T. SYRUPUS TOLUTANI. U.S. Syrupus Tolutanus. Lond., Ed. Syrupus Balsami Tolutani. Dub. Syrup of Tolu. "Take of Tincture of Tolu a fluidounce; Syrup a pint and a half. Mix the Tincture with the Syrup, and by means of a water-bath evaporate to the proper consistence." U. S. " Take of Balsam of Tolu ten drachms; boiling Water a pint [Imp. meas.]; Sugar [refined] two pounds and a half. Boil the Balsam in the Water for half an hour, in a lightly covered vessel, occasionally stirring, and strain the liquor when cold; then add the Sugar and dissolve it." Lond. The Edinburgh College prepares this syrup by adding gradually one ounce of the tincture of tolu to two pounds of simple syrup just prepared, and before it has become cold. The Dublin College pursues the same plan, using an ounce of the tincture to a pint and a half of syrup. The London process affords a syrup with a finer flavour than that prepared with the tincture. The same portion of balsam is, according to Mr. Brande, * Under the name of fluid extract of senna, a preparation, originally suggested by Mr. Charles Ellis, has been considerably used in this city. The following is the formula, as modified by the late Mr. Duhamel.—Macerate eight ounces of coarsely powdered senna with a pint of diluted alcohol for twelve hours; then introduce it into a displacement apparatus, and gradually pour in water until three pints of liquid shall have passed. Evaporate with a gentle heat to five fluidounces, and, while the liquor is still hot, dissolve in it five ounces of sugar. Strain the liquor, and when it is cold add for each fluidounce two drops of the oil of fennel, dissolved in a little Hoffmann's anodyne. The last-mentioned ingredient serves to prevent the fluid extract from fermenting. Haifa fluidounce is the dose for an adult. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 290.) A fluid extract is now largely pre- pared in England by concentrating the infusion in vacuo. (See, for Mr. Duncan's for- mula, published by Dr. Christison, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner, vi. 250.) PART II. Syrupi. 1157 usually employed in successive operations, and it long continues to impart odour and taste to boiling water. The quantity of the balsam is rather less than two grains in a fluidounce of the syrup, prepared according to the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which is about equal in strength to the Edinburgh and Dublin, and much stronger than the London. The syrup of tolu may, therefore, be considered inert as a medicine; and its only use is to communicate its agree- able flavour to mixtures. W. SYRUPUS VIOLA. Ed., Dub. < Syrup of Violets. " Take of fresh Violets one pound; boiling Water two pints and a half [Imp. meas.]; Pure Sugar seven pounds and a half. Infuse the flowers for twenty-four hours in the AVater, in a covered glass or earthenware vessel; strain without squeezing, and dissolve the Sugar in the filtered liquor." Ed. "Take of the fresh Petals of the Violet two pounds; boiling Water five pints. Macerate for twenty-four hours; then filter the liquor through fine linen, without expression; lastly, add the Sugar [twenty-nine ounces for every pint of liquor], and form a syrup." Dub. This syrup has a deep blue colour and an agreeable flavour. It is said that its colour is most beautiful when it is prepared in well-cleaned pewter vessels; but the action of the metal has not been satisfactorily explained. As it is apt to fade by time, it is sometimes counterfeited with materials the colour of which is more permanent. The fraud may usually be detected by the addition of an acid or alkali, the former of which reddens the syrup of violets, the latter renders it green, while they produce no such change upon the counterfeit. The syrup acts as a gentle laxative when given to infants in the dose of one or two fluidrachms; but it is used chiefly as a test of acids and alkalies. For the latter purpose, a syrup prepared from the juice of the red cabbage may be substituted in its place. It is very seldom kept in our shops. W. SYRUPUS ZINGIBERIS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Syrup of Ginger. "Take of Tincture of Ginger four fiuidounces; Syrup a gallon. Mix the Tincture with the Syrup, and by means of a water-bath evaporate to the proper consistence." U. S. The London College macerates two ounces and a half of sliced ginger, for four hours, in a pint (Imperial measure) of boiling water, and, having strained the infusion, adds two pounds and a half of refined sugar, and dissolves it. The Edinburgh College infuses two ounces and a half of bruised ginger, for four hours, in a pint (Imperial measure) of boiling water, strains, adds two pounds and a half of pure sugar, and dissolves it with the aid of heat. The Dublin College macerates four ounces of the bruised root, for twenty-four hours, in three pints of boiling water, filters the liquor, and adds twenty-nine ounces of refined sugar to each pint. The process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is the most easy, and affords a syrup in every respect equal to the others, without being like them encumbered with the mucilage and starch of the root. In order that it may be of the proper strength, it is necessary that the tincture should have been made with the best Jamaica ginger. The syrup of ginger is much used as a warm stomachic ad- dition to tonic and purgative infusions or mixtures, and to impart flavour to drinks, particularly to carbonic acid water. Off. Prep. Electuarium Catechu Compositum, Dub.; Electuarium Opii, Ed.; Pilulae Sagapeni Compositae, Lond. W. 1158 Tincturse. PART II. tinctura:. Tinctures. Tinctures, in the pharmaceutical sense of the term, are solutions of medi- cinal substances in alcohol or diluted alcohol, prepared by maceration, digestion} or percolation. Solutions in spirit of ammonia and ethereal spirit are em- braced under the same denomination, but are severally distinguished by the titles of ammoniated tinctures and ethereal tinctures. The advantages of alco- hol as a menstruum are, that it dissolves principles which are sparingly or not at all soluble in water, and contributes to their preservation when dissolved; while it leaves behind some inert substances which are dissolved by water. In no instance, however, is absolute alcohol employed. The U. S. Pharmacopceia directs it of the sp. gr. 0-835; the London and Edinburgh, 0838; and the Dublin, 0 840. When of these densities it contains water, and is capable of dissolving more or less of substances which are insoluble in anhydrous alco- hol; while its solvent power, in relation to bodies soluble in that fluid, is suf- ficient for all practical purposes. Diluted alcohol or proof spirit is often pre- ferable to officinal alcohol; as it is capable of extracting a larger proportion of those active principles of plants which require an aqueous menstruum, at the same time that it is strong enough, in most instances, to prevent spontaneous decomposition, and has the advantages of being cheaper and less stimulating.* The diluted alcohol of the different Pharmacopoeias is not of the same strength, that of the United States consisting of equal measures of officinal alcohol and water, and having the sp. gr. 0-935; while that of London has the sp. gr. 0-920, that of Edinburgh 0-912, and that of Dublin 0-919. The difference, however, is not very material. Alcohol or rectified spirit is preferred as the solvent, when the substance to be extracted or dissolved is nearly or quite in- soluble in water, as in the instances of the resins, guaiac, camphor, and the essentia] oils. The presence of water is here injurious, not only by diluting the menstruum, but by exercising an affinity for the alcohol which interferes with its solvent power. Thus water, added to an alcoholic solution of one of these bodies, produces a precipitate by abstracting the alcohol from it. Diluted alcohol or proof spirit is employed, when the substance is soluble both in alco- hol and water, or when one or more of the ingredients are soluble in the one fluid, and one or more in the other, as in the case of those vegetables which contain extractive or tannin, or the native salts of the organic alkalies, or gum united with resin or essential oil. As these include the greater number of medi- cines from which tinctures are prepared, diluted alcohol is most frequently used. In the preparation of the tinctures, the medicine should be in the dry state, and properly comminuted by being bruised, sliced, or pulverized. It is usu- ally better in the condition of a coarse than of a very fine powder; as in the latter it is apt to agglutinate, and thus present an impediment to the penetra- tion of the menstruum. When several substances differing in solubility are employed, they should be added successively to the spirit, those least soluble first, those most so last; as otherwise the menstruum might become saturated * Mr. AVm. Bastick, in a communication to the Pharmaceutical Journal and Transac- tions, states, as the result of his experience, that most of the tinctures prepared with proof spirit or diluted alcohol undergo deterioration by time, in consequence of acetous fermentation taking place in the alcoholic fluid. The tinctures most prone to this change are those of senna, rhubarb, columbo, henbane, digitalis, bark, hops, aloes, and the com- pound tincture of cinnamon. The best preventive is to keep them in full and well- closed bottles, at a low temperature, (dm. Journ. of Pharm., xx. 47.) PART II. Tincturse. 1159 with the ingredient for which it has the strongest affinity, and thus be rendered incapable of dissolving a due proportion of the others. Until recently, tinctures have been universally prepared by maceration or digestion. The Edinburgh College directs digestion to be continued usually for seven days. Our own Pharmacopoeia follows that of London, in directing maceration at ordinary temperatures, and extending the period to two weeks. The latter plan is preferable, as it is more convenient and equally effectual, the lower temperature being compensated by the longer maceration. When circumstances require that the tincture should be speedily prepared, digestion may be resorted to. Care should always be taken 'to keep the vessels well- stopped, in order to prevent the evaporation of the alcohol. The materials should be frequently shaken during the digestion or maceration; and this caution is especially necessary when the substance acted on is in the state of powder. The tincture should not be used till the maceration is completed; when it should be separated from the dregs either by simply filtering it through paper, or, when force is requisite, by first expressing it through linen, and subsequently filtering. The plan of preparing tinctures by percolation or displacement has recently been extensively adopted; and has been found to answer an excellent purpose, when skilfully executed. In the last editions of the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias, this mode of preparation has been given as an alternative in numerous instances; and would probably have been exclusively recommended in some, except for its liability to fail in the hands of inexperienced persons. The reader will find rules for the proper management of this process at paqes 763 and 769. p p o P PJ Another mode of exhausting medicines by spirit, has been proposed by Dr. H. Burton. It consists in suspending in the solvent, immediately under its surface, the solid matter contained loosely in a bag. The liquid in contact with the bag, becoming heavier by impregnation with the matters dissolved, sinks to the bottom; its place is supplied with a fresh portion, which in its turn sinks; and thus a current is established, which continues until the solid substance is exhausted or the liquid saturated. During the maceration, the bag should be occasionally raised above the surface of the liquor in the bottle, beneath the cover, and allowed to drain, and then again immersed. It is as- serted that the period of maceration is much shortened in this way. (Lond. Med, Gaz., Aug. 30, 1844.) Tinctures, prepared by adding alcohol to the expressed juices of plants, have been long in use on the Continent of Europe, and have recently been brought into notice in Great Britain. They are sometimes called in England preserved vegetable juices. The tinctures of some of the narcotic plants might no doubt be advantageously prepared in this way, as those of conium, hyoscy- amus, and belladonna. Mr. Squire and Mr. Bentley have paid particular . attention to these preparations. According to Mr. Squire, the leaves only of the plants should be used, and in the case of biennial plants those exclusively of the second year's growth; and they should always be preferably collected when the plant is in full flower. Mr. Bentley recommends the following mode of preparation. To the expressed juice, after it has stood for twenty-four hours, and deposited its feculent matter, alcohol of 0-838 is to be added in the pro- portion of one part by measure to four of the juice; and, after another period of twenty-four hours, the liquor is to be filtered. The proportion of alcohol mentioned has been found sufficient for the preservation of the juice, while it causes the precipitation of all the suspended mucilaginous matter. Tinctures should be kept in bottles accurately stopped, in order to prevent evaporation, which might, in some instances, be attended with serious incon- venience, by increasing their strength beyond the officinal standard. 1160 Tincturse. PART II. Medicines are most conveniently administered in tincture, which act pow- erfully in small doses; as the proportion of alcohol in which they are dissolved is too minute to produce an appreciable effect. Those which require to be given in large doses should be cautiously employed in this form, lest the in- jury done by the menstruum should more than counterbalance their beneficial operation. This remark is particularly applicable to chronic cases of disease, in which the use of tinctures is apt to result in the establishment of fatal habits of intemperance. The tinctures of the weaker medicines are more fre- quently given as adjuvants of other remedies than with the view of obtaining their own full effects upon the system. The following general directions are given in the U. S. Pharmacopceia. " Tinctures, when prepared by maceration, should be frequently shaken during the process, wbich should be conducted in glass vessels well stopped. When displacement is employed, great care should be taken to observe the directions given at page 4 \_page 769, U. S. Dispensatory], so that the sub- stances treated may be, as far as possible, exhausted of their soluble principles, and a perfectly clear tincture obtained. To those not familiar with this pro- cess, the plan of maceration is recommended." The London College states that " all tinctures should be prepared in closed glass vessels, and frequently shaken during the maceration." The general directions of the Edinburgh College, which relate to the process of percolation, have been given at page 770. W. TINCTURA ACONITI. U.S. Tincture of Aconite. " Take of Aconite four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Aconite, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. This is a good preparation of aconite when made from the recently dried leaves, and may be given in the dose of twenty or thirty drops. A saturated tincture prepared from the root is now considerably used. It is much stronger than the officinal tincture, being given in the dose of five minims. (See Aco- nitum, page 55.) Care should always be taken to distinguish these tinctures in prescription. W. TINCTURA ALOES. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of A Iocs. " Take of Aloes, in powder, an ounce; Liquorice [extract] three ounces; Alcohol half a pint; Distilled Water a pint and a half. Macerate for four- teen days, and filter through paper." U. S. The London process differs from the above only in the use of the Imperial, instead of the wine measure. The Edinburgh College takes an ounce of So- cotrine or Indian Aloes, three ounces of liquorice, twelve fiuidounces of rectified spirit, and twenty-eight fluidounces of water; digests for seven days; and filters the liquor, separated from the sediment. The Dublin College dissolves an ounce and a half of liquorice in eight ounces of boiling water; then adds half an ounce of Socotrine aloes and eight fluidounces of proof spirit, digests the whole for seven days, and filters. The tincture of aloes of the former U. S. Pharmacopceia was prepared with the officinal diluted alcohol, without the addition of water. In the present edition it has been made to correspond with the tincture of the British Col- leges. It is little more than an infusion, with the addition of sufficient alco- hol to prevent spontaneous decomposition. The liquorice is added to cover the taste of the aloes; but it answers the end imperfectly; and the preparation, PART II. Tincturse. 1161 on account of its unpleasant bitterness, is little used, aloes being generally administered in the form of pill. The dose is from half a fluidounce to a fluidounce and a half. W. TINCTURA ALOES ET MYRRHA. U.S., Ed. Tinctura Aloes Composita. Lond., Dub. Tincture of Aloes and Myrrh. " Take of Aloes, in powder, three ounces; Saffron an ounce; Tincture of Myrrh two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." U. S. The London College takes four ounces of aloes, two ounces of saffron, and two pints (Imperial measure) of tincture of myrrh, and proceeds as above. The directions of the Dublin College correspond with those of our Pharmaco- pceia, except that Socotrine aloes is specified and the saffron omitted. The Edinburgh College takes/ow ounces of Socotrine or Indian aloes, two ounces of saffron, and two pints (Imperial measure) of tincture of myrrh; digests for seven days; and filters the clear " superincumbent" liquor. This tincture is a modification of the elixir proprietatis of Paracelsus. The saffron, which has been retained in compliance with former prejudices, can add little to the efficacy of the preparation; and, being very expensive, has with great propriety been much reduced in the present U. S. formula. It serves, however, to impart a richness to the tincture, the want of which might be con- sidered a defect by those accustomed to its use. The tincture is purgative, tonic, and emmenagogue; and is considerably em- ployed in chlorosis, and other disordered states of health in females, connected with suppressed, retained, or deficient menstruation, and with a constipated state of bowels. It may also be used as a stomachic laxative in cold, languid habits, independently of menstrual disorder. The dose is from one to two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA AMMONIA COMPOSITA. Lond. Compound Tincture of Ammonia. "Take of Mastich two drachms; Rectified Spirit nine fluidrachms; Oil of Lavender fourteen minims; Oil of Amber four minims; Stronger Solution of Ammonia a pint [Imperial measure]. Macerate the Mastich in the Spirit that it may be dissolved, and pour off the clear tincture; then add the other in- gredients, and shake them all together." Lond. This is the Spiritus Ammonias Succinatus of the former London Pharma- copoeia, and was intended as a substitute for the eau de luce. The tincture has a milky appearance, owing to the separation of the mastich from its alcoholic solution by the water of ammonia. Its properties are essentially those of its ammoniacal ingredient; the mastich having no medical action, and the oils of lavender and amber being in too small proportion to serve any other purpose than that of imparting flavour. It is used chiefly as a powerful stimulant ap- plied to the nostrils, in cases of fainting and torpor. It had at one time con- siderable reputation as an antidote to the bite of venomous animals, but is not relied on at present. The dose for internal use is from ten to thirty drops, very largely diluted with water. W. TINCTURA ANGUSTURA. Dub. Tinctura Cusparize. Ed. Tincture of Angustura Bark. " Take of Angustura Bark, in coarse powder, two ounces; Proof Spirit two jnnts. Macerate for fourteen days; then filter." Dub. The Edinburgh College takes four ounces and a half of the bark, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and proceeds as for the tincture of Peruvian bark. 1162 Tincturse. PART II. This tincture contains the active principles of Angustura bark, and may be given in the dose of one or two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA ASSAFOETIDA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Tinctura Assjef(ET1D,e. Dub. Tincture of Assafetida. " Take of Assafetida, four ounces; Alcohol two pints. Macerate for four- teen days, and filter through paper." U. S. The London College takes five ounces of assafetida, and two pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit, and proceeds as above. The Edinburgh College, with the same quantity of materials, digests for seven days, and filters the clear liquor. The Dublin process differs from that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia only in triturating the assafetida with half a pint of water previously to the addi- tion of the alcohol. This tincture becomes milky on the addition of water, in consequence of the separation of the resin. It possesses all the virtues of assafetida. The medium dose is a fluidrachm. Off. Prep. Enema Foetidum, Dub. W. TINCTURA AURANTII. Lond., Ed. Tincture of Orange Peel. " Take of dried Orange Peel three ounces and a half; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond. " Take of Bitter Orange Peel, dried, three ounces and a half; Proof Spirit two pints [Imp. measure]. Digest for seven days, strain and express strongly, and filter the liquor. This tincture may be prepared by percolation, by cut- ting the Peel into small fragments, macerating it in a little of the Spirit for twelve hours, and beating the mass into a coarse pulp before putting it into the percolator." Ed. It is the peel of the Seville orange which is intended by the London Col- lege; and the outer part only should be used, the inner whitish portion being inert. The tincture of orange peel is employed as a grateful addition to in- fusions, decoctions, and mixtures. It was omitted by mistake in the last edi- tion of the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, as it is an ingredient in one of the officinal preparations of that work. Off. Prep. Mistura Ferri Aromatica, Dub. W. TINCTURA BELLADONNA. U.S. Tincture of Belladonna. " Take of Belladonna [leaves] four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Bella- donna, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are ob- tained." U.S. This tincture is an efficient preparation when made from the recently dried leaves; but the imported leaves are of very uncertain strength, and a tincture prepared from them is less to be relied upon than the extract. The dose is from fifteen to thirty drops. W. TINCTURA BENZOINI COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Tinctura Benzoes Composita. Dub. Compound Tincture of Ben- zoin. "Take of Benzoin three ounces; Purified Storax two ounces; Balsam of Tolu an ounce; Aloes, in powder, half an ounce; Alcohol two pints. Mace- rate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." U. S. The London College takes three ounces and a half of benzoin, two ounces PART II. Tincturse. 1163 and a half of strained storax, ten drachms of balsam of Tolu, y? re drachms of aloes, and two pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit, and proceeds as above. The Edinburgh College takes four ounces of benzoin, two ounces and a half of balsam of Peru, half an ounce of East India aloes, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of rectified spirit, digests for seven days, pours off the clear liquor, and filters it. The Dublin process corresponds with that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, except that digestion for seven days is employed instead of maceration for fourteen. This tincture is a stimulating expectorant, occasionally used in chronic ca- tarrhal affections, but more frequently as a local application to indolent ulcers. It is the balsamum traumaticum of the older Pharmacopoeias, and may be con- sidered as a simplified form of certain complex compositions, such as baume de commandeur, Wade's balsam, Friar's balsam, Jesuits' drops, cfc, which were formerly in repute, and are still esteemed among the vulgar as pectorals and vulneraries. Turlington's balsam, which is a popular remedy in this country for such purposes, consists, as usually prepared in Philadelphia, of the ingre- dients of the officinal tincture, with the addition of Peruvian balsam, myrrh, and angelica root.* It is scarcely necessary to state that the application of these preparations to fresh wounds must frequently prove injurious, by inducing too much inflammation, and thus preventing union by the first intention. The compound tincture of benzoin is decomposed by water. The dose is from thirty minims to two fluidrachms. A variety of court plaster is made by ap- plying to black silk, by means of a brush, first a solution of isinglass, and afterwards an alcoholic solution of benzoin. W. TINCTURA BUCHU. Dub. Tinctura Bucku. Ed. Tincture of Buchu. "Take of the Leaves of the Diosma Crenata two ounces; Proof Spirit a pint. Macerate for seven days, and filter." Dub. "Take of Bucku five ounces; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Digest for seven days, pour off the clear liquor, and filter it. This tincture may be conveniently and quickly made also by the process of percolation." Ed. This tincture has the virtues of buchu leaves, and may be given in the dose of from one to four fluidrachms, either simply diluted with water, or as an addition to the infusion of the leaves. W. TINCTURA CAMPHORA. U. S., Lond., Ed. Tinctura Cam- phors sive Spiritus Camphoratus. Dub. Tincture of Camphor. " Take of Camphor four ounces; Alcohol two pints. Dissolve the Camphor in the Alcohol." U. S. The Dublin process corresponds with the above. The London College dis- solves five ounces of camphor in two pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit; the Edinburgh, two ounces and a half in two pints (Imperial measure). This is used chiefly as an anodyne embrocation in rheumatic and gouty pains, chilblains, and the inflammation resulting from sprains and bruises. It may also be employed internally, due regard being paid to the stimulant properties of the alcohol. The camphor is precipitated by the addition of water, but may be suspended by the intervention of sugar. The dose is from five drops to a fluidrachm, first added to sugar, and then mixed with water. Off. Prep. Linimentum Ammoniae Compositum, Ed. W. * The following is the formula for Turlington s balsam adopted by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. "Take of Alcohol Oviij, Benzoin 3x1]., Liquid Storax giv., Socotrine Aloes ^j., Peruvian Balsam 31]"., Myrrh 3]'.. Angelica Hoot |ss., Balsam of Tolu giv., Extinct of Liquorice Root |i'v. Digest for ten days, and strain.' Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., v. 28. 1164 Tincturse. PART II. TINCTURA CANTHARIDIS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tinc- ture of Spanish flies. " Take of Spanish Flies, bruised, an ounce; Diluted Alcohol, two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Flies, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered' liquor are ob- tained." U.S. The Ljondon College takes four drachms of the flies and two joints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, macerates for fourteen days, and filters; the Dublin, two drachms of the former and a pint and a half of the latter, and digests for a week. The Edinburgh College takes the same proportions as the London, digests for seven days, strains, expresses the residuum strongly, and filters; or prepares the tincture by percolation, having previously moistened the coarse- ly powdered flies with a little of the spirit, and allowed them to stand for twelve hours. This tincture is one of the most convenient forms for the internal use of Spanish flies, the virtues of which it possesses to their full extent. (See Can- tharis.) It is occasionally employed externally as a rubefacient; but its lia- bility to vesicate should be taken into consideration. The British tinctures are all too feeble; the strongest containing the virtues only of three quarters of a grain of cantharides in a fluidrachm. The dose of the U. S. tincture is from twenty drops to a fluidrachm, repeated three or four times a day. W. TINCTURA CAPSICI. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Cayenne Pepper. " Take of Cayenne Pepper an ounce ; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Mace- rate for fourteen days, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Cay- enne Pepper, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, putting it into an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The Dublin College prepares this tincture according to the first of the above formulae. The London College takes ten drachms of bruised Cayenne pepper and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, macerates for fourteen days, and filters; the Edinburgh takes the same proportions as the London, digests for seven days, strains, expresses, and filters; or prepares the tincture by per- colation, having previously made the capsicum into a pulp with a little of the spirit. This form of capsicum is a useful stimulant in very low states of the system with great gastric insensibility, as in malignant scarlet, and typhus fevers, and in the cases of drunkards. It may also be used as a gargle, diluted with rose water or some mucilaginous fluid. (See Capsicum.) Applied by means of a camel's hair pencil to the relaxed uvula, it sometimes produces contraction, and relieves prolapsus of that part. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA CARDAMOMI. U. S., Lond., Ed. Tincture of Cardamom. " Take of Cardamom, bruised, four ounces ; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Car- PART II. Tincturse. 1165 damom, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty- four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gra- dually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U.S. The London College takes three ounces and a half of bruised cardamom, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, macerates for fourteen days, and filters. The Edinburgh College takes four ounces and a half of the bruised seeds, and twojpints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit, digests for seven days, strains, expresses, atid filters; or prepares the tincture by percolation, first grinding the seeds in a coffee-mill, and making them into a pulp with a little of the spirit. This tincture is an agreeable aromatic, and may be advantageously added to tonic and purgative infusions. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. Off. Prep. Tinctura Conii, Ed. W. TINCTURA CARDAMOMI COMPOSITA. Lond., Ed., Dub. Compound Tincture of Cardamom. " Take of Cardamom, Caraway, each, in powder, two drachms and a half; Cochineal, in powder, a drachm; Cinnamon, bruised, five drachms; Raisins five ounces; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond. The Edinburgh College, taking the same materials in the same quantities as the London, but bruised instead of powdered, digests for seven days, strains, expresses strongly, and filters. The same College allows the tincture to be prepared also by percolation; the solid materials being first beaten together, moistened with a little spirit, and allowed to stand for twelve hours before being introduced into the instrument. The Dublin College takes of cardamom seeds freed from their husks, and caraway, each, two drachms, of cinnamon liulfan ounce, and two pints of proof spirit, and proceeds in the same manner as the London College. This is a very agreeable aromatic tincture, occasionally used as a carminative in the dose of one or two fluidrachms, but more frequently as an addition to mixtures, infusions, &c, which it renders pleasant to the taste, and acceptable to the stomach. Off. l^rep. Decoctum Aloes Compositum, Lond., Ed.; Mistura Gentianae Composita. Lond. W. TINCTURA CASCARILLA. Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Cascarilla. " Take of Cascarilla, in powder, five ounces; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond. The Edinburgh College employs/?ve ounces of the bark, in moderately fine powder, and two pints (Imp. measure) of proof spirit; and proceeds by perco- lation or digestion as directed for the tincture of Peruvian bark. (See Tinctura CincJionse.) The Dublin, takes four ounces of the bark in coarse powder, and hco pints of the menstruum, and macerates for seven days. This tincture has the properties of cascarilla, but is seldom if ever used in this country. W. TINCTURA CASSIA. Ed. Tincture of Cassia. " Take of Cassia [Chinese cinnamon], in moderately fine powder, three ounces and a half; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Digest for seven days, strain, express the residuum strongly, and filter. This tincture is more con- veniently made by the process of percolation, the Cassia being allowed to 1166 Tincturse. PART II. macerate in a little of the Spirit for twelve hours before being put into the percolator." Ed. The properties of this tincture are identical with those of tincture of cinna- mon. (See Tinctura Cinnamomi.) W. TINCTURA CASTOREI. U.S., Lond., Ed. Tinctura Cas- torei Rossici. Dub. Tincture of Castor. " Take of Castor, bruised, two ounces; Alcohol two pints. , Macerate for seven days, express, and filter through paper." U. S. The Londcm College takes two ounces and a half of powdered castor, and two pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit, and macerates for fourteen days. The Dublin College directs two ounces of Russian castor, two pints of proof spirit, and maceration for a week. The Edinburgh College directs two ounces and a half of bruised castor, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of rectified spirit, and allows the tincture to be prepared either by digestion or percolation, like the tincture of cassia. As castor yields little if any of its virtues to water, alcohol is a better solvent than proof spirit. It is said also to form a more grateful preparation. The Russian castor should always be preferred when attainable. This tincture is used for the same purposes with castor in substance. The dose is from thirty minims to two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA CASTOREI AMMONIATA. Ed. Ammoniated Tincture of Castor. " Take of Castor, bruised, two ounces and a half; Assafetida, in small frag- ments, ten drachms; Spirit of Ammonia two pints [Imperial measure]. Digest for seven days in a well-closed vessel; strain, and express strongly the resi- duum; and filter the liquor." Ed. This is an active stimulant and antispasmodic, applicable to cases of severe spasm of the stomach, and to various hysterical and other nervous affections, unattended with inflammatory symptoms. The dose is from thirty minims to two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA CATECHU. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Catechu. "Take of Catechu three ounces; Cinnamon, bruised, two ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper." U.S. The Dublin process differs from the above only in the period of maceration, which is seven days. The London College takes three ounces and a half of catechu, two ounces and a half of cinnamon, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days. The Edinburgh College takes three ounces and a half of catechu, in moderately fine powder; two ounces and a half of cinnamon, in fine powder; and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit; digests for seven days, strains, expresses strongly, and filters. This College prepares the tincture also by percolation, introducing the mixed powders into the percolator without previously moistening them with spirit. This is a grateful astringent tincture, useful in all cases to which catechu is applicable, and in which small quantities of spirit are not objectionable. It may often be advantageously added to cretaceous mixtures in diarrhoea. The dose is from thirty minims to three fluidrachms, which may be given with sweetened water or some mucilaginous liquid, or in Port wine when this is not contra-indicated. W. PART ii. Tincturse. 1167 TINCTURA CINCHONA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Peruvian Bark. " Take of Peruvian Bark, in powder, six ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Bark with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, then trans- ferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U S. " Take of Yellow Bark, in fine powder (or of any other species of Cinchona, according to prescription), eight ounces ; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial mea- sure]. Percolate the Bark with the Spirit, the Bark being previously moist- ened with a very little Spirit, left thus for ten or twelve hours, and then firmly packed in the cylinder. This tincture may also be prepared, though much less expeditiously, and with much greater loss, by the usual process of digestion, the bark being in that case reduced to coarse powder only." Ed. The London College orders eight ounces of yellow bark and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dublin, four ounces to two pints, and digests for a week. Of these tinctures, all, except the Dublin, are very properly made with a large proportion of bark; as, in the bitter tinctures, it is important that the alcohol should bear as small a proportion to the tonic principle as possible. Even the strongest, however, cannot, in ordinary cases, be given in doses suf- ficiently large to obtain the full effect of the bark, without stimulating too highly. The tincture of cinchona is used chiefly as an adjunct to the infusion or decoction of bark, or the solution of sulphate of quinia, to a dose of which it may be added in the quantity of from one to four fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA CINCHONA COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Compound Tincture of Peruvian Bark. "Take of Peruvian Bark, in powder, two ounces; Orange Peel, bruised, an ounce and a half; Virginia Snakeroot, bruised, three drachms ; Saffron cut, Red Saunders rasped, each a drachm; Diluted Alcohol twenty fluidounces. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. "Compound Tincture of Peruvian Bark may be prepared from the same dry materials, by beating them well together, moistening them thoroughly with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for forty-eight hours, then trans- ferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until twenty fluidounces of filtered liquor are obtained." U S. " Take of Cinchona lancifolia [pale bark], in powder, four ounces; dried Orange Peel three ounces; Virginia Snakeroot, bruised, six drachms; Saffron two drachms; Cochineal, in powder, a drachm; Proof Spirit two pints [Im- perial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond. The Edinburgh College takes the same materials in the same quantities as the London, but specifies yellow bark, which it orders in coarse powder, if digestion, in fine powder, if percolation be employed. The serpentaria is di- rected in moderately fine powder. The process is conducted either by digesting for seven days, straining, expressing strongly, and filtering; or by percolation in the same way as compound tincture of cardamom. The Dublin College specifies the pale bark, and directs two scruples of cochineal in place of the red saunders, and half an ounce of orange peel; in other respects the process cor- responds with the first formula of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. 1168 Tincturse. PART II. This is the preparation commonly known by the name of Huxham's tincture of bark. It is an excellent stomachic cordial, and, though too feeble in the principles of cinchona to serve as a substitute for that tonic when its full effect upon the system is required, may be very usefully employed as an addition to the decoction or infusion, or to the salts of quinia, in low forms of fever, par- ticularly in malignant intermittents, and typhoid remittents. Huxham was in the habit of uniting with it the elixir of vitriol, the aromatic sulphuric acid of the Pharmacopoeias. The dose is from one to four fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA CINNAMOMI. U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Cinnamon. "Take of Cinnamon, bruised, three ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, rand filter through paper. "This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Cinna- mon, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are ob- tained." U.S. The London College takes three ounces and a half of cinnamon, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dublin, three ounces and a half of cinnamon and two pints of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Edinburgh, three ounces and a half of the former, in moderately fine powder, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of the latter, and proceeds by percolation or digestion, as in the preparation of tincture of cassia. This tincture has the aromatic and astringent properties of cinnamon, and may be used as an adjuvant to cretaceous mixtures, and astringent infusions or decoctions. The dose is from one to three or four fluidrachms. Off. Prep. Infusum Digitalis, U. S. W. TINCTURA CINNAMOMI COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Compound Tincture of Cinnamon. " Take of Cinnamon, bruised, an ounce ; Cardamom [seeds], bruised, half an ounce; Ginger, bruised, three drachms; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Mace- rate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " Compound Tincture of Cinnamon may be prepared from the same dry materials, in the state of powder, by moistening them thoroughly with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The London College orders an ounce of cinnamon, half an ounce of carda- mom, two drachms and a half of long pepper, the same quantity of ginger, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and macerates for two weeks. The Edinburgh College directs an ounce of cinnamon in coarse or fine powder, according as digestion or percolation is followed, an ounce of bruised cardamom seeds, three drachms of finely ground long pepper, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit; and allows the tincture to be prepared either by digestion for seven days, straining, expressing, and filtering, or by percolation in the man- ner directed for compound tincture of cardamom; preferring, however, the latter mode. This is a very warm aromatic tincture, useful in flatulence, spasm of the stomach, and gastric debility. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. W. PART II. Tincturse. 1169 TINCTURA COLCHICI COMPOSITA. Lond. Compound Tincture of Colchicum. "Take of Colchicum Seeds, bruised, five ounces; Aromatic Spirit of Am- monia two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond. This is the Sqnritus Colchici Ammoniatus of the former London Pharma- copoeia. It may be employed for the same purposes as the wine of colchicum, in cases which require or admit of an active stimulant. The dose is from thirty drops to a fluidrachm. W. TINCTURA COLCHICI SEMINIS. U.S. Tinctura Colchi- ci. Lond., Ed. Tinctura Seminum Colchici. Dub. Tincture of Colchicum Seed. "Take of Colchicum Seed, bruised, four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Col- chicum Seed, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The London College orders five ounces of the bruised seeds, two pints (Im- perial measure) of proof spirit, and maceration for two weeks; the Dublin, two ounces of the former and a pint of the latter, and the same maceration. The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of the seeds finely ground in a coffee- mill, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit; and prepares the tincture in the same manner as the tincture of Peruvian bark, either by percolation or digestion; preferring, however, the former process. This tincture possesses the active properties of colchicum, and may be given whenever that medicine is indicated; but the wine, which contains less alcohol, is generally preferred. The dose is from half a fluidrachm to two fluidrachms. The tincture is sometimes used as an embrocation in rheumatic, gouty, and neuralgic pains. W. TINCTURA COLOMBA. U.S., Dub. Tinctura Calumba. Lond., Ed. Tincture of Columbo. "Take of Columbo, bruised, four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Co- lumbo, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours; then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are ob- tained." U. S. The London College takes three ounces of sliced columbo, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit; the Dublin, two ounces and a half of the former, and two pints of the latter; and both macerate for fourteen days. The Edinburgh College takes three ounces of columbo, in small fragments or moderately fine powder, according as digestion or percolation is followed, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit; and prepares the tincture either by digesting for seven days, decanting, expressing, and filtering, or by the process of percolation, allowing the powder to be macerated with a little spirit for six hours before being put into the cylinder. The tincture of columbo of the U. S. Pharmacopceia was, with great pro- priety, considerably increased in strength at the last revision. The larger the 74 1170 Tincturse. PART II. proportion of the tonic is to the alcohol in these bitter tinctures, the better are they calculated to meet the indications for which they are usually pre- scribed. When the proportion is very small, the tonic power of the bitter is overwhelmed by the stimulant influence of the alcohol. The tincture of columbo may be added to tonic infusions or decoctions, to increase their stimulant power; but, like all the other bitter tinctures, should be used with caution. The dose is from one to four fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA CONII. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Hemlock. " Take of Hemlock Leaves four ounces ; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Ma- cerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Hem- lock Leaves, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The London College takes five ounces of the dried leaves, an ounce of bruised cardamom, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dublin, two ounces of the leaves, an ounce of the seeds, and a pint of proof spirit, and macerates for a week. "Take of fresh leaves of Conium twelve ounces; Tincture of Cardamom half a pint [Imp. meas.]; Rectified Spirit one pint and a half [Imp. meas]. Bruise the Hemlock Leaves, express the juice strongly; bruise the residuum, pack it firmly in a percolator; transmit first the Tincture of Cardamom, and then the Rectified Spirit, allowing the spirituous liquors to mix with the ex- pressed juice as they pass through; add gently water enough to the percolator for pushing through the Spirit remaining in the residuum. Filter the liquor after agitation." Ed. The tincture of hemlock necessarily partakes of the uncertainty of the dried leaves from which it is prepared. There can be little doubt that the tincture of the Edinburgh College, made from the fresh leaves and their expressed juice, is the most efficient. A preparation made by adding one measure of alcohol to four of the expressed juice, has been used in England under the name of preserved juice of hemlock, and is probably quite equal to the Edinburgh tincture. (See page 1159.) The U. S. Pharmacopceia has very properly excluded cardamom from this preparation; as it can have little influ- ence upon its medical effects, and tends to obscure the odour which is an indication of the activity of the tincture. A strong odour of conia should be emitted by the tincture upon the addition of potassa. The dose is from thirty minims to a fluidrachm. W. TINCTURA CROCI. Ed. Tincture of Saffron. "Take of Saffron, chopped fine, two ounces; Proof Spirit two pints [Impe- rial measure]. This Tincture is to be prepared like Tincture of Cinchona, either by percolation or by digestion, the former method being the most con- venient and expeditious." Ed. This tincture possesses all the properties of saffron ; but is of little other use than to impart colour to mixtures. The dose is from one to three flui- drachms. W. TINCTURA CUBEBA. U.S., Lond. Tinctura Piperis Cu- bed^. Dub. Tincture of Cubebs. " Take of Cubebs, bruised, four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Ma- cerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. PART II. Tincturse. 1171 " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Cu- bebs, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are ob- tained." U S. The London College takes five ounces of powdered cubebs, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit; the Dublin, four ounces of the former and two pints of the latter; and both macerate for fourteen days. This may be used as a carminative, and has been applied with advantage to the treatment of gonorrhoea in the advanced stages. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. TINCTURA DIGITALIS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Foxglove. . ^ „ " " Take of Foxglove four ounces ; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate tor fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. _ " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the * ox- dove, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are ob- tained." U.S. „,i.-,, • . ,r The London College directs four ounces of the dried leaves, two pints (Im- perial measure) of proof spirit, and maceration for fourteen days; the Dublin two ounces of the dried leaves (the larger being rejected) and a pint of proof spirit, and maceration for a week. . "Take of Digitalis, in moderately fine powder, four ounces; fxooi fepmt two pints [Imp. measure]. This tincture is best prepared by the process of percolation, as directed for the tincture of capsicum. If forty fluidounces of Spirit be passed through, the density is 0-944, and the solid contents of a fluid- ounce amount to twenty-four grains. It may also be made by digestion. _ Ld. In preparing this tincture, great attention should be paid to the selection ot the leaves, according to the rules laid down under the head of Digitalis. From a neglect of these, it is apt to be weak or inefficient. The expressed juice of the leaves, preserved by means of alcohol, would probably be found a power- ful preparation. (See page 1159.) The tincture of foxglove possesses all the virtues of that narcotic, and affords a convenient method of administering it, especially in mixtures. The dose is from ten to twenty drops, to be repeated two or three times a day, and increased, if necessary, with great caution. (See Digitalis.) TINCTURA GALBANI. Dub. Tincture of Galbanum. " Take of Galbanum, cut into small pieces, two ounces; Proof Spirit two pints. Digest for seven days, and filter." Dub. _ The tincture of galbanum is analogous in properties to that of assafetida, but weaker and less nauseous. It is very seldom used. The dose is from one to three fluidrachms. TINCTURA GALLA. U. S., Lond. Tinctura Gallarum. Ed., Dub. Tincture of Galls. . " Take of Galls, bruised, four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Galls, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained. U.S. 1172 Tincturse. PART II. The London College directs five ounces of powdered galls, two pints (Impe- rial measure) of proof spirit, and maceration for fourteen days; the Dublin, four ounces of the galls, two jn'nts of the spirit, and digestion for seven days. The Edinburgh College takes the same quantity of materials as the London, and prepares the tincture either by digestion or percolation, as directed for tincture of capsicum. The tincture of galls is powerfully astringent; but is more used as a test than as a medicine. The dose is from one to three fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA GENTIANA COMPOSITA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Compound Tincture of Gentian. " Take of Gentian, bruised, two ounces; Orange Peel [dried] an ounce; Car- damom [seeds], bruised, half an ounce; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared from the same dry materials, in the state of powder, by moistening them thoroughly with Diluted Alcohol, allow- ing them to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U S. The Dublin process corresponds with the first U. S. process. The London College takes two ounces and a half of sliced gentian, ten drachms of dried orange peel, five drachms of bruised cardamom, and two pints (Imperial mea- sure) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days. The Edinburgh College takes two ounces and a half of bruised gentian, ten drachms of bruised dried bitter orange peel, six; drachms of canella in moderately fine powder, half a drachm of bruised cochineal, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit; di- gests for seven days, strains, expresses strongly, and filters; or prepares the tincture by percolation as directed for the compound tincture of cardamom. This is an elegant bitter, much used in dyspepsia, and as an addition to tonic mixtures in debilitated states of the digestive organs, or of the system o-enerally. There is, however, much danger of its abuse, especially in chronic cases. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA GUAIACI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Guaiac. " Take of Guaiac, in powder, half a pound; Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." IT. S. The London College takes seven ounces of guaiac, and two pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit, and proceeds as above. The Edinburgh College orders the same quantity of materials as the London, and digests for a week. The Dublin College directs four ounces of guaiac and two pints of alcohol, and macerates for a week. This tincture is given in chronic rheumatism and gout, in the dose of from one to three fluidrachms three or four times a day. As it is decomposed by water it is most conveniently administered in mucilage, sweetened water, or milk, by which the separated guaiac is held in temporary suspension. The following is a form of tincture of guaiac which the late Dr. Dewees found very efficient in the cure of suppression of the menses, and dysmenorrhoea. " Take of the best Guaiac, in powder, four ounces; Carbonate of Soda or of Potassa one drachm and a half; Pimento, in powder, an ounce; Diluted Alcohol, a pound. Digest for a few days." The dose is a teaspoonful three times a day, to be gradually increased if necessary. Within our own experience, this re- medy has proved highly useful in painful menstruation given in the intervals of the attacks. The quantity of alkaline carbonate is too small to produce PART II. Tincturse. 1173 any sensible effect, and the pimento can act only as a spice; so that the vir- tues of the tincture reside in the guaiac, and the officinal tincture would pro- bably be found equally effectual. W. TINCTURA GUAIACI AMMONIATA. U.S., Ed., Dub. Tinctura Guaiaci Composita. Lond. Ammoniated Tincture of Guaiac. "Take of Guaiac, in powder, four ounces; Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia a pint and a half. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." U. S. The London College takes seven ounces of guaiac, and two q)ints (Imperial measure) of aromatic spirit of ammonia, and macerates for fourteen days. The Edinburgh College takes the same quantity of materials as the London, and digests for seven days in a well-closed vessel. The Dublin corresponds with the U. S. process, except that the maceration continues only for a week. This tincture is very celebrated in the treatment of chronic rheumatism. It is more stimulating and is thought to be more effectual than the preceding. Like that, it is decomposed by water, and should be administered in some viscid or tenacious vehicle which may hold the guaiac in suspension. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA HELLEBORI. U.S., Lond. Tinctura Helle- bori Nigri. Dub. Tincture of Black Hellebore. " Take of Black Hellebore, bruised, four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Black Hellebore, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty- eight hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradu- ally pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U S. The London College takes five ounces of the bruised root, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dub- lin, four ounces of the former and two pints of the latter, and macerates for a week. This tincture, formerly called tinctura Melampodii, possesses the properties of black hellebore, and, upon the recommendation of Dr. Mead, has been much used in suppression of the menses. It is said to be peculiarly applica- ble to cases in which the grade of action is too high for the use of chalybeates. At best, however, it is an uncertain remedy, and should always be adminis- tered with caution, as it is sometimes violent in its action. The dose is from thirty minims to a fluidrachm, to be taken night and morning. W. TINCTURA HUMULI. U.S., Dub. Tinctura Lupuli. Lond. Tincture of Hops. " Take of Hopsjfoe ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for four- teen days, express, and filter through paper." U S. The London College takes six ounces of hops and two pints (Imperial mea- sure) of proof spirit, macerates for fourteen days, and filters. The Dublin process differs from ours only in the omission of expression. Hops are so light and bulky that, in the proportion directed, they absorb almost all the spirit, which, after the requisite maceration, can be separated only by strong pressure. As this absorption of the spirit obstructs its proper action on all parts of the hops, it is necessary that the mixture should be fre- quently stirred during the maceration. By thoroughly drying the hops and rubbing them between the hands, or by cutting and bruising them, they may 1174 Tincturse. PART II. be brought to a state of division which will in a great measure obviate the disadvantages alluded to. As the virtues of hops depend chiefly on the lupu- lin, and as the quantity of this substance is not the same in different parcels, the tincture is necessarily unequal in strength; and the tincture of lupulin itself is greatly preferable. (See Tinctura Lupulinse.) The tincture of hops is tonic and narcotic, and has been proposed as a sub- stitute for laudanum when the latter disagrees with the patient; but little reliance can be placed upon it. The condition of disease to which it appears to be best adapted, is the wakefulness, attended with tremors and general nervous derangement, to which habitual drunkards are liable, and which fre- quently precedes an attack of delirium tremens. The dose is from one to three fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA HYOSCYAMI. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Henbane. " Take of Henbane Leaves four ounces ; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Ma- cerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Hen- bane Leaves, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The London College takes five ounces of the dried leaves, and two pints (Im- perial measure) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days ; the Dublin, five ounces of the former and two pints of the latter, and digests for a week. The Edinburgh College orders the same amount of materials, the henbane being in moderately fine powder, and directs the tincture to be prepared either by digestion, or, preferably, by percolation, as directed for the tincture of capsicum. This tincture may be advantageously substituted, as an anodyne and sopo- rific, for that of opium, when the latter disagrees with the patient, or is ob- jectionable on account of its property of inducing constipation. When the tincture of henbane purges, as it sometimes does, it may be united with a very small proportion of laudanum. The dose is a fluidrachm. The expressed juice preserved by means of alcohol may be used for the same purposes as the tincture. (Seepage 1159.) W. TINCTURA IODINI. U.S. Tinctura Iodinei. Ed. Iodinii Tinctura. Dub. Tincture of Lodine. "Take of Iodine an ounce; Alcohol a pint. Dissolve the Iodine in the Alcohol." U S. The Edinburgh College directs two ounces and a half of iodine to be dis- solved, with the aid of a gentle heat and agitation, in twof>ints (Imperial mea- sure) of rectified spirit. The Dublin College takes two scruples of iodine, and an ounce, by weight, of rectified spirit, mixes, and dissolves the iodine with the aid of heat. Both Colleges direct the tincture to be kept in well-stopped bottles. These tinctures contain so nearly the same proportion of iodine that, for all practical purposes, they may be considered identical. They are of very nearly the strength of the tincture employed by Coindet, which contained one part of iodine to twelve of alcohol by weight; while the U. S. tincture con- tains one part of the former to about 12-7 parts of the latter. It is best to prepare the tincture in small quantities at a time; as the iodine reacts on the alcohol, especially when exposed to solar light, giving rise to chemical changes. PART II. Tincturse. 1175 The iodine should be thoroughly dried before being weighed out. The tinc- ture should be kept in well-stopped bottles, in order to prevent the evaporation of the alcohol, and the consequent crystallization of the iodine. The tincture of iodine has a deep brown colour. Sixteen minims, equal to about thirty-five drops, contain one grain of iodine. It is at present less used internally than it formerly was, in consequence of an impression that it is apt to irritate the stomach. Water decomposes the tincture, and when this is swallowed, it is supposed that the iodine is precipitated upon the mucous mem- brane. Besides, the tincture undergoes a gradual change when kept, owing, according to G uibourt, to the reaction between the alcohol and iodine. A por- tion of the latter is supposed to take hydrogen from the former, producing hydriodic acid, which combines with another portion of the iodine to form ioduretted hydriodic acid; while the place of the hydrogen in the alcohol is thought to be supplied by iodine, giving rise to another ioduretted compound. The new products are soluble in water; and consequently the tincture gradu- ally loses by time the property of being precipitated on dilution. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., x. 113.) On these accounts, the tincture of iodine is now almost exclusively employed as an external application. Undiluted it acts as a powerful irritant to the skin, producing inflammation, desquamation of the cuticle, &c. Nevertheless, it is much used in this state in erysipelas, chilblains, and other cases of cutaneous and subcutaneous inflammation, and often with very happy effects. But its application requires some caution; and in erysi- pelas, we are in the habit rather of surrounding the inflamed surface with a border of the tincture, embracing a portion of both the sound and the diseased skin, so as to prevent the progress of the inflammation, than of attempting a complete cure by covering the whole surface affected. Dr. S. Jackson, late of Northumberland, found it useful in rendering the variolous eruption abortive. It is most conveniently applied by means of a camel's hair pencil. Diluted with the camphorated tincture of soap, or other alcoholic liquid, it is sometimes employed as an embrocation in scrofulous tumours and other affections requir- ing the peculiar influence of iodine. The dose of the tincture is from ten to twenty drops, which may be gradually increased to thirty or forty drops, three times a day. It may be given in sweetened water, and still better in wine, when this is not contra-indicated. W. TINCTURA IODINI COMPOSITA. U. S. Tinctura Iodinii Composita. Lond. Compound Tincture of Lodine. " Take of Iodine half an ounce; Iodide of Potassium an ounce; Alcohol a pint. Dissolve the Iodine and Iodide of Potassium in the Alcohol." U.S. The London College takes an ounce of iodine, two ounces of iodide of potas- sium, and two pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit; macerates till they are dissolved, and filters. The U. S. tincture is rather stronger than the London, the wine pint em- ployed in the former containing about one-fifth less than the Imperial pint employed in. the latter. The difference, however, is of no great practical importance. The advantage of this tincture over the simple tincture above described is, that the former may be diluted with water without decomposition; so that, when it is swallowed, iodine is not precipitated upon the mucous coat of the stomach, and will not, therefore, be so likely to produce gastric irrita- tion. This is a good theoretical recommendation ; but we are by no means confident that the difference of the two preparations in irritating properties will be found very striking in practice. The compound tincture of iodine 1176 Tincturae. PART II. may be given internally for all the purposes which iodine is capable of answering. The dose is from fifteen to thirty drops, to be gradually increased if necessary. W. TINCTURA JALAPA. U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Jalap. " Take of Jalap, in powder, eight ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Ma- cerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by moistening the Jalap thoroughly with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, then trans- ferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The London College takes ten ounces of jalap, and two pints (Imperial mea- sure) of proof spirit; the Dublin, eight ounces of the former and two pints of the latter; and both continue the maceration for two weeks. The Edinburgh College orders seven ounces of jalap, in moderately fine powder, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit, and allows the tincture to be prepared either by digestion or percolation, as directed for tincture of cinchona. This tincture possesses the medical virtues of jalap, and is sometimes added to cathartic mixtures in the quantity of one or two fluidrachms, to increase their activity. W. TINCTURA KINO. Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Kino. " Take of Kino, in powder, three ounces and a half; Rectified Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond. The Edinburgh College takes the same ingredients in the same proportion as the London, and digests for a week; the Dublin, three ounces of kino, and two pints of proof spirit, and macerates for a week. This tincture very frequently becomes gelatinous if kept, and at length almost entirely loses its astringency. The circumstances which favour this change, and the characters of the chemical reaction which takes place, remain to be investigated. Until some mode is discovered of obviating this evil, the iincture seems scarcely to be a proper object for officinal direction. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. It is used chiefly as an addition to cretaceous and other astringent mixtures in diarrhoea. W. TINCTURA KRAMERIA. U.S. Tincture of Rhatany. "Take of Rhatany, in powder, six oimces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by moistening the Rhatany thoroughly with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, then trans- ferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Di- luted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. According to F. Boudet, the tincture of rhatany sometimes gelatinizes like that of kino. ( Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., i. 338.) We have not ourselves seen this result in the specimens which have come under our notice. This is a good preparation of rhatany in cases which admit of the use of small quan- tities of alcohol. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA LACTUCARII. Ed. Tincture of Lactucarium. " Take of Lactucarium, in fine powder, four ounces; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. This tincture is best prepared by percolation as directed for tincture of myrrh; but may also be prepared by digestion with coarse powder of Lactucarium." Ed. The dose of this tincture is from thirty minims to two fluidrachms. W. PART II. Tincturae. 1177 TINCTURA LOBELIA. U.S., Ed. Tincture of Lobelia. " Take of Lobelia [the herb]/o«r ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Ma- cerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Lobelia, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The Edinburgh College directs five ounces of lobelia, in moderately fine powder, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit; and states that the tincture is best prepared by percolation as directed for tincture of capsicum, though it may also be made by digestion. This tincture possesses the emetic and narcotic properties of lobelia, and is sometimes used in asthma, in the dose of one or two fluidrachms, repeated every two or three hours till its effects are experienced. The emetic dose is half a fluidounce. W. TINCTURA LOBELIA ATHEREA. Ed. Ethereal Tincture of Lobelia. "Take of dry Lobelia, in moderately fine powder, five ounces; Spirit of Sulphuric Ether two pints [Imperial measure]. This tincture is best prepared by percolation, as directed for tincture of capsicum; but it may also be ob- tained by digestion in a well-closed vessel for seven days." Ed. The stimulant operation of the ether in this preparation can scarcely favour the relaxing and nauseating action for which lobelia is usually employed. The dose is the same as that of the alcoholic tincture. W. TINCTURA LUPULINA. U.S. Tinctura Lupuli. Ed. Tinc- ture of Lupulin. " Take of Lupulin four ounces ; Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." U S. " Take any convenient quantity of Hops, recently dried; separate by friction and sifting the yellowish-brown powder attached to their scales. Then take of this powder five ounces, and of rectified spirit two pints [Imperial measure], and prepare the tincture by percolation or digestion, as directed for tincture of capsicum." Ed. This is much superior to the tincture of hops of the first United States Pharmacopoeia, in the place of which it was introduced into the second edition. In the original preparation, a certain quantity of hops was directed, from which the lupulin was to be separated by beating, and then digested in alcohol. As hops contain a variable proportion of lupulin, a tincture thus made must be of unequal strength; an objection to which the tincture of hops, even as now prepared, is in some measure liable. (See Tinctura Humuli.) Besides, the amount of lupulin contained in any quantity of hops upon which alcohol can conveniently act, is too small in proportion to the alcohol, to afford a tinc- ture of the due strength. The tincture of lupulinds, therefore, in all respects, preferable. The dose is one or two fluidrachms, to be given in sweetened water or some mucilaginous fluid. W. TINCTURA MOSCHI. Dub. Tincture of Musk. "Take of Musk, in powder, two drachms; Rectified Spirit a pint. Digest for seven days, and filter." Dub. This tincture is much too feeble in musk to be capable of producing bene- ficial effects in any dose which would not contain too large a quantity of alco- hol. Musk should always be given in substance. W. 1178 Tincturse. PART II. TINCTURA MYRRHA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Myrrh. " Take of Myrrh, bruised, four ounces; Alcohol three pints. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." U. S. The London College takes three ounces of powdered myrrh, and two pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit, and proceeds as above. The Dublin College takes three ounces of bruised myrrh, a pint and a half of proof spirit, and half a pint of rectified spirit; and digests for a week. " Take of Myrrh, in moderately fine powder, three ounces and a half; Rec- tified Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Pack the Myrrh very gently with- out any Spirit in a percolator; then pour on the Spirit, and when thirty-three fluidounces have passed through, agitate well to dissolve the oleo-resinous matter which first passes, and which lies at the bottom. This tincture is much less conveniently obtained by the process of digestion for seven days." Ed. Undiluted alcohol is preferable, as a solvent of myrrh, to that fluid mixed with water; because it forms a perfectly clear solution, which is not attainable with the latter menstruum. The addition of water to the tincture renders it turbid. The tincture of myrrh is scarcely ever used internally. As a local application it is employed to stimulate indolent and foul ulcers, and promote the exfoliation of bones, and, diluted with water, is applied to spongy gums, aphthous sore mouth, and ulcerations of the throat. The dose, as a stimulant expectorant and emmenagogue, is from half a fluidrachm to a flui- drachm. Off. 1rep. Tinctura Aloes et Myrrhae, U S., Lond., Ed., Dub. W. TINCTURA NUCIS VOMICA. Dub. Tincture of Nux Vo- mica. "Take of Nux Vomica, rasped, two ounces; Rectified Spirit eight ounces. Macerate for seven days, and filter." Dub. The tincture is not an eligible form for administering the nux vomica, as it is equally uncertain with the medicine in substance, and has the disadvantage of excessive bitterness. The alcoholic extract, or strychnia is preferable. The "dose of the tincture is from five to twenty drops. It is sometimes employed externally in cases of local paralysis. W. TINCTURA OLEI MENTHA PIPERITA. U.S. Tincture of Oil of Peppermint. Essence of Peppermint. "Take of Oil of Peppermint two fluidounces; Alcohol a pint. Dissolve the Oil in the Alcohol." U. S. This is a very popular preparation, which has long been kept in the shops under the name of essence of peppermint, and was adopted for the first time in the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. It affords a convenient method of hastily administering a dose of the oil of peppermint; being of such a strength that, when dropped on loaf sugar, it may be taken without inconvenience by the patient. The dose is from ten to twenty drops, which may be given as just mentioned, or mixed with sweetened water. W. TINCTURA OLEI MENTHA VIRIDIS. U. S. ' Tincture of Oil of Spearmint. ■ Essence of Spearmint. " Take of Oil of Spearmint two fluidounces; Alcohol a pint. Dissolve the Oil in the Alcohol." U. S. The remarks made upon the preceding article are applicable also to the present. The dose of the essence of spearmint is from twenty to forty drops. W. PART II. Tincturse. 1179 TINCTURA OPII. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Opium. Laudanum. .:% "Take of Opium, in powder, two ounces and a half; Diluted Alcohol two^ pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper." U S. The process of the Dublin College corresponds with the above. The London College takes three ounces of hard opium, in powder, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, macerates for fourteen days, and filters. "Take of Opium, sliced, three ounces; Rectified Spirit one pint and seven fluidounces [Imperial measure] ; Water thirteen fluidounces and a half. Digest the Opium in the Water at a temperature near 212° for two hours; break down the Opium with the hand : strain, and express the infusion; macerate the residuum in the Rectified Spirit for about twenty-hours, and then strain and express very strongly. Mix the watery and spirituous infusions, and filter. " This Tincture is not easily obtained by the process of percolation; but when the Opium is of fine quality, it may be prepared thus. Slice the Opium finely; mix the Spirit and Water; let the Opium macerate in fourteen fluid- ounces of the mixture for twelve hours, and then break it down thoroughly with the hand; pour the whole pulpy mass and fluid into a percolator, and let the fluid part pass through; add the rest of the Spirit without packing the Opium in the cylinder, and continue the process of percolation till two pints are obtained." Ed. The proportion of opium in the several officinal formulae is so nearly the same that the resulting tinctures may be considered identical. The apparent difference between the formulae of the London and Edinburgh Colleges and ours will vanish, when the relative value of the Imperial measure, which they employ, and the wine measure of our Pharmacopoeia is estimated. The dry- ing and powdering of the opium, directed in all the Pharmacopoeias except the P]dinburgh, is clearly a useful provision; as it ensures greater uniformity in the strength of the tincture. Crude opium contains very variable propor- tions of moisture; and laudanum prepared from a moist specimen will ob- viously be much weaker than that from an equal weight of the dried. The pulverization ensures the previous drying of the drug, and is thus useful independently of the greater facility which it gives to the action of the men- struum. It is troublesome, however, and is often neglected. Innovation in so important a preparation, and one in which uniformity of strength is so desirable, should be avoided unless clearly shown to be necessary. For these reasons we object to the Edinburgh formula, and greatly prefer the old stand- ard of the U.S., London, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias. In the United States and Great Britain, this tincture is universally known by the name of laudanum. As this term was formerly applied to other pre- parations of opium, and still continues to be so on the continent of Europe, the tincture is sometimes distinguished by the epithet liquidum, which, how- ever, is seldom used in this country. Tinctura Thebaica is another title by which the preparation is known. About two-thirds of the opium used in the preparation of the tincture are dissolved, the residue consisting chiefly of inert matter. Allowing the opium to be wholly exhausted of its active principles, one grain would be represented by 12-8 minims, according to the U.S. formula; but a small quantity of morphia has been detected in the residuary matter, so that the tincture is rather weaker than the proportion of opium employed would indicate. The tincture of opium is used for all the purposes to which opium itself is applied. (See Opium.) The dose, equivalent to a grain of opium, is about 1180 Tincturse. PART II. thirteen minims, or twenty-five drops. Mr. Phillips, in his translation of the London Pharmacopceia of 1836, states that, by evaporating the tincture, and also by determining the quantity of opium left undissolved, he found the preparation to contain one grain of opium in 19 minims; and this quantity, therefore, is given as the dose equivalent to a grain of opium. But this mode of calculation is obviously fallacious; as the portion of the drug dissolved is much more active than that left behind by the menstruum. It should be recollected that a fluidrachm or teaspoonful of laudanum (sixty minims), will afford, on an average, about one hundred and twenty drops. Laudanum, when long kept, with occasional exposure to the air, becomes thick, in consequence of the evaporation of a portion of the alcohol, and the deposition of opium. If given in this state, it often acts with unexpected energy; and cases of death have resulted in infants from its use in doses which would have been entirely safe if the tincture had been clear. Off. Prep. Enema Opii, Lond., Ed., Dub.; Linimentum Opii, Lond., Dub. W. TINCTURA OPII ACETATA. U.S. Acetated Tincture of Opium. " Take of Opium two ounces; Vinegar twelve fluidounces; Alcohol half a pint. Rub the Opium with the Vinegar; then add the Alcohol, and, having macerated for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper." U S. This preparation was introduced into the second edition of our Pharmaco- pceia as a substitute for the Acetum Opii or black drop of the original work, the advantages of which it was supposed to possess, without being liable to the same objection of uncertainty of strength. The Acetum Opii, however, having maintained its standing in the estimation of the profession and of the public, was restored, in the last edition of the Pharmacopceia, to its officinal rank, but so modified as to ensure a preparation as uniform as is consistent with the variable quality of the opium used. (See page 770.) At the same time the formula for the acetated tincture was retained, as affording a useful preparation of the drug. It was originally employed by Dr. Joseph Harts- horne, of Philadelphia. The acetated tincture of opium may often be advantageously used in cases in which laudanum or opium itself produces unpleasant effects, such as nausea and vomiting, intense headache, great nervous disorder, &c.; but the intro- duction of the salts of morphia into use has in a great measure superseded the necessity of the preparation. The dose is ten minims, or about twenty drops, equivalent to a grain of opium. W. TINCTURA OPII AMMONIATA. fid. Ammoniated Tincture of Opium. " Take of Benzoic Acid, and Saffron, chopped, of each, six drachms; Opium sliced, half an ounce; Oil of Anise a drachm; Spirit of Ammonia two pints [Imperial measure]. Digest for seven days, and then filter." Ed. This tincture is used in Scotland under the title of paregoric elixir; but differs both in composition and strength from the preparation known by that name in the United States. Some doubts have been entertained whether it contains morphia. It is well known that ammonia precipitates morphia from its solutions ; but a great excess of ammonia redissolves the precipitate. To decide the question, Mr. Gilbert, of Nottingham, submitted several portions of the tincture to a chemical examination, and was unable to detect morphia in them. (Med. Exam., iv. 493, from Ed. Med. and Surg. Journ.) But we PART II. Tincturse. 1181 are not informed by the experimenter, whether the tincture was prepared, as directed by the College, with the Edinburgh spirit of ammonia, which is a strong alcoholic solution of the caustic alkali, or with the London spirit, which is a comparatively feeble solution of carbonate of ammonia. In the former case the ammonia, according to Dr. Christison, is in sufficient excess to hold the morphia in solution. At best, however, the preparation is of doubtful propriety; as, if the ammoniacal spirit should not happen to have the due strength, or if the ammonia should escape or become carbonated by exposure, the strength of the tincture would be affected. It is employed in spasmodic complaints, such as hooping-cough and asthma. Eighty minims should con- tain about a grain of opium. W. TINCTURA OPII CAMPHORATA. U.S., Ed., Dub. Tinc- tura Camphors Composita. Lond. Camphorated Tincture of Opium. Paregoric Elixir. "Take of Opium, in powder, Benzoic Acid, each, a drachm; Oil of Anise a fluidrachm; Clarified Honey two ounces; Camphor two scruples; Diluted Al- cohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter through paper." U. S. The Lcmdon College takes fifty grains of camphor, seventy-two grains of powdered opium, the same quantity of benzoic acid, a fiuidrachm of oil of anise, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and proceeds as above. The Dublin process agrees with that of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, omitting the honey, and employing a drachm instead of a fluidrachm of oil of anise. The Edinburgh College directs fifty grains of camphor, four scruples of opium, four scruples of benzoic acid, a fiuidrachm of oil of anise, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit, and digests for a week. This is the well-known paregoric elixir. It is a very pleasant anodyne and antispasmodic, much used to allay cough in chronic catarrh, asthma, consump- tion, pertussis, &c.; to relieve nausea and slight pains in the stomach and bowels; to check diarrhoea; and, in infantile cases, to procure sleep. Half a fluidounce of the U. S., London, and Dublin tincture contains rather less than a grain of opium; of the Edinburgh, about a grain. Liquorice, which was directed in the former U. S. Pharmacopceia, has been omitted in the present edition, in consequence of giving to the preparation the dark colour of lauda- num, and thus leading to mistake. The dose for an infant is from five to twenty drops, for an adult from one to two fluidrachms.* Off. Prep. Mistura Cascarillae Composita, Lond. W. * The following formulae have been adopted by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy for the preparation of the two compound tinctures of opium, so much used under the names of Bateman's drops and Godfrey's cordial. So long as these nostrums are employed, it is important that they should be prepared in a uniform manner, and of a certain strength; as serious consequences may happen from diversity in the formulae, when so active a substance as opium is the chief ingredient. Such diversity has existed to a very great extent; so much so that in one formula for Bateman's drops the quantity of opium was seven and a half grains to the pint, while in another it exeeeded one hundred grains It was in order to remedy this evil, that the College was induced to adopt the formulae here presented. . t> i o i , "Bateman'spectoral drops. Take of Diluted Alcohol Cong, iv., Red Saunders, rasped, Sij Digest for twenty-four hours, filter, and add of Opium in powder gij., Catechu in powder "Iii, Camphor gij., Oil of Anise fljiv. Digest for ten days." This preparation is about equal in strength to the Camphorated tincture of opium or paregoric elixir of the U S Pharmacopoeia, containing about two grains of opium to the fluidounce. "Godfrey's cordial. Take of Tincture of Opium Oiss., Molasses (from the sugar re- finers) Oxvj.. Alcohol Oij., Water Oxxvj.. Carbonate of Potassa giiss., Oil of Sassafras fziv Dissolve the Carbonate of Potassa in the Water, add the Molasses, and heat over 1182 Tincturse. PART II. TINCTURA QUASSIiE. U. S., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Quassia. "Take of Quassia, rasped, two ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by moistening the Quassia thoroughly with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, then trans- ferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U S. The Edinburgh College takes ten drachms of quassia, and two pints (Im- perial measure) of proof spirit, and digests for a week; the Dublin, an ounce of quassia, and two pints of proof spirit, and macerates for a week. In the formula of the last edition of the U. S. Pharmacopceia, the proportion of the quassia to the menstruum was very judiciously doubled. A tonic tinc- ture can scarcely contain too large a proportion of the active ingredient. The Edinburgh and Dublin preparations are much too feeble. This tincture may be employed as an addition to tonic infusions or mixtures, in the quantity of one or two fluidrachms at a dose. It is a pure and intense bitter. W. TINCTURA QUASSIiE COMPOSITA. Ed. Compound Tinc- ture of Quassia. " Take of Cardamom seeds, bruised, and Cochineal, bruised, of each, half an ounce; Cinnamon, in moderately fine powder, and Quassia in chips, of each, six drachms; Raisins seven ounces; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Digest for seven days, strain the liquor, express strongly the resi- duum, and filter. This tincture may also be obtained by percolation, as directed for compound tincture of cardamom, provided the Quassia be rasped or in powder." Ed. This is tonic and aromatic, and may be given in the dose of one or two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA RHEI. U.S., Ed. Tincture of Rhubarb. "Take of Rhubarb, bruised, three ounces; Cardamom [seeds], bruised, half an ounce; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Rhu- barb and Cardamom, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The Edinburgh College takes three ounces and a half of rhubarb, in mode- rately fine powder, half an ounce of bruised cardamom seeds, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit; and prepares the tincture, like that of cin- chona, either by percolation or by digestion. W. TINCTURA RHEI COMPOSITA. Lond., Dub. Compound Tincture of Rhubarb. " Take of Rhubarb, sliced, two ounces and a half; Liquorice Root, bruised, six drachms; Ginger, sliced, Saffron, each, three drachms; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond. a gentle fire till they simmer; take off the scum which rises.and add the Laudanum and Oil of Sassafras, having previously mixed them well together." This preparation con- tains the strength of rather more than one grain of opium in a fluidounce. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., v. 26 and 27.) PART II. Tincturse. 1183 The Dublin College employs two ounces of rhubarb, half an ounce of car- damom seeds, husked and bruised, half an ounce of bruised ginger, two drachms of saffron, and two pints of proof spirit; and macerates for seven days. W. TINCTURA RHEI ET ALOES. U.S., Ed. Tincture of Rhu- barb and Aloes. Elixir Sacrum. Sacred Elixir. " Take of Rhubarb, bruised, ten drachms; Aloes, in powder, six drachms; Cardamom [seeds], bruised, half an ounce; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Ma- cerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper." U. S. The Edinburgh College takes an ounce and a half of rhubarb, in mode- rately fine powder, six drachms of Socotrine or East India aloes, in moderately fine powder, five drachms of bruised cardamom seeds, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit; mixes the dry materials, and proceeds as for the tincture of cinchona. W. TINCTURA RHEI ET GENTIANS. U. S., Ed. Tincture of Rhubarb and Gentian. "Take of Rhubarb, bruised, two ounces; Gentian, bruised, half an ounce; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Rhu- barb and Gentian, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The Edinburgh College takes two ounces of rhubarb, in moderately fine powder, half an ounce of gentian, finely cut or in coarse powder, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit; mixes the powders, and proceeds as for tincture of cinchona. The above tinctures of rhubarb are all in a greater or less degree purgative, stomachic, and tonic: but, except in low states of the system, or in cases of individuals accustomed to the use of ardent spirits, they are too feebly cathar- tic in proportion to their stimulant power, to be advantageously employed, unless as adjuvants to other medicines. Combined with the neutral salts or other laxatives, or with tonic and stomachic infusions, mixtures, &c, they serve to render them warmer and more cordial to the stomach, and often prove beneficial in flatulent colic, dyspepsia, the costiveness of cold irritable habits, diarrhoea, and other analogous complaints. One of them is to be preferred to another, according as its peculiar composition may, in the judgment of the practitioner, appear to adapt it to the circumstances of the case under treat- ment. In low forms of fever, when the indication is to evacuate the bowels, and at the same time stimulate the patient, the simple tincture ( Tinctura Rhei) may be very advantageously used in doses of two or three fluidrachms, re- peated at proper intervals till it operates. The ordinary dose of these tinc- tures, as purgatives, is from half a fluidounce to a fluidounce; as stomachics, from one to two or three fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA RHEI ET SENNAE. US. Tincture of Rhubarb and Senna. "Take of Rhubarb, bruised, an ounce; Senna two drachms; Coriander [seeds], bruised, Fennel-seed, bruised, each, a drachm; Red Saunders, rasped, two drachms; Saffron, Liquorice [extract], each, half a drachm; Raisins, de- 1184 Tincturse. PART II. prived of their seeds, half a pound; Diluted Alcohol three pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper." U.S. This is the stomachic so well known, and so much used in this country, under the name of Warner's gout cordial. It is a feeble purgative, usually very acceptable to the stomach, and well adapted to cases of costiveness, with gastric uneasiness, in persons of a gouty habit, and accustomed to the free use of wine or other stimulant drink. The dose is from half a fluidounce to two fluidounces. " • TINCTURA SANGUINARIA. U.S. Tincture of Bloodroot. "Take of Bloodroot, bruised, four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Blood- root, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually^ pour- ing upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U.S. This will prove emetic in the dose of three or four fluidrachms; but it is rather intended to act as a stimulant to the stomach, expectorant, or altera- tive, for which purposes it may be given in the quantity of from thirty to sixty drops. " • TINCTURA SAPONIS CAMPHORATA. U. S. Linimentum Saponis. Lond., Ed., Dub. Camphorated Tincture of Soap. "Take of Soap [Castile soap], in shavings, four ounces; Camphor two ounces; Oil of Rosemary half a fluidounce; Alcohol two pints. Digest the Soap with the Alcohol by means of a water-bath till it is dissolved; then filter, and add the Camphor and Oil." U. S. The London and Dublin Colleges take three ounces of soap, an ounce of camphor, and a pint (sixteen fluidounces,^ Lond.) of spirit of rosemary. The former dissolves the camphor in the spirit, then adds the soap, and macerates with a gentle heat till it is dissolved; the latter digests the soap in the spirit till it is dissolved, and then adds the camphor. The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of Castile soap, two ounces and a half of camphor, six fluidrachms of oil of rosemary, and two pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit; digests the soap in the spirit for three days, adds the camphor and oil, and agitates It is necessary, in preparing this tincture, that the soap employed should not have been made with animal oil, as otherwise the preparation will not be fluid at ordinary temperatures. The soap indicated by the U. S. Pharmaco- poeia is that " prepared from soda and olive oil," commonly called Castile soap Even with this, the U. S. tincture coagulates upon cooling, and re- quires the addition of a portion of water to enable it to retain the liquid form. If made with hard old Castile soap, the tincture becomes solid upon cooling, and requires a temperature of 84° to render it again perfectly fluid; and the least proportion of water adequate to cause the preparation to remain fluid between 45° and 50° is one part, by measure, to ten of the alcohol. Three fluidounces of water, added to the quantity of materials indicated in the for- mula are sufficient to prevent the tincture from coagulating at ordinary tem- peratures- and the same result may be obtained by using alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-848 instead of the officinal. This preparation has been usually called soap liniment a name which more properly belongs to the Linimentum Saponis Camphoratum of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, or common opodeldoc. PART II. Tincturse. 1185 The camphorated tincture of soap is much used, as an anodyne and gently rubefacient embrocation, in sprains, bruises, and local rheumatic or gouty pains. Off. Prep. Linimentum Opii, Lond., Dub. W. TINCTURA SCILLA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Squill. " Take of Squill four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Squill, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol, until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The London College takes five ounces of recently dried squill, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dub- lin, four ounces of the former and two pints of the latter, and macerates for seven days. The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of coarsely powdered squill, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit; and proceeds by percola- tion, as for the tincture of Peruvian bark, but without pressing the pulp firmly in the percolator. The College also allows the tincture to be prepared by digestion from the sliced bulb. The tincture possesses all the virtues of squill, and may be given for the same purposes, whenever the spirituous menstruum is not objectionable. The dose as an expectorant or diuretic is from ten to twenty minims (twenty to forty drops), and the latter quantity frequently nauseates. W. TINCTURA SENNA COMPOSITA. Lond., Dub. Compound Tincture of Senna. " Take of Senna three ounces and a half; Caraway [seeds], bruised, three drachms and a half; Cardamom [seeds] bruised, a drachm; Raisins five ounces; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond. The Dublin College takes a pound of senna, an ounce and a half of cara- way, half an ounce of cardamom seeds without the capsules, and a gallon of proof spirit, and proceeds as above. This tincture is the elixir salutis of the old Pharmacopoeias. It is a warm cordial purgative, useful in costiveness attended with flatulence, and in atonic gout, especially when occurring in intemperate persons. It is also added to cathartic infusions and mixtures. The dose is from two fluidrachms to a fluid- ounce or more. W. TINCTURA SENNA ET JALAPA. U.S. Tinctura Sennae Composita. Ed. Tincture of Senna and Jalap. " Take of Senna three ounces; Jalap, in powder, an ounce; Coriander [seeds], bruised, Caraway [seeds], bruised, each, half an ounce; Cardamom [seeds], bruised, two drachms; Sugar [refined] four ounces; Diluted Alcohol three pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. "This Tincture may also be prepared by beating well together the Senna, Jalap, and Aromatics, moistening them thoroughly with Diluted Alcohol, allowing them to stand for forty-eight hours, then transferring them to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon them Diluted Alco- hol until three pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. " Take of Sugar two ounces and a half; Coriander, bruised, one ounce; Jalap, in moderately fine powder, six drachms; Senna four ounces; Cara- 75 1186 Tincturse. part ii. way, bruised, and Cardamom seeds, bruised, of each, five drachms; Raisins, bruised, four ounces; Proof Spirit two pints [Imperial measure]. Digest for seven days, strain the liquor, express strongly the residuum, and filter the liquids. This tincture may be more conveniently and expeditiously pre- pared by percolation, as directed for the compound tincture of cardamom." Ed. This is another form of the elixir salutis, and scarcely differs from the preceding in virtues. It is given for the same purposes, and in the same doses. W. TINCTURA SERPENTARIA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tinc- ture of Virginia Snakeroot. " Take of Virginia Snakeroot, bruised, three ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Vir- ginia Snakeroot, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours; then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U. S. The London College takes three ounces and a half of the roof, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dublin, three ounces of the former and two pints of the latter, and macerates for seven days; the Edinburgh, three ounces and a half of the root, in mode- rately fine powder, a drachm of bruised cochineal, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of proof spirit, and proceeds either by percolation or digestion as for the tinc- ture of Peruvian bark. This tincture possesses the tonic and cordial properties of the root, and may be advantageously added to the infusion of Peruvian bark in low states of the system. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA STRAMONII. U.S. Tincture of Stramonium. " Take of Stramonium Seed, bruised, four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Stra- monium Seed, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for forty- eight hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradu- ally pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U.S. This tincture may be used for all the purposes for which stramonium is given, in the dose of from ten to twenty minims (twenty to forty drops), re- peated twice or thrice a day, and gradually increased till it obviously affects the system. W. TINCTURA TOLUTANI. U.S. Tinctura Tolutana. Ed. Tinctura Balsami Tolutani. Lond., Dub. Tincture of Tolu. " Take of Balsam of Tolu three ounces; Alcohol two pints. Macerate until the Balsam is dissolved; then filter through paper." U. S. The London College employs two ounces of the balsam to two pints (Impe- rial measure) of rectified spirit; the Edinburgh, three ounces and a half of the balsam to two pints (Imp. meas.) of rectified spirit; the Dublin an ounce to a pint. The tincture of tolu has the properties of the balsam, and may be em- ployed as an addition to expectorant mixtures in chronic catarrhal affections; but the proportion of alcohol is too large to allow of its advantageous use in PART II. Tincturse. 1187 ordinary cases. The dose is one or two fluidrachms. In smaller quantities it is often employed to flavour cough mixtures. It is decomposed by water. Off. Prep. Syrupus Tolutani, U S., Ed., Dub.; Trochisci Morphiae, Ed.; Trochisci Morphiae et Ipecacuanhae, Ed.; Trochisci Opii, Ed. W. TINCTURA VALERIANA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Valerian. "Take of Valerian, bruised, four ounces; Diluted Alcohol two pints. Ma- cerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Vale- rian, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are ob- tained." U.S. The London College takes five ounces of bruised valerian, and two pints (Imperial measure) of proof spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dublin, four ounces of the powdered root, and two pints of proof spirit, and macerates for seven days; the Edinburgh, five ounces of the former and two pints (Imp. meas.) of the latter, and proceeds by percolation or digestion as for the tincture of Peruvian bark. This tincture possesses the properties of valerian, but cannot be given in ordinary cases, so as to produce the full effects of the root, without stimulate ing too highly in consequence of the large proportion of spirit. The dose is from one to four fluidrachms. W. TINCTURA VALERIANA AMMONIATA. U.S., Ed., Dub. Tinctura Valeriana Composita. Lond. Ammoniated Tincture of Valerian. "Take of Valerian, bruised, four ounces; Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Vale- rian, in powder, with Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours in a covered vessel, then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U S. The London College takes five ounces of bruised valerian, and two pints (Imperial measure) of aromatic spirit of ammonia, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dublin, two ounces of the powdered root, and a pint of spirit of ammonia, and macerates for seven days; the Edinburgh, five ounces of vale- rian, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of spirit of ammonia, and proceeds either by percolation, or by digestion in a well-closed vessel, as directed for tincture of Peruvian bark. The ammonia in this preparation is thought to assist the solvent powers of the alcohol, while it co-operates with the valerian in medical action. The tinc- ture is employed as an antispasmodic in hysteria and other nervous affections. The dose is one or two fluidrachms, and should be given in sweetened water, milk, or some mucilaginous fluid. W TINCTURA ZINGIBERIS. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tincture of Ginger. " Take of Ginger, bruised, eight ounces; Alcohol two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, express, and filter through paper. " This Tincture may also be prepared by thoroughly moistening the Ginger, in powder, with Diluted Alcohol, allowing it to stand for twenty-four hours, 1188 Tincturae.—Trochisci. PART II. then transferring it to an apparatus for displacement, and gradually pouring upon it Diluted Alcohol until two pints of filtered liquor are obtained." U.S. The London College, takes two ounces and a half of sliced ginger, and two pints (Imperial measure) of rectified spirit, and macerates for fourteen days; the Dublin, two ounces and a half of coarsely powdered ginger, and two pints of rectified spirit, and macerates for seven days; the Edinburgh, two ounces and a half of coarsely powdered ginger, and two pints (Imp. meas.) of rec- tified spirit, and proceeds either by percolation or digestion, as for tincture of Peruvian bark. The tinctures of the British Colleges are too weak with ginger to be used advantageously for any other purpose than merely to impart flavour. We greatly prefer the process of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, which yields a pre- paration in which the virtues of the ginger are not completely swallowed up in the menstruum. In consequence of the mucilaginous matter contained in ginger, the tincture made with diluted alcohol, or proof spirit, is apt to be turbid. Alcohol or rectified spirit is, therefore, properly preferred. Good Jamaica ginger should be used. The tincture of ginger is a useful carminative, and may often be beneficially added to tonic and purgative infusions or mixtures, in debilitated states of the alimentary canal. It is, however, in this country, chiefly used for the prepa- ration of syrup of ginger, for which purpose it is necessary to employ the strong tincture of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. Off. Prep. Syrupus Zingiberis, U. S. W. TROCHISCI. Troches. Troches or lozenges are small, dry, solid masses, usually of a flattened shape, consisting of powders incorporated with sugar and mucilage. They are de- signed to be held in the mouth, and dissolved slowly in the saliva, and are, therefore, adapted for the administration of those medicines only which do not require to be given in very large quantities, and are destitute of any very dis- agreeable flavour. They are much more used, and more skillfully prepared, in Europe than in this country. Tragacanth, from the greater tenacity of its mucilage, is better suited for their formation than gum Arabic. The follow- ing directions for preparing them are taken from the Dictionnaire des Drogues. A mucilage of tragacanth is first prepared with cold water and strained. With this the powders, including sugar, are thoroughly mixed by rubbing upon a marble slab, and are thus formed into a paste, which is spread out by means of a roller upon the surface of the marble, previously powdered over with a mixture of sugar and starch. The thickness of the extended mass is rendered uniform by a frame upon which the ends of the roller are placed. The upper surface is now covered with a thin layer of sugar and starch, and the mass is divided into small cakes of a particular shape by means of a punch. These cakes are placed upon paper, and, having been exposed to the air for twelve hours, are carried into a drying room moderately heated. When perfectly dry they are thrown upon a sieve to separate the sugar and starch, and are then enclosed in bottles. In this way lozenges may be prepared from almost any medicine which the physician may deem it advisable to administer in that form. The following formula will serve as a guide. Take of citric acid, in powder, a PART II. Trochisci. 1189 drachm; refined sugar eight ounces; oil of lemons twelve minims; mucilage cf tragacanth a sufficient quantity. Form them in the manner above directed into troches of twelve grains each. A species of lozenge is made by uniting the aromatic essential oils with sugar alone; but their preparation belongs to the confectioner rather than to the apothecary. The London and Dublin Pharmacopoeias have omitted troches altogether. W. TROCHISCI ACACIA. Ed. Troches of Gum Arabic. "Take of Gum Arabic four ounces; Starch one ounce; Pure Sugar one pound. Mix and pulverize them, and make them into a proper mass with rose-water for forming lozenges." Ed. These are useful in allaying the irritation of the fauces which excites cough- ing, and may be employed at pleasure. W. TROCHISCI ACIDI TARTARICI. Ed. Troches of Tartaric Acid. " Take of Tartaric Acid two drachms; Pure Sugar eight ounces; Volatile Oil of Lemons ten minims. Pulverize the Sugar and Acid, add the Oil, mix them thoroughly, and with Mucilage beat them into a proper mass for making lozenges." Ed. These may be used as an agreeable refrigerant and demulcent in slight colds and fevers; but in large quantities they are apt to derange the stomach. W. TROCHISCI CRETA. U.S., Ed. Troches of Chalk. " Take of Prepared Chalk four ounces; Gum Arabic, in powder, an ounce; Nutmeg, in powder, a drachm; Sugar, in powder, six ounces. Rub them together until they are intimately mixed; then with water form them into a mass, to be divided into Troches, each weighing ten grains." U. S. The Edinburgh College uses the same ingredients in the same proportion, and beats them with a little water into a proper mass for making lozenges. These are used as a gently astringent antacid in diarrhoea. W. TROCHISCI GLYCYRRHIZA. Ed. Troches of Liquorice. " Take of Extract of Liquorice [Liquorice, U. S.], and Gum Arabic, of each, six ounces; Pure Sugar one pound. Dissolve them in a sufficiency of boiling water; and then concentrate the solution over the vapour-bath to a proper consistence for making lozenges." Ed. These lozenges are useful in allaying cough, but have been superseded in great measure by refined liquorice. W. TROCHISCI GLYCYRRHIZA ET OPII. U. S. Trochisci Opii. Ed. Troches of Liquorice and Opium. "Take of Opium, in powder, half an ounce; Liquorice, in powder, Sugar, in powder, Gum Arabic, in powder, each, ten ounces; Oil of Anise two flui- drachms. Mix the powders intimately; then add the Oil of Anise, and with^ water form them into a mass, to be divided into Troches each weighing six * grains." U. S. " Take of Opium two drachms; Tincture of Tolu half an ounce; Pure Sugar, in fine powder, six ounces; Powder of Gum Arabic, and Extract of Liquorice [Liquorice, U. S.], of each, five ounces. Reduce the Opium to a fluid extract by formula [page 947 U.S. Dispensatory]; mix it intimately with the Liquorice previously reduced to the consistence of treacle; add the Tincture; sprinkle the Gum and Sugar into the mixture, and beat it into a proper mass, which is to be divided into lozenges of ten grains." Ed. 1190 Trochisci. PART II. The U. S. formula is more easy of execution than the Edinburgh, and affords a product probably not inferior. A preparation equivalent to the above is much used in Philadelphia under the name of Wistar's cough lozenges. These troches are demulcent and anodyne, and are very useful in allaying cough, when the state of the case admits the employment of opium, of which each of them, prepared according to the U. S. formula, contains about one- tenth of a grain. W. TROCHISCI IPECACUANHA. U.S. Troches of Ipecacuanha. "Take of Ipecacuanha, in powder, half an ounce; Sugar, in powder, four- teen ounces; Arrow-root, in powder, four ounces; Mucilage of Tragacanth a sufficient quantity. Mix the powders intimately, and with the Mucilage form them into a mass, to be divided into Troches each weighing ten grains." U. S. These are useful expectorant lozenges in catarrhal complaints. Each of them contains about one-quarter of a grain of ipecacuanha. W. TROCHISCI LACTUCARII. Ed. Troches of Lactucarium. " To be prepared with Lactucarium in the same proportion and in the same manner as the Opium Lozenge." Ed. This is a very feeble preparation, and scarcely deserves the officinal rank which has been given to it. Eacb lozenge contains only between the fifth and sixth of a grain of lactucarium. W. TROCHISCI MAGNESIA. U. S., Ed. Troches of Magnesia. " Take of Magnesia four ounces; Sugar a pound; Nutmeg, in powder, a drachm; Mucilage of Tragacanth a sufficient quantity. Rub the Magnesia, Sugar, and Nutmeg together until they are thoroughly mixed; then with the Mucilage form them into a mass, to he divided into Troches each weighing ten grains." U. S. "Take of Carbonate of Magnesia six ounces; Pure Sugar three ounces; Nutmeg one scruple. Pulverize them, and with Mucilage of Tragacanth beat them jnto a proper mass for making lozenges." Ed. These are useful in acidity of stomach, especially when attended with con- stipation. W. TROCHISCI MENTHA PIPERITA. U.S. Troches of Pep- permint. "Take of Oil of Peppermint a fluidrachm; Sugar, in powder, apound; Mucilage of Tragacanth a sufficient quantity. Rub the Oil of Peppermint with the Sugar until they are thoroughly mixed; then with the Mucilage form them into a mass, to be divided into Troches each weighing ten grains." U. S. Useful in slight gastric or intestinal pains, nausea, and flatulence; but em- ployed more for their agreeable flavour than for their medicinal effects. W. TROCHISCI MORPHIA. Ed. Troches of Morphia. " Take of Muriate of Morphia one scruple; Tincture of Tolu half an ounce; Pure Sugar twenty-five ounces. Dissolve the Muriate of Morphia in a little hot water; mix it and the Tincture of Tolu with the Sugar; and with a suffi- ciency of Mucilage form a proper mass for making lozenges; each of which should weigh about fifteen grains." Ed. Useful for alleviating cough, and for other purposes which are answered by minute doses of morphia, of the muriate of which each lozenge contains about one-fortieth of a grain. W. PART II. Trochisci.— Unguenta. 1191 TROCHISCI MORPHIA ET IPECACUANHA. Ed. Troches of Morphia and Ipecacuanha. "Take of Muriate of Morphia one scruple; Ipecacuan, in fine powder, one drachm; Tincture of Tolu half a fluidounce; Pure Sugar twenty-five ounces. Dissolve the Muriate in a little hot water; mix it with the Tincture and the Ipecacuan and Sugar; and with a sufficiency of Mucilage beat the whole into a proper mass, which is to be divided into fifteen grain lozenges." Ed. Expectorant and anodyne, useful especially in allaying cough. Each lozenge contains about one-fortieth of a grain of muriate of morphia, and three times as much ipecacuanha. W. TROCHISCI SODA BICARBONATIS. Ed. Troches of Bi- carbonate of Soda. " Take of Bicarbonate of Soda one ounce ; Purge Sugar three ounces ; Gum Arabic half an ounce. Pulverize them, and with Mucilage beat them into a proper mass for making lozenges." Ed. Antacid and antilithic, useful in heartburn and uric acid gravel. W. UNGUENTA. Ointments. These are fatty substances, softer than cerates, of a consistence resembling that of butter, and such that they may be readily applied to the skin by in- unction. Many of them become rancid when long kept, and should, there- fore, be prepared in small quantities at a time, or only when wanted for use. According to Dr. Geiseler, ten drops of the spirit of nitric ether, incorporated with an ounce of ointment, obviates the disagreeable fatty odour of these preparations. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, A. D. 1847, p. 927, from Arch, der Pharm.) W. UNGUENTUM ACIDI NITRICI. Dub. Ointment of Nitric Acid. " Take of Olive Oil a pound; Prepared Lard four ounces; Nitric Acid five and a half fluidrachms. Melt the Oil and Lard together in a glass vessel, and when they begin to congeal, add the Acid, and stir the mixture constantly with a glass rod till it stiffens." Dub. The acid is partially decomposed, evolving nitric oxide, and giving oxygen to the fatty matter, which becomes yellow, and assumes a firm consistence upon cooling. A similar ointment, prepared with lard and nitric acid, was originally employed by Alyon, under whose name it is still known on the continent of Europe. It was formerly one of the Edinburgh officinals, but was discarded at the last revision of the Pharmacopoeia. It was used as an application to syphilitic ulcers, and eruptive affections, particularly psora and the different forms of porrigo; but it has been superseded by the ointment of nitrate of mercury, which is more efficient. The present Dublin ointment possesses the same properties, and is used for the same purposes. W. UNGUENTUM ACIDI SULPHURICI. Dub. Ointment of Sulphuric Acid. "Take of Sulphuric Acid a drachm; Prepared Lard an ounce. Mix them." Dub. In this process the acid is partly converted into sulphurous acid which escapes, and a portion of the lard is charred. The ointment was a favourite 1192 Unguenta. PART II. application with Dr. Duncan, sen., in scabies, and we have found it effectual in the same complaint; but it should be diluted with an equal weight of lard. Thus diluted, it may also be used with advantage in other eruptive affections, particularly ring-worm; and, still weaker, has been used in rheumatism and neuralgia. W. UNGUENTUM ANTIMONII. U.S. Unguentum Antimo- niale. Ed. Unguentum Antimonii Potassio-Tartratis. Lond. Unguentum Tartari Emetici. Dub. Antimonial Ointment. Tartar Emetic Ointment. "Take of Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa, in very fine powder, two drachms ; Lard an ounce. Mix them." U. S. The London and Edinburgh Colleges mix an ounce of tartar emetic and four ounces of lard; the Dublin, a drachm of the former, and an ounce of the latter. This may be more conveniently prepared with simple ointment, as lard is too soft to be spread on linen, and simple ointment is sufficiently so to be applied by inunction. The peculiar eruptive effect of tartar emetic may be procured in various ways, by means either of a strong solution, or of the powder sprinkled upon the surface of some adhesive plaster, or of the ointment as above directed. The last method is, perhaps, the most convenient, and most generally resorted to. The proportion of tartar emetic may vary from one drachm with the ounce of lard, as in the Dublin formula, to two drachms, as in the other officinal formulae, or even to three drachms when a speedy effect is required, or the skin is not very susceptible to its action. A small portion of the ointment may be rubbed twice a day, or more frequently, upon the surface to be affected, or it may be applied spread upon a piece of linen. Care should be taken that the cuticle be entire, and that the application be not too long continued; as otherwise very severe inflammation, and even gan- grenous ulceration may result. We have, however, in some instances of great urgency, applied the ointment to a surface recently scarified in the operation of cupping; but, under such circumstances, it should be used with much caution. W. UNGUENTUM AQUA ROSA. U.S. Ointment of Rose Water. " Take of Rose Water, Oil of Almonds, each, two fluidounces ; Spermaceti half an ounce; White Wax a drachm. Melt together, by means of a water- bath, the Oil, Spermaceti, and Wax; then add the Rose Water, and stir the mixture constantly until it is cold." U. S. This preparation is much employed under the name of cold cream. It is a white, very soft, and elegant unguent, deriving a grateful odour from the rose water, which remains incorporated with the other constituents if kept enclosed in glazed vessels. It is a pleasant, cooling application to irritated and excoriated surfaces; and may be used with great advantage for chapped lips and hands, so frequent in cold weather. W. UNGUENTUM CANTHARIDIS. U.S., Lond., Dub. Un- guentum Infusi Cantharidis. Ed. Ointment of Spanish Flies. " Take of Spanish Flies, in powder [very fine powder, Dub.'], two ounces; Distilled Water half a pint; Resin Cerate eight ounces. Boil down the Water with the Spanish Flies to one-half, and strain; then mix the Cerate with the strained liquor, and evaporate to the proper consistence." U. S., Dub. The London College takes an ounce of the flies, in very fine powder, four PART II. Unguenta. 1193 fluidounces of distilled water, and four ounces of resin cerate, and proceeds as above. " Take of Cantharides, in moderately fine powder, Resin, and Bees'-wax, of each, one ounce; Venice Turpentine, and Axunge [lard], of each, two ounces ; boiling Water five fluidounces. Infuse the Cantharides in the Water for one night, squeeze strongly, and filter the expressed liquid. Add the Axunge, and boil till the water is dispersed. Then add the Wax and Resin; and when these have become liquid, remove the vessel from the fire, add the Turpentine, and mix the whole thoroughly." Ed. By these processes, the active matter of the flies is more uniformly diffused through the ointment than when they are directly incorporated, in the state of powder, with the other ingredients. The preparation is thus better calcu- lated to meet the end proposed of maintaining the discharge from blistered surfaces, without producing undue irritation. It has been said that the virtues of the flies are impaired by the boiling; but experience has proved the con- trary. The Edinburgh College, by ordering merely an infusion of the flies, and a subsequent boiling down of the filtered infusion, loses any advantage which decoction may have in extracting the virtues of the flies, without avoid- ing whatever disadvantage may accrue from the heat. It is necessary, in the U. S., London, and Dublin processes, after the strained decoction and cerate have been mixed, to stir constantly during the continuance of the evaporation, in order to prevent the former from sinking to the bottom. It should be re- collected that this ointment is intended as a dressing for blisters, not to pro- duce vesication. The Edinburgh ointment differs from the others in contain- ing Venice turpentine, which renders it more stimulating. Dupuytren em- ployed, as a local application to prevent the loss of hair, an ointment made by macerating a drachm of flies in a fluidounce of alcohol, and incorporating one part of the tincture thus formed with nine parts of lard. W. UNGUENTUM CANTHARIDIS. Ed. Ceratum Cantharidis. Lond. Ointment of the Powder of Spanish Flies. "Take of Resinous Ointment seven ounces; Cantharides, in very fine powder, one ounce. Melt the Ointment; sprinkle into it the Cantharides powder, and stir the mixture briskly as it concretes on cooling." Ed. "Take of Spanish Flies in very fine powder, an ounce; Spermaceti Ce- rate six ounces. To the Cerate softened by heat, add the Flies, and mix." Lond. This ointment, like the two preceding, is intended as a dressing for blis- tered surfaces, with a view to maintain the discharge. The flies should be very finely powdered, in order that they may be diffused as uniformly as possible through the mass. It is unfortunate that the term ceratum cantharidis has been conferred upon this preparation by the London College; as the same name is properly employed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia to express the prepa- ration of flies intended to be used as a vesicatory. None of these ointments can be used in individuals liable to strangury from the external application of cantharides. W. UNGUENTUM CETACEI. Lond. Spermaceti Ointment. "Take of Spermaceti six drachms; White Wax two drachms; Olive Oil three fluidounces. Melt them together over a slow fire, and stir them con- stantly until cold." Lond. This ointment is employed as a mild dressing for blisters, wounds, and excoriated surfaces. It should be made in small quantities at a time, as it is apt to become rancid when long kept. W. 1194 Unguenta. PART II. UNGUENTUM COCCULI. Ed. Ointment of Cocculus Indicus. " Take any convenient quantity of Cocculus Indicus, separate and pre- serve the kernels, beat them well in a mortar, first alone and then with a little Axunge [lard]; and then add Axunge till it amounts altogether to five times the weight of the kernels." Ed. This ointment is used for the destruction of vermin, and in the cure of scabies and ringworm of the scalp. In the latter complaint it was found very useful by the late Dr. Hamilton, sen., of Edinburgh. W. UNGUENTUM CONII. Dub. Ointment of Hemlock. " Take of fresh Hemlock Leaves, Prepared Lard, each, two pounds. Boil the Leaves in the Lard till they become crisp, and then express through linen." Dub. This ointment has been used as an anodyne application to irritable piles, painful glandular swellings and scirrhous tumours, and to cancerous and other painful ulcers; but there is reason to believe that the virtues of the hemlock are impaired by the heat necessary in its preparation. An oint- ment prepared by mixing good extract of hemlock with lard would probably be more efficient. W. UNGUENTUM CREASOTI. U. S., Lond., Ed. Ointment of Creasote. " Take of Creasote half a fluidrachm ; Lard an ounce. Add the Creasote to the Lard previously melted with a moderate heat, and stir them constantly till they are cold." U. S. The London College mixes half a fluidrachm of creasote and an ounce of lard. The Edinburgh College takes a drachm of creasote and three ounces of lard, and proceeds as above directed. For the use of this ointment see Creasotum. It may sometimes be advan- tageously diluted with lard when found to irritate. W. UNGUENTUM CUPRI SUBACETATIS. U.S., Dub. Un- guentum Aruginis. Ed. Ointment of Subacetate of Copper. " Take of Subacetate of Copper, in fine powder, a drachm ; Simple Oint- ment fifteen drachms. Add the Subacetate of Copper to the Ointment pre- viously melted with a moderate heat, and stir them constantly till they are cold." U.S. "Take of Resinous Ointment fifteen ounces; Verdigris, in fine powder, one ounce. Melt the Ointment, sprinkle into it the powder of Verdigris, and stir the mixture briskly as it cools and concretes." Ed. " Take of Prepared Subacetate of Copper half an ounce; Olive Oil an ounce; Ointment of White Resin [resin cerate] a pound. Rub the Sub- acetate with the Oil; then add them to the Ointment previously melted, and mix." Dub. This ointment is employed as a mild escharotic in fungous granulations, and, more or less diluted with lard, as a stimulating application to foul and flabby ulcers, scrofulous ulcerations of the edges of the eyelids, disease of the external meatus of the ear with purulent discharge, to warts and corns, and to certain cutaneous eruptions, particularly that form of porrigo denomi- nated ringworm of the scalp. W. UNGUENTUM ELEMI. Lond., Dub. Ointment of Elemi. " Take of Elemi a pound; Common Turpentine ten ounces; Suet two pounds; Olive Oil two fiuidounces. Melt the Elemi with the Suet, and, hav- ing removed them from the fire, immediately mix them with the Turpentine and Oil, and express through linen." Lond. PART II. Unguenta. 1195 " Take of Resin of Elemi a pound ; White Wax half a pound ; Prepared Lard four pounds. Make an ointment, and strain it through a sieve while hot." Dub. This ointment is applied as a gentle stimulant to weak ulcers, and may be used for maintaining the discharge of issues and setons. It is the linimentum orcsei of the older pharmacy. W. UNGUENTUM GALLA. U.S. Unguentum Gallarum. Dub. Ointment of Galls. " Take of Galls, in powder [very fine powder, Dub.~\, an ounce; Lard seven ounces [eight ounces, Dub.~\. Mix them." U. S., Dub. This is used chiefly in piles and prolapsus ani, though it may also be ad- vantageously applied to flabby and indolent ulcers. W. UNGUENTUM GALLA COMPOSITUM. Lond. Unguentum GALLiE et Opii. Ed. Compound Ointment of Galls. "Take of Galls, in very fine powder, two drachms; Lard two ounces; Hard Opium, in powder, half a drachm. Mix them." Lond. The Edinburgh College takes two drachms of galls, a drachm of opium, and an ounce of lard, and rubs them together into a uniform mass. This combination of galls and opium is sometimes employed, preferably to the simple gall ointment, in cases of irritable piles. From half a drachm to a drachm of camphor is sometimes added to the London ointment. W. UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI. U.S., Ed., Dub. Unguen- tum Hydrargyri Fortius. Lond. Mercurial Ointment. Strong Mercurial Ointment. "Take of Mercury two pounds; Lard twenty-three ounces; Suet an ounce. Rub the Mercury with the Suet and a small portion of the Lard until the globules disappear; then add the remainder of the Lard, and mix." U. S., Lond. "Take of Mercury two pounds; Axunge [lard] twenty-three ounces; Suet one ounce. Triturate the Mercury with the Suet and a little of the Axunge till globules are no longer visible; then add the rest of the Axunge, and mix the whole thoroughly. This ointment is not well prepared so long as metallic globules may be seen in it with a magnifier of four powers. The Mercurial Ointment with the proportions here directed may be diluted at pleasure with twice or thrice its weight of axunge." Ed. " Take of Purified Mercury, prepared Lard, equal weights. Rub them together in a marble or iron mortar, till the globules of mercury disappear." Dub. Off. Prep. Ceratum Hydrargyri Compositum, Lond.; Linimentum Hydrar- gyri Comp., Lond,; Unguentum Hydrargyri Mitius. Lond. UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI MITIUS. Lond., Dub. Mild Mercurial Ointment. " Take of Strong Mercurial Ointment a pound; Lard two pounds. Mix them." Ljond. TheDublin College prepares this ointment with twice the quantity of lard used in the preparation of the stronger ointment. The U. S. Pharmacopoeia directs only one mercurial ointment, which ac- cords in strength with the strongest ointment of the London and Dublin Colleges, containing equal weights of mercury and fatty matter. When the physician wishes a weaker preparation, he may direct the ointment to be diluted with such a proportion of lard as may answer his purposes. The 1196 Unguenta. PART II. Edinburgh College, in allowing dilution of the ointment in certain fixed pro- portions, should have given names, by which these weaker preparations might be designated. The milder ointment of the London College contains one part of mercury to five of fat, that of the Dublin College, one of the former to two of the latter. If the apothecary keep a milder preparation in his shop, it should be that of the London College, which, from the smaller pro- portion of mercury, is preferable to that of the Dublin College for the pur- poses to which the milder ointment is usually applied. It should always be understood that the stronger ointment is intended by the physician, unless the contrary is expressly stated. In the preparation of mercurial ointment, care is requisite that the mercury should be completely extinguished. The trituration is best performed in a marble mortar, as it is difficult to keep iron so clean as not to impart more or less oxide to the ointment. The mercury is known to be extinguished, when a portion of the mass, rubbed upon paper or the back of the hand, exhibits no metallic globules under a magnifying glass of four powers. The operation cannot be considered as satisfactorily accomplished when the globules are invisible merely to the naked eye. To facilitate the process, which is very tedious, the addition of various substances has been proposed, calculated to hasten the disappearance of the metal. Turpentine and sulphur have been employed, but are inadmissible; the former because it renders the oint- ment too irritating, the latter because it forms with the mercury an inactive sulphuret. Their presence in the ointment may be detected by the peculiar odour which they respectively emit when exposed to heat. Sulphur, more- over, gives the ointment a darker colour than it has when pure. The ad- dition of a little sulphuric ether, at intervals, during the trituration, is said greatly to abbreviate the process. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvii. 80.) Rancid- ity in the lard employed facilitates the extinguishment of the mercury, but is liable to the same objection as turpentine, though in a much less degree. M. Fossembras found that the addition of rancid fat was required in the pro- portion of only ten drachms to a pound of the ointment, in order to enable eight pounds to be prepared in an hour. (Journ. de Pharm., Se ser., v. 75.) M. Guibourt recommends the addition of one-sixteenth of old mercurial oint- ment. M. Simonin proposes the use of lard which has been exposed in thin layers to a damp air for fifteen days. This facilitates the extinguishment of the metal; but it probably renders the preparation more irritant by the chemi- cal alteration of the lard. The following plan of preparing the ointment was proposed by M. Chevallier. A pound of mercury, and half a pound of fresh lard previously melted, are introduced into a stone or glass bottle, shaken till the mixture acquires the consistence of very thick syrup, then poured into a mortar, and incorporated by constant stirring with an additional half pound of lard. In this manner, according to Chevallier, a perfect ointment may be made in half an hour. When prepared with lard alone, the ointment is apt, in hot weather, to become so soft as to allow the metal -to separate. Hence the addition of suet in the processes of the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias; and even a larger proportion might be employed when the ointment is prepared for use in the summer season. Upon the whole, it may be considered doubtful whether any of the expedi- ents for saving labour and time in the preparation of the ointment are wholly unobjectionable. Dr. Christison states that the better plan is not to complete the process by a continuous trituration, but to operate for a short time every day, and allow the ointment in the mean time to be exposed to the air. But so much labour is required in the process, that the ointment is preferably made by machinery on the large scale. The fatty matters, kept in the fluid PART II. Unguenta. 1197 state by a temperature of about 100°, are triturated with the metal by means of two iron balls, which are driven rapidly round in a circular iron trough by means of steam power. The extinguishment of the mercury is thus effected in about twelve hours. A new method of preparing mercurial ointment, proposed by Orosi, is to precipitate metallic mercury, in the pulverulent form, from a solution of cor- rosive sublimate, by an excess of protochloride of tin, with the addition of muriatic acid; and, having poured off the supernatant fluid, washed the pre- cipitate with warm water, and dried it between bibulous paper, to incorporate it with the prescribed proportion of lard. To prevent the precipitated mer- cury from running into globules, it is recommended to cover with fat the in- terior of the vessel in which the precipitation takes place. (Ranking''s Abstract, i. 350.) Mercurial ointment has when newly prepared a bluish colour, which be- comes darker by age. It was formerly thought to contain the mercury in the state of protoxide; but it has been shown that most of the metal can be sepa- rated from the lard by methods not calculated to reduce the oxide; and che- mists now generally admit that by far the greater portion of it exists in the preparation in a state of minute division, not of chemical combination. It is probable, however, that the metal is partially oxidized; and the darker colour which the ointment acquires by age is attributable to the further oxi- dation of the mercury. If the ointment be kept long in a melted state in a narrow vessel, metallic mercury subsides, and an oily liquid floats upon the surface. After this has been filtered so as to separate every thing undissolved, it is blackened by sulphuretted hydrogen, and yields oxide of mercury to acetic acid. Dr. Christison states that he has examined various samples of the oint- ment, and never failed to detect oxide of mercury; and he has inferred from his observations, that the oxide amounts to rather more than one per cent. ( Christison's Dispensatory.) But the proportion is variable according to the age and mode of preparation of the ointment. It scarcely admits of a doubt, that the oxide of mercury formed enters into chemical combination with the lard, or one of its oily acids. Mr. Donovan advanced the idea that the medi- cinal activity of the ointment depended exclusively on this compound of the lard with the mercurial oxide. An ointment made by merely mixing lard and black oxide of mercury has not the same effect, because there is no che- mical union between the ingredients. But, upon exposing such a mixture to a temperature of 350°, and continually agitating it for two hours, he found that every ounce of lard dissolved and combined with twenty-one grains of oxide, and the resulting compound was proved to be equally effectual with the common ointment, and capable of being introduced into the system in one- third of the time. (Paris's Pharmacologia.) It has been proposed to sub- stitute an ointment thus prepared for that made according to the officinal di- rection, as being more manageable, and of more uniform strength. Care, however, would be required in preparing it to avoid a temperature either too high or too low; as the former might decompose the oxide, and the latter would be insufficient to effect its union with the lard. There would be danger, also, that the lard might be rendered irritant by the influence of the heat. From experiments by a committee of the College of Pharmacy, of New York, it appears that the ointment contained in jars becomes somewhat un- equal in strength in consequence of the settling of the metallic ingredient. The inference is that, after long standing, the contents of the jar should be triturated so as to restore an equable strength before being dispensed. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 2.) Medical Uses. Mercurial ointment, when rubbed upon the surface of the 1198 Unguenta. PART II. body, produces, in consequence of its absorption, the same general effects upon the system as the other preparations of the metal. It is resorted to either alone, when circumstances prevent or discourage the internal use of mercury, or conjointly with the internal use of the medicine, to produce a more speedy or powerful effect in urgent cases. It may also be advantageously employed as a resolvent in local affections; as in the case of venereal buboes, and of chronic glandular swellings, upon which it may be made to operate directly by being applied in the course of the absorbents passing through the enlarged glands. The proper quantity to be employed at one time, with a view to salivation, is about a drachm, which should be applied night and morning, by means of friction, to the inner surface of the thighs, legs, or arms, and con- tinued till the system is affected. In urgent cases, or in local affections, it may also be rubbed on other parts of the body, or applied to blistered surfaces. The friction should on each occasion be continued till the whole of the ointment is absorbed. When fre- quently rubbed upon the same part, it is apt to produce a disagreeable erup- tion which interferes with its continued application. Camphor is sometimes added, in order to render it more easy of absorption; but, without producing this effect, it increases the liability of the ointment to irritate the skin, and is of no other advantage than to soften its consistence when too firm from a large proportion of suet. Mercurial ointment has been employed, with some success, to prevent the maturation of the small-pox pustule, and the conse- quent pitting. For this purpose it may be applied to the face or other part, thickly spread on patent lint or muslin, care being taken to prevent the access of the air to the covered part. To be successful it must be applied before the third or fourth day of the eruption. The ointment has been recommended also in erysipelas and chilblains. Iodide of potassium rubbed with mercurial ointment is said to favour the separation of the mercury in the form of glo- bules (Journ. de Pharm., Se sir., x. 356); but the effect does not take place if the iodide is thoroughly dried and well powdered, and the ointment added to it by small portions at a time. (Ibid., x. 421.) The weaker ointment is employed only as an application to ulcers, and to certain cutaneous eruptions. W. UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI AMMONIATI. U. S. Un- guentum Hydrargyri Ammonio-Chloridi. Lond. Unguentum Precipitati Albi. Ed. Unguentum Hydrargyri Submuriatis Ammoniati. Dub. Ointment of Ammoniated Mercury. Ointment of White Precipitate. " Take of Ammoniated Mercury a drachm; Simple Ointment an ounce and a half. Add the Ammoniated Mercury to the Ointment previously softened over a gentle fire, and mix them." U. S. The processes of the British Colleges are essentially the same as the above. This ointment is employed chiefly in cutaneous eruptions, such as psora, porrigo, and herpes. W. UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI IODIDI. Lond. Ointment of Iodide of Mercury. UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI BINIODIDE Lond. Oint- ment of Biniodide of Mercury. These two ointments are prepared by the London College from the iodide and biniodide of mercury, respectively, in the manner directed by the College for their ointment of nitrico-oxide of mercury. (See Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxidi Rubri.) PART II. Unguenta. 1199 They are both employed as dressings to scrofulous ulcers; the ointment of the biniodide being preferred, on account of its much greater activity, when the ulcers are very indolent. W. UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI NITRATIS. U.S., Lond. Unguentum Citrinum. Ed. Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis vet Unguentum Citrinum. Dub. Ointment of Nitrate of Mercury. Citrine Ointment. "Take of Mercury an ounce; Nitric Acid eleven fluidrachms; Fresh Neats-foot Oil nine fluidounces; Lard three ounces. Dissolve the Mercury in the Acid; then melt the Oil and Lard together, and, when they begin to stiffen upon cooling, add the solution, and mix." U. S. " Take of Mercury an ounce; Nitric Acid eleven fluidrachms [Imperial measure]; Lard six ounces; Olive Oil four fluidounces [Imp. measure]. First dissolve the Mercury in the Acid; then, while the solution is hot, mix it with the Lard and Oil previously melted together." Lond. "Take of Purified Mercury an, ounce; Nitric Acid eleven drachms and a half; Olive Oil a pint; Prepared Lard four ounces. Dissolve the Mercury in the Acid, then mix the solution with the Oil and Lard previously melted together, and form an ointment, in the manner directed for the Ointment of Nitric Acid." Dub. " Take of Pure Nitric Acid eight fluidounces and six fluidrachms [Im- perial measure] ; Mercury four ounces; Axunge [lard] fifteen ounces; Olive Oil thirty-two fluidounces. Dissolve the Mercury in the Acid with the aid of a gentle heat. Melt the Axunge in the Oil with the aid of a moderate heat in a vessel capable of holding six times the quantity; and, while the mixture is hot, add the solution of mercury, also hot, and mix them tho- roughly. If tbe mixture do not froth up, increase the heat a little till this take place. Keep this ointment in earthenware vessels, or in glass vessels secluded from the light." Ed. Dr. Christison in his Dispensatory states that, in this formula, in. order to meet the intentions of its framers, the quantity of Olive Oil should be thirty-eight fluidounces and a half, and of Nitric Acid (sp. gr. from 1-380 to 1-390) nine fluidounces and a half. The chemical changes which take place in the preparation of this ointment are not precisely known. They differ somewhat according to the circum- stances under which the Operation is performed; for example, according to the proportion and strength of the acid, the nature of the fatty matter, and the degree of heat employed. The mercury, in the first step of the process, is oxidized at the expense of a portion of the acid, nitrous fumes escape, and the undecomposed acid unites with the oxidized metal, forming nitrate of the deutoxide of mercury if heat be employed, and a mixture of this with nitrate of the protoxide, if the process be conducted at a low temperature. If the officinal directions be strictly complied with in relation to the strength of the acid, this will be in excess, and it is not improbable that a portion of nitrous or hyponitrous acid may at the same time exist in the mixture. When the mercurial solution is added to the fatty matter, a reaction takes place, which probably results in the production of the yellow subnitrate of the deutoxide of mercury, of one or more of the fatty acids, as the oleic, margaric, and stearic, and of elaidin or elaidic acid, or both. (See page 481.) It is also highly probable that portions of these fatty acids combine with the oxide of mercury. But the degree to which these changes take place is influenced greatly by the temperature to which the mixture is exposed. ^ If this be low, there is little or no escape of gas; if elevated, there is a copious evolution of 1200 Unguenta. PART II. nitrous fumes. In the former case the changes are obviously less considerable than in the latter. As formerly prepared, this ointment, though at first beautifully yellow and of the proper consistence, soon began to change, acquiring in time a dirty greenish and mottled colour, and becoming so hard and friable as to be unfit for use unless mixed with lard. These results were ascribed to various causes, and as many different modifications of the process were proposed in order to obviate them. The U. S. process is based upon the fact, that the olive oil of the British processes is hardened by nitrous acid or the nitrate of mercury, while the same effect is not produced upon neats'-foot oil. (See Oleum Olivae, page 493.) This process produces a good ointment, which, though it sometimes assumes a greenish colour on exposure, retains permanently a soft unctuous consistence. We have in our possession specimens of oint- ment, prepared several years since according to the U. S. formula, which have at this time a uniform yellowish colour, and a perfectly good unctuous consistence. It is said that the three ounces of lard of this formula may be advantageously replaced by the same quantity of neats'-foot oil. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., iv. 197.) It is probable that other animal oils will answer the same purpose; and it is asserted that a good preparation may be made with lard or butter alone. The drying vegetable oils do not appear, like olive oil, to be converted by nitrous acid or the nitrate of mercury into elaidin; and it was a fair inference that they might be employed advantageously in the pre- paration of citrine ointment. Accordingly, Dr. Fessenden, of North Carolina, states, in his inaugural essay, that he substituted linseed oil for the neats'- foot oil of the U. S. process, and succeeded in obtaining a perfectly good and durable ointment. It is now stated that the want of success with many operators who have followed the British officinal processes, has been owing not to the character of the particular oil employed, but to deficiency of strength in the nitric acid, and the want of a due degree of heat. Mr. Alsop asserts that if the nitric acid be of the sp. gr. 1-5, or if the quantity of a weaker acid be increased so as to compensate for its deficiency in strength, and if the fatty matters be mixed with the mercurial solution at an elevated temperature, a permanently soft and golden-coloured ointment will result. (Pharm. Transactions, Sept. 1841.) It is probable that the discoloration which is so apt to take place in the preparation is owing to the deoxidizing influence of the fatty matter upon the mercurial oxMe. Now if, by a sufficient excess of acid and an elevated temperature, the fats be thoroughly oxidized during the process, they will have less affinity for oxygen afterwards, and consequently less ability to take it from the oxide of mercury. That they are oxidized at the expense of the nitric acid when heat is used, is proved by the abundant extrication of nitrous fumes during the operation. The process of the Edinburgh College above given meets these requisites, and is said to yield an excellent ointment. The same process, before its adoption by the College, had been long employed by Mr. Duncan, a chemist and druggist of Edinburgh, who appears to have been the first to ascertain the advantage of heat in the preparation of the ointment. In applying heat, according to the Edinburgh process, when the fatty matter and mercurial solution are mixed, care must be taken that it be not too great. Gas is extricated at 180°, and at 212° escapes so abundantly that the mixture boils over unless the vessel be very large. (Alsop.) Besides, if the heat be too great, a portion of the mercury is reduced, and the colour of the ointment impaired. When large quantities of materials are operated upon, the reaction which occurs produces of itself a sufficient heat; but in ordinary cases the temperature should be kept at about 190° by means of a part ii. Unguenta. 1201 water-bath. It should always be sufficient to produce a copious extrication of gas. The ointment should be prepared in a glass, porcelain, or well-glazed earthen vessel; and a glass rod or wooden spatula should be employed for stirring the mixture. Medical Uses. This ointment is much and very advantageously employed, as a stimulant and alterative application, in porrigo or tinea capitis, impetigo larvalis or crusta lactea, psoriasis and pityriasis, certain forms of herpes, psorophthalmia and inflammation of the eye and eyelids connected with por- rigo of the face or scalp, and various other ulcerative and eruptive affections. It should be diluted with lard, unless in cases which require a very stimulant application. Some care is requisite in its use, to avoid the risk of salivation. When hard and friable, it must be rubbed up with fresh lard before it can be applied. "■ UNGUENTUM HYDRARGYRI OXIDI RUBRI. U.S. Un- guentum Hydrargyri Nitrico-Oxydi. Lond. Unguentum Oxidi Hydrargyri. Ed. Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxydi Nitrici. Dub. Ointment of Red Oxide of Mercury. " Take of Red Oxide of Mercury, in very fine powder, an ounce; Simple Ointment eight ounces. Add the Oxide of Mercury to the Ointment previously softened over a gentle fire, and mix them." U. S. "Take of Nitrico-Oxide of Mercury an ounce; White Wax two ounces; Prepared Lard six ounces. To the Wax and Lard, melted together, add the Nitrico-Oxide of Mercury, in very fine powder, and mix." Lond., Dub. " Take of Red Oxide of Mercury one ounce; Axunge [lard] eight ounces. Triturate them into a uniform mass." Ed. The U.S. Pharmacopoeia contemplates the same red oxide of mercury as the British Colleges, that, namely, prepared from the nitrate, and usually called red precipitate. It is highly important that the oxide should be tho- roughly pulverized before being mixed with the lard; as otherwise it might prove very injurious in cases of ophthalmia, in which it is sometimes used. This ointment loses its fine red colour when long kept, probably in con- sequence of the conversion of the red oxide into the black, or its reduction into the metallic state. It is best to prepare it only in small quantities at a time. It is a highly useful stimulating ointment, much employed in indolent and foul ulcers, in porrigo of the scalp, psorophthalmia, and in chronic conjunc- tival ophthalmia, especially when attended with thickening of the inner mem- brane of the eyelids, or with specks upon the cornea. It may be diluted with lard if found too stimulating. W. UNGUENTUM IODINI. U.S. Unguentum Iodinii. Dub. Ointment of Iodine. " Take of Iodine twenty grains ; Alcohol twenty minims ; Lard an ounce. Rub the Iodine first with the Alcohol and then with the Lard until they are thoroughly mixed." U. S. " Take of Iodine a scruple; Prepared Lard an ounce. Rub them together so as to form an ointment." Dub. This ointment, when rubbed upon the skin, imparts to it an orange colour, which, however, slowly disappears with the evaporation of the iodine. It is useful as a local application in goitre, scrofulous swellings of the glands, and other chronic tumefactions, operating probably through the medium of ab- sorption When continued for some time, it occasionally produces a pustular eruption upon the portion of skin to which it is applied. Dr. Cerchiari strongly recommends it in cases of enlarged tonsils, after the disappearance of 76 1202 Unguenta. PART II. inflammation. It should be applied to the tonsils morning and evening by means of a camel's hair pencil. In two months, according to the author, the enlargement disappears. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 83.) The oint- ment should be prepared only as wanted for use; for it undergoes change if kept, losing its deep orange-brown colour, and becoming pale upon the sur- face. W. UNGUENTUM IODINI COMPOSITUM. U.S. Unguentum Iodinii Compositum. Lond. Unguentum Iodinei. Ed. Compound Ointment of Iodine. " Take of Iodine half a drachm ; Iodide of Potassium a drachm ; Alcohol a fluidrachm ; Lard two ounces. Rub the Iodine and Iodide of Potassium first with the Alcohol and then with the Lard until they are thoroughly mixed." U.S. The London formula is the same as the above. The Edinburgh College directs a drachm of iodine and two drachms of the iodide of potassium to he rubbed together, four ounces of lard to be gradually added, and the trituration to be continued till a uniform ointment is obtained. This preparation is employed for the same purposes as the preceding, from which it differs chiefly in being somewhat stronger with iodine; as the iodide of potassium is probably not peculiar in its effects, and the spirit is employed only to facilitate the admixture. W. UNGUENTUM MEZEREI. U.S. Ointment of Mezereon. " Take of Mezereon, sliced transversely, four ounces; Lard fourteen ounces; White Wax two ounces. Moisten the Mezereon with a little Al- cohol, and beat it in an iron mortar until reduced to a fibrous mass; then digest it with the Lard, in a salt-water bath, for twelve hours, strain with strong expression, and allow the strained liquid to cool slowly, so that any undissolved matters may subside. From these separate the medicated Lard, melt it with the Wax at a moderate heat, and stir them constantly till they are cold." U. S. This is equivalent to the pommade epispastique au garou of the French Codex, which is prepared from the bark of the Daphne Gnidium. The ointment may also be made, as proposed by Guibourt, by mixing two drachms of the alcoholic extract of mezereon with nine ounces of lard and one of wax. It is used as a stimulating application to blistered surfaces in order to main- tain the discharge, and to obstinate, ill-conditioned, and indolent ulcers. W. UNGUENTUM PICIS LIQUIDA. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Tar Ointment. " Take of Tar, Suet, each, a pound. Add the Tar to the Suet previ- ously melted with a moderate heat, and stir them constantly till they are cold." U.S. The London and Dublin Colleges melt together equal parts of the tar and suet, and strain the mixture, the former through linen, the latter through a sieve. The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of tar and two ounces of bees' wax, and, having melted the wax with a gentle heat, adds the tar, and stirs the mixture briskly while it concretes. Tar ointment is highly useful as a stimulant application in various scaly and scabby eruptions, particularly in psoriasis, and in that form of porrigo usually called tinea capitis, or scald head. In the last-mentioned affection, it should be applied night and morning; and in bad cases the patient should constantly wear a cap, thickly spread with the ointment upon its internal surface. W. PART II. Unguenta. 1203 UNGUENTUM PICIS NIGRA. Lond. Ointment of Black Pitch. " Take of Black Pitch, Wax, Resin, each, nine ounces ; Olive Oil sixteen fluidounces [Imperial measure]. Melt them together, and strain through linen." Lond. This is a stimulant ointment, applicable to the same purposes as the pre- ceding. W. UNGUENTUM PIPERIS NIGRI. Dub. Ointment of Black Pepper. " Take of Prepared Lard a pound; Black Pepper, in powder, four ounces. Make an ointment." Dub. This is highly irritating, and has been used as a remedy in tinea capitis, but is not now employed. W. UNGUENTUM PLUMBI ACETATIS. Ed., Dub. Ceratum Plumbi Acetatis. Lond. Ointment of Acetate of Lead. " Take of Simple Ointment twenty ounces; Acetate of Lead, in fine powder, one ounce. Mix them thoroughly." Ed. The London College melts two ounces of white wax in seven fluidounces of olive oil; then adds gradually two drachms of acetate of lead previously rubbed with a fluidounce of olive oil; and stirs with a spatula till they are mixed. The Dublin College mixes an ounce of acetate of lead with a pound and a half of ointment of white wax. This is an excellent ointment in burns, and other excoriated or ulcerated surfaces, particularly blisters in an inflamed state. W. UNGUENTUM PLUMBI CARBONATIS. U.S., Ed., Dub. Ointment of Carbonate of Lead. " Take of Carbonate of Lead, in very fine powder, two ounces; Simple Ointment a pound. Add the Carbonate of Lead to the Ointment previously softened over a gentle fire, and mix them." U S. The Edinburgh College prepares this ointment by mixing thoroughly one ounce of carbonate of lead with five ounces of simple ointment. The Dublin College employs the proportions of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. This ointment is used for the same purposes as the preceding. W. UNGUENTUM PLUMBI COMPOSITUM. Lond. Compound Ointment of Lead. "Take of Prepared Chalk eight ounces; Distilled Vinegar six fluidounces; Lead Plaster three pounds; Olive Oil a pint [Imperial measure]. Dissolve the Plaster in the Oil with a slow fire, then gradually add the Chalk previ- ously mixed with the Vinegar, the effervescence having subsided, and stir them constantly until they become cold." Lond. Employed as a dressing for indolent ulcers. W. UNGUENTUM PLUMBI IODIDI. Lond. Ointment of Iodide of Lead. "Take of Iodide of Lead an ounce; Lard eight ounces. Rub and mix them." Lond. Employed as a discutient in chronic glandular swellings, and enlargements of the joints. W. UNGUENTUM POTASSA HYDRIODATIS. Dub. Oint- ment of Hydriodate of Potassa. " Take of Hydriodate of Potassa [iodide of potassium] a scruple; Prepared Lard an ounce. Rub them together so as to form an ointment." Dub. 1204 Unguenta. PART II. It is said that these ingredients incorporate better, if the iodide of potassium be first dissolved in its own weight of distilled water, and then mixed with the lard. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., N. S., iii. 203.) This ointment is employed for the discussion of goitres, scrofulous tumours, and other indolent swellings; and is usually preferred to the ointment of iodine, as it does not, like that, discolour the skin. It is probably, however, of inferior virtue, and certainly contains too small a proportion of the iodide. One drachm to the ounce of lard would not be too much, and may sometimes be exceeded. W. UNGUENTUM SAMBUCI. Lond., Dub. Elder Ointment. "Take of Elder [flowers], Lard, each, two pounds. Boil the Elder flowers in the Lard till they become crisp; then express through linen." Lond. "Take of fresh Elder Leaves three pounds; Prepared Lard four pounds; Prepared Mutton Suet two pounds. Boil the leaves in the Lard till they become crisp; then strain with expression; lastly, add the Suet, and melt them together." Dub. Elder flowers impart odour to lard without adding to its virtues. The Dublin ointment of the leaves has a green colour, and is popularly employed as a cooling application in England. W. UNGUENTUM SCROPHULARIA. Dub. Ointment of Fig- wort: "Take of fresh Figwort Leaves, Prepared Lard, each, two pounds; Pre- pared Mutton Suet a pound. Boil the leaves in the fat till they become crisp, then strain with expression." Dub. For the properties of this ointment, see Scrophularia Nodosa. W. UNGUENTUM SIMPLEX. U.S., Ed. Unguentum Cer^e Alb^e. Unguentum Cer^e Flav;e. Dub. Simple Ointment. "Take of White Wax apound; Lard four pounds. Melt them together with a moderate heat, and stir them constantly till they are cold." U. S. The Edinburgh College orders five fluidounces and a half of olive oil, and two ounces of white wax. The Dublin College makes two preparations, one with white, the other with yellow wax, in each case mixing the wax with lard in the same proportion as directed in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. This is a useful emollient ointment, occasionally employed as a mild dress- ing to blistered or excoriated surfaces, but more frequently as a vehicle for the application of more active substances. It is the basis of several officinal ointments. Off. Prep. Unguentum Cupri Subacetatis, U. S.; Unguent. Hydrargyri Ammoniati, U. S.; Unguent. Hydrarg. Oxidi Rubri, U. S.; Unguent. Plumbi Acetatis, Ed.; Unguent. Plumbi Carbonatis, U.S.,Ed. W. UNGUENTUM STRAMONII. U. S. Ointment of Stramonium. "Take of Fresh Stramonium Leaves, cut into pieces, apound; Lard three pounds; Yellow Wax half a pound. Boil the Stramonium Leaves in the Lard until they become friable; then strain through linen. Lastly, add the Wax previously melted, and stir them until they are cold." U. S. Fresh narcotic vegetables yield their active principles, and chlorophylle or green colouring matter to oleaginous substances, when heated with them; and several officinal ointments besides the present are prepared in this man- ner. In the pharmacy of the continent of Europe, olive oil is frequently em- ployed as the solvent; and the resulting preparations are called olea infusa. Several of these are ordered by the French Codex, as the oils of henbane, stramonium, tobacco, &c. Lard is preferred in British and American phar- PART II. Unguenta. 1205 macy, as affording preparations of a more convenient consistence. The boil- ing takes place at a lower temperature than that necessary for the evaporation of the lard or oil, and is owing to the escape of the watery parts of the plants. It should be continued till all the water is driven off; as this, if allowed to remain, would render the ointment more liable to spontaneous decomposition; and, besides, the colouring matter of the narcotic is not freely extracted till after the dissipation of the water. The ointment of stramonium is a useful anodyne application in irritable ulcers, in painful hemorrhoids, and in some cutaneous eruptions. W. UNGUENTUM SULPHURIS. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Sul- phur Ointment. " Take of Sulphur a pound ; Lard two pounds. Mix them." U. S. The London College employs three ounces of sulphur, half a pound of lard, and twenty minims of oil of bergamot; the Edinburgh, four ounces of lard, and one ounce of sublimed sulphur; and the Dublin, four pounds of prepared lard and a pound of sublimed sulphur. Sulphur ointment is a specific for the itch. It should be applied every night till the complaint is cured; and it is recommended that only one-fourth of the body should be covered at a time. We have usually directed it to be applied over the whole surface, and have found no inconvenience to result. Four applications are usually sufficient to effect a cure. It is thought by some that powdered roll sulphur is more efficacious than the sublimed. Sul- phur ointment, applied freely over the variolous eruption, in its early stage, is said to prevent the maturation of the pustules and consequent pitting. (See Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., N. S., ii. 196.) The disagreeable odour of the ointment may be in some measure concealed by a little oil of lemons, or oil of bergamot, as in the London preparation. W. UNGUENTUM SULPHURIS COMPOSITUM. U.S., Lond. Compound Sulphur Ointment. "Take of Sulphur an ounce; Ammoniated Mercury, Benzoic Acid, each, a drachm; Oil of Bergamot, Sulphuric Acid, each, a fluidrachm; Nitrate of Potassa two drachms; Lard half a pound. To the Lard, previously melted with a moderate heat, add the other ingredients, and stir them constantly till they are cold." U. S. This ointment is essentially different from that which is directed, under the same name, by the London College. Though, perhaps, not more efficient than the simple sulphur ointment in the cure of itch, it has a less unpleasant smell, and may be advantageously applied to the cure of other eruptive affec- tions, such as tinea capitis and crusta lactea. " Take of Sulphur half apound; White Hellebore, in powder, two ounces; Nitrate of Potassa a drachm; Soft Soap half a pound ; Lard a pound and a half; Oil of Bergamot thirty minims. Mix them." Lond. This is thought to be more efficacious than the simple sulphur ointment; but the white hellebore renders it also more irritating. W. UNGUENTUM TABACI. U.S. Tobacco Ointment. " Take of Fresh Tobacco, cut in pieces, an ounce; Lard a pound. Boil the Tobacco in the Lard over a gentle fire till it becomes friable; then strain through linen." U S. In the first edition of the U. S. Pharmacopceia, this ointment, under the name of " Tobacco Liniment," was directed to be prepared with common dried tobacco; but in this condition the leaves do not yield their virtues to lard. The error was corrected in the second edition. Though the tobacco plant is not an object of general culture in the Northern States, it may readily 1206 Unguenta.— Veratria. part ii. be produced in gardens, in quantities sufficient to supply any demand for the fresh leaves which can possibly arise. The remarks made under the head of Unguentum Stramonii, in relation to the preparation of ointments from the fresh narcotics, are applicable in this instance. Tobacco ointment is useful in irritable ulcers, and various cutaneous erup- tions, particularly tinea capitis; but great care must be taken, especially in children, not to employ it in such quantities as to endanger the production of the constitutional effects of the narcotic. W. UNGUENTUM VERATRI ALBI. U.S. Unguentum Vera- tri. Lond., Dub. Ointment of White Hellebore. " Take of White Hellebore [root], in powder, two ounces; Oil of Lemons twenty minims; Lard eight ounces. Mix them." U. S., Lond. The Dublin College employs the same proportion of white hellebore and lard, but omits the oil of lemons. This ointment is sometimes employed with advantage in" the itch. It is less disagreeable, but also less certain than the sulphur ointment. It should be employed with caution in children. W. UNGUENTUM ZINCI OXIDI. U.S. Unguentum Zinci. Lond., Ed. Unguentum Zinci Oxydi. Dub. Ointment of Oxide of Zinc. "Take of Oxide of Zinc an ounce; Lard six ounces. Mix them." U. S., Lond. The Edinburgh College employs six ounces of simple liniment, and one ounce of oxide of zinc; the Dublin, a pound of ointment of white wax (simple ointment), and two ounces of the prepared oxide. By the latter the ointment is melted before the addition of the oxide. The oxide of zinc directed in the U. S., London, and Edinburgh Pharma- copoeias, is that obtained by precipitation and ignition, and, being in the state of fine powder, requires no previous preparation. That employed by the Dublin College, being procured by the combustion of the metal, requires to be levigated before it can be used for the formation of the ointment. This preparation is employed as a mild astringent application in chronic ophthalmia with a relaxed state of the vessels, in various cutaneous eruptions, and in sore nipples and other instances of excoriation or ulceration. It has taken the place of the old and discarded unguentum tutise, or tutty ointment, prepared from tutty or the impure oxide of zinc, by mixing it with five parts of simple ointment. W. VERATRIA. Veratria. VERATRIA. U.S., Lond., Ed. Veratria. "Take of Cevadilla, bruised, two pounds; Alcohol three gallons; Diluted Sulphuric Acid, Solution of Ammonia, Purified Animal Charcoal, Magnesia, each, a sufficient quantity. Boil the Cevadilla in a gallon of the Alcohol, in a retort with a receiver attached, for an hour, and pour off the liquor. To the residue add another gallon of the Alcohol, together with the portion re- cently distilled, again boil for an hour, and pour off the liquor. Repeat the boiling a third time with the remaining Alcohol, and with that distilled in the previous operation. Press the Cevadilla, mix and strain the liquors, and by means of a water-bath distil off the Alcohol. Boil the residue three or four times in water acidulated with Sulphuric Acid, mix and strain the liquors, PART II. Veratria. 1207 and evaporate to the consistence of syrup. Add Magnesia in slight excess, shake the mixture frequently, then express, and wash what remains. Repeat the expression and washing two or three times, and, having dried the residue, digest it with a gentle heat several times in Alcohol, and strain after each digestion. Distil off the Alcohol from the mixed liquors, boil the residue for fifteen minutes in water with a little Sulphuric Acid and Purified Animal Charcoal, and strain. Having thoroughly washed what remains, mix the washings with the strained liquor, evaporate with a moderate heat to the con- sistence of syrup, and then drop in as much Solution of Ammonia as may be necessary to precipitate the Veratria. Lastly, separate and dry the precipi- tate." U. S. The London process is, in all essential points, the same as the above, of which it was the original. "Take any convenient quantity of Cevadilla; pour boiling water over it in a covered vessel, and let it macerate for twenty-four hours; remove the Cevadilla, squeeze it, and dry it thoroughly with a gentle heat. Beat it now in a mortar, and separate the seeds from the capsules by a brisk agitation in a deep narrow vessel. Grind the seeds in a coffee-mill, and form them into a thick paste with Rectified Spirit. Pack this firmly in a percolator, and pass Rectified Spirit through it till the Spirit ceases to be coloured. Con- centrate the spirituous solutions by distillation so long as no deposit forms; and pour the residuum while hot into twelve times its volume of cold water. Filter through calico, and wash the residuum on the filter so long as the washings precipitate with ammonia. Unite the filtered liquid with the washings, and add an excess of ammonia. Collect the precipitate on a filter, wash it slightly with cold water, and dry it first by imbibition with filtering paper, and then in the vapour-bath. A small additional quantity may be got by concentrating the filtered ammoniacal fluid and allowing it to cool." Ed, In the U. S. and London process the first step is to obtain a tincture of cevadilla. In the Edinburgh process, the use of alcohol is preceded by mea- sures calculated to bring the seeds into a proper state for its action. This is not satisfactorily effected by mere bruising. The seeds are not thus sepa- rated from the capsules; and, on account of their elasticity, they cannot be conveniently comminuted in a mortar. The mode of proceeding given in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia was suggested by Christison, and is said by him to answer the purpose. In the U. S. process, the tincture, when made, is evaporated to the consistence of an extract. This contains the veratria combined with some vegetable acid as it exists in the seeds. From the extract the alkali is dissolved by the acidulated water, which at the same time converts it in great measure into a sulphate, a small portion possibly remain- ing in the solution combined with an excess of the native acid. The mag- nesia combines with the acids and throws down the veratria, which is then taken up by alcohol, and again yielded in a purer state by evaporation. To purify it still further, it is redissolved in water by the agency of sulphuric acid, is submitted to the action of animal charcoal, and is finally precipitated by ammonia. In the Edinburgh process, the tincture is concentrated until it begins to let fall a precipitate, and is then poured into water, which throws down the resin and oil with a portion of the colouring matter, and retains the salt of veratria. This is then decomposed by ammonia, and the precipitated veratria is slightly washed with cold water to free it from adhering impurities. If much water is employed in the washing, a considerable portion of the veratria is lost, in consequence of being in some degree soluble in that men- struum in its ordinary impure state. 1208 Veratria. PART II. Obtained by either of the above processes veratria is not entirely pure, though sufficiently so for medical use. It is a grayish or brownish-white powder, without odour, and of a bitter, acrid taste> producing a sense of tingling or numbness in the tongue, and exciting violent sneezing and coryza when admitted into the nostrils. For the properties 6f the pure alkali the reader is referred to page 610. The composition of veratria is expressed, according to Couerbe, by the formula NC34H2306. It may be recognised by its sensible properties, incapability of being crystallized, combustibility, fusi- bility, peculiar solubilities (see page 610), alkaline reaction, the intense red colour it assumes upon contact with concentrated sulphuric acid, the yellow solution it forms with nitric acid, and the white precipitates which its solution in dilute acetic acid yields with ammonia and the infusion of galls. (Pereira's Mat. Med.) It is said sometimes to be sophisticated with lime, which is easily detected by incineration, and may be separated by dissolving the powder in diluted alcohol, precipitating by sulphuric acid, filtering, evapo- rating the alcohol, and precipitating the veratria by ammonia. (Chem. Gaz., Feb. 1845, p. 73.) It may be used either in the uncombined state, or united with acids; as in both forms it produces essentially the same effects. Medical Properties and Uses. Veratria is locally irritant, and exerts a peculiar influence on the nervous system. Rubbed upon the skin it excites a sensation of warmth and a peculiar tingling, which, when the application is continued for a considerable length of time, extends, according to Turn- bull, over the whole surface of the body. Sometimes an evanescent blush is produced, and still more rarely an eruption upon the skin, but, according to the same author, no marks of inflammation are in general evinced. Upon the denuded cutis, however, veratria and its salts are powerfully irritating; in the mouth and fauces produce an almost insupportable sense of acrimony; and snuffed up the nostrils excite violent sneezing. Magendie states that, when taken internally in the dose of a quarter of a grain, they promptly produce abundant alvine evacuations, and in larger doses provoke more or less violent vomiting. Other experimenters have observed similar effects. Dr. Turnbull, on the contrary, says that he has very seldom found them to purge, even when largely administered, and that not unfrequently constipa- tion comes on during their employment. According to this author, their first effect, when given in moderate doses, is a feeling of warmth in the stomach, gradually extending itself over the abdomen and lower part of the chest, and ultimately to the head and extremities. If the medicine is continued, this feeling of warmth is followed by a sense of tingling, similar to that produced by the external use of the medicine, which manifests itself in different parts of the body and sometimes over the whole surface, and is frequently accom- panied by perspiration and some feeling of oppression. Occasionally also diuresis is produced. A still further continuance of the medicine, or the use of large doses, excites nausea and vomiting. It occasions no narcotic effects. The diseases in which veratria has been employed are chiefly gout, rheu- matism, and neuralgia. Dr. Turnbull has found it useful also in dropsy, and in diseases of the heart, particularly those of a functional character. He thinks he has also seen it do good in structural diseases of that organ, but chiefly by acting as a diuretic and thereby removing effusion in the pericardium. Veratria has also been employed in various nervous affections, as paralysis, hooping-cough, epilepsy, hysteria, and disorders dependent upon spinal irri- tation. For internal use the salts of veratria are preferred. From one-twelfth to one-sixth of a grain may be given in the form of a pill, and repeated every three hours till the effects of the medicine are experienced. Dr. Turnbull prefers the tartrate, as less disposed to irritate the stomach. The sulphate PART II. Veratria.— Vina Medicata. 1209 or acetate, however, may be used. Any one of these salts may be readily prepared by treating veratria with water acidulated with the acid to perfect neutralization, and then evaporating to dryness. But veratria is much more employed externally than by the stomach, and is applicable in this way to all the complaints already mentioned. It may be used either dissolved in alcohol, or rubbed up with lard or other unctuous substance, in the proportion of from ten to twenty grains or more to the ounce. Of the ointment thus prepared, Dr. Turnbull directs a portion of the size of a large nut to be rubbed upon the skin over the part affected, night and morning, from five to fifteen minutes, or until the more urgent • symptoms are relieved. Veratria may be used in this way to the amount of from four to eight grains in the day. Care must be taken that the cuticle is sound over the parts to which it is applied. When the skin is irritable, smaller quantities than those above mentioned must be used. W. VINA MEDICATA. Medicated Wines. The advantages of wine as a pharmaceutic menstruum are that, in conse- quence of the alcohol it contains, it dissolves substances insoluble in water, and, to a certain extent, resists their tendency to spontaneous change; while, at the same time, it is less stimulant than rectified or proof spirit, both from its smaller proportion of alcohol, and from the modified state in which this fluid exists in its composition. The acid which it usually contains, serves in some instances to increase its solvent power. But most wines, particu- larly the light varieties, are liable to undergo decomposition; and even the strongest acquire such a liability from the principles which they extract from vegetable substances; so that medicated wines, though they keep much better than infusions or decoctions, are inferior in this respect to the tinctures. The proportion of alcohol, moreover, is not constant; and the preparations, therefore, made with them, are of unequal strength. From these causes, few medicated wines are at present retained. In the choice of wine, the purest and most generous should be selected. Sherry, as directed by the U. S. and British Pharmacopoeias, Teneriffe, or Madeira should be preferred. The medi- cated wines, in consequence of their liability to change, should be prepared in ^mall quantities, without heat, and should be kept in well-stopped bottles in a cool place. t W. VINUM ALOES. U.S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Wine of Aloes. " Take of Aloes, in powder, an ounce; Cardamom [seeds], bruised, Ginger, bruised, each, a drachm; Wine [Sherry] a pint. Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation, and filter through paper." U. S. "Take of Aloes, in powder, two ounces; Canella, in powder, four drachms; Sherry Wine two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, occasionally stirring, and filter." Lond. " Take of Socotrine or East Indian Aloes an ounce and a half; Carda- mom Seeds, ground, Ginger, in coarse powder, of each, a drachm and a half; Sherry two pints [Imperial measure]. Digest for seven days, and strain through linen or calico." Ed. The Dublin College takes four ounces of Socotrine aloes and an ounce of canella, powders them separately, mixes them, and macerates for fourteen days in a menstruum, consisting of three pints of Sherry wine and a pint of proof spirit. . . The wine of aloes is a warm stomachic purgative, useful m constipation 1210 Vina Medicata. PART II. dependent on a want of due irritability of the alimentary canal, and in com- plaints connected with this state of the bowels. It has long been used in chlorosis, amenorrhcea, dyspepsia, gout, paralysis, &c. It is said to leave be- hind it a more lax condition of the bowels than most other cathartics. The dose as a stomachic is one or two fluidrachms, as a purgative from half a fluid- ounce to two fluidounces. W. VINUM COLCHICI RADICIS. U.S. Vinum Colchici. Lond., Ed. Wine of Colchicum Root. "Take of Colchicum Root, well bruised, a pound; Wine [Sherry] two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation; then express strongly, and filter through paper. " Wine of Colchicum Root may also be prepared by macerating as above, then transferring to an apparatus for displacement, and, after the liquor has ceased to pass, pouring so much Wine upon the residue that the filtered liquor obtained may measure two p>ints." U. S. "Take of dried Meadow-saffron Cormus [bulb], sliced, eight ounces; Sherry Wine two pints [Imperial measure]. Macerate for fourteen days, and filter." Lond. The Edinburgh College directs the same quantities of materials as the London, and orders digestion for seven days, straining, strong expression, and filtering. This is intended to be a saturated vinous tincture of colchicum. As the colchicum root imported into the United States is of variable strength, the only method by which an active preparation can be ensured, is to employ a large quantity of the bulb in proportion to that of the menstruum. If the former should happen to be in excess, no other injury could result than a slight pecuniary loss; while a deficiency in the strength of the prepa- ration would frequently be of serious detriment in urgent cases of disease. We have never been disappointed in obtaining the effects of colchicum from the wine which we knew to have been prepared according to the directions of the U.S. Pharmacopoeia; while that which has been made with a smaller quantity of the bulb has often failed in our hands. The dose is from ten minims to a fluidrachm, to be repeated three or four times a day, or more fre- quently in severe cases, till its effects are experienced. In gout it is frequently given in connexion with magnesia and its sulphate; and in neuralgic cases we have found much advantage from combining it with the solution of sul- phate of morphia, especially when we have desired to give it a direction rather to the skin than the bowels. It has been employed externally with asserted advantage in rheumatism. In over-doses it is capable of producing fatal effects. Death is said to have occurred in one instance from two drachms of the wine; but much more would probably in general be requisite to produce this result. »>'' • VINUM COLCHICI SEMINIS. U. S. Wine of Colchicum Seed. " Take of Colchicum Seed, bruised, four ounces; Wine [Sherry] two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation; then express, and filter through paper." U. S. As the seeds of colchicum are less liable to injury than the bulb, and are, therefore, of more uniform strength, there is not the same necessity for pre- paring a saturated tincture. As directed, however, in the old Pharmacopoeia, this wine was too feeble ; and, in the last edition, the proportion of the seeds has very properly been doubled. It now corresponds in strength with the tincture of colchicum seeds. (See Tinctura Colchici Seminis.) Dr. Williams, who introduced the seeds into use, recommends that they should not be PART II. Vina Medicata. 1211 bruised, as their virtues reside in their outer coat; but this caution is super- fluous. The dose of this wine is one or two fluidrachms. Two "fiuidounces have proved fatal. W. VINUM ERGOTA. U.S. Wine of Ergot. "Take of Ergot, bruised, two ounces; Wine [Sherry] a pint. Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation; then express, and filter through paper." U.S. , The dose of this wine is for a woman in labour two or three fluidrachms; for other purposes, one or two fluidrachms, to be repeated several times a day, and gradually increased if necessary. W. VINUM GENTIANA. Ed. Wine of Gentian. "Take of Gentian, in coarse powder, half an ounce; Yellow bark, in coarse powder, one ounce; Bitter-orange Peel, dried and sliced, two drachms; Ca- nella, in coarse powder, one drachm; Proof Spirit four fluidounces and a half; Sherry one pint and sixteen fluidounces [Imperial measure]. Digest the root and barks for twenty-four hours in the Spirit; add the Wine, and digest for seven days more; strain, and express the residuum strongly, and filter the liquors." Ed. This is a stomachic bitter, sometimes employed to promote appetite and invigorate digestion. The dose is from four to eight fluidrachms. W. VINUM IPECACUANHA. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Wine of Ipecacuanha. " Take of Ipecacuanha, bruised, two ounces; Wine [Sherry] two pints. Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation; then express, and filter through paper." U S. The London College takes two ounces and a half of the bruised root, and two pints (Imperial measure) of Sherry wine; the Dublin, two ounces of the bruised root, and two pints of Sherry wine; both macerate for two weeks. The Edinburgh College employs the same proportion as the London, and di- gests for a week. The preparations of the different Pharmacopoeias are virtually of the same strength. Wine of ipecacuanha possesses all the medical properties of the root, and may be used as a substitute when it is desirable to administer the medicine in a liquid form. As it is milder, without being less efficacious than antimonial wine, it is in some instances preferable as an emetic in infantile cases, especially when the antimonial, as not unfrequently happens, is dis- posed to produce griping and irritation of the bowels. Under the same cir- cumstances, it may be used as an expectorant and diaphoretic; and the effects of the Dover's powder may be obtained by combining it with laudanum or other liquid preparation of opium. The dose as an emetic for an adult is a fluidounce; as an expectorant and diaphoretic, from ten to thirty minims. A fluidrachm may be given as an emetic to a child one or two years old, and repeated every fifteen minutes till it operates. W. VINUM OPII. U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. Wine of Opium. Sy- denham's Laudanum. "Take of Opium, in powder, two ounces; Cinnamon, bruised, Cloves, bruised, each, a drachm; Wine [Sherry] a pint. Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation; then express, and filter through paper." U. S. The Loudon College takes two ounces and a half of purified extract of opium, two drachms and a half of bruised cinnamon, the same quantity of bruised cloves, and two pints (Imperial measure) of Sherry wine; and ma- cerates for fourteen days. The Edinburgh College, to the same quantity of 1212 Vina Medicata. PART II. cinnamon and cloves, adds three ounces of opium, and two pints (Imperial measure) of Sherry wine, and digests for a week. The Dublin College takes an ounce of Turkey opium, a drachm of cinnamon, a drachm of cloves, and a pint of Sherry wine, and macerates for eight days. The wine made according to the directions of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is a stronger preparation than that of the British Colleges, being a saturated vinous tincture of opium. It contains about the same proportions of the ingredients as the laudanum of Sydenham, from which it differs only in wanting a drachm of saffron. The spices which it contains are thought to adapt it to certain states of the stomach or system, in which the simple tincture of opium is found to produce unpleasant effects;. but the same end may be obtained by an extemporaneous addition of some aromatic oil to the latter. Mr. Ware recommends it as a local application to the eye, in the latter stages of oph- thalmia, when the vessels of the conjunctiva still remain turgid with blood. Two or three drops are introduced into the eye every morning till the redness disappears. The dose of the wine of opium is the same with that of the tinc- ture.* W. VINUM RHEI. U. S., Ed. Wine of Rhubarb. "Take of Rhubarb, bruised, two ounces; Canella, bruised, a drachm; Diluted Alcohol two fluidounces; Wine [Sherry] a pint. Macerate for four- teen days, with occasional agitation; then express, and filter through paper." U.S. The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of rhubarb, in coarse powder, two drachms of canella, in coarse powder, five fiuidounces of proof spirit, and one pint and fifteen fluidounces (Imperial measure) of Sherry wine, and digests for seven days. This is a warm cordial laxative, applicable to debilitated conditions of the system or alimentary canal requiring evacuation of the bowels. The dose is from one to four fluidrachms or more, according to the amount of effect re- quired, and the condition of the patient. W. VINUM TABACI. U. S., Ed. Wine of Tobacco. "Take of Tobacco, cut in pieces, an ounce; Wine [Sherry] a pint. Ma- cerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation; then express, and filter through paper." U S. The Edinburgh College takes three ounces and a half of tobacco and two pints (Imperial measure) of Sherry wine, and digests for seven days. The dose of the wine of tobacco, as a diuretic, is from ten to thirty minims. It is very seldom used. W. VINUM VERATRI ALBI. U. S. Vinum Veratri. Lond. Wine of White Hellebore. "Take of White Hellebore [root], bruised, four ounces; Wine [Sherry] a pint. Macerate for fourteen days, with occasional agitation; then express, and filter through paper." U S. The London College takes eight ounces of the sliced root, and two pints (Imperial measure) of Sherry wine, and macerates for fourteen days. * Rousseauis laudanum is a tincture of opium made with very weak alcohol, which may be classed with propriety along with the above preparation. It is made according to the following formula. " Take of white honey twelve ounces; warm water three pounds. Having dissolved the honey, set the solution aside in a warm place ; and, as soon as fer- mentation begins, add of selected opium four ounces, previously dissolved in twelve ounces of water. Allow the mixture to stand for a month at the temperature of 24° Reaumur (86° F.); then strain, filter, and evaporate to ten ounces; finally strain, and add four ounces and a half of Alcohol of 20° B. Seven drops contain about a grain of opium." (Pharmaxop. Univers. ii. 265.) PART II. Vina Medicata.—Zincum. 1213 It has been supposed that the wine of white hellebore, in consequence of the veratria which it contains, would act in the same manner with colchicum in the cure of gout and rheumatism; but it is uncertain and occasionally violent in its operation, and is very little used. The dose is ten minims two or three times a day, to be gradually increased till the peculiar effects of the medicine are experienced. W. ZINCUM. Preparations of Zinc. ZINCI ACETAS. U. S. Acetate of Zinc. "Take of Acetate of Lead apound; Zinc, granulated, nine ounces; Dis- tilled Water three pints. Dissolve the Acetate of Lead in the Water and filter. Add the Zinc to the solution, and agitate them occasionally together, in a stopped bottle, for five or six hours, or until the liquid yields no preci- pitate with a solution of iodide of potassium. Filter the liquor, evaporate it with a moderate heat to one-fifth, and set it aside to crystallize. Pour off the liquid, and dry the crystals on bibulous paper. Should the crystals be co- loured, dissolve them in Distilled Water, and, having heated the solution, drop into it, while hot, a filtered solution of Chlorinated Lime until it ceases to let fall sesquioxide of iron; then filter the liquor, acidulate it with a few drops of Acetic Acid, evaporate, and crystallize." U. S. In this process the lead is wholly precipitated by the zinc, which forms with the acetic acid the acetate of zinc in solution. In order to be sure that the solution is entirely free from lead, it is tested with iodide of potassium, which will produce a yellow precipitate in case any of the lead remain unpre- cipitated. The crystals of acetate of zinc, as first obtained, are apt to be co- loured by iron. In this case they are directed to be dissolved in distilled water, and treated with a solution of chlorinated lime, with the object of ses- quioxidizing and precipitating the iron. Professor Procter, however, has found by experiment that chlorinated lime forms but an imperfect means of sepa- rating the iron. The plan which he found to succeed in completely removing it, is to boil the coloured solution with freshly precipitated carbonate of zinc. The necessary carbonate is conveniently obtained by precipitating about one- thirtieth of the impure acetate of zinc solution itself, with carbonate of potassa in slight excess. The resulting carbonate of zinc, freed from acetate of po- tassa by washing, and added in the state of magma to the boiling impure solution, will completely free it from iron. During the heating, a small por- tion of acetic acid is lost, and hence the necessity of acidulating with a few drops of this acid before crystallizing. In relation to the acetate of zinc, see the paper of Mr. Ambrose Smith, contained in the Amer. Journ. of Pharm., N. S., vol. i. p. 14. Properties, dec. Acetate of zinc, when carefully crystallized, is in colourless hexagonal plates, which effloresce in a dry air. As found in the shops it is in opaque, white, micaceous scales. It is very soluble in water, moderately soluble in rectified spirit, and has an astringent, metallic taste. The solution yields a white precipitate with ferrocyanuret of potassium and hydrosulphate of ammonia. The precipitate thrown down by ammonia from the pure salt, is entirely redissolved by an excess of the precipitant; but if oxidized iron be present, it will be left undissolved. Acetate of zinc is decomposed by the mineral acids, with the escape of acetous vapours. It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, one of protoxide of zinc 40-3, and seven of water 63 = 154-3. Medical Properties. Acetate of zinc is used as an external remedy only, 1214 Zincum. PART II. for the most part as an astringent collyrium in ophthalmia, and injection in gonorrhoea, after the acute stage in these affections has passed. It is officinal, in the crystallized, state, only in the U. S. Pharmacopceia. It is certainly convenient to have the salt in the solid form; as when in that state it may be prescribed in any desired proportion in solution. The strength of the solution, usually employed, is one or two grains to a fluidounce of distilled water. B. ZINCI ACETATIS TINCTURA. Dub. Tincture of Acetate of Zinc. " Take of Sulphate of Zinc, Acetate of Potassa, each one part. Rub them together, and add of Rectified Spirit sixteen parts. Macerate for a week, with occasional agitation, and filter through paper." Dub. In this process, the acetate of potassa first dissolves in the rectified spirit, and then reacts upon the sulphate of zinc; sulphate of potassa and acetate of zinc being formed. Of these salts, the latter only is soluble in the spirit, while the former remains undissolved, and is removed by filtration. As the acetate of potassa is used in excess, this tincture may be viewed as a spirituous solution of both the acetate of potassa and acetate of zinc. Properties, dec. This tincture is transparent and colourless, and, when evaporated nearly to dryness, affords crystals of acetate of zinc. It is em- ployed as an astringent collyrium and injection, but requires to be diluted with water. B. ZINCI CARBONAS PRAPARATUS. U. S. Calamina Pr^e- parata. Lond., Ed. Zinci Carbonas Impurum Praeparatum. Dub. Prepared Carbonate of Zinc. Prepared Calamine. " Take of Carbonate of Zinc a convenient quantity. Heat it to redness, and afterwards pulverize it; then reduce it to a very fine powder in the man- ner directed for Prepared Chalk." U. S. The London and Dublin Colleges prepare calamine by processes agreeing with the above. The Edinburgh College places the prepared substance in the list of the Materia Medica with this explanatory note—" levigated im- pure carbonate of zinc." The object of this process is to bring the native carbonate of zinc to the state of an impalpable powder. (See Zinci Carbonas.) It is first calcined, to render it more readily pulverizable, and then levigated and elutriated. During the calcination, water and more or less carbonic acid are driven off; so that little else remains than the oxide of zinc, and the earthy impurities originally existing in the mineral. For the nature of these impurities, see page 748. Considering the objection to this preparation on account of im- purity, it would, perhaps, be an improvement to discard the native carbonate altogether, and to use in its stead a pure artificial carbonate, obtained by double decomposition between sulphate of zinc and carbonate of ammonia, or preferably between boiling solutions of the sulphate and of the carbonate of potassa or soda. The cerate made from the artificial preparation, obtained by means of carbonate of ammonia, was found by Mr. T. S. Wiegand to be fully equal in medicinal efficacy to that prepared from the native calamine. Properties, dec. Prepared carbonate of zinc is in the form of a pinkish or flesh-coloured powder, of an earthy appearance. Sometimes it is made up into small masses. It is used only as an external application, being employed as a mild astringent and exsiccant in excoriations and superficial ulcerations. For this purpose, it is dusted on the part, and hence the necessity for its being very finely levigated. It is often employed in the form of cerate. By PART II. Zincum. 1215 an oversight, the London College has directed the calamine, and not the jn-e- pared calamine for making the cerate. (See Ceratum Zinci Carbonatis.) Off. Prep. Ceratum Zinci Carbonatis, U. S., Ed., Dub. B. ZINCI CHLORIDUM. U. S. Chloride of Zinc. Butter of Zinc. " Take of Zinc, in small pieces, two ounces and a half; Nitric Acid, Pre- pared Chalk, each a drachm; Muriatic Acid a sufficient quantity. To the Zinc, in a glass or porcelain vessel, add gradually sufficient Muriatic Acid to dissolve it; then strain, add the Nitric acid, and evaporate to dryness. Dis- solve the dry mass in Water, add the Chalk, and, having allowed the mixture to stand for twenty-four hours, filter, and again evaporate to dryness." U. S. In this process the chloride of zinc is first formed in solution by dissolving zinc in muriatic acid. The nitric acid added has the effect to sesquioxidize and render insoluble any iron which may have existed as an impurity in the zinc employed. By evaporating to dryness and redissolving in water, the ses- quioxide of iron is left. Lastly, in order to remove any excess of acid, a small portion of chalk is added; and the mixture, after standing, is filtered to remove the excess of chalk, and then evaporated to dryness. A better way to get rid of the iron is to pass chlorine through the impure solution, and then to add recently precipitated oxide of zinc. M. Righini prepares this chloride by double decomposition between solutions of chloride of barium and sulphate of zinc. Sulphate of baryta is precipitated, and chloride of zinc remains in solution, from which it is obtained in white flaky crystals by due evaporation. Properties, &c. Chloride of zinc is a whitish, semitransparent, deliquescent substance, having the softness of wax. It is wholly soluble in water, alcohol, and ether. When exposed to heat it first melts and then sublimes. When pure it gives white precipitates with ferrocyanuret of potassium and hydrosul- phate of ammonia. A blue precipitate with the former test would indicate iron, a black one with the latter, lead. It consists of one eq. of zinc 32-3, and one of chlorine 35-42=67-72. Medical Properties and Uses. This chloride was introduced into medicine by Papenguth, and subsequently recommended by Prof. Hancke, of Breslau, and Dr. Canquoin, of Paris. Internally it has been given, as an alterative and antispasmodic, in scrofula, epilepsy, chorea, and, combined with hydrocyanic acid, in facial neuralgia. Its chief employment, however, has been externally as an escharotic, applied to schirrhous and cancerous affections, and to ulcers of an anomalous and intractable character. When thus used it acts not merely by destroying the diseased structure, but by exciting a new and healthier action in the surrounding parts. As a caustic, it has the advantage of not giving rise to constitutional disorder from absorption, an effect which is some- times produced by the arsenical preparations. Dr. Canquoin prepares the chloride of zinc as an escharotic, by thoroughly and quickly mixing it with wheat flour and water into a paste of four different strengths, containing severally an ounce of the chloride incorporated with two, three, four, and five ounces of flour; fifteen drops of water being added for every ounce of flour, or sufficient to form the paste. It is applied in cakes of from a twelfth to a third of an inch in thickness, and produces an eschar more or less deep (from a line to an inch and a half), according to the thickness of the paste, the length of the application, and the nature of the part acted on. The strongest paste is applied to lardaceous and fibro-cartilaginous structures; the second to carcinomatous tumours, and very painful cancers which have not much thickness, and the third to cancerous affections in persons who have a dread of violent pain. These preparations, applied to the skin denuded of its cuticle by means of a blister, excite in a few minutes a sensation of heat, and 1216 Zincum. part ii. afterwards violent burning pain. The eschar, which is white, thick, and very hard, falls off, by the aid of an emollient poultice, between the eighth and twelfth day. To destroy thick cancerous tumours, having an uneven surface, and situated in fleshy parts, Dr. Canquoin uses a caustic formed of one part of chloride of zinc, half a part of chloride of antimony, and two and a half parts of flour, made into a paste with water. In all cases, the caustic is to be re- applied, after the falling off of the eschar, until the whole morbid structure is destroyed. Instead of flour, Dr. Alex. Ure, of Glasgow, mixes the chloride with pure anhydrous sulphate of lime in impalpable powder. He states that this has the advantages of furnishing a porous medium from which the escharotic gradually exudes into the morbid structure, and of forming afterwards, by acquiring a firmer consistence, an impervious case for the eschar. Mr. Callo- way, of Guy's Hospital, has employed the chloride of zinc with considerable success in the treatment of naevi materni. He rubs it at intervals on the part until the skin becomes slightly discolored. Mr. Guthrie has used it with ad- vantage for penetrating the hard case of new bone which forms over a seques- trum, in order to expose the latter, and permit its convenient extraction. M. Gaudriot recommends it in gonorrhoea in both sexes, as having remarkable remedial powers. For men, he uses an injection composed of from 24 to 36 drops of the liquid chloride, mixed with four fluidounces of water. A small quantity only is injected about an inch down the urethra, two or three times a day. For women, he employs a vaginal suppository, formed of five drops of the liquid chloride, half a grain of sulphate of morphia, and three drachms of a paste consisting of three parts of starch, two of mucilage of tragacanth, and one of sugar. The suppository is introduced every day, or every second day. By the liquid chloride is probably meant a neutral solution of zinc in ordinary muriatic acid. For internal exhibition, the most convenient form is a solution in the spirit of sulphuric ether, in the proportion of half an ounce of the chloride to three fluidounces of the menstruum. Of this from four to eight drops may be given twice a day. In over-doses chloride of zinc acts as a poison. It produces burning pain in the gullet and stomach, nausea and vomiting, cold sweats, depression of the pulse, and cramps of the legs. According to Dr. T. Stratton, surgeon, R. N., who treated two cases of poisoning with this chloride at Montreal, the best antidotes are the carbonated alkalies, which act by converting the poison into carbonate of zinc. In case the alkalies are not at hand, a solution of common soap must be immediately and freely given. (Med. Exam., Feb. 1849, from the Brit. Am. Journ. of Med. and Phys. Sci.) Burnett's disinfecting fluid is an aqueous solution of chloride of zinc, con- taining 200grains of zinc in each fluidounce. It is so called after Sir William Burnett, who introduced its use, in 1840, as a powerful agent in neutralizing noxious effluvia, and in arresting animal and vegetable decomposition. The concurrent testimony of a number of observers shows that it acts as an excel- lent disinfectant for ships, hospitals, dissecting rooms, water-closets, privies, &c. Injected into the blood-vessels, it preserves bodies for dissection, without impairing their colour or texture, and is said not to injure the knives employed; but the accuracy of the latter observation is doubted by some. The advantage is claimed for it, that, while it destroys putrid odours, it has no smell of its own. Applied to cancerous and other offensive ulcers, it destroys their fetor, so long as their dressings are kept moist with it, For preserving anatomical subjects, one part of the disinfecting fluid to eighteen of water will form a solution of proper strength. For disinfecting purposes on a large scale, a pint of the fluid may be mixed with four gallons of water. B. PART II. Zincum. 1217 ZINCI OXIDUM. U. S., Ed. Zinci Oxydum. Lond., Dub. Oxide of Zinc. " Take of Sulphate of Zinc a pound; Carbonate of Ammonia six ounces and a half; Distilled Water three gallons. Dissolve the Sulphate of Zinc and Carbonate of Ammonia, separately, in twelve pints of the Distilled Water, strain the solutions, and mix them. Wash the precipitate frequently with water, and expose it to a strong heat so as to drive off the carbonic acid." U S. The London process is essentially the same with the above. "Take of Sulphate of Zinc twelve ounces; Carbonate of Ammonia six ounces. Dissolve each in two pints [Imperial measure] of Water; mix the solutions; collect the precipitate on a filter of linen or calico; wash it thoroughly; squeeze and dry it, and expose it for two hours to a red heat." Ed. " Take of Zinc, broken into pieces, any quantity. Throw it at intervals into a sufficiently deep crucible heated to redness, and placed with its mouth inclined towards the mouth of the furnace. After the injection of each piece of Zinc, cover the crucible with another inverted over it, but loosely, so that the air may not be excluded. Preserve the light and very white sublimed powder for use." Dub. Oxide of zinc is now obtained in the U. S., Lond., and Ed. Pharmacopoeias by precipitating a solution of sulphate of zinc by one of carbonate of ammonia, and then igniting the carbonate of zinc thus formed to drive off the carbonic acid. During the precipitation, half an equivalent of carbonic acid is given off with effervescence from the carbonate of ammonia, which, it will be recol- lected, is a sesquicarbonate. The old formula directed the precipitation of the sulphate by ammonia, and it was supposed that the precipitate was the oxide of" zinc; but it has been proved that it is not a pure oxide, but the oxide mixed with the subsulphate of zinc. The London College first abandoned this process for the one above explained, and its example has been followed by the revisers of the U. S. and Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias. Notwithstand- ing this testimony against the use of ammonia to obtain the oxide from the sulphate of zinc, M. Soubeiran speaks of it as an advantageous precipitant, without mentioning its liability to throw down a subsulphate. To obviate this objection to ammonia, when used in connexion with the sulphate of zinc, M. Defferre has proposed to employ it to throw down the oxide from a solution of chloride of zinc; but Guibourt has subsequently shown, as well as M. Le- fort, that the oxide, thus obtained, is mixed with ammoniacal oxychloride of zinc. M. Lefort has found that a good carbonate for calcination may be ob- tained by mixing boiling solutions of the carbonate of soda or potassa and sulphate of zinc. The carbonate of zinc, thus obtained, is washed with facility, and furnishes by calcination a pure oxide, which may be readily reduced to an impalpable and very light powder. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xi. 329.) In the process of the Dublin College the oxide is obtained by burning the metal. Zinc melts at 773°, and immediately becomes covered with a film of gray oxide. When the temperature reaches nearly to redness, it takes fire and burns with an intense white light, generating the oxide in the form of very light and white flocculi, resembling carded wool, which quickly fill the crucible, and are in part driven into the atmosphere by the current of air. It is to prevent loss from the latter circumstance, that the crucible is inclined towards the mouth of the furnace, a position which prevents the axis of the crucible from coinciding with the direction of the draught. Mr. G. D. Midgley has recently called attention to the production of oxide of zinc by combustion, and has given a description of the apparatus, by which he is enabled to pre- pare from one fo two hundred weight of the oxide at one operation. It con- 1218 Zincum. PART II. sists of a large muffle, heated to redness in a suitable furnace, and supplied with zinc from time to time, as the combustion proceeds. The necessary draught of air is conveyed from the muffle by a tube, passing through the top of the furnace, and terminating in a vessel containing water, in which the portion of oxide carried up by the current is retained. The resulting oxide is freed from particles of metallic zinc by being passed through a sieve. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., April 1849, from the Trans, of the Lond. Pharm. Soc.) Properties, dec. Oxide of zinc is an inodorous, tasteless, white powder, in- soluble in water and alcohol. It dissolves readily in acids, and in potassa, soda, and ammonia, but not in their carbonates. When heated moderately it becomes yellow; but upon cooling it regains its white colour, unless iron is present, when the yellow tint remains. At a low white heat it fuses, and at a full white one sublimes. When prepared by combustion, it was formerly called pompholix, nihil album, lana philosophica, and flowers of zinc. This oxide is often impure. Much of that sold in the shops effervesces with acids, owing to the presence of carbonate of zinc, or of the carbonate used to pre- cipitate it. Its neutral solution in acids should give a white precipitate with ferrocyanuret of potassium and hydrosulphate of ammonia. If the precipitate with the former test is bluish-white, iron is indicated; if black with the latter, lead is shown. When obtained by means of caustic ammonia, it will contain the subsulphate, the acid of which may be detected by dissolving the oxide in nitric acid, and precipitating by nitrate of baryta. If the oxide contain white lead or chalk, it will not be entirely soluble in dilute sulphuric acid, but an insoluble sulphate of lead or of lime will be left behind. If iron be present, brownish-red flocks of sesquioxide are left undissolved, when the muriatic solution of the oxide of zinc is treated with ammonia in excess. Oxide of zinc consists of one eq. of zinc 32-3, and one of oxygen 8=40-3. Medical Properties and Uses. Oxide of zinc is tonic and antispasmodic. It has been given in chorea, epilepsy, hooping-cough, spasm of the stomach dependent on dyspepsia, and other similar affections. Externally, it is em- ployed as an exsiccant to excoriated surfaces, sometimes by sprinkling it on the affected part, but generally in the form of ointment. (See Unguentum Zinci Oxidi.) The dose is from two to eight grains or more, several times a day, given in the form of pill. Oxide of zinc has been used as a white paint, as a substitute for white lead, over which it has the advantage of not being discoloured by sulphuretted hy- drogen. According to Mr. Midgley, three coats of zinc paint are equal in covering power to two of lead paint, Off. Prep. Unguentum Zinci Oxidi, U. S., Lond., Ed., Dub. B. ZINCI SULPHAS. U.S., Lond., Ed.,Dub. Sulphate of Zinc. White Vitriol. "Take of Zinc, in small pieces, four ounces; Sulphuric Acid six ounces; Distilled Water four pints. To the Zinc and Water, previously introduced into a glass vessel, add. by degrees the Sulphuric Acid, and, when the effer- vescence shall have ceased, filter the solution through paper; then boil it down till a pellicle begins to form, and set it aside to crystallize." U. S. "Take of Zinc, in small pieces, five ounces; Diluted Sulphuric Acid two pints [Imperial measure]. Pour gradually the Diluted Sulphuric Acid upon the pieces of Zinc, and, the effervescence being finished, strain the liquor; then boil it down until a pellicle begins to appear. Lastly, set it aside that crystals may form." Lond. " This salt may be prepared either by dissolving fragments of Zinc in Di- luted Sulphuric Acid till a neutral liquid be obtained, filtering the solution, PART II. Zincum. 1219 and concentrating sufficiently for it to crystallize on cooling,—or by repeatedly dissolving and crystallizing the impure Sulphate of Zinc of commerce, until the product when dissolved in water does not yield a black precipitate with tincture of galls, and corresponds with the characters laid down for Sulphate of Zinc in the list of the Materia Medica." Ed. "Take of Zinc broken into small pieces, thirteen parts; Sulphuric Acid twenty parts; Water one hundred and twenty parts. Put the Zinc into a glass vessel, and gradually add the Acid, previously diluted with the Water. When the effervescence has ceased, digest for a little while. Then filter and evaporate the solution, and after sufficient concentration set it aside that crys- tals may form." Dub. By this process, a pure and crystallized sulphate of zinc is obtained. Strong sulphuric acid has very little action on zinc; but, when the acid is diluted, water is instantly decomposed, and, while its hydrogen escapes with rapid effervescence, its oxygen combines with the zinc; and the oxide formed, uniting with the sulphuric acid, generates the sulphate of the oxide of zinc. Thus it is perceived that hydrogen is a collateral product of the process. The pro- portion of the zinc to the strong acid is as 4 to 6 in the U. S. process; as 4 to 5-33 nearly in the London; and as 4 to 6-15 in the Dublin. The equivalent numbers give the ratio of 4 to 6-08; which indicates that the U. S. numbers approach very nearly to the true proportion. If the materials be mixed at once, without any precaution, the effervescence of hydrogen is ant to be ex- cessive, and to cause the overflowing of the liquid. This is avoided by the London and Dublin direction to add the diluted acid gradually to the zinc, and more completely still in the U. S. formula, in which the solution of the zinc is commenced by a very dilute acid, which, as the action slackens, is made by degrees stronger and stronger, by the addition, at intervals, of small portions of fresh acid. The formula of the Ed. Pharmacopoeia embraces direc- tions for obtaining the salt either by direct combination, or by purifying the white vitriol of commerce from iron by repeated crystallizations. Preparation on the Large Scale. Impure sulphate of zinc, as it occurs in commerce, is called white vitriol. It is manufactured by roasting blende (native sulphuret of zinc) in a reverberatory furnace. This mineral, besides sulphuret of zinc, contains small quantities of the sulphurets of iron, copper, and lead; and by roasting is converted, in consequence of the oxidation of its constituents, into sulphate of zinc, mixed with the sulphates of iron, copper, and lead. The roasted matter is then lixiviated; and the solution obtained, after having been allowed to settle, is concentrated by evaporation ; so that, on cooling, °it may concrete into a white crystalline mass, resembling lump sugar. In this state it always contains sulphate of iron, and sometimes a small portion of sulphate of copper. It may be purified from these metals, to a certain extent, by dissolving it in water, and boiling the solution with oxide of zinc, which converts the sulphates of iron and copper, by precipitat- ing their bases, into sulphate of zinc. The purified solution is then decanted or filtered, and, after due evaporation, allowed to crystallize. It has generally been proposed to purify the white vitriol of commerce by digesting its solution with metallic zinc, under the impression that this is capable of precipitating all the foreign metals; but, according to Berzelius, though it will precipitate copper readily, it has no action on the sulphate of iron. Properties, dx. Sulphate of zinc is a colourless, transparent salt, having a disagreeable, metallic, styptic taste, and crystallizing usually in small four- sided prisms. Its crystals have considerable resemblance to those of sulphate of magnesia. It effloresces slightly in dry air, and, though neutral in com- position, is still capable of reddening vegetable blues. It dissolves in two 1220 Zincum. PART II. and a half times its weight of cold water, and in less than its weight of boil- ing water, and is insoluble in alcohol. When heated, it dissolves in its water of crystallization, which gradually evaporates ; and, by a prolonged ignition, the whole of the acid is expelled, and the oxide of zinc left. Potassa, soda, and ammonia throw down a white precipitate of mixed oxide and subsulphate, which is redissolved by the alkali when added in excess. If iron be present it is precipitated also, but not redissolved. The alkaline carbonates precipi- tate the metal in the state of white carbonate. Pure sulphate of zinc is pre- cipitated white by ferrocyanuret of potassium. If copper be present, ammonia will produce a blue tinge; if iron, the ferrocyanuret of potassium will cause a bluish-white precipitate instead of a white one. Sulphate of zinc is incom- patible with alkalies and alkaline carbonates, hydrosulphates, lime-water, and astringent vegetable infusions. The impure commercial variety of sulphate of zinc, called white vitriol, is in the form of irregular opaque masses, having some resemblance to lump sugar. The lumps usually exhibit, here and there, on the surface, yellow stains, produced by the sesquioxide of iron. It is less soluble than the pure salt, on account of its containing less water of crystallization. Composition. Crystallized sulphate of zinc consists of one eq. of sulphuric acid 40, one of oxide of zinc 40-3, and seven of water 63 = 143-3. The white vitriol of commerce contains but three eqs. of water. Medical Properties and Uses. This salt is tonic, astringent, and, in large doses, a prompt emetic. As a tonic, it is supposed to be well suited to cases of debility attended with irritation, being less heating than sulphate of iron. In dyspepsia it has been used with advantage in very minute doses, as, for instance, a quarter of a grain, repeated several times a day; but if its good effects are not soon apparent, it should be laid aside. In obstinate intermit- tents, it is a valuable resource, and may be given alone or conjoined with cin- chona or sulphate of quinia. But it is in spasmodic diseases, such as epilepsy, chorea, pertussis, &c, that it has been principally employed. Dr Paris speaks of its efficacy in high terms, in spasmodic cough, especially when combined with camphor or myrrh, and " in affections of the chest attended with inordi- nate secretion." As an astringent it is chiefly employed externally. In this mode of application, its solution constitutes a good styptic to bleeding sur- faces, and is frequently resorted to as an injection in fluor albus and the ad- vanced stages of gonorrhoea, and as a collyrium in ophthalmia. In some conditions of ulcerated sorethroat, it forms a useful gargle. It has been used also in solution with success as a remedy for nasal polypi, in the proportion of two scruples gradually increased to an ounce of the salt to seven fluid- ounces of water, applied by means of lint and by injection. Before the dis- covery of tartar emetic, sulphate of zinc was almost exclusively employed to produce vomiting; but at present its use as an emetic is restricted principally to the dislodging of poisons, for which purpose its property of operating ra- pidly renders it particularly suitable. The dose, as a tonic, is from one to two grains; as an emetic, from ten to thirty grains. To children affected with hooping-cough, it may be given in doses of from an eighth to a quarter of a grain two or three times a day. When used as a collyrium, injection, or gargle, or as a wash for indolent ulcers, from one to three grains, or more, may be dissolved in a fluidounce of water. For medical purposes the crys- tallized salt should be used, and in no case the impure white vitriol of com- merce. Off. Prep. Liquor Aluminis Compositus, Lond.; Zinci Acetatis Tinctura, Dub.; Zinci Oxidum, U. S., Lond., Ed. B. APPENDIX. I. DRUGS AND MEDICINES NOT OFFICINAL.* In the progress of the medical art, numerous remedies have at different times risen into notice and employment, which, by the revolutions of opinion incident to our science, or by the discovery of more efficient substitutes, have so far fallen into disrepute as to have been discarded from general practice, and no longer to hold a place in the officinal catalogues. Of these, however, some are still occasionally employed by practitioners and referred to by writers, and many retain a popularity as domestic remedies, or among em- pirics, which they have lost with the medical profession generally. The attention of physicians must, therefore, frequently be called to them, in the course of practice; and it is highly desirable to possess some knowledge of their properties and effects, in order to be enabled to judge of their agency in any particular case, and at the same time to avoid the suspicion of incom- petence which might attach to the exhibition of entire ignorance in relation to them. The remark is true also of other substances, which, though at no time ranked among regular medicines, are yet habitually employed in fami- lies, and the influence of which, either remediate or otherwise, must often enter into our estimate of the causes which produce or modify disease. New medicines, moreover, are frequently brought forward, which, without having obtained the sanction of the medical authorities, are occasionally prescribed, and therefore merit notice. To supply, to a certain extent, the requisite means of information in regard to these extra-officinal remedies, is the object of the following brief notices, among which are also included accounts of substances not employed as medicines, but usually kept in the drug stores for various purposes connected with the arts, or with domestic convenience. In a work intended for the use as well of the apothecary and druggist, as of the physician and medical student, the introduction of such accounts is obviously proper, if kept in due subordination to the more important object of teaching the properties of medicines, and the modes of preparing them. The authors regret that the limits which practical convenience appears to require in a Dispensatory, do not admit of a more complete enumeration of the various drugs and medicines of the kind above alluded to, or of ampler details in relation to those actually treated of, than will be found in the following pages. They have endeavoured, however, in the selection of objects, to choose those which are likely most frequently to engage the attention of the medical and pharmaceutical professions, and, in the extent of the descriptions, to consult as far as possible the relative importance of facts, of which they could not detail the whole. In relation to the nomenclature employed, it may be proper to observe, that all those vegetable remedies, which, not being gene- rally kept in the shops, have no current commercial name, are described under the scientific title of the plant producing them; while other substances arc designated by the names which ordinary usage has assigned them. * By the term officinal medicines, here as well as elsewhere in this work, are meant such as are embraced in the United States and British Pharmacopoeias. 1222 Appendix. ACETATE OF MAGNESIA. Magnesice Acetas. This salt has been proposed as a purgative by M. Renault, of Paris. It has the merit of extreme solubility both in water and alcohol; and, though without much taste, it is inferior in that respect to citrate of magnesia, for which it is proposed as a substitute. It is prepared for therapeutic use by saturating 120 parts of carbonate of magnesia with acetic acid, and evaporating the resulting liquid, after filtration, to 300 parts. The product is a syrupy acetate of mag- nesia, which is to be mixed with three times its weight of syrup of oranges, to form the preparation of M. Renault. Of this, about four ounces is the dose. The objection to this liquid acetate of magnesia is, that, owing to its extreme deliquescence, it cannot be preserved of uniform strength, for mixing with the syrup of oranges. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xiii. 260.) ACETIC ETHER. JEther Acelicus. This ether may be formed by several processes, the chief of which are the following.—1. Mix 100 parts of alcohol (sp. gr. 083) with 63 parts of concentrated acetic acid, and 17 parts of strong sulphuric acid, and distil 125 parts into a receiver, kept cold with wet cloths. 2. Distil to dryness, a mixture of 3 parts of acetate of potassa, 3 of alcohol, and 2 of sulphuric acid, and mix the distilled product with one-fifth of sulphuric acid, and distil a second time an amount of ether equal to the alcohol employed. 3. Distil two parts of effloresced acetate of lead, with 1 part of alcohol, and a little more than 1 part of sulphuric acid. In the last two processes, the acetic acid is set free by the action of the sulphuric acid on the acetate employed. Acetic ether is colourless, of a very grateful odour, and a peculiar, agreeable taste. Its sp. gr. is 0 866, and its boiling point 160°. It undergoes no change by being kept. By contact of flame it burns readily, diffusing an acid odour. It dissolves in seven and a half parts of water, and unites in all proportions with alcohol. It consists of one eq. of acetic acid 51, one of etherine 28, and one of water 9=88. Acetic ether is occasionally used in medicine as a stimulant and antispasmodic. The dose is from fifteen to thirty drops, sufficiently diluted with water. It is sometimes em- ployed externally, by friction, as a resolvent, and for rheumatic pains. ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM. Milfoil. Yarrow. This is a perennial herb, common to the old and new continents, though supposed to have been introduced into this coun- try from Europe. It abounds in old fields, along fences, and on the borders of woods and of cultivated grounds, throughout the United States. It is from a foot to eighteen inches high, and is distinguished by its doubly pinnate minutely divided leaves, from which it derived the name of milfoil, and by its dense corymb of whitish flowers, which appear throughout the summer, from June to September. The whole herb is medicinal. Both the flowers and leaves have an agreeable, though feeble aromatic odour, which continues after drying, and a bitterish, astringent, pungent taste. The aromatic proper- ties are strongest in the flowers, the astringency in the leaves. The plant owes its virtues to a volatile oil, a bitter extractive, and tannin. , It contains also a peculiar acid, denominated achilleic acid. The oil, which maybe obtained separate by distillation with water, has the peculiar flavour of milfoil. The active principles are extracted both by water and alcohol. The medical properties of the herb are those of a mild aromatic tonic and astringent. In former times it was much used as a vulnerary, and was also given internally for the suppression of hemorrhages, and of profuse mucous discharges. It has been recommended in intermittents, and as an antispasmodic in flatulent colic, and nervous affections; but is at present little used. In some parts of Sweden it is said to be employed as a substitute for hops in the preparation of beer, which it is thought to render more intoxicating. It is most conveniently administered in the form of infusion. The volatile oil has been given in the dose of twenty or thirty drops. ACTiEA SPICATA. Baneberry. Herb Christopher. This is a perennial, herbaceous, European plant, growing in the woods of mountainous regions, and attaining a height of two feet or more. The root is of a dark-brown colour, and bears some resemblance to that of the Helleborus niger, for which it is said to be occasionally substituted. Its odour, in the recent state, is sweetish and rather nauseous, but is in great measure dissi- pated by drying. The taste is bitterish and somewhat acrid. In its operation on the system, the root is purgative and sometimes emetic, and is capable, in over-doses, of producing dangerous effects. It is unknown in this country. We have, however, a native species of Aetata—A. Americana of Pursh—of which there are two varieties— alba and rubra—distinguished by the colour of their berries, which in the former are white, and in the latter red. They are sometimes called white and red cohosh, a name derived from the language of the Aborigines. By some botanists they are treated of as distinct species, under the names of Actcea alba, and Actcea rubra. They grow in the rich deep mould of shady and rocky woods, from Canada to Virginia. They are said to have been much esteemed by the Indians. Their medical properties are probably Appendix. 1223 similar to those of the A. spicata. The name baneberry, given to different species of Aetata, was derived from the reputed poisonous properties of their berries. ADANSONIA DIGIT ATA. Baobab. A tree of enormous magnitude, belonging to the Linnaean class and order Monadelphia Polyandria, and to the natural family Sterculiaceae (Lindley). It is a native of Africa, extending quite through that continent from Senegal to Abyssinia, and has been introduced into the West Indies. The leaves and bark of this tree abound in mucilage, and have little smell or taste; yet extraordinary virtues "have been ascribed to them. Adanson found the leaves very useful as a preventive of fevers, and they are employed habitually by the native Africans with a view to their diaphoretic property. Dr. Duchassaing, of Guadaloupe, has recently published a state- ment of his experience with the bark in the miasmatic diseases of the West Indies. Out of 93 cases, chiefly of intermittent fever, he failed only in three. The bark has the advantage over cinchona in being almost without taste, and quite acceptable to the stomach. It produces no other observable physiological effect than some increase of appetite, increased perspiration, and perhaps diminished frequency of the pulse. An ounce may be boiled in a pint and a half of water to a pint, and the whole taken in a day. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., xiii. 412 and 421.) The fruit, which contains a subacid not disagreeable pulp, is used by the Africans in dysentery and other bowel complaints. ADIANTUM PEDATUM. Maidenhair. An indigenous fern, the leaves of which are bitterish and aromatic, and have been supposed to be useful in chronic catarrhs and other pectoral affections. A European species, known by the same vulgar name, is the A. Capillus Veneris, which has similar properties, though feebler, and has been much used as a pectoral on the continent of Europe, from very early times. It is given in the form of infusion, sweetened with sugar or honey; and a syrup prepared from it is popular in France, under the name of sirop de capillaire. The name of maidenhair has also been given to Asplenium Trichomanes, the leaves of which have a mucilaginous, sweetish, somewhat astringent taste, and have been used for the same purposes with those of the plants above mentioned. Another species of Asplenium, A. Adiantum nigrum, has been substituted for the genuine maidenhair^ but neither of them has the aromatic flavour of that fern. iESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM. Horsechestnut. Thehorsechestnutisanativeof Asia, and was introduced about the middle of the sixteenth century into Europe, where, as well as in this country, it is now extensively cultivated as an ornamental tree. The fruit and bark have been used in medicine. The fruit abounds in starch, but has a rough, disagreeable, bitter taste, which renders it unfit for food, though it is said to be eaten with avidity by horses, oxen, hogs, and sheep. It may be deprived, in great mea- sure, of the bitter principle by maceration in an alkaline solution. It is asserted that the starch may be readily obtained in a state of purity, and that it excels as an article of diet that procured from the potato. (Diet, de Mat. Med.) The powdered kernel of the fruit, snuffed up the nostrils, produces sneezing, and has been used with advantage as a sternutatory in complaints of the head and eyes. The bark of the horsechestnut has at- tracted much attention on the continent of Europe, as a substitute for cinchona. That of the branches from three to five years old is considered best. It should be collected in the spring. It has little odour, but an astringent and bitter, though not very disagreeable taste. It contains, among other ingredients, bitter extractive and tannin, and imparts its virtues to boiling water. By numerous physicians it has been found very efficacious in the treatment of intermittent fever; but has entirely failed in the hands of many others; and certainly cannot be considered comparable to the Peruvian bark in its power over that complaint. It is at present seldom used, and never in this country. It has been given in substance, decoction, and extract. From half an ounce to an ounce of the pow- der may be given in the course of twenty-four hours. The decoction is prepared and administered in the same manner as that of Peruvian bark. AGARIC. Touchwood. Spunk. Tinder. This is the product of different species of a genus of mushrooms denominated Boletus. Several species are used as food, several are poisonous, and two at least have been ranked among officinal medicines in Europe. The Boletus laricis which grows upon the larch of the old world, is the white agaric or purging agaric of medical writers. It is of various sizes, from that of the fist to that of a child's head, or even larger, hard and spongy, externally brownish or reddish; but, as found in commerce, is deprived of its exterior coat, and consists of a light, white, spongy, somewhat farinaceous, friable mass, which, though capable of being rubbed into powder upon a sieve, is not easily pulverized in the ordinary mode, as it flattens under the pes- tle. It has a sweetish very bitter taste, and consists, according to Braconnot, of 72 parts of resinous matter, 2 of bitter extractive, and 26 of fungin, a nutritious animalized prin- ciple, constituting the base of the fleshy substance of mushrooms. It contains also ben- 1224 Appendix. zoic acid and various saline compounds. In the dose of four or six grains it is said to act powerfully as a cathartic; but Lieutaud asserts that it may be given in the quantity of thirty grains or a drachm without sensibly purging. M. Andral has found it useful in checking the night sweats of phthisis. He uses it in doses of eight grains, and gra- dually increases to a drachm during the day, without any observable inconvenience to the digestive functions. In this country it is scarcely employed, though we have met with it in the shops, That which is most esteemed is said to be brought from Siberia, but it is probably produced wherever the European larch grows. The Boletus igniarius, or agaric of the oak, like the species just described, is compared in shape to the horse's hoof. Its diameter is from six to ten inches. It is soft like vel- vet when young, but afterwards becomes hard and ligneous. It usually rests imme- diately upon the bark of the tree, without any supporting footstalk. On the upper surface it is smooth, but marked with circular ridges of different colours, more or less brown or blackish; on the under, it is whitish or yellowish, and full of small pores; internally it is fibrous, tough, and of a tawny brown colour. It is composed of short tubular fibres compactly arranged in layers, one of which is added every year. The best is that which grows on the oak, and the season for collecting it is August or September. It has neither taste nor smell. Its constituents, according to Bouillon-Lagrange, are extractive, resin in very small proportion, azotized matter also in small quantity, chloride of potassium, and sulphate of lime; and in its ashes are found iron, and phosphate of lime and magnesia. It is prepared for use by removing the exterior rind or bark, cutting the inner part into thin slices, and beating these with a hammer until they become soft, pliable, and easily torn by the fingers. In this state it was formerly much used by surgeons for arresting hemorrhage, being applied immediately, with pressure, to the bleeding vessel. It pro- bably acts mechanically, like any other soft porous substance, by absorbing the blood and causing it to coagulate, and is not relied on in severe cases. In the obstinate hemorrhage which occasionally takes place from leech bites, especially those of the European leech, it may be used advantageously, though perhaps not more so than well-prepared lint. It has been sometimes applied to the purposes of moxa. When prepared agaric is steeped in a solution of nitre, and afterwards dried, it be- comes very readily inflammable, and is employed as tinder. Some recommend the sub- stitution of chlorate of potassa for nitre. The preparation is usually known by the name of spunk, and is brought to us from Europe. Spunk or tinder, the amadou of the French, is in flat pieces, of a consistence somewhat like that of very soft rotten buckskin leather, of a brownish-yellow colour, capable of absorbing liquids, and inflammable by the slight- est spark. It is said to be prepared from various other species of Boletus, as the B. un- gulatus, B. fomentarius, B. ribis, fyc. AGAVE AMERICANA. American Agave. American Aloe. An evergreen succulent plant, indigenous in Florida, Mexico, and other parts of tropical America. This and other species of Agave bear a considerable resemblance, in appearance, to the plants of the genus Aloe, with which they are sometimes confounded. From the root and leaves of the American agave, when cut, a saccharine juice flows out, which may be converted by evaporation into syrup and even sugar, and by fermentation into a vinous liquor. This juice, when fresh, is said to be laxative, diuretic, and emmenagogue. The ex- pressed juice, evaporated to the consistence of a soft extract, has the property of forming a lather with water, and is employed in some places as a substitute for soap. The fibres of the old leaves, separated by bruising and maceration in water, are used for forming thread. The Agave Virginica, which grows in our southern States, and is known in South Carolina by the name of rattlesnake's master, has a very bitter root, which is used, in the form of tincture, in flatulent colic, and as a counter-poison in the bites of serpents. (Robert King Reid, Inaug. Thes., A. D. 1849.) AGRIMONIA EUPATORIA. Common Agrimony. This species of agrimony is a perennial herb, inhabiting Asia, Europe, and North America, and, in this country, found in fields and on the borders of woods, and flowering during the summer months. Its stem, which rises from one to three feet in height, is hairy, furnished with interrupt- edly pinnate leaves, and terminated by a long simple spike of yellow flowers. Both the herb and root have been employed. The former has a weak but agreeable aromatic odour, and a rough, bitterish, somewhat aromatic taste. The fragrance is strongest in the flowers. The root has similar properties: but its taste is more bitter and astringent. A volatile oil may be obtained from the plant by distillation. Agrimony is a mild corro- borant and astringent. The herb has been employed in relaxed conditions of disease, as in passive hemorrhages, and chronic affections of the mucous membranes. It has been recommended also, as a deobstruent in jaundice and visceral obstructions, and as an alterative in diseases of the skin. In Europe it is popularly used, in the form of gargle, in Appendix. 1225 affections of the throat. The Indians of North America and the Canadians are reported to have employed the root with advantage in fevers. The. plant may be given in sub- stance, infusion, or decoction. The dose of the powder is a drachm or more. AJUGA CHAM^EPITYS. Ground Pine. Chamcepitys. A low, creeping, annual, labiate plant, a native of Europe, and found also in some parts of the United States. The leaves, which bear some resemblance to those of the pine in shape, have a strong, peculiar, resinous, not disagreeable odour, and a bitter, balsamic taste. They yield by distillation with water a small proportion of volatile oil, resembling that of turpentine. They are said to be stimulant, diuretic, and aperient; and have been given in rheumatism, gout, palsy, and amenorrhcea. The dose of the leaves in powder is one or two drachms; but their infusion in wine is considered the best preparation. The Ajuga reptans or common bugle, and the A.pyramidalis, perennial plants of Europe, have also been used in medicine. They are nearly inodorous, but have a somewhat astringent, bitterish, and saline taste. Their virtues are probably those of a mild astrin- gent and tonic. They have been recommended in pulmonary consumption, haemoptysis and other hemorrhages, and in hepatic obstructions, and have enjoyed considerable repu- tation as vnlneraries; but they are at present nearly obsolete. ALBUMINATE OF IRON AND POTASSA, SYRUP OF. This syrup, proposed by M. Lassaigne, is made as follows.—Dissolve 100 parts of the white of eggs in 100 of distilled water, and precipitate the filtered solution with 36 parts of a solution of the sulphate of sesquioxide of iron, marking 5° of the areometer. Then add 2 parts of alco- holic potassa, previously dissolved in 50 parts of water. This, by agitation, will gradu- ally dissolve the precipitate caused by the ferruginous solution, forming a deep orange- yellow liquid. The liquid is then converted into a syrup by dissolving in it one and a half times its weight of coarsely powdered sugar, and filtered. The syrup has a slightly alkaline and sweetish taste, totally devoid of inky flavour. Each fluidounce contains about six grains of anhydrous sesquioxide of iron. Mr. A. J. Cooley has proposed to make a simple albuminate of iron, by dissolving the freshly precipitated oxides in a fil- tered solution of albumen. ALCHEMILLA VULGARIS. Ladies-mantle. " A perennial European herb, growing in meadows, on the banks of rivulets, and in the borders of woods. The whole plant has an astringent bitterish taste, which is strongest in the root. It was formerly employed in diarrhoea, and other complaints requiring the use of astringents. By the ancients it was highly esteemed; and extraordinary powers were ascribed to it by the alchemists, from whom, according to LinnaBus, it derived its generic title. ALCORNOQUE. Under this name, a bark was introduced into Europe from South America, thirty or forty years since, and for a short time attracted considerable attention. It has been conjecturally referred by different writers to different plants, but its precise origin is unknown. It is in large thick pieces, composed of two layers, of which the external is reddish, cracked, granular, spongy, and two or three lines in thickness, the internal lamellated, woody, and possessed of the property of imparting a yellow colour to the saliva when chewed. It is inodorous. The outer layer is of an astringent, some- what bitter taste, and was thought to have febrifuge powers; the inner is much more bitter, and is decidedly emetic. The bark was brought into notice chiefly as a remedy in phthisis; but, having been found useless in that complaint, has fallen into entire ne- glect. It was given in the form of powder, in the dose of thirty grains; or half an ounce of it was boiled in a pint of water down to half a pint, and two or three tablespoonfuls of the decoction were administered every two hours. In these doses it acted as an emetic. The bark known in Spain by the name of alcornoque is derived from the cork tree (Quercus Suber), and has sometimes been confounded in European pharmacy with that derived from South America. It has the properties of the ordinary oak barks. ALISMA PLANTAGO. Water Plantain. A perennial herbaceous plant, common to Europe and the United States, and growing in streams, pools, ditches, and other standing waters. The root has when fresh an odour like that of Florentine orris, but loses it when dried. Its taste is acrid and nauseous. It acquired atone time considerable credit as a preventive of hydrophobia, for which purpose it was said to have been used with great advantage in Russia; but subsequent experiments have proved its total inefficacy. The Calmucks are said to use it for food. The leaves are rubefacient, and will some- times even blister when applied to the skin. They have been recommended in gravel and complaints of the bladder, in the dose of a drachm. ALKANET. This is the root of the Anchusa tinctoria, or dyers' alkanet, an herbaceous perennial plant, growing in the Grecian Archipelago and the South of Europe. It is said in some medical works to be cultivated abundantly in the South of France j but 1226 Appendix. another plant is probably referred to—the Lithospermum tinctorium of Linnaeus and De Candolle (the Anchusa tinctoria of Lamarck), which is a native of that country, and the root of which is considered as the true alkanet by the French writers. Alkanet, as found in the shops, is in pieces three or four inches long, from the thickness of a quill to that of the little finger, somewhat twisted, consisting of a dark-red, easily separable bark, and an internal ligneous portion, which is reddish externally, whitish near the centre, and composed of numerous distinct, slender, cohering fibres. As it comes to us it is usually much decayed internally, very light, and of a loose almost spongy texture. The fresh root has a faint odour, and a bitterish astringent taste; but when dried it is nearly inodo- rous and insipid. Its colouring principle, which abounds most in the cortical part, is soluble in alcohol, ether, and the oils, to which it imparts a fine deep red; but is insolu- ble in water. It may be obtained by first exhausting the root with water, and then treating it with a weak solution of the carbonate of potassa or soda, from which the colouring principle may be precipitated by an acid. According to Pelletier, by whom it was discovered, it possesses acid properties, forming with the alkalies and earths neutral compounds, which are of a blue colour, and soluble in alcohol and ether. He calls it anchusic acid, and states that it may be sublimed unchanged. (Journ. de Pharm., xix. 105.) The tincture of alkanet has its colour deepened by the acids, changed to blue by the alkalies, and again restored by neutralizing the latter substances. It may, there- fore, be used as a test. The extract obtained by evaporating the tincture is dark brown. Alkanet root is somewhat astringent, and was formerly applied to the treatment of several diseases; but it is now employed exclusively for colouring oils, ointments, and plasters, which are beautifully reddened by one-fortieth of their weight of the root. It is said also to be used in the preparation of spurious Port wine. ALLIARIA OFFICINALIS. Erysimum Alliaria. Linn. Hedge Garlic. A perennial European herb, having an alliaceous odour when rubbed, and a bitterish, somewhat acrid taste. When eaten it communicates its smell to the breath. Mr. Wertheim obtained from the root a volatile oil, apparently identical with that of mustard. (Ann. der Chem. und Pharm., liii. 52.) The herb and seeds are esteemed diuretic, diaphoretic, and expectorant, and have been given in humoral asthma, chronic catarrh, and other complaints in which garlic is useful. The herb has also been recommended as an external application in gangrenous affections, and to promote suppuration. ALNUS GLUTINOSA. Common European Alder. A European tree, twenty-five feet or more in height, growing in swamps, on the sides of streams, and in other damp places. The bark and leaves are very astringent, and somewhat bitter. The former has been used in intermittent fever, the latter as a topical remedy in wounds and ulcers. The bruised leaves are sometimes applied to the breast for the purpose of repelling the milk. The cones also are said to be astringent, and to form a useful gargle in complaints of the throat. All these parts of the tree are used in dyeing, and the leaves and bark in tan- ning. The Alnus serrulata, or common American alder, has properties analogous to those of the European species. AMBERGRIS. Ambra grisea. This substance, which is found floating on the sea, or thrown by the waves upon the shores of various countries, particularly in the southern hemisphere, is now generally believed to be produced in the intestines of the Physeter macrocephalus or spermaceti whale, and perhaps in those of some other fish. It is in roundish or amorphous pieces, usually small, but sometimes of considerable magnitude; and masses have been found weighing 50, 100, or even 200 pounds. These pieces are often composed of concentric layers. They are of various colours, usually gray, with brownish, yellow, and white streaks, often dark brown or blackish on the external sur- face. They are opaque, lighter than water, and of a consistence like that of wax. Am- bergris has a peculiar aromatic agreeable odour, is almost tasteless, softens with the warmth of the hand, melts under 212°, is almost completely volatilizable by heat, and is inflammable. It is insoluble in water, but is readily dissolved, with the aid of heat, by alcohol, ether, and the volatile and fixed oils. It consists chiefly of a peculiar fatty matter analogous to cholesterin, and denominated by Pelletier and Caventou ambrein. This may be obtained by treating ambergris with heated alcohol, filtering the solution, and allowing it to stand. Crystals of ambrein are deposited. It differs from most other fatty matters in not forming soaps with the alkalies. When pure it has little or no odour. Ambergris is often adulterated ; but does not then exhibit its ordinary fusibility and vo- latility. It was long regarded as a cordial and antispasmodic, somewhat analogous to musk; and has been recommended in typhoid fevers, and various nervous diseases. It formerly entered into many officinal preparations, and is still retained in some of the European Pharmacopoeias. It is, however, feeble as*a remedy, and is much more used in perfumery than in medicine. The dose is from five grains to a drachm. Appendix. 1227 A MMONIO TARTRATE OF IRON. Ferri Ammonio-tartras. This salt was first employed by Mr. Aiken, of London. According to Professor Procter, of this city, it is best prepared by dissolving to saturation, freshly precipitated hydrated sesquioxide of iron in a solution of bitartrate of ammonia. The bitartrate may be made by saturating fifty drachms of tartaric acid, dissolved in a gallon of water, with carbonate of ammonia, and then adding fifty drachms of the acid to the solution formed. This is heated, by means of a water bath, with the fresh hydrated sesquioxide, derived from fifty-three and a third drachms of U. S. subcarbonate of iron, dissolved in muriatic acid and precipitated by ammonia. The sesquioxide is dissolved, and a deep reddish-brown solution results, which is evaporated to dryness by means of a water-bath. This double salt, when prepared in small quantities, is in brilliant scales, dark-brown in mass, but garnet-red by transmitted light. When obtained in considerable quantities, it forms angular grains, resembling kino. It is very soluble in water, and has a strongly saccharine taste. Its aqueous solution undergoes no change by a boiling temperature. According to an analysis by Mr. Procter, it consists of one eq. of sesquioxide of iron, one of ammonia, two of tartaric acid, and four of water. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 275.) This salt has the general properties of the other ferruginous compounds. Its advantages are its ready solubility, palatable taste, and permanency. The dose is five grains or more, given in pill or solution. ANACARDIUM OCCIDENTALE. Linn. Cassuviumpomiferum. Lam. Casheio-nut. A small and elegant tree, growing in the West Indies, and other parts of tropical America. A gum exudes from the bark, which bears some resemblance to gum Arabic, but is only in part soluble in water, and consists of true gum and bassorin. It is the gomme diacajou. of the French writers. The fruit is a fleshy, pear-shaped receptacle, supporting at its summit, a hard, shining, ash coloured, kidney-shaped nut, an inch or more in length, and three-quarters of an inch broad, consisting of two shells, with a black juice between them, and of a sweet oily kernel. The receptacle is red or yellow, and of an agreeable sub- acid flavour with some astringency. It is edible, and affords a juice which has been re- commended in uterine complaints and dropsy. This juice is converted by fermentation into a vinous liquor, which yields a spirit by distillation, used in making punch, and said to be powerfully diuretic. The nuts are well known under the name of cashew-nuts. The black juice, contained between their outer and inner shell, is extremely acrid and corrosive, producing, when applied to the skin, severe inflammation, followed by blisters or desquamation. It has been examined chemically by Stoedeler, who found in it two peculiar principles, one having acid properties, which he calls anacardic acid, and the other a yellow, oleaginous liquid, named cardol. (See Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., xiii. 459.) The juice is used in the West Indies for the cure of corns, warts, ringworms, and obsti- nate ulcers, and is said to be sometimes applied to the face by females in order to remove the cuticle, and produce a fresher and more youthful aspect. In a case of external poison- ing which came under our notice, in a lady who was exposed to the fumes of the nut while roasting, the face was so much swollen that for some time not a feature was dis- cernible. The kernel, when fresh, has a sweet, agreeable taste, and is eaten like chest- nuts either raw or roasted. It is also used as an ingredient of puddings, &c, and forms an excellent chocolate when ground with cocoa. By age it becomes rancid. The black juice of the nut, and a milky juice which flows from the tree by incision, are sometimes used for marking linen, upon which they leave a nearly indelible brown or black stain. ANAGALLIS ARVENSIS. Scarlet Pimpernel. An annual plant, growing in Europe and this country, with small, delicate, procumbent stems, furnished with opposite branches, opposite ovate leaves, and small scarlet flowers, which are supported upon ax- illary, solitary peduncles, and appear in June and July. It is inodorous, and has a bit- terish, somewhat acrid taste. The ancients esteemed it a counter-poison, aud in modern times it has been used as a preventive of hydrophobia; but at present no faith is placed in its alexipharmic powers. It is, nevertheless, not wholly inactive; as Orfila found three drachms of an extract prepared from it sufficient to destroy a dog, with marks of inflammation of the bowels. It has been recommended as a local application in old and ill-conditioned ulcers, and has been given internally in visceral obstructions, consumption, dropsy, epilepsy, mania, &c. But too little is known of its precise properties, to autho- rize its indiscriminate employment in these complaints. Another species, considered by Linnanis as a mere variety of the A. arvensis, is A. ccerulea, distinguished by its blue flowers. The medical properties of the two, so far as is known, are the same. ANCHUSA OFFICINALIS. Bugloss. This species of Anchusa is a native of Europe, and unknown in the United States. It is a biennial plant, from one to three feet high, and was formerly much esteemed as a medicine. The root, leaves, and flowers were officinal. These are inodorous, and nearly tasteless. The root is mucilaginous and 1228 Appendix. slightly sweetish, and the flowers very feebly bitter. The plant has no claim whatever to the credit, formerly attached to it, of possessing cordial and exhilarating properties. It was used by the ancients in hypochondriacal affections; but, as it was given in wine, the elevation of spirits was probably due to the vehicle. In France, the Anchusa Italica. which is there known as buglosse, is employed for the same purposes and in the same manner as the Borago officinalis. ANDROMEDA ARBOREA. Sorrel-tree. A beautiful indigenous tree, growing in the valleys of the Alleghany mountains, from Pennsylvania to Florida. The leaves have a very pleasant acid taste, which has given rise to the common name of the tree. They are used by hunters to allay thirst, and form in decoction a grateful refrigerant drink in fevers. The other species of Andromeda are shrubs, and some of them ornamental. Dr. Barton, in his " Collections," states that a decoction of the A. Mariana is usefully em- ployed in the Southern States, as a wash in a disagreeable ulceration of the feet to which the negroes are liable. The powder upon the leaves and buds of the A. speciosa is said to be a powerful errhine. ANEMONE PRATENSIS. Meadow Anemone. This plant enjoyed at one time con- siderable credit from the recommendation of Storck, who believed that he had found it useful in amaurosis and other complaints of the eye, in secondary syphilis, and in cuta- neous eruptions. The A. Pulsatilla, an analogous species, has been employed for similar purposes; and favourable reports have been made of its efficacy in obstinate diseases of the skin, and in hooping-cough. The preparation employed was an extract of the her- baceous part of the plant, which was given by Storck in the dose of one or two grains daily, gradually increased to twenty grains or more. In large doses it was found fre- quently to produce nausea and vomiting, or griping and looseness of the bowels, and some- times acted as a diuretic. The species of Anemone above mentioned are European plants, and are not cultivated in this country. We have several native species. One of them, A. nemorosa, which is common to Europe and the United States, is said to act as a poison to cattle, producing bloody urine and convulsions. It is stated also to have proved, when applied to the head, a speedy cure for tinea capitis. Most of the species are, in the recent state, acrid and rubefacient, resembling in this respect other Ranuncu- laceae. They contain a peculiar crystallizable principle, named anemonin, which is con- verted into anemonic acid by the action of alkalies. (Ann. der Pharm., xxxii. 276.) ANIME. Gum Anime. The substance known at present by the name of anime is a resin supposed to be derived from the Hymencea Courbaril, a tree of South America; though this origin is denied by Hayne. According to Dr. W. Hamilton, the resin exudes from wounds in the bark, and is found also underneath the surface of the ground, be- tween the principal roots. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., vi. 522.) It is in small, irregular pieces, of a pale lemon-yellow colour, sometimes inclining to reddish, more or less trans- parent, covered with a whitish powder, brittle and pulverizable, with a shining fracture, a weak but agreeable odour, and a mild resinous taste. It softens in the mouth, adheres to the fingers when in the state of powder, and readily melts with heat, diffusing its agreeable odour in an increased degree. It consists of two distinct resins, one soluble, the other insoluble in cold alcohol, and of a small proportion of volatile oil. There is a variety of a darker colour, less transparent, and exhibiting small cavities in the interior; in other respects resembling the preceding. Another variety of anime is the East Indian, supposed to be derived from the Valeria Indica ; but this never reaches us as a distinct article of commerce. Anime formerly entered into the composition of various ointments and plasters; but is now used only as incense, or in the preparation of varnishes. The Brazilians are said to employ it internally in diseases of the lungs. ANNOTTA. Orleana. The colouring substance called annotta, arnotta, or roucou, is the reddish pulp surrounding the seeds in the fruit of the Bixa Orellana, a middling-sized tree growing in Guiana, and other parts of South America. The pulp is separated by bruising the fruit, mixing it with water, then straining through a sieve, and allowing the liquid to stand till the undissolved portion subsides. The water is then poured off, and the mass which remains, having been sufficiently dried, is formed into flat cakes Or cylindrical rolls, and sent into the market. Annotta is of a brownish-red colour, usually rather soft, but hard and brittle when dry, of a dull fracture, of a sweetish peculiar odour, and a rough, saline, bitterish taste. It is inflammable, but does not melt with heat. It softens in water, to which it imparts a yellow colour, but does not dissolve. Alcohol, ether, the oils, and alkaline solutions dissolve the greater part of it. Tt contains a pecu- liar crystallizable, colouring principle, to which M. Preisser, its discoverer, gave the name of bixin. (See Journ. de Pharm, 3e ser., v. 258.) The chief uses to which annotta is applied, are for dyeing silk and cotton orange-yellow, and for colouring cheese. The colour, however, which it imparts to cloth is fugitive. It has been given internally as a Appendix. 1229 medicine; but is not now used, and probably exercises little influence upon the system. In pharmacy it is occasionally used to colour plasters, and has occasionally been substi- tuted for saffron. It is said to be sometimes largely adulterated; and red ochre, pow- dered bricks, and colcothar have been employed for the purpose. If these substances be present, they will be left behind when the annotta is burned. ANTHRAKOKALI. This preparation, introduced by Dr. Polya, is of two kinds, the simple and the sulphuretted. The simple anthrakokali is formed by adding 160 parts of porphyrized mineral coal to 192 parts of a concentrated and boiling solution of caustic potassa, contained in an iron vessel, the whole being well stirred together. When the mixture is completed, the vessel is taken from the fire, and the stirring continued until the whole is converted into a homogeneous black powder. The sulphuretted anthrakokali is prepared in a similar manner, 16 parts of sulphur being mixed with the mineral coal before it is added to the caustic potassa solution. Dr. Polya recommends these prepara- tions, both internally and externally, in scrofula, chronic rheumatism, rheumatic tumours of the joints, and certain herpetic affections. The dose is a grain and a half three or four times a day, mixed with two or three times its weight of powdered liquorice root. For external use, sixteen grains may be rubbed up with an ounce of lard, to form an oint- ment, to be used by friction night and morning. (See Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 545, and 3e ser., ii. 153.) ANTHRISCUS CEREFOLIUM. De Cand. Chcerophyllum sativum. Lam. Scandix Cerefolium. Linn. Chervil. An annual European plant, cultivated in gardens as a pot- herb, and supposed by some physicians to possess medicinal powers. It has a strongly agreeable odour, especially when rubbed, and a pungent slightly bitterish taste. These properties it owes to a volatile oil, which may be separated by distillation with water. It is said to be deobstruent, diuretic, and emmenagogue, and has been recommended by different authors in consumption, scrofula, dropsy, cutaneous and scorbutic affections, and as an external application to swollen breasts, bruises, and other local complaints or inju- ries. It is, however, a very feeble remedy, and is more employed as an addition to broths than as a medicine. ANTIRRHINUM LINARIA. Linn. LINARIA VULGARIS. Lindley. Common Toadflax. This is a perennial herbaceous plant, from one to two feet high, with nume- rous narrow linear leaves, and a terminal crowded spike of large yellow flowers. It is a native of Europe, but has been introduced into this country, and now grows in great abundance along the road sides, throughout the Middle States. It is readily distinguish- able by the shape of its leaf, and by its conspicuous yellow flowers, which appear in succession from June to October. The herb is the part used. It should be collected when in flower, dried quickly, and kept excluded from the air. When fresh it has a peculiar, heavy, rather disagreeable odour, which is in a great measure dissipated by drying. The taste is herbaceous, weakly saline, bitter, and slightly acrid. This plant is said to be diuretic and cathartic, and has been used in dropsy, jaundice, and cutaneous eruptions. It is most conveniently employed in infusion. The fresh plant is sometimes applied, in the shape of poultice or fomentation, to hemorrhoidal tumours; and an ointment made from the flowers has been employed for the same purpose, and also locally in dis- eases of the skin. The flowers are used in Germany for dyeing yellow. AQUA BINELLI. An Italian nostrum, named after a physician of Turin, which at one time enjoyed great reputation in Europe as a styptic; but has been proved to possess very little efficacy. It is a transparent liquid, with little taste and an empyreumatic odour, and, after the discovery of creasote, was conjectured to contain a small proportion of that principle. It is now out of use. A recipe for its preparation is given in the Annuaire de Therapeutique, 1843, p. 227. AQUILEGIA VULGARIS. Columbine. A perennial herbaceous plant, indigenous in Europe, but cultivated in our gardens as an ornamental flower. All parts of it have been medicinally employed. The roots, leaves, and flowers have a disagreeable odour, and a bitterish, acrid taste. The seeds are small, black, shining, inodorous, and of an oleaginous sweetish taste, followed by a sense of acrimony. Columbine has been con- sidered diuretic, diaphoretic, and antiscorbutic, and has been employed in jaundice, in small-pox to promote the eruption, in scurvy, and externally as a vulnerary. It is not used at present, and is even suspected to possess dangerous properties, like most other plants of the natural order of Ranunculaceae. ARECA NUT. Betel Nut. This is the product of the Areca Catechu, an East India tree belonging to the family of palms. The fruit, which is about the size and shape of a small egg, and of an orange-yellow colour, contains the nut embedded in a fibrous fleshy envelope, and invested with a brittle shell which adheres to the exterior flesh. 1230 Appendix, The kernel, which is the betel-nut of commerce, is of a roundish conical shape, rather larger than a chestnut, externally of a deep-brown, diversified with a fawn colour, so as to present a reticular appearance, internally brownish-red with whitish veins, very hard, of a feeble odour when broken, and of an astringent, somewhat acrid taste. It abounds in tannin, and contains also gallic acid, a fixed oil, gum, a little volatile oil, lignin, and various saline substances. It yields its astringency to water; and, in some parts of Hin- dostan, an extract is prepared from it having the appearance and properties of catechu. Immense quantities are consumed in the East, mixed with the leaves of the Piper Betel, and with lime, forming the masticatory so well known by the name of betel. The red colour which this mixture imparts to the saliva and the excrements is owing to the Areca nut, which is also powerfully astringent, and, by its internal use, tends to counter- act the relaxation of bowels to which the heat of the climate so strongly predisposes. The nut is used in this country almost exclusively in the preparation of tooth-powder, for which purpose it is first reduced by heat to the state of charcoal. The superiority of this form of charcoal over that from other sources is probably owing to its hardness. ARGEMONE MEXICANA. Prickly Poppy. An annual plant, belonging to the Pa- paveraceae, growing in our Southern and Western States, Mexico, the West Indies, Brazil, and in many parts also of Africa and Southern Asia. It has an erect, somewhat glaucous, bristly stem, with alternate sessile leaves, sinuated, and prickly at the angles, and usually marked with white spots. The flowers are solitary, yellow or white, with two or three prickly deciduous sepals, four or six large petals, about twenty stamens, and four to six reflexed stigmas. The whole plant abounds in a milky, viscid juice, which becomes yellow on exposure to the air. From the statements of different authors, it may be in- ferred that the plant is emetic and purgative, and possesses also narcotic properties. The juice, which is acrid, has been used internally in obstinate cutaneous eruptions, and as a local application to warts and chancres, and in diseases of the eye. The flowers are stated by De Candolle to have been employed as a soporific. But the seeds are most esteemed. They are small, round, black, and roughish. In the dose of two drachms, infused in a pint of water, they are said to act as an emetic. In smaller doses they are purgative. An oil may be obtained from them by expression, which has the cathartic properties of the seeds. ARSENIATE OF AMMONIA. Ammonia Arsenias. This salt is obtained in crystals by saturating a concentrated solution of arsenic acid with ammonia or carbonate of am- monia, and allowing it to evaporate spontaneously. It has been used with advantage by Biett in several inveterate diseases of the skin. It is given in solution, formed by dis- solving a grain of the salt in a fluidounce of distilled water. Of this the dose is from twenty to twenty-five drops, given in the course of the day, and gradually increased.' ARSENIATE OF IRON. Ferri Arsenias. This salt may be formed by double decom- position, by adding a solution of sulphate of iron to one of arseniate of soda. It precipi- tates in the form of a dirty-green powder. It has been used by Carmichael, diluted with four times its weight of phosphate of iron, as a caustic application to cancerous ulcers. It may be made into ointment by being mixed with twelve times its weight of sperma- ceti cerate. Internally it has been given in cancerous affections, in the form of pill, in the dose of a sixteenth of a grain, three times a day. ASCLEPIAS CURASSAVICA. Bastard Ipecacuanha. Redhead. Blood weed. This is a very pretty species of Asclepias, from one to three feet high, and bearing umbels of bright-red flowers. It is a native of the West Indies, abounding especiayy in the Islands of Nevis and St. Kitts, where it is considerably used as a medicine. Both the root and the expressed juioe are emetic, the former in the dose of one or two scruples, the latter in that of a fluidounce or more. They are also cathartic in somewhat smaller doses; and the expressed juice, made into a syrup with sugar, has been strongly recommended as a remedy in worms. The medicine, however, is somewhat uncertain in its opera- tion. According to Dr. W. Hamilton, the plant may also be usefully employed in arrest- ing hemorrhages, and in the treatment of obstinate gonorrhoea, in which it has been found very efficient by Dr. Barham. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 19.) ASPARAGUS OFFICINALIS. Asparagus This well-known garden vegetable is a native of Europe. It is perennial and herbaceous. The root, which is inodorous, and of a weak sweetish taste, was formerly used as a diuretic, aperient, and purifier of the blood; and it is stated to be still employed to a considerable extent in France. It is given in the form of decoction, made in the proportion of one or two ounces of the root to a quart of water. Hayne asserts that, in the dried state, it is wholly inert. The young shoots are much used as food. Before being boiled they have a disagreeable taste; and their juice was found by Robiquet and Vauquelin to contain a peculiar crystallizable principle, called asparagin (see p. 76), which, however, is not known to exert any spe- Appendix. 1231 cial influence on the system. The sprouts themselves are not without effect, as the urine acquires a disagreeable odour very soon after they have been eaten. They are considered by some writers as diuretic, aperient, and deobstruent, and as constituting a very wholesome and useful article of diet, early in the spring, when vegetables are scarce. Broussais thought that they were sedative to the heart, and recommended them especially in hypertrophy, and other diseases of that organ attended with excessive action, and with- out phlogosis of the stomach. M. Gendrin, however, after much experience with aspa- ragus, affirms that he never knew it to exercise the slightest influence over the heart, and ascribes its palliative effects, in diseases of that organ, to a diuretic action. He found it, in all the cases in which he administered it, to increase the quantity of urine, which, in some instances, was quintupled. The most convenient forms for exhibition are those of syrup and extract, prepared from the shoots. The former may be given in the dose of one or two fluidounces, the latter, of half a drachm or a drachm. The syrup may be made by adding a sufficient quantity of sugar to the expressed juice of the shoots, pre- viously deprived of its albumen by exposure to heat and by filtration; the extract, by evaporating the same juice to the consistence of a pilular mass. The berries are capable of undergoing the vinous fermentation, and affording alcohol by distillation. In their unripe state they possess the same properties as the shoots, and probably in a much higher degree. We have employed a syrup prepared from them, with apparent advan- tage, in a case of diseased heart. ASPLENIUM FILIX FCEM1NA. R. Brown. Female Fern. This is the Polypodium Filix fxmina of Linn., the Aspidium Filix fozmina of Swartz, and the Athyrium Filix famina of Roth. It has a root analogous in character to that of the male fern (Aspidium Filix mas), and has been supposed to possess similar vermifuge properties. At present, however, it is not used. The vulgar name of female fern has also been bestowed upon the Ptetis aquilina, or common brake, which is asserted by some authors to have the pro- perty of destroying the tape-worm. The leaves of two species of Asplenium, the A. Trichomanes or common spleenwort, and A. Adiantum-nigrum, or black spleenwort, are some- what mucilaginous, and have been used as substitutes for the Maidenhairs (Adiantum Capillus Veneris and A. pedatum) as pectorals, though destitute of the aromatic flavour, which is the chief recommendation of these plants. BALM OF GILEAD. Balsam of Gilead. Balsamum Gileadense. Baume de la Mecque, Fr. The genuine balm of Gilead is the resinous juice of the Amyris Gileadensis of Linn., the Balsamodendron Gileadense of Kunth, a small evergreen tree, growing on the Asiatic and African shores of the Red Sea. It was in high repute with the ancients, and still retains its value in the estimation of the eastern nations, among whom it is employed both as a medicine and cosmetic. In western Europe, and in this country, it is seldom found in a state of purity, and its use has been entirely abandoned. It is described as a turbid, whitish, thick, gray, odorous liquid, which becomes solid by exposure. It possesses no medical properties which do not exist in other balsamic or terebinthinate juices. It was formerly known by the name of opobalsamum; while the dried twigs of the tree were called xylobalsamum, and the dried fruit, carpobalsamum. BALSAM OF SULPHUR. This name was formerly given to a substance resulting from the reaction of sulphur upon olive oil at a high temperature. It was directed in the old Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, under the name of Oleum Sulphuratum; but was dis- charged from that work at the last revision. The directions of the College were to boil eight parts of olive oil and one part of sublimed sulphur together, with a gentle fire, in a large iron pot, stirring them constantly till they united. The iron pot should be large enough to hold three times the quantity of the materials employed, as the mixture might otherwise boil over. As the vapours which rise are apt to take fire, a lid should be at hand to cover the pot, and thus extinguish the flame if necessary. Sulphur is soluble to a considerable extent in heated oil, from which, if the solution be saturated, it is de- posited in a crystalline state on cooling. But it is not a mere solution which this pro- cess is intended to effect. The oil is partly decomposed, and the resulting preparation is an extremely fetid, acrid, viscid, reddish-brown fluid. In order that it may be ob- tained, the oil must be heated to the boiling point. Sulphurated oil, or balsam of sulphur, was formerly thought useful in chronic catarrh, consumption, and other pectoral com- plaints; but inconvenience has arisen from its acrid properties, and its internal use has been abandoned. It is said to be sometimes applied as a stimulant to foul ulcers. The dose is from five to thirty drops. BALSAMUM TRANQUILANS. Baume Tranquille. This is a preparation of some note, directed by the French Codex, and consisting essentially of olive oil holding in solu- tion the active matters of certain narcotic and aromatic plants. The fresh plants are boiled with the oil until all their water is driven off; the oil is then expressed and poured 1232 Appendix. upon the dried plants properly comminuted; and the mixture, having been allowed to stand for a month, is strained, and the oil decanted. The preparation is used by friction as an anodyne in local pains. BAPTISIA TINCTORIA. Sophora tinctoria. Linn. Podalyria tinctoria. Michaux. Wild Indigo. This is an indigenous perennial plant, found in all parts of the United States, growing abundantly in woods and dry barren uplands. It is from one to three feet high, with a smooth, very branching stem, small, ternate, cuneate-obovate, bluish-green leaves, and yellow flowers, which appear in July and August, and, like the whole plant, become black when dried. The root, which is the part most highly recommended, is of a dark- brown colour, inodorous, and of a nauseous, somewhat acrid taste. Its virtues appear to reside chiefly in the cortical portion. In large doses, it is said to operate violently as an emetic and cathartic; in smaller, to produce only a mild laxative effect. It is said to have proved useful in scarlatina, typhus fever, and in that state of system which attends gangrene or mortification. Dr. Thacher speaks highly of its efficacy as an external application to obstinate and painful ulcers: and Dr. Comstock, of Rhode Island, found it extremely useful, both as an internal and external remedy, in threatened or existing mortification. By the latter physician it was given in decoction, made in the proportion of an ounce of the root to a pint of water, of which half a fluidounce was administered every four or eight hours, any tendency to operate on the bowels being checked with laudanum. It may be used externally in the form of decoction or cata- plasm. The stem and leaves possess the same virtues as the root, though in a less de- gree. A pale blue colouring substance has been prepared from the plant as a substitute for indigo, but is greatly inferior. BASSORA GUM. The plant which yields this substance is unknown. It came into commerce originally from the neighbourhood of Bassora, on the Gulf of Persia, but is frequently found mixed with gum brought from other countries, and is probably not the product of one plant exclusively. It is in irregular pieces, of various sizes, never very large, white or yellow, intermediate in the degree of its transparency between gum Arabic and tragacanth, inodorous, tasteless, and possessed of the property of yielding a slight sound when broken under the teeth. But a small portion of it is soluble in water, whether hot or cold. The remainder swells up considerably, though less than traga- canth, and does not, like that substance, form a gelatinous mass, as it consists of inde- pendent granules which have little cohesion. The soluble portion is pure gum or arabin, and, according to M. Guerin, constitutes 11-2 per cent. The insoluble portion consists of a peculiar principle called bassorin, associated with a small proportion of saline sub- stances, which yield, when the gum is burnt, 5-6 per cent, of ashes. The gum is use- less both in medicine and pharmacy, and is described here only as containing a prin- ciple which enters into the composition of several medicinal substances. Bassorin is insoluble in water, alcohol, and ether, but softens and swells up in hot or cold water. Diluted nitric and muriatic acids, with the aid of heat, dissolve it almost entirely. The acidulous solution, concentrated by evaporation, and treated with alcohol, lets fall a flocculent precipitate which has all the characters of pure gum, into which the bassorin appears to have been converted by the action of the acid. This does not, however, constitute more than a tenth part of the bassorin dissolved. By gradually evaporating the alcoholic acidulous solution, a thick bitterish liquid is obtained, which exhales a strong odour of ammonia when treated with potassa. Strong nitric acid con- verts bassorin into mucic and oxalic acids; and, treated with sulphuric acid, it yields a sweet crystalline substance which is incapable of the vinous fermentation. (Guerin.) Vauquelin was the first to call attention to this principle, upon which he conferred its present name, from having first observed it in the Bassora gum. Bucholz afterwards discovered the same or a closely analogous principle in tragacanth; and John, a prin- ciple which was supposed to be the same, in the gum of the cherry tree ; hence it has sometimes been called tragacanthin and cerasin. M. Guerin, however, has demonstrated that the insoluble principle of the cherry gum is essentially different from bassorin. Berzelius considers the latter as belonging to the class of substances which he associates together under the name of mucilage, and of which examples are furnished in the mucilages of flaxseed and of quince seed. (See Linum, p. 429.) BDELLIUM. This name has been given to two different gum-resins, distinguished as Indian and African bdellium. Dr. Royle was informed that the former was obtained from the Amyris Commiphora of Roxburgh, growing in India and Madagascar. The lat- ter is said to be the product of the Heudelotia Africana, which grows in Senegal. Bdel- lium sometimes comes mixed with gum Arabic and gum Senegal. It is either in small roundish pieces, of a reddish colour, semi-transparent, and brittle with a wax-like frac- ture, or in larger irregular lumps, of a dark brownish-red colour, less transparent, some- what tenacious, and adhering to the teeth when chewed. It has an odour and taste like Appendix. 1233 those of myrrh, but weaker. It is infusible and inflammable, diffusing while it burns a balsamic odour. According to Pelletier it consists of 59 per cent, of resin, 92 of gum, 306 of bassorin, and 1"2 of volatile oil, including loss. In medical properties it is analo- gous to myrrh, and was formerly used for the same purposes; but it is now scarcely ever given internally. In Europe, it is still occasionally employed as an ingredient in plasters. The dose is from ten to forty grains. BEAN OF ST. IGNATIUS. Faba Sancti Ignatii. This is the product of the Ignatia amara of the younger Linnaeus, which is now generally considered by botanists a spe- cies of Strychnos, and entitled S. Ignatia. (See Nux Vomica.) It is a tree of middling size, with numerous long, cylindrical, glabrous, vine-like branches, which bear opposite, nearly sessile, oval, pointed, entire, and very smooth leaves. The flowers are white, tubular, fragrant, and arranged in short axillary racemes. The fruit is of the size and shape of a pear, with a smooth, whitish, ligneous rind, enclosing about twenty seeds embedded in a dry pulpy matter, and lying one upon the other. These seeds are the part used. The tree is a native of the Phillipine Islands, where the seeds were highly esteemed as a medicine, and, having attracted the attention of the Jesuits, were honoured with the name of the founder of their order. They are about an inch long, rather less in breadth, still less in thickness, convex on one side, obscurely angular, with two, three, or four faces on the other, and marked at one end with a small depression indicating their point of attachment. They are exter- nally of a pale-brown colour, apparently smooth, but covered in fact with a short down or efflorescence, which maybe removed by scraping them with a knife. They are some- what translucent, and their substance is very hard and horny. They have no smell, but an excessively bitter taste. To Pelletier and Caventou they afforded the same constitu- ents as nux vomica, and among them P2 per cent, of strychnia. MM. Magendie and Delile have proved that they act on the human system in the same manner as the nux vomica. In the Phillipines they have been employed for the cure of obstinate intermittents, and in numerous other diseases. It is probable that in small doses they act as a tonic. In this country they are never used. We have noticed them here on account of their comparatively large proportion of strychnia, which is triple that contained in the nux vomica. In France they are profitably employed for the extraction of this principle. BEBEERU BARK. The bark of a tree growing in British Guiana, which has re- cently been brought into notice as a powerful tonic and febrifuge. The tree is a species of Nectandra, and has been named by Sir Robert Schomburgh, JV. Rodiei,in honour of Dr. Rodie, by whom it was first described. The bark is in flat pieces, three or four lines thick, smooth, grayish, hard, heavy, and brittle. The fruit is as large as a small apple, obcordate or obovate, somewhat compressed, consisting of an exterior brittle shell, and an interior fleshy kernel. Both the bark and the fruit are intensely bitter. They contain two alkaline principles discovered by Dr. Rodie, and named respectively bebeerin and sipeerin. These are extracted together, in the form of sulphates, by a process similar to that for preparing sulphate of quinia. The preparation is of a dark colour, and has the appearance of an extract. Messrs. Maclagan and Tilley obtain pure bebeerin by the fol- lowing process. The impure sulphate is dissolved in water, and precipitated by ammonia. The precipitate, mixed with an equal weight of recently precipitated oxide of lead, and dried, is treated with absolute alcohol, which, being evaporated, leaves the two alkalies in the form of a translucent resinoid mass. The bebeerin is separated by means of ether, which yields it by evaporation. It is pale yellow, of a resinous appearance, un- crystallizable, very soluble in alcohol, less so in ether, and very slightly soluble in water. It softens and melts with heat, and at a higher temperature takes fire. Its salts are uncrystallizable. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., x. 89.) The sulphate, above referred to, has been employed, with great asserted success, in the treatment of intermittent and remittent fevers. From a scruple to a drachm may be given between the paroxysms, in doses of two grains. (Lond. and Ed. Month. Journ. of Med. Sci., July and Aug. 1845.) BEDEGUAR. Fungus Rosarum. An excrescence upon the sweet briar or eglantine, and upon other species of Rosa, produced by the puncture of insects, especially by one or more species of Cynips. It is of irregular shape, usually roundish, about an inoli in dia- meter with numerous cells internally, in each of which is the larva of an insect. It has little smell, and a slightly astringent taste. Though formerly considered diuretic,anthel- mintic, and lithontriptic, and employed as a remedy for toothache, it has fallen into dis- use. It was given in doses of from ten to forty grains. BENZOIN ODORIFERUM. Nees. Laurus Benzoin. Linn. Spice-wood. Spicebush. Fever-bush. An indigenous shrub, from four to ten feet high, growing in moist, shady place* in all parts of the United States. Its flowers appear early in spring, long before, "78 1234 Appendix. the leaves, and are succeeded by small clusters of oval berries, which, when ripe, in the latter part of September, are of a shining crimson colour. All parts of the shrub have a spicy, agreeable flavour, which is strongest in the bark and berries. The small branches are sometimes used as a gently stimulant aromatic, in the form of infusion or decoction. They are said to be employed in this way by the country people as a vermifuge, and an agreeable drink in low fevers ; and the bark has been used in intermittents. The berri8s, dried and powde^d, were sometimes substituted, during the revolutionary war, for all- spice. According to Dr. Drake, the oil of the berries is used as a stimulant. BERBERIS VULGARIS. Barberry. A shrub growing wild in Europe and the United States, and sometimes cultivated in gardens on account of its berries. These grow in loose bunches, are oblong and of a red colour, have a grateful, sour, astringent taste, and contain malic and citric acids. They are refrigerant, astringent, and antiscorbutic, and are used in Europe, in the form of drink, in febrile diseases and diarrhoeas. An agreeable syrup is prepared from the juice; and the berries are sometimes preserved for the table. The root and inner bark have been used for dyeing yellow, and are said to have been employed beneficially in jaundice. They owe their colouring property to a peculiar crys- tallizable principle, which has been named berberin, and which is said, in the dose of from one to ten grains, to be tonic and purgative. (Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 309.) This principle has been ascertained to possess alkaline properties. (See Chem. Gaz., April 1847, p. 129, and June 1847, p. 209.) It is a vulgar error to suppose that the vicinity of this plant is injurious to wheat. The American plant differs slightly from the European, and is described by Pursh as a distinct species, under the name of B. Canadensis. It grows in mountains and hilly districts from Canada to Virginia. The berries are smaller and much less juicy than those of the garden barberry. BETONICA OFFICINALIS. Wood Betony. A perennial European herb, belonging to the labiate plants. Jt has a pleasant but feeble odour, and a warm, somewhat astrin- gent, and bitterish taste. By the ancients it was much esteemed, and employed in numerous diseases; but it is at present little used. It is slightly warming and corroborant, but is inferior in this respect to many other plants of the same family. The root has been considered emetic and purgative. BETULA ALBA. Common European Birch. Various parts of this tree have been applied to medical uses. The inner bark, which is bitterish and astringent, has been employed in intermittent fever. The epidermis is separable into thin layers, which may be employed as a substitute for paper, and are applied to various economical uses. The bark contains a peculiar principle, called betulin, which is ranked among the sub- resins. When the bark is distilled, it yields an empyreumatic oil, having the peculiar odour of Russia leather, in the preparation of which it is employed. The leaves, which have a peculiar, aromatic, agreeable odour, and a bitter taste, have been employed in the form of infusion, in gout, rheumatism, dropsy, and cutaneous diseases. The same com- plaints, particularly dropsy, are said to have been successfully treated by enveloping the body in the fresh leaves, which thus applied excite perspiration. When the stem of the tree is wounded, a saccharine juice flows out, which is considered useful in complaints of the kidneys and bladder, and is susceptible, with yeast, of the vinous fermentation. A beer, wine, spirit, and vinegar are prepared from it, and used in some parts of Europe. Of the American species of birch, the Betula lenta, variously called sweet birch, black birch, cherry birch, and mountain mahogany, is remarkable for the aromatic flavour of its bark and leaves, which have the odour and taste of Gaultheria procumbens, and are sometimes used in infusion, as an agreeable, gently stimulant, and diaphoretic drink. An oil is obtained by distillation from the bark, which has been proved by Mr. Procter to be identical with the oil of gaultheria. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 243.) This species also affords a saccharine liquor, which, indeed, appears to be common to all the birches. The bark of B. papyracea is much employed by the Northern Indians for making canoes; and thin layers of the epidermis are placed inside of boots to prevent the access of moisture. BEZOAR. This name has been applied to concretions which form in the stomach or intestines of animals, and which were at one time thought to possess extraordinary medical virtues. Numerous varieties have been noticed; but they were all arranged in two classes, the oriental bezoar (Lapis bezoar orientalis), and western bezoar (lapis bezoar occidentalis), of which the former was most highly esteemed. They have fallen into merited neglect. BIRD-LIME. A viscid substance existing in various plants, particularly in the bark of the Viscum album, and Ilex aquifolium or European holly, from the latter pf which it is usually procured. The process for preparing it consists in boiling the middle bark for some hours in water, then separating it from the liquid, and placing it in proper vessels Appendix. 1235 in a cool situation, where it is allowed to remain till it becomes viscous. It is then washed to separate impurities, and constitutes the substance in question. Bird-lime thus prepared is greenish, tenacious, glutinous, bitterish, and of an odour analogous to that of flaxseed oil. Exposed to the air in thin layers it becomes dry, brown, and pulverizable, but re-acquires its viscidity upon the addition of water. It is a complex substance, but is thought to owe its characteristic properties to a proximate principle, identical with that which exudes spontaneously from certain plants, and is called glu by-the French che- mists. This principle is without odour or taste, extremely adhesive, fusible by heat, inflammable, insoluble in water, nearly insoluble in alcohol, but dissolved freely by sul- phuric ether and the oil of turpentine. According to M. Macaire, it is insoluble in the fixed oils, either hot or cold. This property distinguishes it from the resins, to which Berzelius is disposed to attach it. M. Macaire proposes for it the name of viscin. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 18.) Bird-lime is so tenacious, that it may be employed to catch small birds, which, when they alight on a stick thickly covered with it, are unable to escape. BISULPHURET OF CARBON. Carburet of Sulphur. This compound is formed by passing the vapour of sulphur over charcoal, heated to redness in a porcelain tube. Pre- pared on the large scale, the charcoal may be heated in a cast iron cylinder, as recom- mended by M. Chandelon. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e. sir., xiv. 187.) It is a transparent, colourless, exceedingly volatile liquid, having a pungent, somewhat aromatic taste, and a very fetid smell. Its sp.gr. is 1-272. In composition it is a bisulphuret. It acts as a dif- fusible stimulant, accelerating the pulse, augmenting the animal heat, and exciting the secretions of the skin, kidneys, and genital organs. It was formerly employed in obsti- nate rheumatic and arthritic affections, in paralysis and cutaneous eruptions, and more recently as a resolvent in indolent tumours. It is used both internally and externally. For internal exhibition in gout and rheumatism, Dr. Otto, of Copenhagen, employed an alco- holic solution, in the proportion of two drachms to the fluidounce, of which four drops were given every two hours. At the same time the affected parts were rubbed with a liniment, made by dissolving the bisulphuret in the same proportion in olive oil. Dr. Krimer applied it to an indolent tumour, by allowing forty or flfly drops to fall upon it three times a day. This treatment, which may be supposed to act by the cold produced, assisted by the internal use of animal charcoal and cicuta, and the employment of warm alkaline baths, was attended with success. He also succeeded in reducing several strangulated hernias, by applying some drops of the bisulphuret to the hernial tumour. By Dr. Turn- bull the vapour of this substance was found useful, applied to indurated lymphatic glands, and for the removal of deafness, when dependent on want of nervous energy, and defi- ciency of wax. It is applied by means of a bottle with a proper sized mouth, containing a fluidrachm of the bisulphuret, imbibed by a piece of sponge. The skin over the gland is first well moistened with water. When the vapour is applied to the ear, the bottle, having a small neck to fit the meatus, is held close to the organ until considerable warmth is produced. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., ii. 352.) BOLE ARMENIAN. The term bolus or bole was formerly applied to various forms of argillaceous earth, differing in colour, or place of origin. Such are the Armenian, Lem- nian, and French boles, and the red and white boles. Some of these substances were so highly valued as to be formed into small masses and impressed with a seal, and hence received the name of terra, sigillatce. They were all similar in effect, though the small proportion of oxide of iron contained in the coloured boles may have given them greater activity. The only one at present kept in the shops is that called bole Armenian, from its resemblance to the substance originally brought from Armenia. It is prepared, by tritu- ration and elutriation, from certain native earths existing in different parts of Europe. It is in pieces of various sizes, reddish, soft, and unctuous, adhesive to the tongue, and capa- ble of forming a paste with water. It consists chiefly of alumina and silica, coloured with oxide of iron. The boles were formerly employed as absorbents and astringents; and they were undoubtedly useful in some cases of acidity of the stomach and relaxed bowels. The bole Armenian is used chiefly as a colouring ingredient in tooth-powders. BORAGO OFFICINALIS. Borage. This is an annual, hairy, succulent European plant, one or two feet high, with fine blue flowers, on account of which it is sometimes cultivated in our gardens. All parts of it abound in mucilage, and the stem and leaves contain nitrate of potassa with other salts. To these constituents the plant owes all its virtues. It is much used in France. An infusion of the leaves and flowers, sweetened with honey or syrup, is employed as a demulcent, refrigerant, and gently diaphoretic drink in catarrhal affections, rheumatism, diseases of the skin, &c. The expressed juice of the stem and leaves is also given in the dose of from two to four ounces. The flowers are sometimes applied externally as an emollient. A distilled water, extract, and syrup were formerly used, but have fallen into neglect. Borage is scarcely known in this coun- try as a medicinal plant 1236 Appendix. BRAZIL WOOD. A red dye-wood, the product of different species of Cnrsalpina, grow- ing in the West Indies and South America. Two varieties are known in commerce:— 1. The proper Brazil-wood, said to be derived from the Ccesalpina echinata, and some- times called Pernambuco or Fernambuco wood, from the province of Brazil, where it is collected; 2. the brasiletto, produced by the C. Brasiliensis and C. Crista, which grow in Jamaica and other parts of the West Indies. The former is the most highly valued. The sappan or sampfen wood may be referred to the same head, being obtained from the Ccesalpina Sappan, and possessing properties analogous to those of the brasiletto. The Nicaragua or peach wood is also analogous to the brasiletto, and is said by Bancroft to be derived from a species of Caesalpina. It is produced in the East Indies. Brazil wood is nearly inodorous, has a slightly sweetish taste, stains the saliva red, and imparts its colouring matter to water. It was formerly used in medicine; but has been abandoned as inert. In pharmacy it serves to colour tinctures, &c.; but its chief use is in dyeing. A red lake is>prepared from it, and it is an ingredient in a red ink. Its dyeing proper- ties are owing to a crystallizable colouring principle, named breselin. BROMIDE OF IRON. Ferri Bromidum. This bromide is obtained by heating gently, in thirty parts of water, two parts of bromine, and one of iron filings. When the liquid becomes greenish, it is filtered and evaporated to dryness in an iron vessel; and the dry mass, again dissolved and evaporated to dryness, furnishes the bromide. Bromide of iron is a brick-red deliquescent salt, very soluble, and extremely styptic. It is employed as a tonic and alterative, in aqueous solution, protected by saccharine matter, in the dose of a grain twice a day. It is said to be used extensively in Pittsburg. It is formed as the first step of the process for preparing the officinal bromide of potassium. BROMIDES OF MERCURY. The protobromide is formed by adding bromide of po- tassium to nitrate of protoxide of mercury. It falls as a white curdy precipitate. The bibromide may be obtained by digesting the protobromide in water containing bromine. It is in the form of colourless crystals, soluble in water and alcohol. Exposed to heat it enters into fusion and sublimes. These bromides are analogous in composition and me- dicinal properties to the corresponding iodides of mercury. (See pages 992 and 993.) The protobromide is given in the dose of a grain daily, gradually increased. The bi- bromide, like corrosive sublimate,is an irritant poison,and maybe administered in doses of the sixteenth of a grain, gradually increased to a fourth, either in the form of pill, or in ethereal solution, made by dissolving a grain in a fluidrachm of ether. BRYONY. White Bryony. This is the root of the Bryonia alba, or white bryony, a perennial, climbing, herbaceous plant, growing in thickets and hedges in different parts of Europe. It bears rough, heart-shaped, five-lobed leaves, small yellow monoscious flowers, arranged in racemes, and roundish black berries about the size of a pea. An- other species called B. dioica, with dioecious flowers and red berries, bears so close a re- semblance in character and properties to the preceding, that it is considered by some botanists merely a variety. The roots of both plants are gathered for use. When fresh they are spindleshaped, sometimes branched, a foot or two in length as thick as the arm, or even thicker, externally yellowish-gray and circularly wrinkled, within white, succulent and fleshy, of a nauseous odour, which is lost in great measure by drying, and of a bitter, acrid, very disagreeable taste. The peasants are said sometimes to hollow out the top of the root, and to employ the juice which collects in the cavity as a drastic purge. (Merat and de Lens.) The berries are also purgative, and are used in dyeing. As kept in the shops,'the root is in circular transverse slices, externally yellowish-gray and longitudinally wrinkled, internally of a whitish colour, becoming darker by age, con- centrically striated, light, brittle, and readily pulverizable, yielding a whitish powder. Besides a peculiar bitter principle called bryonin, the root contains starch in considerable proportion, gum, resin, sugar, a concrete oil, albumen, and various salts. It yields its active properties to water. Bryony is an active hydragogue cathartic, in large doses sometimes proving emetic, and disposed, if too largely administered, to occasion inflammation of the alimentary mucous membrane. The recent root is highly irritant, and is said, when bruised and applied to the skin, to be capable of producing vesication. The medicine was well known to the ancients, and has been employed by modern physicians, but is now nearly superseded by jalap, which is more certain, and less liable to lose its strength by age. The dose of the powdered root is from a scruple to a drachm. CAHINCA. This medicine attracted at one time considerable attention. The name of cahinca or cainca was adopted from the language of the Brazilian Indians. The Por- tuguese of Brazil call the medicine raiz pretta or black root. When first noticed in Europe it was supposed to be derived from the Chiococca racemosaof Linnaeus, which was known to botanists as an inhabitant of the West Indies. But Martius, in bis "Specimen Materiaa Appendix. 1237 Medicac Brasiliensis," describes two other species of Chiococca, the C. anguifuga and C. densifolia. which afford roots having the properties of that ascribed to the C. racemosa; and, as the medicine was brought from Brazil, there seemed to be good reason for ascrib- ing it to one or both of the plants named by that botanist. A. Richard, however, re- ceived from Brazil specimens of the C. racemosa as the cahinca plant. A specimen brought into this market consisted of cylindrical pieces, varying in size from the thickness of a straw to that of the little finger, somewhat bent or contorted, slightly wrinkled longitudinally, with occasional small asperities, internally ligneous, ex- ternally covered with a thin brittle reddish-brown bark, having a light-brown or brown- ish ash-coloured epidermis. The cortical portion, which was of a resinous character, had a bitter disagreeable taste, somewhat acrid and astringent; the ligneous part was quite tasteless. The virtues of the root reside almost exclusively in its bark. They are ex- tracted by water and alcohol. Cahinca has been analyzed by several chemists. Four distinct principles were discovered in it by Pelletier and Caventou:—1. a crystallizable bitter substance, believed to be the active principle, and called cahincic acid; 2. a green fatty matter of a nauseous odour; 3. a yellow colouring matter; and 4. a coloured viscid substance. Gahincic acid is white, without smell, of a taste at first scarcely perceptible, but afterwards extremely bitter and slightly astringent, of difficult solubility in water, but readily soluble in alcohol, permanent in the air, and unaltered at 212°. It reddens vege- table blues, and unites with the alkalies, but does not form crystallizable salts. It is thought to exist in the root as subcahincate of lime. Medical Properties. Cahinca is tonic, diuretic, purgative, and emetic. In moderate doses it gently excites the circulation, increases the discharge of urine, and produces evacuations from the bowels; but is rather slow in its operation. It may be made to act also as a diaphoretic, by keeping the skin warm, using warm drinks, and counteracting its purgative tendency. In some patients it occasions nausea and griping, and in very large doses always acts powerfully both as an emetic and cathartic. In Brazil it has long been used by the natives as a remedy for the bites of serpents; and its Indian name is said to have been derived from this property. According to Martius, the bark of the fresh root is rubbed with water till the latter becomes charged with all its active mat- ters ; and the liquid, while yet turbid, is taken in such quantities as to produce the most violent vomiting and purging, preceded by severe spasmodic pains. Patrick Brown speaks of the root of the C. racemosa as very useful in obstinate rheumatisms. But the virtues of cahinca in dropsy, though well known in Brazil, were first made known to the European public in the year 1826, by M. Langsdorff, Russian Consul at Rio Janeiro. Achille Richard afterwards published a few observations in relation to it in the Journal de Chimie Midkale; and its properties were subsequently investigated by numerous prac- titioners. M. Francois, of Paris, contributed more than any other physician to its reputa- tion. It was considered by him superior to all other remedies in dropsy. General experience appears to have been in its favour, but by no means to the extent of the par- tial estimate of Dr. Francois; and, having been found equally liable with other diuretics to the charge of uncertainty, it is now little used. It was employed in substance, decoc- tion, extract, and tincture. The powdered bark of the root was given as a diuretic and purgative, in a dose varying from a scruple to a drachm ; but the aqueous or spirituous extract was preferred. The dose of either of these is from ten to twenty grains. Dr. Francois recommended that, in the treatment of dropsy, a sufficient quantity should be given at once to produce a decided impression, which should afterwards be maintained by smaller doses, repeated three or four times in the twenty-four hours. CALENDULA OFFICINALIS. Marygold. This well-known garden plant was formerly much employed in medicine. It has a peculiar, rather disagreeable odour, which is lost by drying, and a bitter, rough, saline taste. Among its constituents is a peculiar principle, called calendulin, discovered by Geiger most abundantly in the flowers, and considered by Berzelius as analogous to bassorin, though solub'e in alcohol. The plant was thought antispasmodic, sudorific, deobstruent, and emmenagogue, and was given in low forms of fever, scrofula, jaundice, amenorrhcea, &c. Both the leaves and flowers were used; but the latter were preferred, and were usually administered in the recent state, in the form of tea An extract was also prepared, and employed with sup- posed advantage in cancerous and other ulcers, sick stomach, &c. At present marygold is very seldom if ever used in regular practice. CALOTROPIS GIGANTEA. Brown. Asclepias gigantea, Linn. Under the name of madar, or mudar, a medicine has been employed in the East Indies, with great asserted advantage. It is the bark of the root of a species of Calotropis, generally considered as the C. gigantea, but asserted by Dr. Casanova to be a distinct species, and named by him C. Madarii Indico orientalis. The C. gigantea is a native of Hindostan, and has been intro- duced into the West Indies, where it is now naturalized. The bark, as employed, is desti- 1238 Appendix. tute of epidermis, of a whitish colour, nearly or quite inodorous, and of a bitter, somewhat nauseous taste. It appears to have the general properties of many other acrid medicines; in small doses, increasing the secretions, and in larger, producing nausea and vomiting. According to Dr. Casanova, who published an essay upon the subject at Calcutta, it is especially directed to the skin, the capillaries and absorbents of which it stimulates to increased action. It is chiefly recommended as a remedy in the obstinate cutaneous dis- eases of tropical climates, such as elephantiasis and leprosy. It has been employed also with advantage in syphilis, dropsy, rheumatism, and hectic fever. It is given in sub- stance in the dose of from three to twelve grains, three times a day, and gradually in- creased till it affects the system. CAM WOOD. A red dye-wood, procured from the Baphia nitida of De Candolle, a leguminous tree, growing on the Western Coast of Africa. The wood is usually kept in the shops in the ground state. It yields its colouring matter scarcely at all to cold water, slightly to boiling water, and readily to alcohol and alkaline solutions. This colour- ing principle is thought to be identical with santalin. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., v. 211.) CANARY SEED. The seeds of the Phalaris Canariensis, an annual plant belonging to the grasses, originally from the Canary Islands, but now growing wild in Europe and the United States, and cultivated in many places. The seeds are ovate, somewhat com- pressed, about two lines long, shining, and of a light yellowish-gray colour externally, and brownish within. Their chief constituent is starch. They were formerly esteemed medicinal, but are now used only for emollient cataplasms. They are nutritive, and their meal is said to be mixed, in some places, with wheat flour, and made into bread. They are used as food for Canary birds. CANNABIS SATIVA. Hemp. Indian Hemp. Gunjah. Hashish. An annual plant ori- ginally from Asia, but now cultivated in various parts of Europe and North America. Some consider the hemp cultivated in the East as specifically different from the common hemp, and name it Cannabis Indica; but most botanists think the two plants identical. It is, however, generally admitted that the India plant is much more powerful in its action on the system; the difference being ascribed to the influence of climate. Hemp possesses narcotic properties, and is employed in Persia and the East Indies, in the form of infusion, as an intoxicating drink. It is also smoked, in these and other countries of the East, in the same manner as tobacco, with which it is frequently mixed. A resinous exudation from the plant is much employed for the same purpose. Even the odour of the fresh plant is stated to be capable of producing vertigo, headache, and a species of intoxication. In Hindostan the tops of the plant are cut when in flower, dried, and sent into the market in bundles, under the name of gunjah or hashish. The larger leaves and capsules, without the stems, are called bang. The concrete resinous exudation is known in India by the name of churrus. According to Dr. O'Shaughnessy, of Calcutta, who experimented with this narcotic, it alleviates pain, exhilarates the spirits, increases the appetite, acts decidedly as an aphrodisiac, produces sleep, and, in large doses, occasions intoxication, a peculiar kind of delirium, and catalepsy. Its operation, in the hands of Dr. Pereira, appeared to resemble very much that of opium. Numerous trials have been made with it as a remedy; and the general result appears to be that it is capable of pro- ducing most of the therapeutical effects of opium, and may be employed as a substitute for that narcotic, when found to disagree with a patient from some peculiarity of consti- tution. Very favourable reports have been made of its effects in cholera, neuralgia, rheu- matism, tetanus, and insanity. It is wrongly called Indian hemp; as this name has long been appropriated, in the United States, to the Apocynum cannabinum. The prepara- tion most used is an alcoholic extract of the dried tops. It is of very variable strength. When of good quality, half a grain or a grain will affect the system, while of that found in the shops 10 or 12 grains will sometimes be requisite; and so weak is occasionally the preparation that half an ounce of it has been taken without sensible effect. The proper plan is to begin with a dose of a grain or two, repeated at intervals of two, three, or four hours, and increased, if necessary, till its effects are experienced. Another pre- paration employed is a spirituous solution or tincture of the extract, made by dissolving three grains in a fluidrachm of proof spirit. The dose of this must correspond with that of the extract. Dr. O'Shaughnessy gave ten drops of it every half hour in cholera. From twenty to forty minims may be given, as a commencing dose, when the full effects of the remedy are required. Alarming effects have been produced by over-doses. The Messrs. Smith, of Edinburgh, prepare the resin of hemp, freed from inert accompaniments, by a process which may be seen at length in the Am. Journal of Pharmacy, vol. xix. p. 39. They state that two-thirds of a grain operated as a powerful narcotic on themselves, and one grain produced intoxication. Probably the most efficient process is that employed by Mr. Robertson, of the Calcutta Medical College, consisting in the passage of the vapours Appendix. 1239 of boiling alcohol from the boiler of a still into the dried plant contained in a convenient receptacle, and evaporating the condensed liquor at a temperature not exceeding 150° of Fahrenheit. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xix. 195.) The seeds of hemp have also been used in medicine. They are about the eighth of an inch long, roundish-ovate, somewhat compressed, of a shining gray colour, inodorous, and of a disagreeable, oily, sweetish taste. They yield by expression a considerable quantity of fixed oil, which is used in the arts. They contain also uncrystallizable sugar and albumen, and when rubbed with water afford an emulsion, which may be used advantageously in inflammations of the mucous membranes, though it is not superior to a similar preparation from other emul- sive seeds. They are much used as food for birds, which are fond of them. CAOUTCHOUC. Gum elastic. Indian Rubber. This substance is the concrete juice of the Siphonia Cahuchu of Schreber and Willdenow, identical with the Siphonia elastica of Persoon, the Jatropha elastica of the younger Linnaeus, and the Hevea Guianensis of Aublet. This is a large tree, growing in Brazil, Guiana, and probably also in Central America. (Journ. of Phil. Col. of Pharm., iii. 292.) On being wounded, it emits a milky juice, which concretes on exposure, and constitutes the substance in question. A simi- lar product is afforded by several other lactescent plants; but hitherto it is only the juice of the Siphonia that has been extensively collected. Caoutchouc comes to us in large flat pieces, or moulded into various shapes. These are formed by applying successive layers of the juice upon models of clay, which are broken and removed when the coating has attained a sufficient thickness and consistence. In the drying of these layers they are exposed to smoke, which gives to the concrete mass a blackish colour. The juice, when it concretes by exposure to the air, assumes on the outer surface a yellowish-brown colour, while the mass remains white or yellowish-white within. The recent juice con- tains, according to Faraday, 19 per cent, of vegetable albumen, traces of wax, 713 per cent, of a bitter azotized substance soluble in water and alcohol, 2-9 of a substance soluble in water but insoluble in alcohol, 56-37 of water with a little free acid, and only 317 of the pure elastic principle to which chemists have given the name of caoutchouc. Be- sides these principles the concrete juice, as it reaches us, generally contains soot derived from the smoke used in drying it. Pure caoutchouc is nearly colourless, and in thin layers transparent. It is highly elastic, lighter than water, without taste and smell, fusible at about 2 18°, remaining unctuous and adhesive upon cooling, inflammable at a* higher temperature, insoluble in water, alcohol, the weak acids, and alkaline solutions, soluble in ether when entirely freed from alcohol, soluble also in most of the fixed and volatile oils, though at the expense of its elasticity. It is said, however, that the oils of lavender and sassafras dissolve it without change, and that, when precipitated by alcohol from its solution in cajeput oil, it is still elastic. But its best solvent, for practical purposes, is either coal-naphtha, an empyreumatic oil obtained by distilling caoutchouc itself, or oil of turpentine modified by one or two distillations. Caoutchouc is not affected by atmo- spheric air, chlorine, muriatic or sulphurous acid gas, or ammonia. It consists, according to Faraday, of 872 parts of carbon, and 12-8 of hydrogen. Caoutchouc is used for erasing pencil marks; in the formation of flexible tubes for the laboratory, and of catheters and bougies for surgical purposes; in the melted state, as a luting to the joints of chemical apparatus; in the shape of thin layers, for covering the mouths of bottles, and for other purposes in which the exclusion of air and moisture is requisite; in the manufacture of water-proof cloth; and for numerous other objects, to which its elasticity, and the resistance which it offers to the ordinary solvents, and to other powerful chemical agents peculiarly adapt it. It is brought to the state of thin layers, by softening the small ffasks of it in ether containing alcohol, or by boiling them in water for fifteen minutes, and then distending them by means of air forced into them. Tubes of caoutchouc may be made from its ethereal solution, or from the juice imported in the liquid state. A court-plaster prepared with caoutchouc has been considerably used, and from its impermeability by moisture is sometimes valuable. (See Amer. Journ. of Pharm., xv. 38.) A convenient sticking plaster may be prepared by spreading the liquid caout- chouc, by a stiff brush, upon calico, soft leather, or thin sheets of vulcanized Indian rubber as found in the shops. Small thin pieces of caoutchouc may be very advantageously employed to suppress hemorrhage from leech-bites, &c, by first softening one surface of the piece by a taper, and when cool applying it firmly over the bleeding point. The cavity of a decayed tooth may be lined with caoutchouc, so as to prevent the access of air, and thus relieve pain, by fastening a piece firmly around the end of a rod, liquefying the surface by heat, then introducing it with pressure into the cavity, and again with- drawing it. Caoutchouc has been given internally in phthisis, in the dose of one or two grains, gradually increased.—(Ann. Thirap., 1847, p. 73.) CAPPARIS SPINOSA. Caper-bush. A low, trailing shrub, growing in the South of Europe and North of Africa. The buds or unexpanded flowers, treated with salt and 1240 Appendix. vinegar, form a highly esteemed pickle, which has an acid, burning taste, and is consi- dered useful in scurvy. The dried bark of the root was formerly officinal. It is in pieces partially or wholly quilled, about one-third of an inch in mean diameter, trans- versely wrinkled, grayish externally, whitish within, inodorous, and of a bitterish, some- what acrid, and aromatic taste. It is considered diuretic, and was formerly employed in obstructions of the liver and spleen, amenorrhosa, and chronic rheumatism. CARANNA. Gum Caranna. A resinous substance, in pieces of a blackish-gray colour externally, dark-brown internally, somewhat shining and translucent, brittle and pulverizable when dry, but, in the recent state, soft and adhesive like pitch, easily fusible, of an agreeable balsamic odour when heated, and of a bitterish resinous taste. (Geige7\) It is said to be derived from the Amyris Caranna of Humboldt, a tree growing in Mexico and South America. Geiger refers it also to the Bursera gummifera of the West India Islands ; but the resin obtained from this tree is described by the French writers under the name of resine de Gomart, or resine de chibou or cachibou, and is said to bear a close resemblance to the resin tacamahac. CARBURET OF IRON. Ferri Carburetum. Plumbago. Black Lead. This substance has been used both internally and externally in cutaneous affections. For medical use it is reduced to very fine powder, and purified by being boiled in water, and digested with dilute nitromuriatic acid. The dose is from five to fifteen grains or more, three or four times a day, given in the form of powder or pill. The ointment is made by mixing from two to six drachms with an ounce of lard. CATALPA CORDIFOLIA. Bignonia Catalpa. Linn. Catalpa tree, or Catawba tree. This is a beautiful indigenous flowering tree, occasionally cultivated for ornamental pur- poses. It is reputed to be poisonous. The seeds have been employed by several practi- tioners of Continental Europe in asthma. M. Automarchi recommends a decoction made by boiling twelve ounces of water with three or four ounces of the seeds down to six ounces, the whole to be given morning and night. CEANOTHUS AMERICANUS. New Jersey Tea. Red-root. A small indigenous shrub, growing throughout the United States. The root is astringent, and imparts a red colour to water. It is said to be useful in syphilitic complaints, in which it is given in the form of decoction, made in the proportion of two drachms of the root to a pint of water. Schoepf states that it is purgative. The leaves were used during the revolu- tionary war as a substitute for tea. Dr. Hubbard recommends a strong infusion of the dried leaves and seeds, as a local application in aphthous affections of the mouth and fauces, and the sorethroat of scarlatina, and as an internal remedy in dysentery. (Boston Med. and Surg. Journ.. Sept. 30, 1835.) CELASTRUS SCANDENS. Climbing Staff-tree. A climbing indigenous shrub, grow- ing from Canada to Carolina, and said to possess emetic, diaphoretic, and narcotic proper- ties. The bark is the part employed. It has been used in chronic affections of the liver and secondary syphilis. For a full description of the plant, see Darlington's Flora Cestrica, p. 149. Other species of Celastrus, growing in various parts of the world, have been employed in medicine, though with little reputation. CHELIDONIUM MAJUS. Celandine. A perennial herbaceous plant, growing wild in this country, about old houses and in rocky places; but supposed to have been intro- duced from Europe, where it is indigenous It is one or two feet high, bears pinnate leaves and small peduncled umbels of yellow flowers, and, when wounded, emits a yellow, opaque juice. The whole plant is used. It has a faint unpleasant odour, and a bitter, acrid, durable taste, which is stronger in the roots than in the leaves. The odour is nearly lost by drying, but the taste remains. The yellow juice is bitter and exceed- ingly acrid, and when applied to the skin produces inflammation and even vesication. The plant, analyzed by MM. Chevalier and Lassaigne, afforded a bitter resinous substance of a deep yellow colour; a kind of gum-resin of an orange-yellow colour, and bitter, nau- seous taste; mucilage; albumen; and various saline substances, besides free malic acid and silica. Dr. Probst, of Heidelberg, has more recently found in it a peculiar acid denominated chelidonic acid ; two alkaline principles, one of which forms neutral salts with the acids, and is called chelerythrin in consequence of the intense redness of its salts, the other unites with but does not neutralize the acids, and is named chelidonin; and lastly a neuter, crystallizable, bitter principle, which from its yellow colour he calls chelidoxanthin. Chelerythrin appears to be an acrid narcotic poison. (Annal. der Pharm, xxix. 113.) Ce- landine is an acrid purgative, possessed also of diuretic, and perhaps diaphoretic and expectorant properties. In over-doses, it produces unpleasant effects, and is by some considered poisonous By the ancients it was much esteemed as a remedy in jaundice; and it has been found useful in the same complaint by some modern physicians. It was Appendix. 1241 the chief ingredient of the old decoctum ad ictericos of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. It has been given also, with asserted advantage, in other complaints, especially those of a scrofulous character, affecting the mesenteric and lymphatic glands, the skin, and the eyes. The yellow juice is often applied to corns and warts, which it destroys by stimulating them beyond their vital powers. The fresh herb is also applied locally about the pelvis, with asserted benefit, in amenorrhea. The dose of the dried root or herb is from thirty grains to a drachm, that of the fresh root one or two drachms; and the same quantity may be given in infusion. The watery extract and expressed juice have also been em- ployed. The dose of the former is from five to ten grains, of the latter from ten to twenty drops, to be gradually increased until the effects of the remedy are experienced. CHELTENHAM SALT. ARTIFICIAL. Several artificial mixtures have been pre- pared, professing to be exar-t imitations of the saline ingredients in the chalybeate Chel- tenham water ; but the only ones which appear worthy of confidence are those prepared by Robert Alsop, Chemist, of London, and D. B. Smith and W. Hodgson, jun., chemists and druggists, of this city. The composition of the natural Cheltenham chalybeate is given at p. ] 13. The imitation of Mr. Alsop, as analyzed by Dr. Faraday, contains the same solid and gaseous constituents as the natural water, except the sulphate of lime, which is very properly omitted; and in the same proportions precisely, with the ex- ception that there is about twice as much free carbonic acid in the artificial preparation. The iron is present in the state of protoxide", and is immediately dissolved by the free carbonic acid, upon adding a sufficient quantity of water. The free carbonic acid pro- bably exists as such in the dry mixture; as there is no obvious agent present to cause it to be disengaged in the mere act of solution. Mr. Alsop's artificial mixture is in the form of a powder, nearly white, possessing a saline and slightly ferruginous taste. It forms a good combination, in which the aperient property of the salts present, is combined with the tonic virtue of the iron. It is con- sidered to be useful in glandular obstructions, especially of the liver, and in scrofulous affections, attended with feeble digestion, sluggish bowels, and pallidness of skin. It is employed, also, with advantage in sick headache, habitual costiveness, and hemorrhoids. The dose is a teaspoonful, quickly dissolved by brisk stirring in half a pint of cold water, and swallowed immediately, before the iron has time to separate in an insoluble state. This quantity may be taken in the morning, fasting, and repeated once or twice after an interval of twenty minutes, or in the course of the day. To obtain its full tonic and alterative effects, it should be persevered in for a month or six weeks. The artificial Cheltenham salt of Messrs. Smith and Hodgson is deemed by them to be identical with that of Mr. Alsop, and may be used with entire confidence for all the purposes to which the latter is applied. CHLORIDE OF MAGNESIUM. Magnesii Chloridum. Muriate of Magnesia. The physiological action of this bitter and very deliquescent salt has been made the subject of a memoir by Dr. Lebert. He finds it to act mildly and favourably as a purgative, pro- ducing a flow of bile, and an increase of appetite. On account of its extreme deliques- cence, he recommends it in the liquid form, prepared by dissolving the salt in its weight of water. Of this solution he gives an ounce, sufficiently diluted, to an adult, and half an ounce to a child from 10 to 14 years of age. (Arch. Gin., 4e sir., iii. 448.) CHLORIDE OF POTASSA, SOLUTION OF. Liquor Potassa; Chlorinata. Javelle's Water. Eau de Javelle. This is obtained precisely as the solution of chlorinated soda. (See Liquor Soda Chlorinata.) It is employed for taking out fruit stains, &c, from linen. In chemical constitution it is probably a hypochlorite. CHLORIDE OF SILVER. Argenti Chloridum. This has been already referred to as being inevitably formed when nitrate of silver s given internally. (Seepage 870.) It is readily prepared by adding a solution of common salt to one of nitrate of silver, as long as it produces a precipitate. As first thrown down it is a white curdy substance, but it soon becomes discoloured when exposed to the light. It has been used rubbed on the tongue in syphilis, and "internally in epilepsy, curonic dysentery and diarrhoea, and other diseases in which nitrate of silver has been given. The dose is from one to three grains or more, four or five times a day. Dr. Perry administered it at the Philadelphia hospital, Blockley, in chronic dysentery, with the immediate effect of diminishing the number of stools. The crystallized ammonio-chloride of silver has been given in syphi- litic affections, in the dose of the fourteenth of a grain. It is formed by saturating solu- tion of ammonia, by the aid of heat, with chloride of silver, and allowing the liquid to cool in a stopped bottle. It crystallizes in cubes, and is very liable to decomposition. CHLORINE ETHERS. There appear to be* three species of chlorine ether, each consisting of some form of carbohydrogen, united with different proportions of chlorine. The first is called protochloriue ether, and is formed by passing an excess of chlorine 1242 Appendix. through cold alcohol. It consists of one eq. of chlorine and one of etherine. The second, denominated bichlorine ether, consists of two eqs. of chlorine and one of etherine, and is the long known oily liquid of the Dutch chemists, obtained by the action of olefiant gas on chlorine. The third species, named chloroform, is treated of in the next article. Bichlorine ether, or Dutch liquid, as it is sometimes called, has been tried by inhalation, as an anaesthetic, by Dr.'Simpson and Mr. Nunneley. Dr. Simpson was not satisfied with its effects; but Mr. Nunneley, having tried it upon himself, found it perfectly agreeable in every respect. CHLOROFORM. Chloroformum. Terchloride of Formyle. Improperly called Chloric Ether and Teirhloiide of Carbon. This substance was discovered by Mr. Samuel Guthrie, of Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., in 1831, and about the same time by Soubeiran in France, and Liebig in Germany. Guthrie obtained it by distilling a gallon from a mixture of three pounds of chloride of lime and two gallons of alcohol of the sp. gr. 0-844, and rectifying the product by redistillation, first from a great excess of chloride of lime, and afterwards from carbonate of potassa. (Sillimans Journal, vol. xxi., Jan. 1832, p. 64.) In a subsequent letter to Professor Silliman, dated Feb. 15th, 1832, Mr. Guthrie states that the substance which he had obtained, " distilled off sulphuric acid, has the specific gravity of I486, or a little greater, and may then be regarded as free from alcohol; and if a little sulphuric acid which sometimes contaminates it be removed by washing it with a strong solution of carbonate of potassa, it may then be regarded as absolutely pure." (Ibid. vol. xxii., July 1832, p. 105.) It is thus evident that Mr. Guthrie obtained in a pure state, the sub- stance now called chloroform; but he erroneously supposed his product to be the well- known oily liquid of the Dutch chemists, which it greatly resembles, and for the pre- paration of which he believed he had fallen on a cheap and easy process. Under this impression, he calls the substance, in his communications, chloric ether, one of the names by which the Dutch liquid, or chloride of olefiant gas, is designated. He was induced to make the preparation from noticing a passage in Professor Silliman's Elements of Che- mistry, which referred to die Dutch liquid as a grateful diffusible stimulant, when pro- perly diluted with alcohol and water. In lelation to the anticipated importance of this substance as a medicine, Mr. Daniel B Smith, President of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, holds the following language in July 1832. "The action of this ether on the living system is interesting, and may hereafter render it an object of importance in com- merce. Its flavour is delicious, and its intoxicating qualities equal to or surpassing those of alcohol. It is a strong diffusible stimulus, similar to the hydrated ether, but more grateful to the taste." (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iv. 11F.) Preparation. Soubeiran recommends the following process. Distil, with a brisk fire, 10 parts of pulverized chloride of lime, well mixed with 60 parts of hot water, with 2 parts of rectified spirit, of sp. gr. Q-85, from a copper still, only two-thirds filled, into a refrigerated receiver. When the temperature approaches to 176°, the fire must be quickly withdrawn; for, if the temperature be allowed to rise above that point, a vio- lent reaction would ensue, and the danger would be incurred of the mixture boiling over. Soon afterwards the distillation begins, and proceeds rapidly of itself, until nearly com- pleted. When the action slackens, the fire is renewed, and the distillation is known to be finished, when the liquid which comes over no longer possesses the sweet taste of chloroform. The distillate is composed of two layers; the lower one dense and yellowish, consisting of chloroform, contaminated with alcohol and a little chlorine; the upper, of water, alcohol, and chloroform. The chloroform layer is separated by decantation, and, after having been washed with water to separate alcohol, and agitated with a weak solution of carbonate of soda to remove chlorine, is rectified by distillation from chloride of calcium in a water bath. The upper layer, together with the washings, is diluted with more water, and distilled by means of a water-bath. The new distillate, consist- ing of chloroform, containing a little water and alcohol, is purified as above described. The chloroform, thus obtained, is not perfectly pure, but is sufficiently so for medical pur- poses. Dumas recommends 20 parts of chloride of lime, and about 3| parts of rectified spirit, to 60 parts of water, and treats the materials very much in the same manner that Sou- beiran does. Comparing the proportions of the two formulae, it is seen that Dumas uses twice as much chloride of lime, and nearly twice as much rectified spirit to the water employed. Messrs. Duncan and Flockhart, druggists of Edinburgh, manufacture chloro- form on a large scale, in a peculiar apparatus, using the proportions recommended by Dumas. They employ two large wooden barrels as a still, and a third as a receiver, and into the former throw steam, whiph furnishes both sufficient heat and water for the process. Sixty pounds of chloride of lime are used by them at each distillation; and they are able to manufacture three hundred ounces of chloroform a day. On an average Appendix. 1243 they have found that the chloride of lime employed yields half its weight of chloroform. The heavy layer of the distillate, constituting the impure chloroform, is purified by them, by mixing it with half its measure of strong sulphuric acid, gradually added, and dis- tilling the mixture, when cool, in a leaden retort, from as much carbonate of baryta by weight, as of acid previously used by measure. The product is finally distilled from quicklime, after having stood over the earth, and been repeatedly shaken with it, for a day or two. Properties and Composition. Chloroform is a limpid, colourless, volatile, neuter liquid, having a bland ethereal odour, and hot. aromatic, saccharine taste. It is but slightly soluble in water. Its sp. gr. is 148, and boiling point 142°. It is not inflammable, but renders the flame of an alcohol lamp yellow and fuliginous. It burns, however, with a smoky flame, when mixed with an equal volume of alcohol. When pure, it has no action on potassium. It is scarcely acted on by sulphuric acid in the cold, but dissolves readily in alcohol and ether. The alcoholic solution, when moderately diluted with water, forms an aromatic, saccharine liquid of a very grateful taste." A strong alcoholic solution is decomposed by abundance of water, the chloroform separating and subsiding, and the alcohol uniting with the water. Chloroform has extensive solvent powers, being capable of dissolving caoutchouc, gutta percha, lac, amber, and copal, substances which resist most other solvents. It also dissolves iodine, bromine, the organic alkalies, volatile oils, resins, wax, and fats. It does not dissolve sulphur or phosphorus. (A. Taylor.) Its power of dissolving a large quantity of camphor, and the means which it furnishes of administering that medicine in an elegant form, have been already mentioned. (See page 1031, note ) As a general solvent, it has the advantage over ether of not being inflam- mable; the inflammability of the latter being the cause of frequent accidents. Chloro- form is composed of three eqs. of chlorine and one of formyle, and is, therefore, the ter- chloride of formyle. As formyle is a bicarburet of hydrogen, the formula of chloroform is C2HCl3. Its composition was first accurately determined by Dumas in 1835, by whom it was called chloroform from its relation to formic acid (C2H03), being formic acid, with its three eqs. of oxygen replaced by three of chlorine. When first obtained by him, Liebig supposed it to consist exclusively of chlorine and carbon; and hence the origin of the erroneous name of perchloride of carbon, by which it is sometimes called. Impurities and Tests. The usual impurities in chloroform are alcohol and ether, both of which act by lowering its specific gravity. To determine the presence of impurity which has this effect on its density, Soubeiran recommends that a drop of the suspected chloroform be added to a mixture of equal parts of concentrated sulphuric acid and water. Such an acid, when cool, will have the specific gravity of 1-38, and good chloroform, being of greater density, will sink in it. M. Mialhe has proposed the following test for the presence of alcohol. Drop into distilled water a small quantity of the chloroform. If it be pure, it remains transparent at the bottom of the glass ; but, if it contain even a small proportion of alcohol, the globules acquire a milky appearance. Medical Properties, fyc. When taken internally, chloroform acts as a sedative narcotic, probably operating through the nervous system, independently of vascular action or con- gestion. On Dr. H. Hartshorne, who tried its physiological effects in the dose of seventy- five drops, it produced a general diminution of sensorial capacity, with drowsiness, and without exhilaration or acceleration of the pulse. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., Oct. 1848, p. 353.) Chloroform, as prepared by Mr. Guthrie, vvas used internally as early as 1832 by Professor Ives, and Dr. Nathan B. Ives, of New Haven, in asthma, spasmodic cough, scarlet fever,and atonic quinsy, with favourable results. (Sillimans Journ., xxi. 406, 407.) It was employed by Dr. Formby, of Liverpool, in hysteria in 1838, by Mr. Tuson, of London, in cancer and neuralgic affections, in 1843; and by M. Guillot, of Paris, in asthma, in 1844. One of the authors of this work has frequently used it with advantage in the relief of neuralgic and other painful affections, in the dose of from forty to eighty drops, suspended in water by means of gum Arabic or yolk of egg. This dose may be repeated, if necessary, at intervals of one or two hours, until some effect on the system is produced. A disadvantage connected with the internal use of chloroform is its liability to sicken the stomach. Externally, it was used, in 1843, by Mr. Tuson, in cancer, senile gangrene, and sloughing ulcers, and, in the form of injection and gargle, in profuse dischargesVrom the uterus, and foul ulcers of the throat, with the effect of relieving pain, destroying fetor, and promoting the separation of diseased parts. Externally also it has been employed with benefit by an anonymous writer in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, in a painful wound of the forearm, implicating the radial nerve; by Dr. Le- wroux in a painful affection of one of the lower extremities, consequent to a cancerous Tumour of the pelvis; by Mr. Higginson in labour, applied to the perineum when pain- fully stretched, and in dysmenorrhoea, brought in contact with the os uteri by means of a 1244 Appendix. sponge; by Dr. Watson in swelled testicle and acute spinal tenderness; by Dr. Hays and Dr. Bond in neuralgia; and by Dr. I. Parrish in the supra-orbitar pain of rheumatic ophthalmia, and in syphilitic ulceration at the root of the nail. As a wash, injection, and gargle, Mr. Tuson prepared it, diluted with water in the proportion of one or two drachms to the pint; but, as an application to the sound skin, it is generally used undiluted, by means of lint or soft rags, covered with oiled silk to prevent evaporation. When em- ployed undiluted it should be pure; as, according to M. Mialhe, when it contains abso- lute alcohol, it acquires caustic properties. A third method of using chloroform is by inhalation. The first case we. have met with in which it was employed in this way, is related by Professor Ives, of New Haven, under date of the 2d of Jan. 1832. The case was one of pulmonic disease, attended with general debility and difficult respiration, and was effectually relieved. (Sillimans Journ., vol. xxi., Jan. 1832, p. 406.) In March 1847, the action of the pure substance by inhalation was tried on the lower animals by M. Flourens, and its effects on the spinal marrow described. In November of the same year, Dr. Simpson, after experi- menting with a number of substances as anaesthetic agents, in order to discover a substitute for sulphuric ether, tried chloroform at the suggestion of Mr. Waldie, and, having- found its effects favourable, brought it forward as a new remedy for pain, by inhalation, in surgery and midwifery. The advantages which he conceives it to possess over sul- phuric ether, are the smallness of its dose, its more prompt action, its more agreeable effects, its less tenacious odour, its greater cheapness, and the readiness with which it may be exhibited. The usual effects produced by a full dose of chloroform, administered by inhalation, are the rapid production of coma, relaxation of the muscles, slow and often stertorous breathing, upturning of the eyes, and total insensibility to agents which ordinarily pro- duce acute pain. The effect on the heart's action is variable. Sometimes frothing of the mouth takes place, and, more rarely, convulsive twitches of the face and limbs. The insensibility is generally produced in one or two minutes, and usually continues for five or ten minutes; but the effect may be kept up for many hours, provided the inhalation be renewed from time to time. The immediate effects of the agent are followed by a drowsy state, sometimes by quiet sleep. As a general rule, no recollection is retained of anything that occurred during the state of insensibility. After chloroform had been brought forward by Dr. Simpson as an anaesthetic agent by inhalation, it was more or less employed in surgical operations, in place of sulphuric ether, for the prevention of pain. Its relative advantages and disadvantages, when com- pared with ether, as an an;psthetic in operative surgery, have not been satisfactorily de- termined ; but, without particularizing, it may be said to be generally applicable to all those operations and cases, in whicli ether has been found useful. (For the effects of ether, when used by inhalation, seepage 810.) In midwifery, chloroform has been extensively employed to relieve pain and facilitate labour, since it was first recommended by Dr. Simpson. Its effects in subduing the suf- ferings of childbearing are similar to those of ether; and each agent has its exclusive advocates among those practitioners of midwifery who are willing to use anaesthetics. The remarks, made in relation to ether used in labour, are applicable for the most part to chloroform, and, therefore, need not be repeated here. (See pages 811 and 812.) The dose of chloroform for inhalation is a fiuidrachm, equivalent to 220 drops or more, to be repeated in two minutes, if the desired effect should fail to be produced. The most convenient inhaler is a handkerchief, loosely twisted into the form of a bird:s nest, which , after having been imbued with the chloroform, is held to the mouth and nose. The use of this simple inhaler insures a due admixture of atmospheric air with the vapour of the chloroform. The moment insensibility is produced,the inhalation should be suspended; and, if consciousness return too soon, it should be cautiously renewed. It is a good rule not to administer chloroform soon after meals, or to persons subject to epilepsy, or affected with organic disease of the heart. Chloroform having proved to be a relaxing agent and remedy for pain, when used by inhalation in surgery and midwifery, it was natural that its effects should be tried in the same way in various spasmodic and painful affections. Accordingly, it has been used by inhalation in hiccup, hysteria, asthma, nephritic colic, tetanus, hydrophobia, and in the paroxysm of tic douloureux, and generally with decided advantage. As a hypnotic it has been employed beneficially in delirium tremens, and in the noisy forms of chronic insanity. Much has been said in relation to the dangers attendant upon the inhalation of chlo- roform, and, certainly, many more deaths have been reported from its use than from that of ether. Dr. Warren has given the details often cases, in which death was caused by chloroform, all occurring in little more than a year, and, doubtless, other fatal cases Appendix. 1245 have occurred; and he declares that if he were compelled to substitute chloroform for ether in inhalation, he would do it with much anxiety. Chloroform is unquestionably a more powerful agent than ether, and acts not only differently, but in a much smaller dose. The comparative smallness of its dose is certainly a ground of danger, when its administration falls into reckless or incompetent hands. At the same time it must be botne in mind that a great number of persons have inhaled chloroform, either as patients, or with a view to pleasurable excitement. When the effects of chloroform inhalation are carried too far, the proper remedies are the horizontal posture, cold air fanned upon the fane, cold water to the head and face, frictions and heat to the body and extremities, and ammonia to the nostrils. If these remedies fail, artificial respiration must be resorted to. A preparation for inhalation, composed of one third pure chloroform and two thirds nearly absolute alcohol, has been recommended by Dr. Warren, under the name of strong chloric ether. As the name, chloric ether, was originally applied by Dr. T. Thomson to the Dutch liquid, or chloride of olefiant gas, it would be well to abandon the same ap- pellation to designate either chloroform, or its union with alcohol. Correct names for the latter combination would be either alcoholic solution of chloroform, or tincture of chloro- form. Dr. Warren has used his preparation in fifty cases with success, and considers it safer than chloroform, and more agreeable than sulphuric ether. Farther observation is required to determine the precise value of the " strong chloric ether." In the mean time it is difficult to understand how a substance, containing one-third of chloroform, can be safer than the chloroform itself; when the assertion is taken in connexion with these two propositions of Dr. Warren, that " the fatal effects of chloroform, in almost every in- stance, have been produced by small quantities," and that ethers have the great advan- tage of not requiring "extreme exactness of administration." ( Warren on the Effects of Chloroform and of Strong Chloric Ether, p. 49.) The preparation sold in London and elsewhere under the name of" chloric ether," is a weak tincture of chloroform, of variable quality, containing at most but 16 or 18 per cent, of chloroform, and sometimes not more than 5 or 6 per cent. CHROME YELLOW. This is the neutral chromate of lead, prepared by precipitat- ing a solution of the nitrate of lead with chromate of potassa. It is of a beautiful lemon- yellow colour. The subchromate of lead, consisting of one eq. of acid, and two eqs. of base, is of a red colour, and is sometimes used as a pigment. Chrome green is a mixture of chrome yellow and Prussian blue. CICHORIUM INTYBUS. Succory. A perennial herbaceous plant, indigenous in Europe, but naturalized in this country, where it grows iii fields, and in roads along the fences, in neighbourhoods which have been long settled. It is one or two feet high, with large, compound, beautifully blue flowers, which appear in July and August, and serve to distinguish the plant at first sight. The whole plant has a bitter taste, without acrimony, or any very peculiar flavour. The taste is strongest in the root, and weakest in the flowers. The leaves, when young and tender, are said to be sometimes eaten as salad in Europe. Succory is gently tonic without being irritating, and is considered by some authors as aperient and deobstruent. It is said to be useful, if freely taken, in hepatic congestion, jaundice, and other visceral obstructions in the early stages: and it is affirmed to have done good even in pulmonary consumption. The usual form of ad- ministration is that of decoction, which is prepared by boiling one or two ounces of the root, or a handful of the herb, in a pint of water. The root dried and roasted is used in certain parts of Europe as a substitute for coffee. The garden endive is a species of Cichorium, denominated C. Endivia. CICUTA VIROSA. Water Hemlock. Cowbane. A perennial, umbelliferous European plant, growing on the borders of pools and streams. It is very poisonous, proving fatal to most animals, which feed upon it, though said to be eaten with impunity by goats and sheep. Several instances are on record of children who have died from eating the root by mistake for parsnep. It operates as an acrid narcotic, producing inflammation of the stomach, together with symptoms which indicate cerebral disturbance, such as vertigo, intoxication, and convulsions. Infusion of galls is recommended as an antidote, but should not be relied on to the exclusion of emetics. When the plant vomits, as it frequently does, fatal effects are less apt to ensue. It is said to be less poisonous dried than fresh; and it has been inferred that the active principle is volatile. But the volatile oil,'obtained by distillation, was found by Simon,of Berlin, not to be poisonous. On the other hand, the alcoholic extract of the dried root operated as a violent poison upon animals. (Annul, der Pharm., xxxi. 258.) It is at present never used internally as a medicine, having been superseded by the Conium maculatum. Externally, it is some- 1246 Appendix. times employed as an adodyne poultice in local pains, particularly those of a rheumatic or gouty nature. The Cicuta maculata or American ujaler hemlock is closely analogous, in botanical character and effects, to the European species. In several instances, children have been fatally poisoned by eating its root. It is never used in medicine. For a full account of this plant, see Bigelow's Medical Botany, vol. i. page 125. In cases of poisoning by either of these plants, vomiting should be induced as speedily as possible, and main- tained till the stomach is thoroughly evacuated. CITRATE OF AMMONIA. Ammonia Citras. This is employed in the liquid form. The solution is made by saturating lemon or lime-juice, or an equivalent solution of citric acid (seepage 429), with carbonate of ammonia, and may be given in the dose of a tablespoonful. A more elegant mode of exhibition is that of an extemporaneous effer- vescing draught. To half a fluidounce of lemon-juice mixed with an equal quantity of water, or to a fluidounce of a solution of citric acid containing seventeen grains of the acid, is to be added half a fluidounce of a solution containing thirteen grains of the car- bonate (sesquicarbonate) of ammonia, and the mixture is to be given while effervescing. .The dose, in either case, may be repeated every hour, two, or three hours. The prepa- ration is given as a refrigerant diaphoretic in febrile complaints, and is especially appli- cable to typhoid fevers, with a hot and dry skin. CITRATE OF IRON. Ferri Citras. The citrates ol iron were first introduced to the notice of the medical profession, in 1831, by M. Beral, of Paris. The citrate of the prot- oxide is prepared by digesting iron filings in an aqueous solution of citric acid to satu- ration, and precipitating with alcohol. It is a white, pulverulent, slightly soluble salt, having a strongly chalybeate taste, and absorbing oxygen readily when exposed to the air. The citrate of the sesquioxide is the salt usually recommended for medical use. It is made by saturating a solution of crystallized citric acid in an equal weight of water, heated to about 180°, with moist hydrated sesquioxide of iron, recently prepared. A boiling temperature must be avoided, as it renders the sesquioxide less readily soluble. (Wm. Procter, jun?) The solution is filtered and evaporated to the consistence of a thick syrup. It is then spread out on glass or porcelain plates, where it speedily dries in thin layers, which are separated, and broken into fragments. As thus obtained, it is in thin pieces, of a beautiful garnet-red colour. It is an uncrystallizable acid salt, slowly soluble in cold water, readily soluble in boiling water, and having an acid, not unplea- sant taste. When the excess of acid is neutralized by adding ammonia to its solution, the double salt is formed, called ammonio-citrate of iron. This is in yellowish-green, soft, porous masses, having an acidulous, slightly chalybeate taste. It is much more readily soluble in water than the citrate of the sesquioxide. The citrate of the black or magnetic oxide is an uncrystallizable greenish-yellow salt, susceptible of being formed into trans- parent laminae, very soluble in water, unalterable in solution even when exposed to the air, and having a decidedly chalybeate taste. These different citrates have latterly been used as pleasant chalybeates. The dose is five grains or more, repeated several times a day. The citrate of the sesquioxide is best given in pill; the ammonio-citrate and the citrate of the black oxide, in solution. The citrate of the sesquioxide may be rendered readily soluble in water, by the addition of a few drops of the officinal liquor ammoniae, which converts it into the ammonio citrate. CITRATE OF IRON AND QUINIA. Ferri et Quinia Citras. This is made by M. Beral by mixing, in solution, four parts of citrate of protoxide of iron with one of citrate of quinia, and evaporating to dryness in thin layers. It is in the form of minute shining scales, of a garnet-red colour, more or less deep, and is given as a tonic in doses of five grains or more, three times a day, either in solution, or in the form of pill. CITRATE OF MAGNESIA. Magnesia Citras. This salt with excess of acid, dis- solved in carbonic acid water, and sweetened and flavoured to the taste, has been pro- posed as a purgative by M. Roge Delabarre. It has an agreeable taste, like that of lemonade, and operates mildly. To accommodate those who do not possess a mineral water apparatus, M. Rabourdin, of Paris, has proposed to modify M. Roge's process as follows. Dissolve 138 grains of carbonate of magnesia in a solution of 170 grains of crystallized citric acid in two fluidounces of water, and pour the resulting citrate into a twelve-ounce mineral water bottle. Triturate 154 grains of carbonate with eight fluid- ounces of water, and pour this mixture also into the bottle. Then add 185 grains of citric acid, and immediately cork the bottle strongly. Citric acid reacts with a part of the carbonate, and generates a fresh portion of citrate, and the liberated carbonic acid. under the influence of the compression, gives rise to the soluble bicarbonate of magnesia with the remainder. Agitate the whole from time to time, and when the liquid, from being opaque, becomes but slightly milky, filter it, return it to the bottle, and having added Appendix. 1247 two fluidounces of lemon syrup and 91 grains of citric acid, close it with a wired cork. In this manner twelve fluidounces of solution are obtained, each fluidounce of which contains about a drachm of citrate of magnesia. The dose is from six to twelve fluid- ounces, according to the effect desired. In the above formula, we have taken the weights and measures, as given in the Amer. Journal of Pharmacy for July 1848. This solution must not be made in quantity, as, by keeping, it becomes ropy. CIVET. Zibethum. This is an odorous substance, obtained from two animals of the genus Viverra, viz., the V. Civetta or civet cat of Africa, and the V. Zibetha which inha- bits the East Indies. It is secreted into a cavity which opens between the anus and ex- ternal genitals, and is collected from animals confined for the purpose. It is semi-liquid, unctuous, yellowish, becoming brown and thicker by exposure to the air, of a very strong, peculiar odour, similar to that of musk, though less agreeable and less diffusible, and of a bitterish, subacrid, disagreeable, fatty taste. When heated it becomes quite fluid, and at a higher temperature takes fire, and burns with a clear flame, leaving little residue. It is insoluble in water, and only slightly soluble in ether and cold alcohol ; but heated alcohol dissolves it almost entirely, depositing it again upon cooling. It contains, among other ingredients, a volatile oil, fat, and free ammonia. In medicine it was for- merly employed as a stimulant and antispasmodic, like castor and musk; but it is now used exclusively as a perfume. CLEMATIS ERECTA. Upright Virgin's Bower. A perennial European plant. The leaves and flowers have an acrid burning taste. When bruised in a mortar they irritate the eyes and throat, giving rise to a flow of tears and to coughing: and applied to the skin they produce inflammation and vesication. Hence the name of flammula Jovis, by which the plant was known in older pharmacy. The acrimony is greatly diminished by drying. Storck found this species of Clematis useful in secondary syphilis, cancerous and other foul ulcers, and severe headaches. He gave it internally, and at the same time applied the powdered leaves to the surface of the sore. It acted as a diuretic and diaphoretic. Two or three drachms of the leaves were infused in a pint of water, of which he administered four ounces three times a day. He also employed an extract, in the dose of a grain or two in the course of a day. At present the plant is not used. Other species of Clematis have the same acrid properties. Among these are the C. Flammula, or sweet scented virgin's bower, which, though a native of Europe, is cultivated in our gardens, the C. Vitalba or traveller's joy, also a native of Europe, and several indi- genous species, of which the V. Virginica or common virgin's bower, the C. Viorna or leather flower, and the C. crispa have been particularly cited by authors as proper substi- tutes for the C. erecta used by Storck. All these are climbing plants. The C. Vitalba has been used in Europe with success in the cure of itch. For this purpose the roots and stems, bruised, and boiled for a short time to diminish their acrimony, were infused in boiling oil, which, thus impregnated, was applied to the skin several times a day. Twelve or fifteen applications were usually sufficient. COBALT BLUE. This beautiful pigment is a compound of oxide of cobalt and alu- mina, obtained by precipitating the mixed solutions of a salt of alumina and of cobalt by means of an alkali, and washing, drying, and strongly calcining the precipitate. (Berzelius!) The cobalt blue of Thenard is made by heating together the hydrated subphosphate of cobalt and hydrate of alumina. It is used in painting. An oxide of cobalt prepared by precipitating the chloride with potassa has been employed in rheumatism. It is emetic in the dose of 10 or 20 grains. The salts of the metal are irritant poisons. COBWEB. Spider's Web. Tela Aranea. The genus Aranea of Linn, has been divided by subsequent naturalists into several genera, of which the Tegeneria of Walkenaer is the one that includes the medicinal species of spider. The T. domestica of Europe, and T. medidnalis of this country (Henz, Journ. Acad, of Nat. Scien., ii. 53), are the particular species which have attracted most attention. They inhabit cellars, barns, and other dark places, and are of a brown or blackish colour. It is affirmed that the web of the field spider is inefficacious, while that collected in the cellars of houses, &c, has extraordinary medical virtues. Several authors speak in very decided terms of its powers as a febri- fuge and antispasmodic. According to Dr. Robert Jackson, it is superior even to bark and arsenic in the cure of intermittents, and is, moreover, highly useful in various spas- modic and nervous diseases,controlling and tranquilizingirregular nervous action, exhila- rating the spirits, and disposing to sleep, without producing any of the narcotic effects of opium on the brain. Among the complaints in which it has been found useful, besides intermittent fever, are periodical headache, hectic fever, asthma, hysteria, and nervous irritations attended with morbid vigilance and irregular muscular action. It will be ob- served that these are, for the most part, affections over which the imagination has much control The dose of spider's web is five or six grains, to be given in the form of pill, 1248 Appendix. and repeated every three or four hours. Dr. Jackson states that its influence is not in proportion to the quantity administered, and that he obtained the same effects from ten as from twenty grains. This might well be. if the supposition be allowed, that its chief operation is through the imagination. Spider's web has also been used, with asserted advantage, as a styptic in wounds, and a healing application in superficial ulcers. Spiders themselves were formerly employed in the treatment of intermittent fever, and this ap- plication of the web is not of recent origin. COCOA. Cacao. Chocolate Nuts. These are the seeds of the Theobroma Cacao, a hand- some tree, from twelve to twenty feet in height, growing in Mexico, the West Indies, and South America, in some parts of which it is largely cultivated, particularly in Guayaquil and Venezuela. The fruit is an oblong ovate capsule or berry, six or eight inches in length, with a thick, coriaceous, somewhat ligneous rind, enclosing a whitish pulp, in which numerous seeds are embedded. These are ovate, somewhat compressed, about as large as an almond, and consist of an exterior thin shell, and a brown oily kernel. Separated from the matter in which they are enveloped, they constitute the cocoa of commerce. They have a slightly aromatic, bitterish, oily taste, and, when bruised or heated, an agreeable odour. They contain a large quantity of fixed oil, together with albumen and bitter extractive. The oil is obtained by hot expression, or by decoction. It is a soft solid, whitish or yellowish, with a peculiar agreeable odour, and a bland pleasant taste, and is known by the name of cocoa butter. According to Brandes, it has peculiar pro- perties, and yields a peculiar acid when saponified. He calls the oil cocin, and the acid cocinic add. (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 652.) The oil is said to be frequently adulterated with animal fats. The chief use to which it is applied is as an ingredient in cosmetic unguents. A peculiar crystallizable azotized principle, called theobromin, has been found in the seeds by M. Woskresensky. It is said to cotitain a larger proportion of nitrogen than cafein. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., i. 136.) The shells of the nuts are sometimes employed in the state of infusion, as a substitute for tea or coffee. They impart to boil- ing water a taste analogous to that of chocolate, but weaker. The kernel is consumed in great quantities, in the shape of chocolate, or in some analogous form. Chocolate is differently prepared in different countries. In Great Britain and the United States, it usually consists, when pure, exclusively of the cocoa or chocolate nuts, which are first roasted, then deprived of their shell, and lastly reduced, by grinding between heated stones, to the state of a paste, which is moulded into oblong cakes. Not unfrequently rice flour or other farinaceous substance, with butter or lard,is added; but these must be con- sidered as adulterations. On the continent of Europe, sugar is generally incorporated with the paste, and spices, especially cinnamon, are often added. Vanilla is a favourite addition in South America, Fiance, and Spain. Cocoa is often sold in the state of powder, which is sometimes mingled with other ingredients, such as ground rice, barley flour, sugar, &c. Chocolate is prepared for use by reducing it to powder, and boiling it in milk, water, or a mixture of these fluids. In this state it is much employed as a drink at the morning and evening meals, and serves as an excellent substitute for coffee in dyspeptic cases. It is also a good article of diet for convalescents, and may sometimes be given advantage- ously as a mild nutritive drink in acute disease. COD-LIVER OIL. Oleum Jecoris Aselli. Huile de Morue, Fr. A fixed oil obtained from the livers of Codfish, Gadus Morrhua of naturalists, and from those of other allied species. It is procured by exposing the livers, in tubs or vats, to the sun's rays. The oil flows out spontaneously, and is collected in proper vessels. That which first flows is limpid and of a light-yellowish colour. After the commencement of putrefaction, a darker- coloured and offensive oil flows out, which is unfit for medical use. The oil is also separated by expression, and by means of heat; and in both ways, if the livers be quite fresh, and proper care be taken, it may be procured of good quality. Mr. Donovan re- commends the following mode of preparation. The livers, perfectly sound and fresh, are to be placed in a clean iron pot over a slow fire, and stirred until they assume the condition of a pulp, care being taken that the mass be not heated beyond 192°. When this temperature is attained, the pot is to be removed from the fire, and its contents intro- duced into a canvas bag, through which water and oil will flow into a vessel beneath. After twenty-four hours, the oil is to be decanted and filtered through paper. In this state it is pale yellow, with little odour, and a bland not disagreeable taste. As ordina- rily found in the market, and employed for manufacturing purposes, the oil is brown, very offensive, and scarcely fit for internal use. Three varieties have been distinguished, the white or pale yellow, the brownish-yellow, and the dark-brown; but there is every shade of colour between the two extremes. It is possible that the colour may some- times depend upon the species of fish from which the oil is procured; but more com- monly the difference arises from the degree of care used in the preparation. If the livers are putrid, or exposed to too great heat, or too strongly expressed, or if they were origi- Appendix. 1249 nally diseased, or of bad quality, the oil is more or less inferior. That should be selected for medical use which is least offensive to the palate and nostrils. Much of the oil is now prepared in Boston. Analyzed by Dr. Jongh, cod-liver oil was found to contain oleate and margarate of glycerin, butyric and acetic acids, various biliary principles, certain peculiar principles to one of which he gave the name of gaduin, variable but always minute proportions of iodine, bromine, and chlorine, free phosphorus, phosphoric and sulphuric acids, lime, magnesia, soda, and iron. The proportion of iodine, never exceeding -05 per cent., is too small to allow of the conclusion that the virtues of the oil depend on that principle. It is said that iodine is sometimes fraudulently added to increase its commercial value. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm. xxi. 139.) The oil has long been popularly used in various diseases, but has only within a few years attracted the general notice of the profession. It has been much lauded on the continent of Europe, particularly in Germany and Swit- zerland, as a remedy in chronic gouty and rheumatic affections, scrofula and rickets, chronic cutaneous eruptions, chronic pectoral complaints, tabes mesenterica, obstinate constipation, incontinence of urine, and intestinal worms. It has also come into exten- sive use in England and this country; and is now deemed by many practitioners one of the most efficient remedies in scrofula and phthisis. The dose is a tablespoonful three or four times a day for adults, a teaspoonful repeated as frequently for children, which may be gradually increased as the stomach will permit, and continued for a long time. It may be taken alone, or mixed with some mucilaginous liquid. It is sometimes ap- plied externally by friction, and, in cases of ascaridcs or lumbricoides, is injected into the rectum. It has been recommended also as a local application in paralysis, various chronic cutaneous eruptions, and opacity of the cornea, after the subsidence of inflam- mation. In the last-mentioned affection, one or two drops of the oil are applied by means of a pencil to the cornea, and diluted, if found too stimulating, with olive or almond oil. It is said when used continually to occasion sometimes an eczematous eruption. The oil of the liver of the ray (Raia clavata and R. batis) is said to be richer in iodine, and at the same time less offensive than the cod-liver oil. It is preferably employed in the North of France and in Belgium. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., i. 503.) COFFEE. The coffee plant—Coffea Arabica—belongs to the class and order Pentan- dria Monogynia of the sexual system, and to the natural order Cinchonaceae of Lindley. It is a small tree, rising from fifteen to thirty feet in height. The branches are opposite, the lower spreading, the upper somewhat declining, and gradually diminishing in length as they ascend, so as to form a pyramidal summit, which is covered with green foliage throughout the year. The leaves are opposite, upon short footstalks, oblong ovate, acu- minate, entire, wavy, four or five inches long, smooth and shining, of a dark-green colour on their upper surface, paler beneath, and accompanied with a pair of small pointed stipules. They are employed in Java and Sumatra as a substitute for Chinese tea, which they are said to resemble. (Chem. Gaz., July, 1845,p. 299.) The flowers are white, with an odour not unlike that of the jasmine, and stand in groups in the axils of the upper leaves. The calyx is very small, the corolla salverform, with a nearly cylin- drical tube, and a flat border divided into five lanceolate, pointed segments. The stamens project above the tube. The fruit, which is inferior, is a roundish berry, umbilicate at top, at first green, then red, and ultimately of a dark-purple colour. It is about as large as a cherry, and contains two seeds surrounded by a paper-like membrane, and enclosed in a yellowish pulpy matter. These seeds, divested of their coverings, constitute coffee. This tree is a native of Southern Arabia and Abyssinia, and probably pervades Africa about the same parallel of latitude, as it is found growing wild at Liberia, on the western coast of the continent. It is cultivated in various parts of the world where the tempera- ture is sufficiently elevated and uniform. Considerable attention has long been paid to its culture in its native country, particularly in Yemen, in the vicinity of Mocha, from which the demands of commerce were at first almost exclusively supplied. About the year 1690, it was introduced by the Dutch into Java, and in 1718, into their colony of Surinam. Soon after this latter period, the French succeeded in introducing it into their West India islands, Cayenne, and the Isles of France and Bourbon; and it has subse- quently made its way into the other West India Islands, various parts of tropical America, Hindostan, and Ceylon. ... , , The tree is raised from the seeds, which are sown in a soil properly prepared, and, germinating in less than a month, produce plants which, at the end of the year, are large enough to be transplanted. These are then set out in rows at suitable distances, and in three or four years begin to bear fruit. It is customary to top tue trees at thia age in order to prevent their attaining an inconvenient height, and to increase the.num- ber'of fruit-bearing branches. It is said that they continue productive for thirty or forty 79 1250 Appendix. years. Though almost always covered with flowers and fruit, they yield most abund- antly at two seasons, and thus afford two harvests during the year. Various methods are employed for freeing the seeds from their coverings; but that considered the best, is by means of machinery to remove the fleshy portion of the fruit, leaving the seeds sur- rounded only by their papyraceous envelope, from which they are afterwards separated by drying, and by the action of peeling and winnowing mills. The character of coffee varies considerably with the climate and mode of culture. Consequently, several varieties exist in commerce, named usually from the sources from which they are derived. The Mocha coffee, which is in small and roundish grains, takes precedence of all others. The Java coffee is highly esteemed in this country; but our chief supplies are derived from the West Indies and South America. Some good coffee has been brought from Liberia. Coffee improves by age, losing a portion of its strength, and thus acquiring a more agreeable flavour. It is said to be much better when allowed to become perfectly ripe upon the tree, than as ordinarily collected. The grains should be hard, and so heavy as readily to sink in water. When soft, light, black or dark co- loured, or musty, they are inferior. Coffee has a faint, peculiar odour, and a slightly sweetish, somewhat austere taste. An analysis by M. Payen gives for its constituents, in 100 parts, 34 of cellulose, 12 of hygro- scopic water, 10 to 13 of fatty matter, 15.5 of glucose, with dextrine and a vegetable acid, 10 of legumin, 3-5 to 5 of chlorogenate of potassa and caffein, 3 of a nitrogenous body, 08 of free caffein, 0-001 of concrete volatile oil, 0-002 of fluid volatile oil, and 6697 of mi- neral substances. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., x. 266.) Pfaff recognised, in the precipitate produced by acetate of lead with the decoction of coffee, two peculiar principles, one re- sembling tannin, called caffeo-tannic add, and the other an acid, called by him caffnc acid. Caffdn was first discovered by Runge, and afterwards by Robiquet. According to Payen it exists in the coffee partly free, partly in the form of a double salt, consisting of a peculiar acid, denominated chlorogenic add, combined with potassa and caffein. It may be obtained in the following manner. Exhaust bruised coffee by two successive portions of boiling water, unite the infusions, add acetate of lead, in order to precipitate the principles which accompany the caffein, filter, decompose the excess of acetate of lead in the filtered liquor by sulphuretted hydrogen, and evaporate to the point of crys- tallization. The crystals which form may be purified by again dissolving them in water and evaporating. This is the process employed by Runge. (Berzelius, Trait, de Chim.) Caf- fein crystallizes, by the cooling of its concentrated solution, in opaque, silky, flexible needles; by slow and spontaneous evaporation, in long, transparent prisms. It has a feebly bitter and disagreeable taste, is soluble in water, alcohol, and ether, has neither an acid nor alkaline reaction, melts when exposed to heat, and at a higher temperature sublimes, without residue, into needles analogous to those formed by benzoic acid. It is precipitated from its aqueous solution by no reagent except tannic acid, and is remarka- ble for containing a larger proportion of nitrogen than almost any other proximate vege- table principle, in this respect equalling some of the most highly animalized products. The present views of its composition are represented by the formula N4C]6H,0O4, or, according to Payen, N4C16H,003; and it is believed to be identical with thein, or the peculiar principle of tea. Notwithstanding its large proportion of nitrogen, caffein does not putrefy, even when its solution is kept for some time in a warm place. Coffee undergoes considerable change during the roasting process. It swells up very much, acquiring almost double its original volume, while it loses about 20 per cent, of its weight. It acquires, at the same time, a peculiar odour entirely different from that of the unaltered grains, and a decidedly bitter taste. A volatile oil is developed during the process, and, according to Chenevix, a portion of tannin. The caffein does not appear to undergo material change, as, according to Garot, it may be extracted unaltered from the roasted coffee. The excellence of the flavour of roasted coffee depends much upon the manner in which the process is conducted, and the extent to which it is carried. It should be performed in a covered vessel, over a moderate fire, and the grains should be kept in constant motion. When these have acquired a chestnut-brown colour, the pro- cess should cease. If too long continued, it renders the coffee unpleasantly bitter and acrid, or, by reducing it to charcoal, deprives it entirely of flavour. The coffee should not be burnt long before it is used, and should not be kept in the ground state. Medical and Economical Uses.—More attention has been paid to the effects of coffee on the system in the roasted than in the crude state. Unroasted coffee has been employed by Dr. Grindel, of Russia, in intermittent fevers, and the practice has been followed by some other physicians; but the success, though considerable, was not such as to lead to the conclusion that this medicine would answer as a substitute for Peruvian bark. It was given in powder in the dose of a scruple every hour, in decoction prepared by boil- ing an ounce with eighteen ounces of water down to six, or in the state of extract in the Appendix. 1251 dose of from four to eight grains. Whether its operation corresponds with that of the roasted coffee we are unable to say. The following observations relate only to the latter. The action of coffee is directed chiefly to the nervous system. When swallowed it produces a warming cordial impression on the stomach, quickly followed by a diffused agreeable nervous excitement, which extends itself to the cerebral functions, giving rise to increased vigour of imagination and intellect, without any subsequent confusion or stupor such as characterizes the action of narcotic medicines. Indeed, one of its most extraordinary effects is a disposition to wakefulness, which continues for several hours after it has been taken. It is even capable of resisting, to a certain extent, the intoxicating and soporific influence of alcohol and opium, and may sometimes be advantageously em- ployed for this purpose. It also moderately excites the circulatory system, and stimulates the digestive function. A cup of coffee, taken after a hearty meal, will often relieve the sense of oppression so apt to be experienced, and enable the stomach to perform its office with comparative facility. These exhilarating effects of coffee, united with its de- licious flavour when suitably qualified by cream and sugar, have given rise to its habi- tual employment as an article of diet. Its use for this purpose has prevailed from time immemorial in Persia and Arabia. In 1517 it was introduced by the Turks into Con- stantinople, whence it was carried to France and England about the middle of the suc- ceeding century, and has since gradually made its way into almost universal use. It cannot be supposed that a substance capable of acting so energetically upon the system, should be entirely destitute of deleterious properties. Accordingly, if taken in very large quantities, it leaves, after its first effects are passed, a degree of nervous derangement or depression equivalent to the previous excitement; and its habitual immoderate employ- ment is well known very greatly to injure the tone of the stomach, and frequently to give rise to troublesome dyspeptic and nervous affections. This result is peculiarly apt to take place in individuals of susceptible nervous systems, and in those of sedentary habits. We have repeatedly known patients, who have long suffered with headache and vertigo, to get rid of them by abstaining from coffee. In the treatment of disease, coffee has been less employed than might have been ex- pected from its effects upon the system. There can be no doubt that it may be advan- tageously used in various nervous disorders. In a tendency to stupor or lethargy depend- ent on deficient energy of the brain, without congestion or inflammation, it would be found useful by stimulating the cerebral functions. In light nervous headaches, and even in sick headache not caused by the presence of offending matter in the stomach, it often proves temporarily useful. It has required much reputation as a palliative in the paroxysms of spasmodic asthma, and is recommended by some writers in hysterical affections. The Egyptians are said to have formerly employed it as a remedy in ame- norrhcea. Hayne informs us that in a case of violent spasmodic disease, attended with short breath, palpitation of the heart, and a pulse so much increased in frequency that it could scarcely be counted, immediate relief was obtained from a cup of coffee, after the most powerful antispasmodics had been used in vain for several hours. It is said also to have been used successfully in obstinate chronic diarrhoea; and Dr. Chapman, of Philadelphia, found it highly useful in calculous nephritis. We have heard of its effect- ual use in croup. In acute inflammatory affections it is contra-indicated. It should be given in cases of poisoning from opium, after the evacuation of the stomach, or when from any cause such evacuation is not effected. Coffee is usually prepared in this country by boiling the roasted grains, previously ground into a coarse powder, in water for a short time, and then clarifying by the white of an egg. Some prefer the infusion, made by a process similar to that of displacement. It has more of the aroma of the coffee than the decoction, with less of its bitterness. The proper proportion for forming the infusion for medical use is an ounce to a pint of boiling water, of which a cupful may be given warm for a dose, and repeated, if necessary. COLLINSONIA CANADENSIS. Horse iceed. Horse-balm. Richweed. Heal-all. Stone- root. Knot-root. An indigenous plant, with a perennial, knotty root, and an herbaceous simple stem about two feet high, furnished with two or three pairs of broad, cordate ovate, smooth leaves, and terminating in a panicle of yellow flowers in branched racemes. The flowers are diandrous and monogynous, with a labiate calyx and corolla, the latter of which has the lower lip fringed. The plant grows in woods from Canada to Carolina, and flowers from July to September. The whole plant has a strong disagreeable odour, and a warm pungent taste. It is considered tonic, astringent, diaphoretic, and diuretic; and the root, in substance, is said to irritate the stomach, and produce vomiting, even in small doses. The plant is used in numerous complaints in domestic practice. It is pre- ferred in the fresh state, as the active principle is volatile. A decoction of the fresh root is said to have been used with advantage in catarrh of the bladder, leucorrhcea, gravel, dropsy, and other complaints; and the leaves are applied by the country people, in the 1252 Appendix. form of cataplasm or fomentation, to wounds, bruises, and sores, and in cases of internal abdominal pains. COLLODION. Ethereal Solution of Gun Cotton. Maynard's Adhesive Liquid. This liquid was first applied to the purposes of surgery by Mr. J. Parker Maynard, student of medicine, of Boston, in January 1847. It is prepared by dissolving one part of gun cot- ten in sixteen of rectified ether, contained in a bottle, by agitation for a few minutes, and then adding one part of rectified alcohol. The whole is shaken until the gun cotton is completely dissolved, and the liquid acquires a syrupy consistence. It is then strained through a cloth, and kept in a well-stopped bottle. It is stated that all samples of gun cotton will not answer for preparing collodion; but, when made by the following pro- cess, it is said to answer the purpose very well. Mix in a glass or porcelain vessel, twenty parts of pulverized nitre with thirty of strong sulphuric acid, and immediately add one part of carded cotton. Stir the whole, for three minutes, by means of two glass rods, and, without pressing the cotton, wash it thoroughly with a large quantity of water. Lastly, press the cotton strongly, and, after having separated the fibres by picking, dry it with a gentle heat. The process for making gun cotton in which nitre is used originated with Dr. Ellet, of South Carolina College. Collodion is employed in surgery for holding together the edges of incised wounds, for covering ulcers or abraded surfaces with an impervious film, not acted upon by water, and for encasing parts which require to be kept without relative motion. It is applied alone, brushed over the part, or by means of strips of muslin. In whatever way applied, the solvent quickly evaporates, and leaves the solid adhesive material. According to Lepage, gun cotton will dissolve in equal parts of ether and alcohol, forming a solution quite as adhesive as that made with ether alone. As this solution dries more slowly, it may prove preferable to the ethereal solution in certain cases. Mr. Erasmus Wilson has used collodion with decided advantage in certain diseases of the skin. It acts principally by furnishing a substitute for the epidermis, and by the local pressure which its contraction in drying produces. In chapped nipples it has an admirable effect. When applied to ulcers, abrasions, or chaps of the skin, it requires to be diluted with ether, so as to render it nearly as limpid as water. Mr. J. H. Tucker found it useful in stopping the bleeding from leech-bites. M. Sourisseau and Mr. E. H. Durden have used it as a coating fer pills, which are thereby deprived of taste, but not injured in medicinal properties. COLUTEA ARBORESCENS. Bladder Senna. A shrub, growing spontaneously in the southern and eastern parts of Europe, and cultivated in gardens as an ornamental plant. Its leaves are pinnate, consisting of from three to five pairs of leaflets, with an odd one at the end. The leaflets are obovate, slightly emarginate, smooth, and of a deep-green colour on the upper surface, grayish-green and somewhat pubescent beneath. The flow- ers are yellow, and the fruit vesicular, whence the plant derived its vulgar name. The leaflets are possessed of purgative properties, and, in some parts of Europe, are used as a substitute for senna, which is said to be sometimes adulterated with them. The bladder senna is comparatively very feeble. It is administered in infusion or decoction, of which the dose is about half a pint, containing the virtues of from one to three ounces of the leaves. COMPTONIA ASPLENIFOLIA. Sweet Fern. A shrubby indigenous plant, named from the resemblance of its leaves to the spleenwort fern, but belonging to the Linnaean class and order Monada Triandria. It grows in thin sandy or stony woods, from New England to Virginia. All parts of it possess a resinous spicy odour, which is increased when the plant is rubbed. It is said to be tonic and astringent, and to be occasionally used in domestic practice as a remedy in diarrhoea, and various other complaints. It is employed in the form of decoction. CONVALLARIA MAJALIS. Lily of the Valley. This charming little garden flower is a native of Europe, and is found growing wild in the United States, upon the highest mountains of Virginia and Carolina. The flowers have a strong delightful odour, which is in great measure lost by drying. Their taste is nauseous, bitter, and acrid. Taken internally they are said to be emetic and cathartic, and their extract purges actively in the dose of half a drachm. They were formerly used in epilepsy and against worms. At present they are employed only as a sternutatory, for which purpose they are dried and reduced to a coarse powder. The root, which is also bitter, has similar purgative properties, and, reduced to powder, is said to be sternutatory. CONVALLARIA POLYGONATUM. Linn. Polygonatum uniflonm. Desfontaines. Solomon's Seal. A perennial, herbaceous, European plant, the root of which is horizontal, jointed, white, and marked, at short intervals, with small circular impressions, which bear a remote resemblance to those made by a seal, and have served to give a name to Appendix. 1253 the plant. The root is inodorous, and of a sweetish mucilaginous taste, followed by a slight degree of bitterness and acrimony. It is said to be emetic. In former times it was used externally in bruises, especially those about the eyes, in tumours, wounds, and cutaneous eruptions, and was highly esteemed as a cosmetic. At present it is not em- ployed, though recommended by Hermann as a good remedy in gout and rheumatism. The berries and flowers are said to be acrid and poisonous. The C. multiflora (Polygo- natum multiflorum, Desf.), which grows in this country as well as in Europe, is analogous to the preceding in properties. Dr. John H. Rauch found two fluidounces of a decoc- tion, made by boiling two ounces of the root in a pint of milk, to produce nausea, a cathartic effect on the bowels, and either diaphoresis or diuresis. He used it advan- tageously as an internal remedy in piles, and as an external application, in the form of decoction, in the affection of the skin resulting from the poisonous exhalations of certain plants. (Inaug. Essay, March, 1849.) COPAL. A resinous substance, brought from the East Indies, South America, and the western coast of Africa, but most abundantly from the first-mentioned source. It is the concrete juice of different trees, and is furnished by exudation. The East India copal has been ascribed by some writers to the Valeria Indica of Linn., the Elaocarpus copal- liferus of Retzius; and the Brazilian, by Martius and Ilayne, probably with justice, to dif- ferent species of Hymenaa. There is some reason to believe that the East India copal is also the product of a Hymenaea; at least a specimen of this resin was collected by M. Perottet from the Hymenaa verrucosa, which he found growing in the Isle of Bourbon. This tree is a native of Madagascar, and probably of the neighbouring parts of Africa; and M. Perottet was informed that the copal of India is taken thither by the Arabs of Muscat, who obtain it from the East coast of Africa. (Journ. de Pharm. 3e sir., i. 406.) Copal varies somewhat in appearance and properties, as procured from different sources. It is in roundish, irregular, or flattish pieces, colourless, yellowish, or brownish yellow, more or less transparent, very hard, with a shining conchoidal fracture, inodorous and tasteless, of a sp. gr. varying from T045 to 1-139, insoluble in alcohol, soluble in ether, and slightly so in oil of turpentine. Some varieties unite with alcohol, if suspended in its vapour while boiling. By heat it melts and is partially decomposed, becoming thereby soluble in alcohol and oil of turpentine. It is not a proximate principle, but consists of various resins united in different proportions. The East India copal is in flatter pieces than the American or African, and is whiter, softer, and less transparent. Two kinds are known in the drug market—the crude and the scraped—the former of a dull opaque appearance externally, the latter much clearer and more transparent, in consequence of being deprived of its outer coat. The process of scraping is said to consist in the removal of the exterior portion by means of an alkaline solution, which readily dissolves copal. This resin is used chiefly in the preparation of varnishes. CORAL. A substance found at the bottom of the Mediterranean and other seas, formerly considered as a plant, but now universally admitted to belong to the animal kingdom. The red coral (Corallium rubrum of Lamarck, Isis nobilis of Linn.) is in the form of a small shrub, a foot or two in height, with a stem sometimes an inch or two in thickness, fixed to the rock by an expansion of the base, divided above into branches, and covered with a pulpy membrane, which is properly the living part, and which is removed when the coral is collected. The central portion is extremely hard, of various shades of red, susceptible of a brilliant polish, longitudinally striated, and formed of con- centric layers, which are rendered obvious by calcination. Its chief constituent is car- bonate of lime, which is coloured by oxide of iron, and united, as in similar calcareous products, with more or less animal matter. It was formerly very highly valued as a remedy, but is in no respect superior to prepared oyster-shell, or other form of carbonate of lime derived from the animal kingdom. It was employed in the form of fine pow- der, or in different preparations, such as troches, syrups, conserves, tinctures, &c. At present it is valued chiefly as an ornament. CORTEX CARYOPHYLLATA. Cassia Caryophyllata. Clove Bark. These names have been given to a bark, brought from the West Indies, and derived from a tree be- longing to the family of the Myrtaceoe, supposed to be the Myrtus acrk of Schwartz. It is usually in cylinders from one to two feet long by an inch in diameter, composed of numerous separate pieces rolled around one another, having a dark brown colour, a pun- gent taste, and an odour similar to that of cloves. It is sometimes in fragments, of a similar colour, taste, and smell, but softer and lighter, and supposed to be derived from older branches. A similar bark is said to be derived from the Myrtus caryophyllata of Linn., which grows in Ceylon. The clove bark has aromatic properties not unlike those of the spice from which it derived its name; but it is much inferior, and is now never used in this country. Some authors have confounded with it a wholly different bark, 1254 Appendix. produced by a tree growing in the Moluccas, and known by the Indian name of culilawan. (See Culilawan.) CORYLUS ROSTRATA. Beaked Hazel. This is a small indigenous shrub, growing especially in mountainous districts. The nut is invested with a scaly involucre, project- ing beyond it like a beak, and thickly covered with short spiculae like those of the Mu- cuna pruriens. These spiculae have been employed by Dr. Heubener, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, as an anthelmintic, and found to be efficacious. They operate in the same way as cowhage, and may be administered in the same manner and dose. (See a com- munication from Mr. Duhamel, in the Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 280.) CRABS' CLAWS. Chela Cancrorum. These, in a prepared state, were formerly in- cluded in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, but were very properly omitted upon the last revision of that work. Supposing them identical with the crust of the lobster, they con- sist, in the 100 parts, of 60 parts of carbonate of lime, 14 of jphosphate of lime, and 26 of animal matter. They are prepared by levigation and elutriation, so as to bring them to a fine powder. They were formerly used as an absorbent and antacid'; but the animal matter in their composition confers on them no peculiar virtues. They are given in the same dose with prepared chalk. CRABSTONES. Lapilli Cancrorum. Crabs' Eyes. These are concretions, found in the stomach, one on each side, of the European crawfish, at the time the animal is about to change its shell. They are most abundantly procured in the province of Astracan, in Asiatic Russia. The crawfish are bruised with wooden mallets, and laid up in heaps to putrefy. The animal remains are then washed away, and the stones picked out. They are inodorous, insipid bodies, somewhat hemispherical in shape, of a white or red- dish colour, hard and stony consistence, and laminated texture. They are very variable in size, weighing from one to twelve grains each. They effervesce with acids, and, without dissolving, become converted, owing to the animal matter which they contain, into a soft transparent mass, retaining the original shape of the stone. By this character they are distinguished from counterfeit stones, which are sometimes fabricated of chalk, mixed with mucilaginous substances. They consist of carbonate and phosphate of lime, cemented together by animal matter. Crabstones have been used as an absorbent and antacid, given in the same dose with prepared chalk. They were prepared for exhibi- tion by being levigated in the usual manner; but they are now no longer officinal, having been expunged from the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. CUCURBITA CITRULLUS. Watermelon. The seeds of the watermelon are em- ployed, to a considerable extent, as a domestic remedy in strangury and other affections of the urinary passages. They have the same properties with the seeds of the other Cucurbitaceae, of which four different kinds were formerly officinal under the name of the greater cold seeds—viz., those of the Cucurbita Pepo or pumpkin, the Cucurbila Lage- naria or gourd, the Cucumis Melo or muskmelon, and the Cucumis sativus or cucumber. These, when bruised and rubbed up with water, form an emulsion which was formerly thought to possess considerable virtues, and was much used in catarrhal affections, dis- orders of the bowels and urinary passages, fever, &c.; but they have been superseded by other more agreeable demulcents. Watermelon seeds are also esteemed by some diuretic. They are given in infusion, made with one or two ounces of the bruised seeds to a pint of water, and taken ad libitum. CULILAWAN. Cortex Culilaban. An aromatic bark, produced by the Cinnamomum Culilawan (Laurus Culilawan, Linn!), a tree of considerable size, growing in the Molucca islands, Cochinchina, and other parts of the East. It is usually in flat or slightly rolled pieces, several inches long, an inch or more in breadth, and one or two lines thick. Sometimes the bark is thinner and more quilled, bearing considerable resemblance to cinnamon. The epidermis is for the most part removed, but when present is of a light brownish-gray colour, soft to the touch, and somewhat spongy. The colour of the bark itself is a dull dark cinnamon-brown, the odour highly fragrant, the taste agreeably aro- matic, and not unlike that of cloves. The active constituent is a volatile oil, which may be separated by distillation. Culilawan has the medical properties common to the aro- matics, but is scarcely used at present. CUNILA MARIANA. American Dittany. A small indigenous perennial herb, grow- ing on dry, shady hills, from New England to Georgia, and flowering in June and July. The whole herb has a warm pungent taste, and a fragrant odour, dependent on an essen- tial oil. Its medical properties are those of a gently stimulant aromatic, analogous to the mints, pennyroyal, &c. In the shape of warm infusion, it is popularly employed to ex- cite perspiration in colds and slight fevers, to promote suppressed menstruation, to relieve flatulent colic, and for various other purposes to which the aromatic herbs are thought applicable. Appendix. 1255 CUTTLE-FISH BONE. Os Sepia. This is a calcareous body, situated underneath the skin, in the back of the Sepia qffidnalis, or cuttlefish, which inhabits the seas of Europe, especially the Mediterranean, in the waters of which the bone is not unfre- quently found floating. It is oblong-oval, from five to ten inches long, and from one and a half to three inches broad, somewhat convex on both sides, with thin edges, of a rather firm consistence upon the upper surface, very friable beneath, and composed of nume- rous layers, loosely connected, so as to give to the mass a porous consistence. It is lighter than water, of a white colour, a feeble odour of sea plants, and a saline taste. It con- tains, according to John, from 80 to 85 per cent, of carbonate of lime, besides animal matter, a little common salt, and traces of magnesia. Reduced by levigation and elutria- tion to a fine powder, it may be given as an antacid like chalk or oyster-shell. It is sometimes used as an ingredient of tooth-powders. Small pieces of it are often put into bird-cages, that the birds may rub their bills against them; and the powder is employed for polishing. Another product of the cuttle-fish is a blackish-brown liquor, secreted by a small gland into an oval pouch, communicating externally near the rectum by a long excretory duct, through which the animal is said to have the power of ejecting it at will. This, when taken from the fish, is dried, and used in the preparation of the water colour called sepia. CYANURET OF ZINC. Zind Cyanuretum. This cyanuret is precipitated as a white insoluble powder, by adding cautiously, until it ceases to produce a precipitate. a recently filtered solution of cyanuret of potassium, obtained from the impure black cyanuret, to a solution of sulphate of zinc. It is used in Germany as a substitute for hydrocyanic acid, and is said to possess anthelmintic properties. It has been employed in epilepsy, chorea, and neuralgia, in several painful affections of the stomach, and in the colics attendant on difficult menstruation. The dose is a quarter of a grain, gradually increased to a grain and a half, given in mixture. It is included in the officinal list of the French Codex. CYNANCHUM VINCETOXICUM. R. Brown. Asclepias Vincetoxicum. Linn. Wliite Swallow-wort. Vincetoxicum. A perennial herbaceous European plant, the root of which was formerly esteemed a counterpoison, and hence gave origin to the officinal name. It has a bitterish acrid taste, and, when fresh, a disagreeable odour which is diminished by drying. Taken internally, especially in the recent state, it excites vomiting, and is capable in large quantities of producing dangerous if not fatal inflammation of the stomach. Its former reputation as an alexipharmic was wholly without foundation. It is said to be useful in cutaneous diseases, scrofula, &c., but is little employed. The leaves of the plant also are emetic. Feneulle found in the root a peculiar principle analogous to emetin. CYNARA SCOLYMUS. Garden Artichoke. This is a perennial plant, indigenous in the South of Europe, and cultivated in our gardens as a culinary vegetable. The flowers, constituting what are commonly called the heads, are the part used. The receptacle and the lower portion of the fleshy leaflets of the calyx are eaten, and the other parts rejected. When young, the heads are cut up raw and eaten as salad; when older, they are boiled, and dressed variously. The flowers are said to curdle milk, and the plant to yield a good yellow dye. The leaves and their expressed juice are very bitter, and have been thought to be actively diuretic. They have long had some reputation in'the treatment of dropsies. Dr. Badely, of Chelmsford, England, recommends a tincture and extract pre- pared from the leaves, in rheumatic, gouty, and neuralgic affections. He gives a drachm of the tincture, with five grains of the extract, three times a day, with or without other remedies, as circumstances seem to require. The leaves should be fresh, and the prepa- rations made from them quickly used. (Lond. Lancet, IS 13, p. 556.) CYNOGLOSSUM OFFICINALE. Hound's Tongue. A biennial plant, common both in Europe and this country, and named from the shape of its leaves. The leaves and root have been employed, but the latter has been generally preferred. The fresh plant has a disagreeable narcotic odour resembling that of mice, which is dissipated by drying. The taste is nauseous, bitterish, and mucilaginous. Different opinions as to its powers have been entertained, some considering it as nearly inert, others as a dangerous poison. Hound's tongue has been used as a demulcent and sedative in coughs, catarrh, spitting of blood, dysentery, and diarrhoea : and has been applied externally in burns, ulcers, scrofulous tumours, and goitre. The pilula de cynoglosso, which are officinal in some parts of Europe, though they contain the root of hound's tongue, owe their properties chiefly to opium. DIAPHORETIC ANTIMONY. Antimonium Diaphoreticum. PotassaBianiimonias. This "S^ compound is directed, in the French Codex, to be formed by deflagrating in a red-hot crucible, and keeping red-hot for half an hour, a mixture of pure antimony with twice its weight of nitrate of potassa, both being in fine powder. The product is washed with 1256 Appendix. water and dried, and forms the washed diaphoretic antimony. As thus prepared, M. Oscar Figuierhas shown that it contains, besides antimonic acid, both teroxide of antimony and antimonious acid; the nitre not being in sufficient quantity completely to peroxidize the antimony. When, however, the antimony is deflagrated with three times its weight of nitre, and the matter is kept at a red heat for an hour and a half, the whole of the anti- mony is converted into antimonic acid: and, when the product is thoroughly exhausted by boiling water, the solution obtained contains a large quantity of neutral antimoniate of potassa, and the insoluble residue is impure biantimoniate. M. Figuier rejects this residue, which forms the diaphoretic antimony of the ordinary process, and obtains the preparation from the solution of the neutral antimoniate, by passing through it a stream of carbonic acid gas, which takes away one eq. of potassa from two of the antimoniate, and throws down the biantimoniate in the form of a white powder. By this process, he obtained a quantity of the preparation equal to three-fourths of the weight of the materials employed. Diaphoretic antimony is a perfectly white powder. When properly prepared, as by the process of M. Figuier, it consists of two eqs. of antimonic acid, one of potassa, and six of water. The dose is two or three drachms. On account of its weak and variable nature, it has been very properly laid aside in practice. DICTAMUS ALBUS. White Fraxinella. Bastard Dittany. This is a perennial European plant, the root of which is bitter and aromatic, and has been used as an anthel- mintic, emmenagogue, and stomachic tonic, though at present little employed in Europe, and not at all in this country. Storck gave it in intermittents, worms, amenorrhcea, hys- teria, epilepsy, and other nervous diseases. The bark of the root is the most active part. The dose is from a scruple to a drachm. DIPPEL'S ANIMAL OIL. Oleum Cornu Cervi. This oil is obtained during the dis- tillation of animal matters, in the processes for obtaining ammoniacal products on a large scale. The portion which first comes over is pale yellow; but, in the progress of the distillation, it becomes gradually deeper coloured and thicker, and at last black and viscid. It is purified and rendered colourless by redistillation, a pyrbgenous resin being left behind. Thus rectified it is a colourless liquid, very limpid and volatile, and having a penetrating extremely fetid odour, and burning taste. By repeating the distillation till a dark resi- duum is no longer left in the retort, it may be obtained free from fetor, and of an agree- able, aromatic odour; and in this mode it is said to have been prepared by Dippel. Four or five distillations are necessary to this end. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., ix. 244.) The oil is soon altered by the action of air and light, becoming thick, yellow, brown, and finally black. It possesses an alkaline reaction, and probably contains the various principles which have been discovered by Reichenbach in the products of the distillation of organic substances. This oil was formerly much used in medicine, but its repulsive odour and taste, as it is ordinarily prepared, have caused it to be almost entirely laid aside. It is given in the dose of a few drops, mixed with water, and acts as a stimulant and antispasmodic. Its presence in the spirit and salt of hartshorn gives to these preparations medicinal properties different from those of the pure spirit and carbonate of ammonia. DIRCA PALUSTRIS. Leather Wood. An indigenous shrub, usually very small, but sometimes attaining the height of five or six feet, growing in boggy woods, and other low wet places, in almost all parts of the United States. The berries, which are small, oval, and of an orange colour, are said to be narcotic and poisonous. The bark has at- tracted most attention. It is extremely tough, and of very difficult pulverization. In the fresh state it has a peculiar rather nauseous odour, and an unpleasant acrid taste, and when chewed excites a flow of saliva. It yields its acrimony completely to alcohol, but imperfectly to water even by decoction. In the dose of six or eight grains, the fresh bark produces violent vomiting, preceded by a sense of heat in the stomach, and often followed by purging. Applied to the skin it excites redness, and ultimately vesicates; but its epispastic operation is very slow. It appears to be analogous in its properties to mezereon, to which it is botanically allied. DRAGON'S BLOOD. Sanguis Draconis. This is a resinous .substance obtained from the fruit of several species of Calamus, especially C. Rotang and C. Draco, small palms, growing in the Molucca Islands and other parts of the East Indies. On the surface of the fruit, when ripe, is an exudation, which is separated by rubbing, or shaking in a bag, or by exposure to the vapour of boiling water, or finally by decoction. The finest resin is procured by the two former methods. It comes in two forms; sometimes in small oval masses, of a size varying from that of a hazelnut to that of a walnut, covered with the leaves of the plant, and connected together in a row like beads in a necklace; some- times in cylindrical sticks eighteen inches long and from a quarter to half an inch in Appendix. 1257 diameter, thickly covered with palm leaves, and bound round with slender strips of cane. In both these forms, it is of a dark reddish-brown colour, opaque, and readily pulveriza- ble, affording a fine scarlet powder. It sometimes comes also in the form of a reddish powder, and in small irregular fragments or tears. An inferior kind, said to be obtained by boiling the fruit in water, is in flat drcular cakes, two or three inches in diameter and half an inch thick. This also yields a fine red powder. A fourth variety, much inferior even to the last mentioned, is in large disks, from six to twelve inches in diameter by an inch in thickness, mixed with various impurities, as pieces of the shell, stem, &c, and supposed to be derived from the fruit by decoction with expression. A substance known by the name of Dragon's blood is derived by exudation from the trunk of the Dracana Draco, a large tree inhabiting the Canary Islands and the East Indies, and another from the Pterocarpus Draco, a tree of the West Indies and South America, by incision into the bark. These last, however, are little known in commerce. According to Lieut. Well- stead, much dragon's blood is obtained, in the island of Socotra, by spontaneous exuda- tion from a large tree, growing at a considerable elevation on the mountains. Dragon's blood is inodorous and tasteless, insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, ether, and the volatile and fixed oils, with which it forms red solutions. According to Herberger, it consists of 90'7 parts of a red resin which he calls draconin, 2-0 of fixed oil, 3-0 of benzoic acid, 16 of oxalate of lime, and 3-7 of phosphate of lime. Il was formerly used in medicine as an astringent, but is nearly or quite inert, and is now never given internally. It is sometimes used to impart colour to plasters, but is valued chiefly as an ingredient of paints and varnishes. DUTCH PINK. A yellow or brownish-yellow paint, consisting of clay, or a mixture of clay and chalk, or carbonate of lime in the form of whiting, coloured by a decoction of woad, French- berries, or birch leaves, with alum. EMERY. A very hard mineral, the powder of which is capable of wearing down all other substances except the diamond. As found in commerce, it is said to be derived chiefly from the island ofNaxos in the Grecian Archipelago. It is pulverized by grind- ing it in a steel mill; and the powder is kept in the shops of different degrees of fine- ness. It is used for polishing metals and hard stones. EPIG^EA REPENS. Trailing Arbutus. Ground Laurel. Mayflower. This is a small, trailing plant, with woody stems from six to eighteen inches long, entire, cordate-ovate leaves, and small very fragrant flowers, which appear early in the spring. It is found in the woods, and affects the sides of hills with a northern exposure. Dr. Dar- lington states that the plant has been supposed to be injurious to cattle, when eaten by them. (Flora Cestrica., p. 259.) Dr. Eli Ives, of New Haven, Connecticut, has furnished us with the following account of its virtues and uses, founded on his own observation. " The Epigaea repens has been freely used for some years in diseases of the urinary or- gans, and of the pelvic viscera generally, particularly of irritated action, in those cases in which the uva ursi and buchu are indicated. The leaves and stems are prepared in the same manner, and administered in the same dose as the uva ursi. The Epigaea has given relief in some cases where the uva ursi and buchu have failed. May 4th, 1849." EUONYMUS ATROPURPUREUS. Burning Bush. Spindletree. Wahoo. Some years since a bark was introduced into notice in this city, as a remedy in dropsy, under the name of wahoo, by Mr. Geo. W. Carpenter, who had obtained a knowledge of its vir- tues in the Western States. On a journey to the North West in the year 1845, the author had the opportunity of examining the plant from which the bark was derived, and found it to be the Euonymus atropurpureus; but it is probable that the E. Americanus has iden- tical properties. They are shrubs or small trees belonging to the Linnaan class and order Pentandria Monogynia, and to the natural family of Celastraceae of Lindley; and in the autumn present a striking appearance from the rich red colour of their capsules, which has obtained for them the name of burning bush. They grow throughout the United States. The Euonymus Europaeus has probably similar properties. According to Grundner, who experimented with the fruit of the European species, this was found to have no other effect than that of a diuretic. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, A. D. 1S47, p. S73.) Dr. Griffith says that the seeds of this and other species are purgative and emetic. (Med. Bot., p. 220.) Mr. C. A. Santos, in a dissertation upon the American species, published in the American Journal of Pharmacy (xx. 80), speaks of the bark as tonic, hydragogue, cathartic, diuretic, and antiperiodic. Dr. Twyman, of Westport, Missouri, informed the author that he had found it as a cathartic rather to resemble rhubarb, than to possess hydragogue properties, and thought he had obtained useful effects from it as an alterative to the hepatic function. Similar information was obtained from other sources. On the whole, the character of its action must be considered as somewhat uncertain; and it might well form an object of further examination. As a diuretic in dropsy it may be 1258 Appendix. given, in the form of decoction or infusion, made in the proportion of an ounce to a pint of water, in the dose of a wineglassful several times a day. The name of ivahoo (pro- nounced wawhoo), by which it is known in the North West, was given it by the Indians. The same name has also been applied to the Ulmus alata of the Southern States, and has thus led to mistakes. EUPHRASIA OFFICINALIS. Eyebright. A small annual plant, common to Europe and the United States, without odour, and of a bitterish, astringent taste. It was formerly used in various complaints, and among the rest in disorders of the eyes, in which it was thought to be very efficacious, and in the treatment of which it is still popular in some countries. The probability is that it is nearly inert. FERROCYANURET OF ZINC. Zind Ferrocyanuretum. This compound is formed by double decomposition between hot solutions of ferrocyanuret of potassium (ferroprus- siate of potassa) and sulphate of zinc. It is thrown down as a white powder. It has similar medical properties to those of the cyanuret, and is used in the same diseases. The dose is from one to four grains, given in pill. FRENCH CHALK. A variety of indurated talc. It is compact, unctuous to the touch, of a greenish colour, glossy, somewhat translucent, soft and easily scratched, and leaves a silvery line when drawn over paper. It is used chiefly for marking cloth, &c, and for extracting grease spots. FUCUS VESICULOSUS. Sea-wrack. Bladder-wrack. This, though omitted in the first part of this work, is still retained by the Dublin College. It belongs to Cryptoga- mia Alga in the sexual system, and to the natural order Algaceae. The following is the generic character. "Male. Vesicles smooth, hollow, with villose hairs within, interwoven. Female. Vesicles smooth, filled with jelly, sprinkled with immersed grains, prominent at tip. Seeds solitary." This sea-weed is perennial, with the frond or leaf flat, smooth and glossy, from one to four feet high, from half an inch to an inch and a half broad, furnished with a midrib throughout its length, dichotomous, entire upon the margin, and of a dark olive-green colour. Small spherical vesicles, filled with air, are immersed in the frond near the midrib. The fruit consists of roundish, compressed re- ceptacles, at the ends of the branches, filled with a clear tasteless mucus. The plant grows upon the shores of Europe and of this continent, attaching itself to the rocks by its expanded woody root. On the coast of Scotland and of France, it is much used in the preparation of kelp. It is also employed as a manure, and is mixed with the fodder of cattle. The F. vesiculosus has a peculiar odour, and a nauseous saline taste. Several chem- ists have undertaken its analysis, but the results are not satisfactory. Ir*contains much soda in saline combination, and iodine, according to Gaultier de Claubry, in the state of iodide of potassium. These ingredients remain in its ashes, and in the charcoal resulting from its exposure to heat in close vessels. This charcoal, which is sometimes called JEthiops vegetabilis or vegetable ethiops, has long had the reputation of a deobstruent, and been given in goitre and scrofulous swellings. Its virtues were formerly ascribed chiefly to the carbonate of soda, in which it abounds; but, since the discovery of the medical properties of iodine, this has been considered as its most active ingredient. The mucus contained in the vesicles was applied externally, with advantage, by Dr. Russel, as a re- solvent in scrofulous tumours. Other species of Fucus are in all probability possessed of similar properties. Many of them contain a gelatinous matter, and a sweet principle analogous to mannite ; and some are used as food in times of scarcity. The F. Helminthocorton (Gigartina Helminthocorton of Greville) has some reputation in Europe as an anthelmintic. It is one of the ingre- dients in that mixture of marine plants which is sold in Europe under the name of Cor- sican moss or helminthocorton. This is used in decoction, from four to six drachms being boiled in a pint of water, and a wineglassful given three times a day. FULIGOKALI. This preparation, proposed by M. Deschamps, is formed by boiling for an hour, 20 parts of caustic potassa, and 100 of shining soot, in powder, in 2 parts or a sufficient quantity of water. The solution, when cold, is diluted, filtered, and evapo- rated to dryness. Fuligokali is in the form of a black powder, or of scales, very soluble in water, and having an empyreumatic odour and mild alkaline taste. It is used in the same affections as anthrakokali. The dose is two or three grains, repeated several times a day. An ointment, containing from sixteen to thirty-two grains to the ounce of lard, was found by Dr. Gibert, of Paris, to be detersive, resolvent, and gently stimulant. (See a notice of these preparations by the late A. Duhamel, in the Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiv. 284.) FUMARIA OFFICINALIS. Fumitory. A small annual European plant, naturalized in this country, growing in cultivated grounds, and flowering from May to August. It Appendix. 1259 was formerly considerably employed as a medicine, and is still used in Europe. The leaves are the officinal part. They are inodorous, have a bitter saline taste, and are very succulent, yielding by expression a juice which has the sensible and medicinal proper- ties of the plant. An extract prepared by evaporating the expressed juice, or a decoction of the leaves, throws out upon its surface a copious saline efflorescence. The plant, in- deed, abounds in saline substances, and to these, in connexion with its bitter extractive. its medical virtues are to be ascribed. It is gently tonic, in large doses is said to be laxa- tive and diuretic, and is thought, moreover, to have an alterative action. Both in ancient and modern times it has been esteemed as a valuable remedy in visceral obstructions, particularly those of the liver, in scorbutic affections, and in various troublesome eruptive diseases. Cullen speaks favourably of its influence in these last complaints. He gave the expressed juice in the dose of two ounces twice a day. Others have prescribed it in much larger quantities. The leaves either fresh or dried may be used in decoction, with- out precise limitation as regards the dose. The inspissated juice and an extract of the dried leaves have also been employed. FUSTIC. A yellow dye-wood, obtained from the Morus tinctoria (Broussonetia tinc- toria, Kunth), a tree growing in the West Indies and South America. It is not used in medicine or pharmacy. According to Bancroft, two different woods bear in England the name of fustic, one the product of the tree just mentioned, distinguished as old fustic, probably from the greater magnitude of the billets in which it is imported; the other derived from the Rhus Cotinus or Venice sumach, and called young fustic. GALANGAL. Galanga. Two varieties are described by authors, the galanga major and galanga minor, or large and small galangal. They are considered by some as the roots of different plants; but there is reason to believe that they are both derived from the Maranta Galanga of Linn. (Alpina Galanga of Willd.), and that they differ in con- sequence of the different stages of growth at which they are collected. They are brought from the East Indies. The larger variety is cylindrical, three or four inches long, as thick as the thumb or thicker, often forked, reddish-brown externally, slightly striated longi- tudinally, marked with whitish circular rings, orange-brown internally, rather hard and fibrous, difficultly pulverizable, of an agreeable aromatic odour, and a pungent, hot, spicy, permanent taste. The small galangal resembles the preceding in shape, but is smaller, not exceeding the little finger in thickness, of a darker colour, and of a stronger taste and smell. According to Morin, galangal^ contains a volatile oil, an acrid resin, extractive, gum, bassorin, and lignin. A. Vogel, jun., found also starch and fixed oil. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1844, p. 158.) R. Brandes is said to have found a peculiar crystallizable substance called kempferid. (Annal. der Pharm., xxxii. 311.) The active principles are the volatile oil and acrid resin. Its medical effects are those of a stimulant aromatic. It was known to the ancient Greeks and Arabians, and formerly entered into numerous compound pre- parations. At present it is seldom employed. Its dose is from fifteen to thirty grains in substance, and twice as much in infusion. GALEGA OFFICINALIS. Goat's Rue. A perennial herb, growing in the South of Europe, and sometimes cultivated in gardens. It is without smell unless bruised, when it emits a disagreeable odour. Its taste is unpleasantly bitter and somewhat rough, and when chewed, it stains the saliva yellowish-brown. In former times it was much em- ployed as a remedy in malignant fevers, the plague, the bites of serpents, worms, &c; but it has now fallen into merited neglect. The roots of the Galega Virginiana, which is a native of the United States, are said to be diaphoretic and powerfully anthelmintic. They are given in decoction. GALIUM APARINE. Cleavers. Goose-grass. This is an annual, succulent plant, common to Europe and the United States, growing in cultivated grounds, and along fences and hedges. It is inodorous, and has a bitterish, herbaceous, somewhat acrid taste. The expressed juice is said to be aperient, diuretic, and anti-scorbutic; and has been used in dropsy, congestion of the spleen, scrofula, and scorbutic eruptions. In the last complaint it has been thought peculiarly useful. Three ounces of the juice may be taken twice a day. The fresh herb, in the form of ointment or decoction, has been ap- plied externally to scrofulous swellings with supposed advantage. GALIUM VERUM. Yellow Ladies Bed-straw. Cheese-rennet. This species of Galium is perennial, and a native of Europe. The flowers, which are yellow, have a peculiar, agreeable odour, and have been given in nervous affections, with a view to their sup- posed antispasmodic powers. The herb is inodorous, but has an astringent, acidulous, bitterish taste. The property of coagulating milk was formerly ascribed to it, but is certainly not constant, as the experiment has been frequently tried without success. The bruised plant is sometimes used to colour cheese yellow, being introduced into the milk before coagulation. It is also used for dyeing yellow. The roots of this and of most 1260 Appendix. other species dye red ; and the plant, eaten by animals, colours the bones like madder. This plant was formerly highly esteemed as a remedy in epilepsy and hysteria, and was applied externally in cutaneous eruptions. It may be employed either in the form of the recently expressed juice, or of a decoction prepared from the fresh plant. Its medi- cal properties, however, are feeble. Of the American species, the G. tinctorium is closely allied in properties to the G. verum. It is said to be useful in cutaneous diseases; and the root is employed by the Indians for staining their feathers and other ornaments red. GALLIC ACID. Acidum Gallicum. This is found in most of the astringent sub- stances which contain tannic acid, of the kind obtained from galls; and is supposed to result from changes which the tannic acid has undergone. When a decoction of galls is exposed to the air, the tannic acid is gradually converted into gallic acid, which is de- posited. To prepare the latter acid, allowrthe decoction of galls to stand three or four months in a temperature of from 100° to 120° F.; water being from time to time sup- plied as it evaporates. At the end of this time, collect on a filter the mould and de- posited matter, wash them slightly with cold water, then boil them with water, and filter the decoction while hot. Treat the crystals which are deposited when the liquid cools, in like manner with an additional quantity of water; and, when they are again deposited, digest them with alcohol and purified animal charcoal for several days, and then heat to the hoiling point. Filter the liquid, and evaporate at a very gentle heat. Lastly, wash the crystals which form with spirit, dissolve them in three parts of boil- ing water, and set the solution aside to crystallize. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 237.) Mr. C. Wetherill, believing that gallic acid differs from the tannic solely in containing water, conceived the plan of preparing the former from the latter by the fixation of water. This he accomplished by heating 50 grammes (about 13 drachms) of dry tannic acid to the boiling point, in a mixture of 100 cubic centimetres (about 22 fluidounces) of sulphuric acid, and four times the bulk of water. In the course of a few days, an abundant precipitate of very white gallic acid took place. The greatest amount of product obtained was 87-4 per cent, of the tannic acid. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xx. 112.) Gallic acid is in delicate silky needles, usually somewhat yellowish, inodorous, and of a harsh slightly astringent taste. It is dissolved, according to Braconnot, in 100 parts of cold and 3 parts of boiling water, is very soluble in alcohol, and but slightly so in ether. It precipitates the salts of sesquioxide of iron of a bluish-black colour; but does not precipitate gelatin. On exposure to the^iir, its solution undergoes spontaneous decomposition. Gallic acid was formerly supposed to be the astringent principle of plants; but, after the properties of tannic acid were well ascertained, it lost this reputation, and came to be considered as nearly inert. It has recently again come into notice as a remedy in hemorrhages, particularly from the uterus and urinary organs. In the Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, for July, 1843, several cases are published by Dr. Stevenson of cures effected by it in menorrhagia and hnematuria, and Professor Simpson has found it effectual in some cases of the former complaint of long standing and aggravated character. It may be given in doses of from ten to twenty grains, repeated at intervals of four hours. According to Professor Simpson, it has the advantage of not constipating the bowels. (Med. Exam., vi. 226.) GENISTA TINCTORIA. Dyers' Broom. Dyers' Weed. Green Weed. A low shrub, growing wild in Europe, and sometimes cultivated in this country in gardens. The flowering tops of the plant are employed to dye yellow, whence its name was derived. Both these and the seeds have been used in medicine. They are said to be purgative and even emetic, especially the seeds, which were formerly given as a cathartic in the dose of a drachm and a half. By some authors they are said to be diuretic, and to be useful in dropsy. It has been long used as a preventive of hydrophobia by the peasants of Podolia, the Ukraine, and other provinces of Russia. They employ it in the form of strong decoction, both internally and locally, in connexion with the Rhus coriaria, and persevere with it for six weeks. The trials made with it in other parts of Europe have failed. GERANIUM ROBERTIANUM. Herb Robert. This species of Geranium grows wild both in Europe and the United States, but is rare in this country; and Pursh states that the American plant is destitute of the heavy smell by which the European is so well known, though the two agree in all other respects. The herb has a disagreeable, bit- terish, astringent taste, and imparts its virtues to boiling water. It has been used inter- nally in intermittent fever, consumption, hemorrhages, nephritic complaints, jaundice, &c, has been employed as a gargle in affections of the throat, and has been applied externally as a resolvent to swollen breasts and other tumours. Appendix. 1261 GLASS OF ANTIMONY. Vitrum Antimonii. This is prepared from the tersulphuret of antimony by a partial roasting and subsequent fusion. The tersulphuret is reduced to coarse powder, and strewed upon a shallow, unglazed earthen vessel, and heated gently and slowly, being continually stirred to prevent it from running into lumps. White vapours of sulphurous acid arise; and when these cease, the heat is increased a little to reproduce them. The roasting is continued in this manner, until, at a red heat, no more vapours are given off. The matter is then melted in a crucible with an intense heat, and kept in a state of fusion until it assumes the appearance of melted glass, when it is poured out on a heated brass plate. In this process, part of the sulphur of the tersulphuret is driven off by the roasting; while the portion of the antimony which loses its sulphur becomes teroxidized. The roasted matter, accordingly, consists of terox- ide of antimony and undecomposed tersulphuret; and these, by uniting during the fusion, form the glass. Properties. Glass of antimony is in thin irregular pieces, exhibiting a vitreous frac- ture, and having a metallic steel-gray lustre. When well prepared it is transparent, and, upon being held between the eye and the light, appears of a rich orange-red, or garnet colour; but if of inferior quality it is black and opaque. It is hard and brittle, and rings when struck with a hard substance. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in acids and in cream of tartar, with the exception of a few red flocculi. Its essential con- stituents are the teroxide and tersulphuret, united in variable proportions. When of good quality it consists of about eight parts of teroxide to one of tersulphuret. It usually contains about five per cent, of silica, and three of sesquioxide of iron, which are de. rived from the crucible, and to the former of which the vitrification of the product is owing. When good it is dissolved, with the exception of a few red flocculi, in strong muriatic acid. An excess of silica is known by the acid leaving a gelatinous residuum, and the iron may be detected by ferrocyanuret of potassium, and its amount judged of by the bulk of the precipitate and the depth of its blue colour. Sometimes glass of lead is sold for glass of antimony, a fraud easily detected by the difference between the two substances in specific gravity ; the glass of lead having a density of nearly seven, while that of glass of antimony is not quite five. The London College formerly employed the glass of antimony for making tartar emetic, but dismissed it from the officinal list in 1836, on account of the difficulty of obtaining it, and its liability to adulteration. Medical Properties, fyc. Glass of antimony is an active antimonial; but, owing to its variable composition and uncertain operation, is at present very seldom used. When the levigated powder is mixed with one-eighth of its weight of melted yellow wax, and the mixture roasted over a slow fire, with constant stirring until it ceases to exhale vapours, a coal-like pulverizable mass is formed, which is the cerated glass of antimony, a preparation formerly included in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. GLECHOMA HEDERACEA. Nepeta Glechoma. Ground-ivy. A small perennial herb, indigenous in Europe and the United States, and growing in shady grassy places, as in orchards and along fences and hedges. It belongs to the family of labiate plants, and shares their general properties. The herb was formerly officinal, and still enjoys some credit as a domestic remedy. It has a peculiar disagreeable odour, and a bitterish, rough, somewhat aromatic taste, and imparts its properties to boiling water. From the statements of authors, it appears to be gently stimulant and tonic, with, perhaps, a pecu- liar direction to the lungs and kidneys. It has also been considered aperient. The complaints in which it has been most used are chronic affections of the pulmonary and urinary organs; and at one time it had considerable reputation as a remedy in consump- tion. It has also been employed as a vulnerary and errhine. The usual form in which it was administered was that of infusion, of which a quantity was given for a dose containing the virtues of half a drachm or a drachm of the herb. GLUE. An impure form of gelatin, obtained from various animal substances by boil- ing them in water, straining the solution, and evaporating it till upon cooling it assumes the consistence of jelly. The soft mass which results is then divided into thin slices, which are dried in the open air. Glue, when of good quality, is hard and brittle, of a brown colour, and equally transparent throughout. It softens and swells very much in cold water, without dissolving ; but is readily dissolved by hot water. It is employed chiefly for cementing pieces of wood together, being too impure for the purposes of a test, or for internal use. Capsules of Gelatin. Glue has within a few years been applied to an important prac- tical purpose in pharmacy. Certain medicines are so offensive to the taste, and conse- quently so apt to sicken the stomach, that it is highly desirable to administer them in such a way as to prevent their contact with the tongue and palate. This object is fully accomplished, so far as regards many disagreeable liquid medicines, by the use of the 1262 Appendix. capsules of gelatin, invented by M. Dublanc, of Paris. These are prepared from the purest glue in the following manner. Small pouches made of fine skin, of an oval form, are attached by a waxed thread to the smaller extremity of a hollow elongated metallic cone, which is bent towards its point, and has its base closed by a cover, which is screwed so as to make the instrument air-tight. Into this conical tube sufficient mer- cury is poured to fill the pouch, which, thus distended, is dipped into a concentrated sweetened solution of glue, and afterwards exposed to heat in a vertical position, so as to dry the layer of gelatin which it has received. In the same manner a second coating may be given, and the process again repeated till a sufficient thickness has been ob- tained. The cone being then reversed, the mercury flows out of the pouch, which col- lapses, and allows the capsule of gelatin to be removed. Into this the medicine may now be introduced, care being taken to avoid any contact with the outer surface of the capsule. The opening is next to be closed by means of a thin lamina of gelatin previ- ously softened by steam; and a solution of the same substance should be applied to the edges by means of a camel's hair pencil. Another mode of preparing the capsules is as follows. Take a cylinder of iron or hard wood, four lines in diameter and a few inches long, and smoothly rounded at one end. Dip half an inch of this end first into a satu- rated warm alcoholic solution of soap, and afterwards, when the soap has concreted upon the surface, into a concentrated hot solution of gelatin, and repeat the latter immersion once or oftener, if it be desired to have a firm capsule. When the glue has concreted, remove the capsule. A top for it may be made in the same way, and, after the body has been filled with the liquid to be given, is to be applied and secured by rubbing a camel's hair pencil moistened with hot water over the line of junction. (Med. Exam., N. S., i. 441.) For an account of a process for preparing these capsules, invented and described by Mr. Alfred Guillou, of Philadelphia, the reader is referred to the Am. Journ. of Pharm., vol. ix. p. 20. The capsules may be made of such a capacity as to contain from ten to fifteen grains of copaiba. GLYCERIN. Glycerina. Sweet Prindple of Oils. This substance, discovered by Scheele, exists in the oils and fats, united with the oily acids, to which it acts the part of a base. It is abundantly produced during the saponification of the fats and oils by potassa and soda, in the manufacture of soap; the alkalies uniting with the oily acids, and setting the glycerin free. It is most conveniently obtained from the liquid which remains after the reaction of protoxide of lead (litharge) with olive oil and water, in the preparation of lead plaster. The oxide unites with the oily acids to form the plaster, and the liberated glycerin dissolves in the water. The solution is freed from lead by a cur- rent of sulphuretted hydrogen, filtered, carefully evaporated to the consistence of a syrup, and subjected to a vacuum, over sulphuric acid, until it ceases to lose weight. When pure it is a colourless syrupy liquid, without smell, and having a very sweet taste. As usually obtained it has a straw colour. Its sp. gr. is l-28. It is soluble in all proportions in water and alcohol, but insoluble in ether. Notwithstanding its viscidity, it acts much in the same way as water, as a solvent of salts. It consists of one eq. of the hypothetical radical glyceryle (C6H7) united with five eqs. of oxygen and one of water (C6H705,HO). Medical Properties, fyc. From the antiseptic and undrying properties of glycerin, Mr. Startin, surgeon to the London Cutaneous Institution, was led to suppose that it might prove useful, as an external application, in eruptions, attended with fetid discharges, or with preternatural dryness or harshness of the skin. The results of his trials answered his expectations. In several diseases of the skin, such as ptyriasis, lepra, psoriasis, lichen in its dry stage, and prurigo, he used it with benefit. He also found it a useful addition to lotions in the incrusted form of lupus or herpes exedens, and in various syphilitic and strumous eruptions. In the cases in which it was tried, it acted as an emollient and soothing application. It may be added to poultices and lotions in a proportion varying from one-fourth to one-sixteenth. Pills and extracts, incorporated with a small propor- tion of glycerin, are preserved soft and free from mouldiness. GNAPHALIUM MARGARITACEUM. Cudweed. Life-everlasting. An indigenous herbaceous perennial, growing in fields and woods, and flowering in August. The herb of this and of the G. polycephalum, or sioeet-scented life everlasting, is sometimes used in the form of tea by the country people, in diseases of the chest and of the bowels, and in hemorrhagic affections, and externally, in the way of fomentation, in bruises, languid tumours, and other local complaints; but it probably possesses little medical virtue. Shoepf says that it is anodyne. In Europe, different species of Gnaphalium are also occasionally employed for similar purposes. GOLD. Aurum. The preparations of this metal were introduced to the notice of physicians by Dr. Chrestien, of Montpellier, in 1810. They are employed both inter- nally, and by frictions on the tongue and gums. The principal affections in which they Appendix. 1263 have been recommended are secondary syphilis, syphilitic ulcerations, scrofula, and in- veterate eruptions, particularly those of a leprous character. The chief preparations which have been employed, up to the present time, are metallic gold in a finely divided State, the oxide (teroxide or auric acid), the chloride (terchloride), the iodide, the double chloride of gold and sodium, the chloroaurate of ammonia (a compound of terchloride of gold and muriate of ammonia), and the cyanuret (tercyanuret) of gold. Gold in powder may be obtained by rubbing up gold-leaf with 10 or 12 times its weight of sulphate of potassa until brilliant particles are no longer visible, and then washing away the sulphate with boiling water. The oxide may be procured by treating the nitromuriatic solution of gold with an excess of magnesia, and washing the precipitate, first with water, and after- wards with dilute nitric acid. This process being tedious, M. L. Figuier prefers to ob- tain the oxide by precipitating a cold solution of chloride of gold, rendered strongly alka- line by caustic potassa, with a solution of chloride of barium. The precipitate, consisting ofaurate of baryta, is then treated with dilute nitric acid, which dissolves the baryta and leaves the oxide of gold pure. Ten parts of gold, thus treated, produced 11$ parts of oxide; while the same quantity of metal by the magnesia process, only yielded 9 parts. (Journ. de Pharm., Dec. 1847.) The chloride is obtained by dissolving pure gold in three times its weight of nitromuriatic acid, with the aid of a moderate heat. The solution is evaporated by a gentle heat nearly to dryness, being at the same time stirred with a glass rod. It is in the form of a crystalline mass of a deep-red colour. Its solution has a fine yellow tint. Being deliquescent, it requires to be kept in ground-stoppered bottles. The iodide may be made by precipitating a solution of the terchloride of gold by one of iodide of potassium, and washing the precipitate with alcohol to remove the excess of iodine. It is of a greenish-yellow colour, and, when heated in a por- celain crucible, is resolved into iodine vapours and a residue of pure gold. The chloride of gold and sodium is prepared by dissolving four parts of gold in nitromuriatic acid, evaporating the solution to dryness, and dissolving the dry mass in eight times its weight of distilled water. To this solution one part of pure decrepitated common salt is added, previously dissolved in four parts of water. The mixed solution is then eva- porated to dryness, being in the mean time constantly stirred with a glass rod. This salt is of a golden yellow colour, and, when crystallized, is in the form of long prismatic crystals, unalterable in the air. The chloroaurate of ammonia is formed by dissolving one part of the terchloride of gold and two parts of muriate of ammonia in distilled water, assisted by a few drops of nitromuriatic acid, and evaporating the solution to dryness by a gentle heat. The cyanuret is best obtained, according to M. Oscar Figuier, as follows. Prepare the chloride of gold as neutral as possible by repeated solutions and crystallizations; and to the solution of this salt add, very cautiously, avoiding any excess, a solution of pure cyanuret of potassium, so long as any precipitate falls. (See Potassii Cyanuretum.) The precipitate, consisting of cyanuret of gold, is to be washed with pure water and dried in the dark. Gold in powder, and the oxide, chloride, iodide, double chloride, and cyanuret are officinal in the French Codex. The preparations of gold are decidedly poisonous, though in different degrees. The chloride is most virulent, and, according to Dr. Chrestien, is even more active than cor- rosive sublimate. In an over-dose, it produces pain, inflammation, and even ulceration of the stomach and bowels, and otherwise acts as a corrosive poison. The general effects of these preparations, in moderate doses, is to produce increased fulness and frequency of the pulse, and to augment the urine and insensible perspiration, without interfering with the appetite or the regular action of the bowels; but if the dose be pushed too far, general irritation is apt to be produced, inflammation seizes upon some organ, according to the predisposition of the individual, and fever is developed. Gold in powder, the oxide, chloride, and iodide are not as much used as the double chloride of gold and sodium. The oxide may be given in the form of pill, in the dose of a tenth of a grain, in scrofula and lymphatic swellings, beginning with one pill daily, and after- wards gradually increasing to seven or eight in the 24 hours. The chloride has been used with advantage as a caustic, in the treatment of lupus, and syphilitic tubercles and ulcers by M. Chavannes. The iodide may be given in the same cases in which the other preparations of gold are administered. The dose is from the fifteenth to the tendi of a grain. Chloride of gold and sodium is the preparation of gold most commonly employed. It may be given in lozenges, each containing the twelfth of a grain, by mixing intimately five grains of the salt with an ounce of powdered sugar, and making the whole with mucilage of tragacanth into a proper mass, to be divided into sixty lozenges. Pills, con- taining0 the same dose, may be formed by dissolving ten grains of the dried salt in a drachm of distilled water, and forming the solution into a pilular mass with a mixture of four drachms of potato starch and one drachm of gum Arabic, to be divided into one Sv 1264 Appendix. hundred and twenty pills. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 648.) For frictions on the gums and tongue, Chrestien recommends the following formula:—Crystallized chloride of gold and sodium, one grain; powdered orris root, deprived of its soluble parts by alcohol and water, and dried, two grains. Mix. At first the fifteenth part of this powder is used daily by frictions; afterwards the fourteenth, the thirteenth,.&c, until, increasing gradually, the tenth or eighth part is employed. The use of four grains of the salt in this way is said commonly to cure bad cases of recent syphilis; such, for example, as are characterized by the co-existence of chancres, warts, and buboes. In preparing this powder, lycopo- dium may be substituted for the orris. Chloroaurate of. ammonia has been recommended by Bouchardat in amenorrhcea and dysmenorrhoea in debilitated subjects, in the dose of about the tenth of a grain. A grain may be dissolved in five teaspoonfuls of alcohol and five of water, and a teaspoonful given morning and evening, mixed with sweetened water. Cyanuret of gold is employed, like the chloride of gold and sodium, mixed with inert powders, by friction, and in the form of pill. The fifteenth of a grain may be rubbed into the gums daily for fifteen days, nex.t the fourteenth of a grain for fourteen days, and so on, increasing until the dose amounts to the ninth or eighth of a grain. The dose for internal exhibition is the eighteenth of a grain, gradually increased to the eighth. The cyanuret of gold has been found useful in the treatment of syphilis and scrofula by M. Pourche, and is said to be less exciting than the double chloride, when used in those diseases. (Journ. de Pharm., xx. 599 and 649.) The different medicinal compounds of gold should not be prepared in pill, powder, or otherwise, until they are wanted for use; as they are liable to undergo decomposition when kept. They should be carefully secluded from the light. GRATIOLA OFFICINALIS. Hedge Hyssop. This is a perennial herb, indigenous in the South of Europe, where it flourishes in meadows and other moist grounds. The whole herb is used. It is nearly inodorous, but has a bitter nauseous taste. Both water and alcohol extract its active properties. It is a drastic cathartic and emetic, possessing also diuretic properties, and is employed on the continent of Europe in dropsy, jaundice, worms, chronic hepatic affections, scrofula, and various other complaints. With us it is almost unknown as a remedy. The dose of the powdered herb is from fifteen to thirty grains; of the infusion made in the proportion of half an ounce to the pint of boiling water, half a fluidounce. GUN COTTON. Pyroxylin. This substance, discovered by Schonbein, of Bale, in Switzerland, is conveniently prepared by the following process, given by Mr. Thomas Taylor, of London. Mix, in a glass vessel, 1J fluidounces of nitric acid (sp. gr. 1-45) with an equal bulk of sulphuric acid, and, when the mixture /has cooled, pour it upon 100 grains of fine cotton, contained in a Wedgwood mortar, and, with a glass rod, imbue the cotton as quickly as possible with the acids. As soon as the cotton is com- pletely saturated, pour off the superabundant liquid, and, with the aid of the pestle, quickly press out as much of it from the cotton as possible. Then throw the cotton into a basin of water, wash it until it has not the slightest acid taste, and dry it with a gentle heat. Gun cotton may be made with strong nitric acid alone; but, as this acid is not always of full strength, it is better to mix with it sulphuric acid, which acts by strength- ening the nitric acid from its affinity for water. Properties, fyc. Gun cotton has the appearance; of ordinary cotton, but is harsh to the touch. It is perfectly insoluble in water, and nearly so in strong alcohol; but dissolves in large quantity in acetic ether. As ordinarily prepared for commercial purposes, it is insoluble in rectified sulphuric ether, but, when carefully and freshly prepared, it dis- solves in that menstruum, forming a powerfully adhesive liquid. (See Collodion!) When kindled it flashes off like gunpowder, burning without residue. It's inflaming point is at the temperature of 370°. It has been tried as a substitute for gunpowder in firearms; but, from its strong bursting power, it has not been found to answer a good purpose. It appears, however, to be well adapted to rock-blasting. Its composition has not been satisfactorily determined. While Mr. T. Ransome,of Manchester, makes its composition correspond with lignin (cotton), in which two eqs. of hydrogen are replaced by two of nitric acid (C12HI0OI0—Ha+2N05=gun cotton, N,C,2H8O20); Mr/Walter Crum, of Glas- gow, views it as the same substance, in which three eqs. of water are replaced by three of nitric acid (C12HI0O10—3HO-j-3N05=N3CiaH70M). GUTTA PERCHA. This valuable product of the East Indies was first brought into notice by Dr. Wm. Montgomerie, a British army surgeon, who became acquainted with its singular properties in the year 1842 at Singapore, and in the following year sent specimens of it to Europe. It is the product of a large tree growing in the southern extremity of the Malayan Peninsula, the island of Singapore, Borneo, and probably many other islands in Appendix. 1265 the neighbourhood. This tree belongs* to the Linn, class and order Decandria Monogynia, natural family Sapotaceae, and genus Isonandra of Dr. Wight, and has received the name of Isonandra gutta. It is of considerable magnitude, with a trunk commonly three feet, and sometimes as much as six feet in diameter, having numerous ascending branches, which are crowded with leaves at their extremities. The flowers are small and white; the leaves petiolate, oblong, four or five inches long by two in breadth, bright green above and brownish beneath. Dr. Montgomerie states that the natives procure the gutta •percha by the very wasteful mode of cutting down the tree, stripping off the bark, and then collecting the milky juice, which is put into convenient recipients, and coagulates on exposure to the air. Twenty or thirty pounds are thus collected from each tree; but the probability is that the product would be much greater if obtained by tapping the tree, and thus preserving it for future use. Very large quantities of gutta percha are now imported into Europe and this country. As found in commerce it is generally impure, containing fragments of vegetable matter and earth. From these it may be freed by kneading in hot water, or by melting it with oil of turpentine, straining, and evaporating the oil. Gutta percha is of a dull white or whitish colour, of a feeble odour, tasteless, at ordi- nary temperatures hard, almost horny, somewhat flexible in thin pieces, having an unc- tuous feel under the fingers, and very tenacious. Its sp. gr. is 9791. (Soubdran.) At about 120° F., it becomes softer and more flexible, but is still elastic, resisting, and tena- cious. At 150° or 160°, it is soft, very plastic, and capable of being welded and moulded into any form. It is thus softened whether by means of hot water or by dry heat. On cool- ing it reassumes its former state, and retains any form which may have been given to it. In the softened state it is readily cut with a knife, though with some difficulty when cold. Exposed to a heat of 330° it loses a portion of water, and on hardening becomes translucent and gray; but it recovers its original characters if immersed in water. Sub- jected to igneous distillation it yields volatile products, resembling closely the volatile oil obtained from caoutchouc by the same process. Heated in an open vessel, it melts, foams up, and takes fire, burning with a brilliant flame and smoke. A portion thus melted retains the state of a viscid fluid on cooling. Gutta percha is a non-conductor of electricity. It is insoluble in water, alcohol, alkaline solutions, and the weak acids. Ether and the volatile oils soften it in the cold, and imperfectly dissolve it with the aid of heat. Oil of turpentine dissolves it perfectly, forming a clear colourless solution, which yields it unchanged by evaporation. It is also dissolved without change by bisulphuret of car- bon. According to Soubeiran, it contains, besides pure gutta percha, small portions of a vegetable acid, casein, and two resins, one soluble in ether and oil of turpentine, the other in alcohol. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., xi. 22.) Freed from these impurities, it has an ultimate composition closely analogous if not identical with that of caoutchouc. This singular substance has been applied to many useful and ornamental purposes. Its plasticity when moderately heated, and great firmness and tenacity at ordinary tem- peratures, and its insolubility in water and alcohol, are the properties to which it chiefly owes its value. By immersing it in hot water, it is made susceptible of being formed into any desirable shape ; so that utensils of various kinds, medallic and other ornamental impressions, casts, sheets, bands, cords, sticks, tubes, &c, applicable to numerous pur- poses in the arts, may be made from it with great facility. To give it greater pliability, it is sometimes mixed with the tar resulting from the igneous decomposition of caout- chouc, or with its own tar and lampblack. In the dissolved state it may be employed as a varnish, impervious to moisture. It has been introduced into surgery, in order to preserve limbs and joints in fixed positions; and has been employed beneficially in clubfoot, fractures, and diseases of the joints. It is employed for these purposes in the shape of bands, two or three inches broad and about a line thick, which, being softened in water, are applied in this state, and, when they harden, form a firm case for the limb. Holes should be made through the bands, for the escape of the vapour from the surface. It will no doubt also be used for the formation of tubes and other instruments, useful in surgery. Vogel recommends the solution in bisulphuret of carbon as an application to the skin in incised wounds. The liquid speedily evaporates, producing a refrigerant effect; while the gutta percha hardens, and holds the edges of the wound firmly together. HAMAMELIS VIRGINICA. Witch Hazel An indigenous shrub, from five to fifteen feet hHi growing in almost all sections of the United States, usually on hills or in stony places "and frequently on the banks of streams. It is remarkable for the late appearance of its 'yellow flowers, which expand in September or October, and continue till the weather becomes very cold in winter. The fruit, whicli is a nut-like capsule not unUke the hazelnut, ripens in the following autumn, and is often mingled on the same plant 80 1266 Appendix* with the new blossoms. The bark has a bitter, astringent, somewhat sweetish and pungent taste. It probably first attracted notice as a remedy of the Indians, who are said to have used it as a sedative and discutient to painful tumours, and other cases of external inflammation. It is used in the shape of poultice, or as a wash in the form of decoction, in hemorrhoidal affections and ophthalmia. The leaves are said to possess similar properties, and, in the state of infusion, to be given internally in bowel complaints and hemorrhages. Dr. James Fountain, of Peekskill, N. Y., speaks in strong terms of the efficacy of the bark in hemorrhage of the lungs and haematemesis, and also highly- recommends, as one of the best applications in external piles, an ointment prepared from lard and a decoction of equal parts of this bark, white-oak bark, and that of the apple- tree. He believes the witch-hazel to possess decided anodyne properties. (N. Y. Journ. of Med., x. 208.) Dr. N. S. Davis, of N. Y., agrees with Dr. Fountain in his estimate of this remedy, which he has employed usefully in incipient phthisis. He gives it in de- coction, made in the proportion of an ounce of the bark to a pint of water, of which the dose is a wineglassful every three, six, or eight hours. (Transact, of Am. Med. Assoc, i. 350.) The seeds are black and shining externally, white, oily, and farinaceous within, and edible like the hazelnut. HEDERA HELIX. Ivy. This well-known evergreen creeper is a native of Europe. The fresh leaves have a balsamic odour, especially when rubbed, and a bitterish, harsh, unpleasant taste. They are used for dressing issues, and, in the form of decoction, have been recommended in sanious ulcers and cutaneous eruptions, particularly tetter and the itch. Dried and powdered, they have been employed in the atrophy of children, and in complaints of the lungs, in the dose of a scruple or more. The berries, which have an acidulous, resinous, somewhat pungent taste, are said to be purgative and even emetic. MM. Vandamme and Chevallier discovered in ivy seeds a peculiar alkaline principle. which they called hederin (hederid). It is very bitter, and appears to be closely allied to quinia in febrifuge properties. It is obtained by treating the seeds with hydrate of lime, dissolving the precipitated alkali in boiling alcohol, and evaporating the alcoholic solution. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xiii. 172.) From the trunks of old ivy plants, growing in the South of Europe and the North of Africa, a resinous substance exudes through incisions in the bark, which has been employed in medicine under the name of ivy gum. It is in pieces of various sizes, of a dark yellowish-brown colour sometimes inclining to orange, more or less transparent, sometimes of a deep ruby-red colour internally, of a vitreous fracture, pulverizable, yielding a lively orange-yellow powder, of a peculiar not disagree- able odour when heated or inflamed, and of a bitterish resinous taste. Its chief constituent is resin, though some pieces contain a considerable proportion of bassorin, and others large quantities of ligneous matter. It was formerly used as a stimulant and emmena- gogue, but is now scarcely employed. Placed in the cavities of carious teeth, it is said to relieve toothache. The wood of the ivy, which is light and porous, is sometimes used for making issue-peas. HELENIUM AUTUMNALE. False Sunflower. Sneezewort. An indigenous perennial herb, from three to seven feet high, with large golden-yellow compound flowers, which appear in August. It grows in all parts of the United States, flourishing best in meadows, moist fields, and other low grounds. All parts of it are bitter and somewhat acrid, and, when snuffed up the nostrils in the state of powder, produce violent sneezing. The leaves and flowers have been recommended as an excellent errhine. Clayton says that the plant is thought to be useful in intermittent fevers. HELIANTHEMUM CANADENSE. Michaux. Cistus Canadensis. Willd. Frost-wort. Frost-weed. Rock-rose. An herbaceous perennial plant, from six to eighteen inches high, with a pubescent stem, oblong somewhat lanceolate leaves about an inch long, and large yellow flowers, the calyx and peduncles of which, as well as the leaves and branches of the plant, are covered with a white down. Eaton states that, in the months of November and December, he has seen hundreds of these plants sending out, near the roots, broad, thin, curved ice crystals, about an inch in breadth, which melted in the day, and were renewed in the morning. (Manual of Botany, 1th ed., p. 246.) For a botanical description the reader is referred to Darlington's Flora Cestrica (p. 313), and to Torrey and Gray's Flora of N. America (i. 151). The plant grows in all parts of the United States, pre- ferring dry sandy soils, and flowering in June in the Middle States. It has an astringent, slightly aromatic, and bitterish taste; and appears to possess tonic and astringent proper- ties. Attention has only recently been attracted to it as a medicine. We have been told that it was first introduced into regular practice by Dr. Ives, of New Haven, Connecticut, who considers it a valuable remedy in scrofula. Dr. Isaac Parrish, of Philadelphia, informs us that he has employed it with much apparent benefit, as an internal remedy, in scrofulous affections of the eyes. In a pamphlet upon the frost-weed, by Dr. D. A. Appendix. 1267 Tyler, published at New Haven, A. D. 1846, it is stated that the H. corymbosum possesses similar properties, and is indiscriminately employed with the H. Canadense. The author found both useful in scrofula, diarrhoea, and secondary syphilis, and locally as a gargle in scarlatina, and a wash in prurigo. The plant has been used in the forms of powder. decoction, tincture, and syrup ; and may be given freely with impunity. Dr. Tyler, how- ever, has known the strong decoction and the extract to produce vomiting. He considers two grains of the latter as a full dose for an adult. HELLEBORUS FCETIDUS. Bears-foot. This is a perennial European plant, growing in shady places, and flowering in March and April. It derived its botanical designation from its offensive odour. The leaves, which are the part used, have a bitterish, pungent, and acrid taste, and when chewed excoriate the mouth. The foot-stalks are still more acrid. This species of hellebore is said by Allioni to be the most acrid and energetic of the plants belonging to the genus. It is powerfully emetic and cathartic, and in very large doses produces dangerous effects. It has long been used in Great Britain as a domestic remedy for worms, and was brought before the notice of the profession by Dr. Bisset, who found it an efficacious anthelmintic, and prescribed it also in asthma, hysteria, and hypochondriasis. M. Decerfs has known it to cause the expulsion of taenia. It is given in powder or decoction. The dose for a child from two to six years old is from five grains to a scruple of the dried leaves, or a fluidounce of the decoction made by boiling a drachm of the dried leaves in half a pint of water. This quantity should be repeated morning and night for two or three days in succession. A syrup made from the juice of the green leaves is used in England. The remedy is scarcely known in the United States. HEM1DESMUS INDICUS. R. Brown. Periploca Indica. Willd. Asclepias pseudosarsa. Roxburgh. Indian Sarsaparilla. A climbing asclepiadaceous plant, growing in all parts of the peninsula of Hindostan. The root is long, slender, tortuous, cylindrical, and little branched; consisting of a ligneous centre, and a brownish corky bark, which is marked with longitudinal furrows and transverse fissures. It has a peculiar aromatic odour. and a bitterish taste. M. Garden obtained from it a peculiar volatilizable principle with acid properties, which he named smilasperic add, under the erroneous impression that the root was derived from the Smilax aspera. Pereira proposes to call it hemidesmic add. It is probably the active principle. The root is used in India as a substitute for sarsaparilla, and has been introduced into Great Britain where it was known for some time under the name of Smilax aspera. In some instances it is said to have proved successful in syphilis, when that medicine has failed; though it cannot be relied upon. The native practitioners in India are said to employ it in nephritic complaints, and in the sore mouth of children. It is given in infusion or decoction, made in the proportion of two ounces of the root to a pint of water. A pint maybe given, in wineglassful doses, in the course of a day. A syrup may be prepared from it, in the same manner as syrup of sarsapa- rilla, and given in tablespoonful doses. HERMODACTYLS. Hermodactyli. Under this name are sold in the shops of Europe the roots or bulbs of an uncertain plant, growing in the countries about the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean. By some botanists the plant is considered a species of Colchicum, and the C. variegatum, a native of the South of Europe and the Levant, is par- ticularly indicated by Fee, Geiger, and others; while by authors not less eminent, the roots are confidently referred to the Iris tuberosa. They certainly bear a considerable resemblance to the bulb of the Colchicum autumnale, being heart-shaped, channeled on one side, convex on the other, and from half an inch to an inch in length, by nearly as much in breadth. As found in the shops, they are destitute of their outer coat, of a dirty yellowish or brownish colour externally, white and amylaceous within, inodorous, and nearly tasteless, though sometimes slightly acrid. They are often worm-eaten. Their chief constituent is starch, and they contain no veratria or colchicia. From this latter circumstance, and from their insipidity, it has been inferred that they are probably not derived from a species of Colchicum ; but Geiger observes that they may have lost their acrimony by age. They are in fact almost without action upon the system, and are now seldom used; never, we believe, in this country. It is doubted whether they are the hermodactyli of the ancients, which were certainly a powerful medicine, operating very much in the same manner with our colchicum, and hke it proving useful in gout and rheumatism Pereira describes a bitter variety of hermodactyls, which was brought from India by Dr. Royle. The bulbs are smaller than the others, of a darker colour and have externally a striped or reticulated appearance. From their bitter taste they are probably more active as a medicine. HIBISCUS ABELMOSCHUS. Abelmoschus moschatus. Wight and Arnott. A.n ever- green shrub growing in Egypt, arid in the East and West Indies, and affording the seed's 1268 Appendix. known under the names of semen Abelmoschi, alcea JEgyptiacee, and grana moschata. These are of about the same size as flaxseed, kidney-shaped, striated, of a grayish brown colour, of an odour like that of musk, and of a warm somewhat spicy taste. They were formerly considered stimulant and antispasmodic; but are now used only in perfumery. The Arabs flavour their coffee with them. They are said to be sometimes employed in the adulteration of musk. Another species, the Hibiscus esculentus, or Abelmoschus escukntus of Wight and Arnott, is cultivated, under the name of okra, bendee, or gornbo, in various parts of the world, for the sake of its fruit, which abounds in mucilage, and is much employed for thickening soup. The leaves are sometimes employed for preparing emol- lient poultices. HYDRASTIS CANADENSIS. Yellow root. Orange root. This is an indigenous plant, growing in different parts of the United States, but most abundantly beyond the Alleghanies. It flourishes best in rich shady woods. It has a perennial root, and an herbaceous stem, from six inches to a foot high, with two unequal leaves, and a single terminal whitish or rose-coloured flower. The root consists of a tortuous caudex and numerous long fibres, and is of a bright yellow colour. It is juicy in the recent state, and loses much of its weight when dried. It has a strong, somewhat narcotic odour, and an exceedingly bitter taste. It probably possesses the ordinary virtues of the vege- table bitters, and is said to be popularly employed as a tonic in some parts of the country. In the form of infusion, it has been used in the Western States as a topical application in ophthalmia; and the Indians are said to employ it in the same manner in old ulcers of the legs. The notion of its efficacy in cancer, originating in a report which reached the late Professor Barton, that it was used in the cure of this complaint by the Cherokees, is probably altogether groundless. The Indians employ the juice of the root to stain their clothing, &c, yellow. HYDRIODIC ACID. Addum Hydriodicum. Dr. Andrew Buchanan, of Glasgow, recom- mends the following formula for obtaining this acid for medicinal purposes. Take of iodide of potassium 330 grains, tartaric acid 264 grains. Dissolve the salts, separately, each in a fluidounce and a half of distilled water, and mix the solutions. Filter the liquor, in order to separate the bitartrate of potassa which precipitates, and add to it sufficient distilled water to make the whole measure fifty fluidrachms. When of this strength, each fluidrachm of the acid contains five grains of iodine. The solution of hydriodic acid, when thus prepared, is sufficiently pure for medicinal use, although con- taining a little cream of tartar in solution. At first it is limpid, or has only a slight yel- low tinge; but on keeping it assumes, first a wine yellow, and afterwards a beautiful red colour, in consequence of the disengagement of iodine. Dr. Buchanan considers uncombined iodine to be an irritaut,and its alterative powers, when these are manifested, to depend upon its conversion into hydriodic acid, of a strength sufficiently moderate to.be readily absorbed, and to pass into the current of the circulation. He conceives that when iodine is given, and proves to be absorbed, it is by being first converted into hydriodic acid by hydrogen derived from the gastric juice, or from the tissues of the stomach, which latter undergo corrosion. A desire to avoid this incidental irritant effect led Dr. Buchanan at first to combine the iodine with starch, which he supposes to furnish the necessary hydrogen while undergoing digestion, and finally to use the hydriodic acid ready formed. In giving the liquid hydriodic acid according to his formula, Dr. Buchanan begins by exhibiting a few drops, and afterwards increases the dose first to a fluidrachm and finally to half a fluidounce three times a day, equal to a drachm of iodine daily. This was his ordinary maximum dose, but sometimes he gave a fluidounce three times a day. In all cases the acid was administered sufficiently diluted with water to reduce it to an agree- able sourness, in which state it possesses no irritant action whatever. When, however, the acid has undergone a change of colour, as previously mentioned; Dr. Buchanan uses a solution of starch as a vehicle, in order to divest the free iodine, the presence of which is indicated by this change, of all irritant qualities. Hydriodic acid, when thus used, exhibits the same therapeutic effects as free iodine, with the advantages of having no irritant property, and of affording the means of introducing much larger quantities of iodine into the system through the medium of absorption, than when given in the ordi- nary form. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sri., xx. 210, and 214, from the Med. Gazette) Dr. Samuel Lewis and Mr. T. J. Husband, of this city, have combined hydriodic acid with several of the organic alkalies, with a view to form new medicinal combinations. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xvi. 21.) HYDROCYANIC ETHER. JEther Hydrocyanicvs. Hydroeyanate of Etherine. Cyanuret of Ethyle. This ether was discovered by Pelouze. It is formed by distilling a mixture of sulphovinate of baryta and cyanuret of potassium. It is a colourless liquid of a pene- Appendix. 1269 trnting garlic odour, soluble in alcohol and ether, sparingly soluble in water, boiling at 180°, and weighing specifically 078. It is very poisonous, but less so than hydrocyanic acid, with which it agrees in therapeutic action and dose. HYPERICUM PERFORATUM. St. Johns Wort. A perennial herb, abundant both in Europe and this country, often covering whole fields, and proving extremely trouble- some to farmers. It is usually from one to two feet high, with leaves, which, from the presence of numerous transparent vesicles, appear as if perforated, and have hence given origin to the botanical designation of the plant. The flowers, which are numerous and of a deep yellow colour, appear during the summer from June to August. The flower- ing summits are the parts used, though the unripe capsules are possessed of the virtues of the plant in an equal degree, and the seeds are said to be even stronger. St. John's wort has a peculiar balsamic odour, which is rendered more sensible by rubbing or bruising the plant: Its taste is bitter, resinous, and somewhat astringent. It imparts a yellow colour to cold water, and reddens alcohol and the fixed oils. Its chief constitu- ents are volatile oil, a resinous substance, tannin, and colouring matter. As a medicine, it was in high repute among the ancients, and the earlier modern physicians. Among the complaints for which it was used were hysteria, mania, intermittent fever, dysentery, gravel, hemorrhages, pectoral complaints, worms, and jaundice; but it was, perhaps, most highly esteemed as a remedy in wounds and bruises, for which it was employed both internally and externally. It is difficult to ascertain its exact value as a remedy; but from its sensible properties, and from the character of the complaints in which it has been thought useful, it may be considered, independently of its astringency, as somewhat analogous in medical power to the turpentines. It formerly enjoyed great reputation for the cure of demoniacs; and the superstition still lingers among the vulgar in some coun- tries. At present the plant is scarcely used except as a domestic remedy. The summits were given in the dose of two drachms or more. A preparation was at one time offi- cinal, under the name of oleum hyperici, made by treating them with a fixed oil. It has a red colour, and is still used in many families as a sovereign remedy for bruises. HYPOSULPHITE OF SODA. Soda Hyposulphis. This salt is readily prepared, ac- cording to Walchner, by mixing a pound of dry carbonate of soda, in fine powder, with five ounces of sulphur, heating the mixture gradually in a porcelain vessel until the sul- phur melts, and stirring the agglutinated mass, still kept hot, in order that every portion of it may come in contact with the air. The sulphuret of sodium, first formed, is thus converted into sulphite of soda. This is dissolved in water, and the filtered solution, being boiled with sulphur, becomes one of hyposulphite of soda, from which, on concen- tration, the salt is deposited in large, colourless, transparent crystals. Hyposulphite of soda is largely used by the daguerreotypers for the purpose of dissolving the sensitive coating of iodide of silver from the plate,after the action of the light, and thus fixing the image already formed. HYSSOPUS OFFICINALIS. Hyssop. This is a labiate plant, belonging to the class and order Didynamia Gymnospermia of the sexual system. It is perennial, with nume- rous erect, quadrangular, somewhat branching stems, which are woody in their inferior portion, about two feet high, and furnished with opposite, sessile, lanceolate linear. pointed, punctate leaves. The flowers are violet-coloured or blue, sometimes white, turned chiefly to one side, and arranged in half verticillated, terminal, leafy spikes. The upper lip of the corolla is roundish and notched at the apex, the lower is divided into three segments, of which the undermost is obovate. Common hyssop is a native of the continent of Europe, where, as well as in this country, it is also cultivated in gardens. The flowering summits and leaves are the parts used. They have an agreeable aromatic odour, and a warm, pungent, bitterish taste. These properties they owe to an essential oil, which may be obtained separate by distillation with water, and rises also with alcohol. Hyssop is a warm gently stimu- lant aromatic, applicable to the same cases with the other labiate plants. Its infusion has been much employed in chronic catarrhs, especially in old people, and those of a debilitated habit of body. It acts by facilitating the expectoration of the mucus which is too abundantly secreted. In this country, however, it is very seldom used by regular practitioners. IBERIS AMARA. Bitter candytuft. A small herbaceous plant, indigenous in Europe, where it is cultivated in gardens, on account of its bright milk-white flowers. The leaves, stem, and root are said to possess medicinal properties; but the seeds are the most efficacious. The plant appears to have been employed by the ancients in rheuma- tism, gout, and other diseases. It has recently been brought into notice by Dr. Silvester, who'ascribes to the late Dr. Williams, of St. Thomas's Hospital, England, the merit of having first ascertained its real therapeutic value. In large doses it produces giddiness, 1270 Appendix. nausea, and diarrhoea; but its virtues do not seem to be associated with any perceptible physiological effect. It is thought to exercise a happy influence over the excited actions of the heart, and is especially useful in hypertrophy. But much advantage is also said to have accrued from it in asthma, bronchitis, and dropsy. The dose of the seeds is from one to three grains. (Prov. Med. and Surg. Journ., July 28, 1847.) ILEX. Holly. Several species of Ilex are employed in different parts of the world. The J. Aquifolium, or common European holly, has attracted much attention in France. It is usually a shrub, but in some places attains the magnitude of a middling-sized tree. Different parts of it are used. The viscid substance called birdlime is prepared from the inner bark. The leaves, which are of a bitter, somewhat austere taste, were formerly much esteemed as a diaphoretic, and in the form of infusion were employed in catarrh, pleurisy, small-pox, gout, &c. A few years since they gained some reputation in France as a cure for intermittents, and were considered by some as equal to Peruvian bark ; but the first reports in their favour have not been fully confirmed. They were used in pow- der, in the dose of a drachm two hours before the paroxysm; and this dose was some- times repeated frequently during the apyrexia. Their febrifuge virtues are said to depend on a bitter principle, for which the name of ilidn has been proposed. M. Labour- dais obtained this principle by boiling a filtered decoction of holly leaves with animal charcoal, allowing the charcoal to subside, washing it, then treating it with alcohol, filter- ing off the alcoholic solution, and evaporating it to a syrupy consistence. The liquid thus obtained was very bitter, and on being allowed to evaporate spontaneously, yielded an amorphous substance, having the appearance of gelatin, which was the principle in question. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 89, from Ann. de Chim. et de Phys.) The berries are about the size of a pea, red and bitter, and are said to be purgative, emetic, and diuretic. Ten or twelve of them will usually act on the bowels, and sometimes vomit. Their expressed juice has been used in jaundice. The Ilex opaca,ox American holly, is a middling-sized evergreen tree, growing through- out the Atlantic section of the United States, and especially abundant in New Jersey. It is so similar to the European plant, that it is, by some writers, considered as the same species. It is said to possess the same medical properties. The Ilex Paraguaiensis, or J. Mate of St. Hilaire, yields the celebrated Paraguay tea, so extensively consumed as a beverage in the interior of South America. The leaves, which are the part used, have a balsamic odour, and a bitter taste, and are usually at first disagreeable to the palate. They have a pleasant corroborant effect upon the sto- mach ; but, when very largely taken, are said to purge and vomit. They are used in the form of infusion. According to the experiments of Mr. Stenhouse, these leaves con- tain a principle identical with the caffein of tea and of coffee; and Dr. F. Rochleder has detected in them the caffeo tannic acid previously discovered by Pfaff in coffee; so that a close analogy exists in composition as well as effects between these three products, so little allied botanically, and so far separated in their place of growth. The Ilex vomitoria of Aiton and Linn., the / Cassina of Michaux, is a handsome ever- green shrub, growing in our Southern States, and especially abundant along the southern coast of Florida. It is the cassina of the Indians, who formerly employed a decoction made from the toasted leaves, called black drink, both as a medicine, and as a drink of etiquette at their councils. It acts as an emetic. The leaves of the Ilex Dahoon of Wal- ter and Michaux have similar properties, and are also said to have entered into the com. position of the black drink. ILLICIUM FLOR1DANUM. Florida Anise tree. This is an evergreen shrub or small tree, growing in Florida, along the coast which bounds the Gulf of Mexico. The bark, leaves, and probably also the seed vessels, are endowed with a spicy odour and taste, analogous to those of anise, and might, perhaps, be used for the same purposes as that aromatic. It is a question worthy of investigation, whether the capsules of this plant might not be substituted for those of the Illidum anisatum or star aniseed, which yield much of the oil used in this country under the name of oil of anise. (See Anisum.) An- other species, the I. parviflorum, a shrub found by Michaux in the hilly regions of Georgia and Carolina, has a flavour closely resembling that of sassafras root. IMPATIENS FULVA and IMPATIENS PALLIDA. Touchme-not. Jewel-weed. Bal- sam weed. These two species of Impatiens are indigenous, annual, succulent plants, from two to four feet high, growing in low moist grounds in all parts of the Union, and flow- ering in July and August. They may be known by their tender, juicy, almost transpa- rent stems; by their yellow flowers, which in one species are pale and sparingly punctate, in the other, are deeper coloured and crowded with dark spots; and by their capsules, which burst elastically and curl up with the slightest pressure. They probably possess properties similar to those of the I. Nolime-tangere of Europe, which has an acrid burn- Appendix. 1271 ing taste, and, when taken internally, acts as an emetic, cathartic, and diuretic, though considered dangerous, and therefore little used. The late Dr. Ruan, of Philadelphia, in- formed us that he had employed with great advantage, in piles, an ointment made by boiling the American plants, in their recent state, in lard. The flowers may be used for dyeing yellow. The J. Balsamina or balsam-weed, touch me not, fyc, of the gardens, resem- bles the other species in its effects. IMPERATORIA OSTRUTHIUM. Masterwort. An umbelliferous plant, indigenous in the South of Europe. The root has a strong odour, similar to that of angelica, and a pungent, biting, aromatic taste, attended with a flow of saliva, and followed by a glow- ing warmth which remains long in the mouth. It was formerly considered alexipharmic, stomachic, corroborant, emmenagogue, diuretic,and diaphoretic; and was used in a wide circle of complaints with so much supposed success as to have gained for it the title of divinum remedium. The fact, however, appears to be, that it is merely a stimulant aro- matic, analogous but inferior to angelica, which has nearly superseded it in European practice. In this country, it is unknown as a remedy, and its vulgar name has been ap- plied to another plant. INDELIBLE INK. This is prepared by dissolving two drachms of nitrate of silver and a drachm of gum Arabic in a fluidounce of distilled water, coloured with a little Indian ink. It is used for writing with a pen on linen and muslin. The place to be marked is prepared by being moistened with a solution of two ounces of crystallized carbonate of soda, and two drachms of gum Arabic in four fluidounces of water, and then dried. The alkaline solution serves to decompose the nitrate, and to protect the cloth from the action of the free nitric acid. At the end of twenty-four hours, the spot is to be washed. Mr. Redwood of London, proposes the following indelible ink, not requiring the use of a mordant. Dissolve an ounce of nitrate of silver, and an ounce and a half of crys- tallized carbonate of soda, separately, in distilled water, and mix the solutions. Wash the precipitated carbonate of silver, aiid, having introduced it, still moist, into a Wedg- wood mortar, rub it with eight scruples of tartaric acid, until effervescence cease. Then add strong solution of ammonia, just sufficient to dissolve the tartrate of silver formed (about two fluidounces). Lastly, having mixed in half a fluidounce of archil, half an ounce of white sugar, and an ounce and a half of powdered gum Arabic, add sufficient distilled water to make the whole measure six fluidounces. M. Soubeiran formerly pub- lished the following formula for indelible ink, which he considers simpler than Mr. Red- wood's. Dissolve 8 parts of crystallized nitrate of silver, 3 of nitrate of copper, and 4 of carbonate of soda, in 100 parts of water of ammonia, and add to the solution a small quantity of gum. The marks, produced by nitrate of silver on linen or muslin, may be completely removed by moistening them with a solution of corrosive sublimate in 30 parts of distilled water, and afterwards washing them with ordinary water. Herberger recommends the following indelible ink for other purposes than marking linen. Dissolve wheat gluten, carefully freed from starch, in a little weak acetic acid, and dilute the solution with rain water, so as to have about the strength of wine vinegar. For every four ounces of the solution, add ten grains of the best lampblack, two grains of indigo, and a little oil of cloves. This ink has a beautiful black colour, and cannot be removed by chlorine or dilute acids. (Chem. Gaz., No. 70, p. 394.) INDIAN RED. A purplish-red pigment, brought from the island of Ormus in the Persian Gulf. It is a red ochre, and owes its colour to the red oxide of iron. INDIAN YELLOW. This is a pigment, manufactured from a yellow substance from India, called purree. Purree occurs in commerce in balls, of from three to four ounces in weight, which are dark-brown externally, and deep-orange within. It has a peculiar smell, closely resembling that of castor. This circumstance gave rise to the belief tha it was of animal origin; but Dr. Stenhouse, who exammed it chemically finds that it contains no nitrogen, and from this and other facts is led to the opinion that i is a vege- table substance. Upon analysis he found it to consist of magnesia united with a pecu- har acid, which he names purreic (euxanthic add of Erdmann), and which forms nearly one-half of the crude substance. Purrdc add is in small crystals of a light-yellow colour dissolving sparingly in cold water, pretty readily in boiling water and abundantly in ho alcohol. It has at first a sweetish, and then a slightly bitter taste, and possesses, n appearance, considerable resemblance to berberin. When acted upon by boiling nUricPacTd, it d finally converted into a new acid, crystallizing in yellow needles called Ev Erdmann, oxypicric acid. The ultimate constituents of purreic acid are carbon, hydro- gen, an?oxyge^ From his examination of purree Dr. Stenhouse concludes that it is probably the juice of some plant, saturated with magnesia, and boded down to a sohd consistence. (See his paper in the Phil. Mag., xxv. 321.) 1272 Appendix. INDIGO. This well-known and highly important dye-stuff is obtained from various species of Indigofera, especially the I. tinctoria, I. Anil, and /. argentea; and is said to be afforded also by other plants, such as the Wrightia tinctoria, Polygonum tinctorium, Galega tinctoria, &c. In the process of preparing it, the plant is macerated in water; fermenta- tion takes place; the liquor becomes of a greenish colour, and in due time is decanted; the colouring principle dissolved by the water absorbs oxygen from the air, and assumes a blue colour, becoming at the same time insoluble; a gradual precipitation takes place, favoured by the addition of lime-water or an alkaline solution; and finally the precipi- tated matter, having been washed upon linen filters, is dried, shaped usually into cubical masses, and sent into market. Most of the indigo consumed in dyeing is brought from the East Indies, though considerable quantities are imported also from Guatemala, and the northern coast of South America. It is of an intensely blue colour, but assumes a coppery or bronze hue when rubbed by a smooth hard body, as the nail. Heated to 550°, it emits a reddish-violet vapour, which condenses in minute crystals. It is insolu- ble in water or alcohol, but is readily dissolved by sulphuric acid, which, without destroy- ing its blue colour, so far alters its nature as to render it freely soluble in water, and thus affords a convenient method of applying it to the purposes of dyeing. The solution in sulphuric acid is kept in the shops under the name of sulphate of indigo. According to Berzelius, indigo contains, among other ingredients, four distinct principles;—1. a sub- stance resembling gluten; 2. a brown colouring substance; 3 a red colouring substance; and 4. a blue colouring substance, which is the principle upon which its value as a ma- terial for dyeing depends, and which seldom constitutes so much as one half of the indigo of commerce. This blue colouring matter is called indigotin. By deoxidizing agents it is deprived of its blue colour, which it recovers by exposure to the air, in consequence Of the absorption of oxygen. Chlorine also destroys the blue colour. M. Preisser has con- cluded, from an elaborate examination of the colouring principles of plants, 1. that these principles are colourless in the young plants, 2. that they acquire colour by combination with oxygen, 3. that all the colouring matters, extracted from anyone plant,are produced by the oxidation in different degrees of a single principle, 4. that they are deprived of colour by substances having a strong affinity for oxygen, and reacquire it by contact with oxidizing bodies, and 5. that these colouring principles are acids, and the lakes which they form genuine salts. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., v. 263.) Indigo has been introduced to the notice of the profession as a remedial agent. It was at first chiefly employed by the German physicians, from whose statements our knowledge of its physiological action and therapeutical applications was derived. Though without odour and taste, it is said, in most individuals, to produce nausea and vomiting, frequently to operate upon the bowels, giving a bluish-black colour to the stools, to render the urine of a dark-violet or dark-green colour, without increasing its quantity, and sometimes to stimulate the secretory function of the uterus. From these statements it would appear to act as an irritant to the alimentary mucous membrane. The charac- ter of its general influence upon the system has not been well ascertained. In some instances, it is asserted to have been given in very large doses without any obvious effect. The complaints in which it has been employed, with supposed advantage, are epiiepsy, infantile convulsions, chorea, hysteria, and amenorrhcea. It is given, usually, in connexion with some aromatic, powder, in the dose of a scruple three times a day, which may be increased to a drachm or more; and from half an ounce to an ounce daily has been employed for months together without disadvantage. (See Am. Journ. of Med. Sri., xx. 487.) IODIDE OF AMMONIUM. Ammonii Iodidum. Hydriodate of Ammonia. This salt is formed by saturating liquid hydriodic acid with ammonia, and evaporating the solu- tion. It forms a deliquescent saline mass, which crystallizes with difficulty in cubes. It is mentioned by Dr. Pennock, of this city, as a good remedy in some cases of lepra and psoriasis, made up into an ointment. (Amer. Journ. of Med. Sdences, xv. 374.) The pro- portions employed are from a scruple to a drachm of the salt to an ounce of lard; the weaker preparation being used when the disease is recent, the stronger when it is chronic. The ointment was employed in frictions in the amount of half an ounce, morning and evening. As the iodide is decomposed by exposure to the air, the ointment should be kept in well-stopped bottles. IODIDE OF ARSENIC. Arsenid Iodidum. This compound is formed by Wacken- roder by digesting in a flask, for about an hour, at a gentle heat, one grain of finely pow- dered sublimed arsenic, and six grains of pure iodine, with about two drachms of water. The solution is then transferred to a porcelain dish, and evaporated at an extremely gentle heat, so as to dissipate the excess of iodine, and to obtain the dry salt. The resulting iodide, dissolved in six fluidounces of water, forms a colourless solution, unchanged by the air, each fluidrachm of which contains the forty-eighth of a grain of arsenic, and Appendix. 1273 about the tenth of a grain of iodine. (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1843, 21.) Iodide of arsenic is a volatile substance, having the colour of red lead, and consisting of one eq. of arsenic and three of iodine. It has been used by Biett as an external application to corroding tubercular skin diseases. By Dr. A. T. Thomson it has been given internally with ad- vantage in lepia, impetigo, and diseases resembling cancer. Dr. F. C. Crane reports a cure, by its use for nearly eight months, of what he considered cancer of the breast The ointment used by Biett was composed of three grains of the iodide to an ounce of lard. The dose for internal exhibition is an eighth of a grain, three times a day, given in pill or solution. IODIDE OF ARSENIC AND MERCURY, SOLUTION OF. Liquor Arsenici el Hydrargyri Iodidi. Solution of Hydriodate of Arsenic and Mercury. Donovan's Solution. This combination was introduced to the notice of the medical profession in 1839, by Mr. Donovan, of Dublin, as a therapeutic agent combining the medical virtues of its three ingredients. At present he prepares it by the following corrected formula.—Triturate 6-08 grains of finely levigated metallic arsenic, 1482 grains of mercury, and 49 grains of iodine with a fluidrachm of alcohol, until the mass becomes dry, and from being deep brown has become pale red. Add eight fiuidounces of distilled water, and, after tritura- tion for a few moments, transfer the whole to a flask, add half a drachm of hydriodic acid, prepared by the acidification of two grains of iodine, and boil for a few moments. When the solution is cold, if it should measure less than eight fluidounces, add sufficient distilled water to make it fill exactly that measure. Lastly, filter. In order to simplify this formula, Professor Procter has proposed to triturate 36 grains of teriodide of arsenic and 34 of biniodide of mercury with half a fluidounce of distilled water, until they unite and dissolve, and then to add sufficient distilled water to make the whole measure eight fluidounces. Professor Procter's formula gives a solution, which is of the same strength as Donovan's, and in which the component iodides are in nearly equivalent proportions. (Am. Journ of Pharm. for June 1847, p. 93.) This solution has a pale yellow colour, and a slightly styptic taste. Its sp. gr. is P02. It is incompatible with laudanum, and the sulphate, muriate, and acetate of morphia. The iodides of arsenic and mercury, formed by trituration as the first step of the process, are assumed by Mr. Donovan to become, by solution, hydriodates severally of arsenious acid (white oxide of arsenic), and of deutoxide of mercury (peroxide,or red precipitate) ; and he has taken the solid materials and water in such proportions as that each flui- drachm of the solution, on this theory of change, shall contain an eighth of a grain of arsenious acid, a fourth of a grain of deutoxide of mercury, and about three-fourths of a grain of iodine in the state of hydriodic acid. Those who consult Mr. Donovan's first paper on this solution (Dublin Med. Journ. for Nov. 1839) will not understand it, unless they are aware that be means by protoxide of arsenic, arsenious acid (in composition a teroxide); and by protoxide of mercury, deutoxide of mercury or red precipitate. These corrections in his nomenclature he admits to be necessary in his paper of Nov. 1842, in which he states that he used the erroneous terms through inadvertence. In this prepa- ration the iodide of arsenic present is the teriodide, and the iodide of mercury, the red or biniodide. If it be assumed that these iodides are capable of uniting into a double iodide, the proportion will be one eq. of the teriodide 455 9 to one of the biniodide 454-6. On the theory of their conversion into hydriodates by solution, five eqs. of water 45 would be required, three for the arsenical teriodide, and two for the mercurial biniodide; and the result would be one eq. of arsenious acid 99, one of deutoxide of mercury 218, and five of hydriodic acid 636-5, the latter containing five eqs. of iodine 631-5. The solution here supposed would contain about two and one-fifth times as much deutoxide of mercury as of arsenious acid, instead of only twice as much, as in Mr. Donovan's formula. Medical Properties. This preparation has been found decidedly useful as an alterative in the treatment of various diseases of the skin, such as the different forms of psoriasis, impetigo, porrigo, lepra, pityriasis, lupus, and venereal eruptions, both papular and scaly. In support of its efficacy in these affections, Mr. Donovan has adduced the testimony of a number of respectable practitioners, of Dublin and elsewhere, who have communicated to him the results of their experience. The disease in some of the cases cured had existed for a number of years. Dr. E. I. Taylor, of New York, has employed it in a number of cutaneous diseases, and finds that it produces more marked and prompt effects than the remedies usually resorted to in the treatment of lupus, rupia, psoriasis, and secondary venereal. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sri, N.S., v. 319.) In two cases of uterine disease, characterized by patency of the os uteri and vascular turgescence of the cervix, and attended with lumbar and pelvic pains, Dr. Kirby, of Dublin, afforded relief by the use of the solution. The dose is twenty minims three times a day, given preferably in distilled water. This dose contains a twenty fourth of a grain of arsenious acid, a twelfth 1274 Appendix. of a grain of deutoxide of mercury, and about a quarter of a grain of iodine. Mr. Dono- van originally proposed thirty minims as the dose; but many patients cannot bear this quantity. Dr. Taylor never exceeded five drops, equal to four minims, three times a day. Sometimes the medicine deranges the stomach, confines the bowels, and produces headache, giddiness, and confusion of mind. When these effects are ^produced, it must be laid aside and a purgative administered. After an interval varying from ten days to three weeks, it may be resumed, but in a smaller dose. The treatment often requires to be persevered in for several months. Sometimes the medicine produces moderate salivation. By some practitioners, the solution, diluted with an equal bulk of water, was used with advantage as an external application to the ulcers or eruptions, at the same time that the medicine was given internally. For further information the reader is re- ferred to the three papers of Mr. Donovan, contained in the Dublin Journal of Med. Science, for Nov. 1839, Sept. 1840, and Nov. 1842. It is the paper of the latter date, that contains his corrected formula, which is given in the beginning of this article. IODIDE OF BARIUJM. Barii Iodidum. This compound may be formed by double decomposition, by adding carbonate of baryta to a boiling solution of iodide of iron. M. Henry, jun., obtains it by decomposing a solution of sulphuret of barium (see page 874) by a concentrated alcoholic solution of iodine. Sulphur is precipitated, which is sepa- rated by filtration, and iodide of barium formed in solution, from which it is obtained in the solid state by a rapid evaporation to dryness. It crystallizes in small, colourless needles, which deliquesce slightly, and are very soluble in water. The solution promptly undergoes decomposition by exposure to the air, carbonate of baryta being precipitated, and iodine set free which colours the solution. It has been used with advantage by Jahn, as an alterative, in scrofulous affections and morbid growths. Lugol employed it in scrofulous enlargements. The dose is the eighth of a grain three times a day, gradu- ally increased to three grains. Biett applied it to scrofulous swellings in the form of ointment, made with four grains of the iodide to an ounce of lard. IODIDE OF SILVER. Argenti Iodidum. This compound is formed by double de- composition, by adding a solution of iodide of potassium to one of nitrate of silver. It is a greenish-yellow powder, nearly insoluble in ammonia. It possesses the general medi- cal properties of the nitrate of silver, and, according to Dr. Charles Patterson, of Dublin, may be used without any danger of producing the discoloration of the skin which some- times follows the use of that salt. Dr. Patterson found it generally successful in curing the stomach affections of the Irish peasantry, in the treatment of which nitrate of silver had been previously found useful. He succeeded with it in curing several cases of hooping- cough in a short time, and in greatly relieving a case of dysmenorrhcea of three years' standing. Its effects in epilepsy were least satisfactory. The dose is one or two grains, three times a day, given in the form of pill; for children, from an eighth to a fourth of a grain, according to the age. IODIDE OF STARCH. Dr. A. Buchanan, of Glasgow, proposes this compound as a means of administering iodine in large doses without causing irritation of the stomach. He prepares it by triturating twenty-four grains of iodine with a little water, adding gradually an ounce of very finely powdered starch, and continuing the trituration until the compound assumes a uniform blue colour. The iodide is then dried by a gentle heat, and kept in a well-stopped bottle. The dose is a heaped teaspoonful, given in water gruel, three times a day, and afterwards increased to a tablespoonful. No nicety is necessary in apportioning the dose. In some cases Dr. Buchanan has given half ounce doses of the iodide three times a day, immediately increased to an ounce. Exhibited in this state of combination, iodine produces, according to this writer, little or no irritation of the alimentary canal, but is freely absorbed, as is proved by its detection in large quantity in the secretions. Dr. Buchanan conceives that, by means of the starch, the iodine is converted into hydriodic acid, and in this form of combination enters the circu- lation. He prefers the iodide of starch to any other preparation of iodine for obtaining the alterative apart from the irritant effects of this substance. (Amer. Journ. of Med. Sci., xx. 213 and 217.) See Hydriodic Add, page 1268. IODIDE OF ZINC. Zind Iodidum. This iodide may be formed by digesting an ex- cess of zinc, in small pieces, with iodine diffused in water. Combination takes place, and, by evaporation, a deliquescent, very soluble saline mass is obtained, having a me- tallic styptic taste, resembling that of sulphate of zinc. It may also be obtained by heat- ing in a matrass a mixture of 20 parts of zinc and 170 of iodine, and subliming into a vial. When thus prepared, it is in the form of white needles. It is very liable to undergo spontaneous decomposition. Iodide of zinc is tonic and astringent. We have not met with any notice of its internal exhibition, but Dr. A. T. Thomson proposes a syrup of it, to protect it from change, made Appendix. 1275 on the same plan as the syrup of iodide of iron. (See page 964.) Dr. J. J. Ross, of Scotland, employed a solution of iodide of zinc, containing from 10 to 30 grains to the fluidounce of water, with great advantage in enlarged tonsils, applied by means of a piece of sponge tied to a quill. After the use of the solution for some time, he applied the iodide, rendered liquid by deliquescence, by means of a camel's hair brush. A solu- tion containing one or two grains to the fluidounce of water, has been used as an astrin- gent injection in gonorrhoea. An ointment, made of a drachm of the iodide, rubbed up with an ounce of lard, has been proposed by Dr. Ure as a substitute for the ointment of iodide of potassium in the treatment of tumours, applied in the quantity of a dracnm twice a day. IODO-HYDRARGYRATE OF POTASSIUM. It has been found by chemists that different iodides will unite together, in different proportions, forming compounds which are called by Berzelius double iodides. Bonsdorff, of Finland, and Dr. Hare, of this city, with greater reason, have viewed these combinations as a peculiar kind of salts, in which one of the iodides performs the part of an acid, the other of a base. The substance, the name of which is placed at the head of this article, is one of these compounds, and was presented to the notice of the profession, as a new remedy of remarkable powers, in Feb- ruary, 1834, by Dr. William Channing, of New York. (Amer. Journ. of Med. Sci., xui. 388.)' It consists of the biniodide of mercury acting as an acid, united with the iodide of potassium as a base. But as these two iodides combine in at least two proportions, it is necessary to indicate the particular combination employed by Dr. Channing in his the- rapeutic experiments. In a difficult case of pectoral disease, in which the ordinary remedies had failed, Dr. Channing determined to make trial of one of the iodides of mercury. He selected the biniodide; and, in order to have it in the liquid form, it being insoluble in water, he dis- solved it in a solution of iodide of potassium. He was struck with the chemical changes which the compound solution underwent; and on pursuing his observations he found that the two iodides really united by the intervention of the water; for, with the aid of an operative chemist, he was enabled by evaporation to obtain them in union in the form of straw coloured, needleform, deliquescent crystals. He next found, upon consulting the European authorities, that Bonsdorff, who had taken the lead in investigating similar compounds, had discovered the salt in 1826. _ Dr. Channing analyzed the salt with which he experimented, and found that it con- sisted of one eq. of biniodide of mercury, and two of iodide of potassium. This he de- termined by ascertaining that an aqueous solution of a little more than eight grains of iodide of potassium would dissolve, and combine with, eleven grains of biniodide of mer- cury, without being liable to decomposition when largely diluted with water. The com- bination here indicated corresponds with one of the double iodides of mercury and potassinm, described by Thenard. (Traiti de Chimie, 6eme ed., iii. 493.) The other is represented by this author as consisting of a single eq. of each iodide. When copiously diluted with water, every two eqs. of this iodide let fall one eq. of the mercurial iodide ; thu« evidently converting the salt into the medicinal double iodide. The same decom- position by the use of abundance of water is noticed by Dr. Channing. For remarks on the«e double iodides see a paper by Mr. Ambrose Smith, Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 265. Dr Channing attributes to this preparation the effects of diffusing excitement, and equalizina the circulation. In the different cases in which he tried it, he thought he saw evidence'of its favourable influence on the lungs, in allaying cough and improving ex- pectoration; on the alimentary canal, in restoring the healthy secretions; on the kidneys, in reviving their activity; on the skin and cellular tissue, in cicatrizing superficial ulcera- tions; and on the absorbent and exhalent systems, in causing the disappearancesof effused fluid. The principal diseases in which he found it useful were chrome bronchitis, hoop- in- cough, tonsillitis, chronic gastroenteritis, dyspepsia, ascites, anasarca, amenorrhcea, eucor^hci, eruptions, and scrofula. In some cases of phthisis, it mitigated the symptoms Md annrared to prolong life. Dr. Hildreth, of Ohio, has tried tins preparation, and repomLouaoly ofkseffb S inordinary dyspepsia unattended by organic disease, en- KemTthey.pleen, amenorrhcea, dysmenorrhoea. leucorrhcea, scrofulous affections, ;ryhrshtothmaketS^rS*,- *~ ^e following formula deduced from the may wi&n to m rhanmne*s paPer.—Take of iodide of potassium three and a half •rrnT^bmiodid o^mercufy (reTiodide), four and a half grains; dolled water a fluid- ounce ' Dissolve first the iodide of potassium and then the biniodide of mercury in the water! The compound salt in this solution may be assumed to amount to eight grams, 1276 Appendix. though there is a small excess of the iodide of potassium. Of this solution, from two to five drops, containing from the thirtieth to the twelfth of a grain, may be given three times a day. It may be administered in the compound syrup of sarsaparilla, which does not decompose it. (Seepage 1154.) IONIDIUM MARCUCCI. This name has been conferred by Dr. Bancroft upon a South American plant, supposed to be the source of a medicine used with great asserted advantage in Maracaybo and elsewhere, in some of the horrible cutaneous affections, especially elephantiasis, to which the inhabitants of the tropical regions of this continent are subject. A specimen, however, received from Dr. Bancroft, was found by Sir W. Hooker to be identical with the Ionidium parviflorumof Ventinat. The medicine is called by the Indians cuichunchulli, and grows in the neighbourhood of Riobamba, a small town at the foot of the great mountain of Chimborazo. It is said to be diaphoretic, diuretic, occasionally sialagogue, and in large doses emetic and cathartic. The root is the part used. It is highly probable that other vegetable emeto-cathartics, having the same pro- perty of stimulating the secretions, would be found equally effectual. For an account of what is known in relation to this medicine, the reader is referred to a paper by Dr. Ban- croft, republished in the American Journal of Pharmacy, vol. iii. p. 125. ISATIS TINCTORIA. Woad. Pastel. A biennial plant, indigenous in Europe, where it is also cultivated. The leaves have a fugitive pungent odour, and an acrid very durable taste, and have been used in scorbutic affections, jaundice, and other com- plaints; but the plant is valuable only as the source of a blue dye-stuff, called woad, which has been long employed in Europe, though at present nearly superseded by indigo. The leaves are prepared by grinding them to a paste, which is made into balls, placed in heaps, and allowed to ferment. When the fermentation is at an end, the mass fails into a coarse powder, which is the dye-stuff in question. KALMIA LATIFOLIA. Laurel. Mountain Laurel. Broad-leafed Laurel. Calico-bush. This well known evergreen inhabits all sections of the United States, but is particularly abundant on the sides of hills and mountains, which it adorns in summer with its elegant flowers. It is from three to ten feet in height. The leaves are endowed with poisonous, narcotic properties, and have been used in medicine. They are said to prove fatal to sheep and some other animals, but are eaten with impunity by deer, goats, and par- tridges. Dr. Barton states in his "Collections," that the Indians sometimes use a decoc- tion of the leaves to destroy themselves. It is said that death has been occasioned by eating the flesh of partridges and pheasants which have fed upon them during winter. Dr. Shoemaker published, in the North American Medical and Surgical Journal, two cases of poisoning which resulted from eating a pheasant, in the craw of which laurel leaves were found. The symptoms were nausea, temporary blindness, pain in the head, dyspnoea, pallid countenance, cold extremities, and a very feeble pulse, which in one case was for some time absent at the wrist, in the other beat only forty strokes in the minute. In both cases relief was afforded by vomiting, produced by a tablespoonful of flour of mustard mixed with warm water. Dr. Barton was informed that the powdered leaves were employed by an empiric with success in certain states of fever; and Dr. Thomas, in an inaugural dissertation, published at Philadelphia, A.D. 1802, states that an obstinate case of diarrhoea was cured by a decoction, made by boiling an ounce of the leaves in eight ounces of water down to four ounces. Thirty drops were given six times a day; but this quantity pro- duced vertigo, and the dose was afterwards repeated only four times daily. The leaves are said to have been used advantageously in syphilis. Externally applied, in the shape of ointment or decoction, they have been found useful in tinea capitis, psora, and other cutaneous affections; but some caution is necessary in their application, as, according to Dr. Barton, nervous symptoms have resulted from the external use of the decoction. Dr. Bigelow has seen the recently powdered leaves given in doses of from ten to twenty grains, without perceptible effect. It is probable that the other species of Kalmia, as the K. angustifolia, or sheep- laurel, and the X". glauca, or swamp laurel, have properties identical with those of the K. latifolia. LABDANUM. Ladanum. A resinous substance obtained from various species of Cistus, especially the C. Crelicus, C. ladaniferus, and C.laurifolius, small evergreen shrubs, inhabiting the islands Of the Grecian Archipelago, and the different countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Upon the leaves and branches of these shrubs a juice exudes, which is collected by means of an instrument resembling a rake, with leather thongs instead of teeth, which is drawn over the plant. The juice adheres to the pieces of lea- ther, and is afterwards separated. It is said that labdanum was formerly collected by combing the beards of goats which had been browsing upon the leaves of the cistus. Appendix. 1277 It comes chiefly from the Grecian islands. Two varieties exist in commerce. The purest labdanum is in masses of variotis sizes, sometimes weighing several pounds, enclosed in bladders, dark-red almost black externally, grayish internally when first broken, of the consistence of a plaster, softening in the hand and becoming adhesive, of an agreeable balsamic odour like that of amber, and of a bitter, balsamic, somewhat acrid taste. It is very inflammable, burning with a clear flame. On exposure it becomes dry, porous, and brittle. Little of this variety is found in the markets. Common lab- danum is in pieces of a contorted or spiral form, light, porous, blackish-gray, hard and brittle, not softening between the fingers, similar in odour and taste to the preceding variety, but less inflammable, and mixed with much sand and other earthy matter, whicli are obvious to the sight. Guibourt found in 100 parts of the labdanum in masses, 86 parts of resin with a little volatile oil, 7 parts of wax, 1 of watery extract, and 6 of earthy substances and hair. In the contorted variety, Pelletier found 20 per cent, of resin, 3 6 of gum with malate of lime, 0 6 of malic acid, P9 of wax, 1*9 of volatile oil including loss, and 72 of ferruginous sand. Labdanum is a stimulant expectorant, and was formerly given in catarrhal and dys- enteric affections. At present it is employed only in plasters, and seldom even for that purpose in the United States. It is sometimes used in fumigation. LAC. A resinous substance obtained from several trees growing in the East Indies, particularly from the Croton lacdferum, and two species of Ficus, the F. religiosa and F. Indica. It is found in the form of a crust surrounding the twigs or extreme branches, and is generally supposed to be an exudation from the bark, owing to the puncture of an insect belonging to the genus Coccus, and denominated C. Larca. By some it is thought to be an exudation from the bodies of the insects themselves, which collect in great numbers upon the twigs, and are embedded in the concreted juice, through which the young insects eat a passage and escape. Several varieties are known in commerce. The most common are stick lack, seed lac, and shell lac. Slick lac is the resin as taken from the tree, still encrusting the small twigs around which it originally concreted. It is of a deep reddish-brown colour, of a shining fracture, translucent at the edges, inodorous, and of an astringent, slightly bitterish taste. Its ex- ternal surface is perforated with numerous minute pores, as if made by a needle; and when broken it exhibits many oblong cells, often containing the dead insect. When chewed it colours the saliva beautifully red, and when burnt, diffuses a strong agreeable odour. It is in great measure soluble in alcohol. Seed lac consists of minute irregular fragments, broken from the twigs, and partially exhausted by water. It is of a light or dark brown colour, inclining to red or yellow, feebly shining, almost tasteless, and capable of imparting to water less colour than the stick lac, sometimes scarcely colouring it at all. It is occasionally mixed with small fragments of the twigs. Shell lac is prepared by melting the stick or seed lac previously deprived of its soluble colouring matter, straining it, and pouring it upon a flat smooth surface to harden. It is in thin fragments of various sizes, from half a line to a line thick, often somewhat curved, of a lighter or darker brown colour, inclining more or less to red or yellow, shining, more or less transparent, hard and brittle, inodorous and insipid, insoluble in water, but easily and almost entirely soluble in alcohol, especially with the aid of heat. A variety of lac is mentioned by writers, in the form of cakes, called cake or lump lac (lacca in placentis); but this is at present rare in commerce. According to John, lac consists of resin,colouring matter, a peculiar principle insoluble in alcohol, ether, or water, called lacdn, a little wax, and various saline matters in small proportion. The resin, according to Unverdorben, consists of several distinct resinous principles differing in their solubility in alcohol and ether. The laccin is nearly or quite wanting in the shell lac, which also contains scarcely any of the colouring principle. Mr. Hatchett found in stick lac 68 per cent, of resin and 10 of colouring matter; in seed lac 88-5 per cent, of resin, and 2-5 of colouring matter; in shell lac 909 percent, of resin and 0-5 of colouring matter. The other constituents, according to this chemist, are wax and gluten, besides foreign matters. Lac in its crude state is slightly astringent, and was formerly used in medicine. At present it is not employed. Shell lac is wholly inert. Stick lac and seed lac are used on account of the colouring principle which they contain. Shell lac, as well as the other varieties deprived of their colouring matter, is applied to numerous purposes in the arts. It is the chief constituent of sealing wax. The best red sealing wax is made by melting together, with a very gentle heat, 48 parts of shell lac, 19 of Venice turpentine, and 1 of balsam of Peru, and mixing with the melted mass 32 parts of finely powdered cinnabar. But common rosin is often substituted in part for the lac. and a mixture of red lead and chalk for the cinnabar. The best black sealing wax consists ef 60 parts of lac, 10 of tur- 1278 Appendix. pentine, and 30 of levigated bone black; the best yellow sealing wax, of 60 parts of lac, 12 of turpentine, and 24 of chromate of lead. (Berzelius.) Lac is also used as a varnish, and forms an excellent cement for broken porcelain and earthenware. LACTATE OF IRON. Ferri Lactas. Lactate of Protoxide of Iron. MM. Gelis and Conte introduced this preparation to the notice of the profession. As it was admitted by many physiologists, that lactic, acid was the cause of the acidity of the gastric juice, and the fact seemed to be proved by MM. Bernard and Barreswil, MM. Gelis and Conte concluded that the ordinary ferruginous preparations, when efficacious, are dissolved by this acid in the stomach, and were led to suppose that the lactate of iron, ready formed, might prove a valuable remedy. Their anticipations appeared to be realized; for several French physicians of note, among whom were MM. Fouquier, Bally, and Bouillaud, the committee appointed on their memoir by the French Academy of Medicine, reported favourably in relation to its therapeutic powers. M. Louradour recommends the following process for obtaining lactate of iron. Fer- ment whey by keeping it at a temperature between 70° and 80°, whereby it becomes charged with a considerable quantity of lactic acid. Evaporate the liquor to a third of its bulk, decant and filter, and then saturate with milk of lime. This converts the lactic- acid into lactate of lime, which remains in solution, and throws down a precipitate, con- sisting principally of phosphate of lime. The liquor is again filtered, and precipitated by oxalic acid, which throws down the lime as oxalate of lime, and sets free the lactic acid. By a new filtration a solution of lactic acid is obtained, containing lactin (sugar of milk) and certain salts, but pure enough for conversion into lactate of iron. For this purpose iron filings are digested with it on a sand-bath at a gentle heat. At the end of six or seven hours, the liquor is made to boil; after which it is filtered, concentrated,and allowed to cool and crystallize. The lactin and foreign salts remain in the mother-water. The crystals are drained in a funnel, washed with alcohol, dried rapidly, and then trans- ferred to a bottle which must be well stopped. A better process for preparing lactate of lime preparatory to its conversion into lactic acid and lactate of iron, is that of M. Gobley, as follows.—Add to 2 pints of skim-milk, diluted with twice its bulk of water, and con- tained in an earthen pan, 64 drachms of powdered lactin, and 51 drachms of powdered chalk. Allow the whole to ferment for eleven or twelve days, at a temperature of from 80° to 90°, supplying water as it evaporates. Transfer the liquor to a capsule, heat it gradually to boiling, and stir it constantly. Boil for a quarter of an hour to coagulate casein, allow the insoluble matters to subside, and strain the liquid through flannel. The clear liquid is a solution of lactate of lime. In this process the casein of the milk, act- ing as a ferment, converts not only the lactin of the milk, but the lactin added, into lactic acid; a result which would not take place were it not for the presence of the chalk, Which saturates the lactic acid as it becomes formed, and prevents it from uniting with the casein, whereby the power of the latter as a ferment would be destroyed. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., vi. 54.) Lactate of lime may be converted into lactate of iron more ex- peditiously than by the method above given, by the following process of M. Lepage. Dissolve 100 parts of lactate of lime, obtained by M. Gobley's process, in 500 parts of boiling water; and 68 parts of pure crystallized sulphate of protoxide of iron in 500 parts of cold distilled water. Mix the filtered solutions in a matrass, acidulate slightly with lactic acid, and heat in a salt-water bath, stirring frequently until the double decom- position is completed. Then filter to separate the sulphate of lime, and evaporate rapidly to one-half, either in an iron vessel, or in a porcelain capsule, containing a few turnings of iron. Filter again, and set aside to crystallize; and, having washed the crys- tals in a funnel with a little alcohol, dry them on bibulous paper. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., ix. 272.) Lactate of iron is in very white crystalline plates, undergoing little change in the air. When in the form of a yellowish or greenish-white powder it is impure. It is but sparingly soluble in water, requiring forty parts of boiling water to dissolve it. It has an acid reaction, and possesses a mild ferruginous taste. The aqueous solution quickly becomes yellow, in consequence of the iron passing to a higher state of oxidation. M, Louradour has observed several samples of this lactate, variously adulterated; as by effloresced sulphate of iron, starch, and lactin; the sophistication being concealed by the salt being sold in powder. These impurities may be detected by appropriate reagents; but M. Louradour recommends, as a simpler way of avoiding them, the rejection of the salt when not in crystalline plates. Medical Properties. Lactate of iron has the general medical properties of the ferrugi- nous preparations. It has a marked effect in increasing the appetite. The disease in which it was principally tried in Paris was chlorosis, with or without amenorrhcea, and in this disease, Andral, Fouquier, Bouillaud, and others obtained very favourable results The dose is one or two grains, repeated at intervals and gradually increased. As much' Appendix. 1279 as 12 or even 20 grains may be given in the course of the day. It may be administered in lozenge, pill, or syrup. The lozenge may be made of one grain of the lactate to twelve of sugar; and the pill, of one grain of the salt, made up with an equal weight of some inert powder free from astringent matter, and sufficient honey. The following is the formula for a syrup proposed by M. Cap, expressed in the nearest weights and measures used in this country. Take of lactate of iron a drachm; white sugar twelve ounces and a half; boiling distilled water six fluidounces and a half. Rub the salt to powder with half an ounce of the sugar; and dissolve the mixture quickly in the boiling water. Pour the- solution into a matrass placed on a sand-bath, and add to it the rest of the sugar in small pieces. When the sugar is dissolved, filter the syrup, and, as soon as it is cold, transfer it to bottles which must be well stopped. This syrup has a very light amber colour, and contains about four grains of the salt to the fluidounce. The dose is from two to four fluidrachms. Bread, called chalybeate bread, containing the lactate of iron in the proportion of about a grain to the ounce, has been used with advantage by chlorotic patients in one of the hospitals of Paris. The bread is not injured in taste or quality. LACTIC ACID. Aridum Lacticum. This acid was discovered by Scheele. It is interesting as having been found in a number of the secretions, including the healthy gastric juice, in which its presence has been incontestably proved to exist by Bernard and Barreswil. It is a product of the viscous or lactic fermentation of rice-water, and of the juices of the beet, turnip, and carrot. Indeed, it is formed whenever sugar in solu- tion, of whatever kind, is placed in contact with an alkaline or earthy carbonate, in pre- sence of a ferment, as, for example, the casein of milk. (Pelouze.) It may be conveniently obtained from the solution of impure lactic acid, mentioned in the last article, by concen- trating it to a syrupy consistence, and treating it with alcohol, which dissolves the acid and precipitates the lactin and foreign salts. The solution is filtered, and the lactic acid is obtained pure by distilling off the alcohol. It is a colourless syrupy liquid, having a very sour taste, and the sp.gr. 1-215. When heated to 480°, the greater part of it is converted into a new body called concrete lactic acid, or lactide. It coagulates albumen, and dissolves a large quantity of freshly precipitated phosphate of lime, a property, which, doubtless, renders it of importance in the animal economy. The formula of the hydrated acid is C6H5054-H0. The acid obtained from the fluids of the flesh of animals by Liebig, was found to have the same per centage composition as lactic acid, but still to differ from it in the proportion of water in the zinc and lime salts. Dr. W. Heintz considers the acid from flesh to be isomeric with lactic acid, and proposes to call it para- lactic add. (Chem. Gaz., Mar. 1, 1849.) Lactic acid was proposed by Magendie on theoretical grounds as a remedy in certain forms of dyspepsia, and for the removal of phosphatic deposits in the urine. It is most conveniently given in solution sweetened with sugar, prepared like lemonade. From one to three drachms may be taken in the course of the day. LAKES. These are compounds of vegetable or animal colouring principles with alu- mina or metallic oxides, and are usually obtained by adding alum, or perchloride of tin, to the solution of the colouring matter in water, and precipitating by means of an alkali. The alumina or oxide of tin unites with the colouring matter at the moment of separa- tion, and forms an insoluble compound. Lakes are obtained in this way from cochineal, madder, Brazil wood, seed lac, French berries, &c. They are used in painting. LEDUM PALUSTRE. Marsh Tea. Rosmarinus sylvestris. A small evergreen shrub, growing in swamps and other wet places, in the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, and in the mountainous regions of more southern latitudes. The leaves have a balsamic odour, and an aromatic, camphorous, bitter taste; and contain, among other ingredients, Volatile oil and tannin. They are thought to possess narcotic properties, and have been employed in exanthematous diseases to allay irritation, in hooping-cough, in dysentery, and in various cutaneous affections, particularly leprosy and scabies. In com- plaints of the skin, they are used both internally and externally in the form of decoction. When placed among clothes, they are said to prevent the attacks of moths. In Germany they are sometimes substituted for hops in the preparation of beer. The Ledum latifolium, or Labrador tea, which is a larger plant than the preceding, is a native of North America, growing in damp places in Canada and the northern parts of the United States. The leaves have an agreeable odour and taste, and are esteemed pectoral and tonic. They are said to have been used as a substitute for tea during the war of independence. LEPTANDRA VIRGINICA. Nuttall. Veronica Virginica. Linn. Culver's Physic. This is an indigenous perennial plant, with an herbaceous stem three or four feet high,. furnished with leaves in whorls, and terminating in a long spike of white flowers. A variety was seen by Pursh with purple flowers. This was described and figured as a distinct species by Raftnesque, under the title of L. purpurea. The plant grows through- 1280 Appendix. out the United States, affecting particularly calcareous hills and sunny exposures, and flowering in August. The root, which is the part used, is bitter and nauseous, and yields us active properties to boiling water. When recent it is said to act violently as a cathartic, and sometimes as an emetic. In the dried state it is more uncertain. The dose of the powder is from twenty grains to a drachm. It was formerly recognised in the U. S. Pharmacopceia, but was omitted in the last edition. LIATR1S SPICATA. Gay feather. Button Snakeroot. An indigenous perennial plant, growing in natural meadows and moist grounds throughout the Middle and Southern States. It has a tuberous root, and an erect annual stem, which terminates in a spike of beautiful, purple, compound flowers, which appear in August. The root is said by Schoepf to have a terebinthinate odour, and a warm, bitterish, terebinthinate taste; to be possessed of diuretic properties; and to be useful in gonorrhoea and sore throat, being employed internally in the shape of decoction in the former complaint, and as a gargle in the latter. Pursh informs us that the L. scariosa and L. squarrosa are known in Vir- ginia, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, by the name of rattlesnake's master; and that their roots are employed to cure the bite of the rattlesnake, being bruised and applied directly to the wound, while their decoction in milk is taken internally. According to Dr. Wil- liam Barton, all the tuberous-rooted species of Liatris are active plants, and appear to be diuretic. LIGUSTICUM LEVISTICUM. Lavage. An umbelliferous plant, growing wild in the South of Europe, and cultivated in gardens. The whole plant has a strong, sweetish, aromatic odour, and a warm pungent taste. When wounded it emits a yellow opaque juice, which concretes into a brownish resinous substance, not unlike opopanax. The roots, stem, leaves, and seeds have all been employed; but the last have the aromatic properties of the plant in the highest degree. They are small, ovate oblong, somewhat flattened, curved, strongly ribbed, and of a yellowish-brown colour. The medical pro- perties of lovage are closely analogous to those of angelica. It is a stimulant aromatic, and has been employed as a carminative, diaphoretic, and emmenagogue. The best form for administration is that of infusion. LIGUSTRUM VULGARE. Privet. A shrub from four to ten feet in height, growing wild both in Europe and the United States, usually in hedges and by the roadside. The leaves, which have an astringent, bitter taste, and the flowers, which are small, snow- white, and of an agreeable odour, have been used, in the form of decoction, in sorethroat, and aphthous and scorbutic ulceration of the mouth. The berries are black, have a sweetish, bitter taste, and are said to possess purgative properties, and to colour the urine brown. They are sometimes used for dyeing. The bark was analyzed by M. G. Potex, who found a peculiar substance which he denominated ligustrin, besides mannite, sugar, muco-saccharine matter, starch, chlorophylle, bitter extractive, bitter resin, tannin, albu- men, and salts. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xii. 347.) LILIUM CANDIDUM. Common White Lily. This well-known plant is a native of Syria and Asia Minor, but has been long cultivated in gardens. The bulb, which con- sists of imbricated fleshy scales, is without odour, but has a peculiar, disagreeable, some- what bitter, and mucilaginous taste. It contains much mucilage, and a small proportion of an acrid principle, which is dissipated or destroyed by roasting or boiling. In the recent state it is said to have been employed with advantage in dropsy. Boiled with water or milk it forms a good emollient cataplasm, more used in popular than in regular prac- tice. The flowers have an agreeable odour, which they impart to oil or lard; and an ointment or liniment is sometimes prepared from them, and used as a soothing applica- tion in external inflammations. LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA. Sweet-gum. An indigenous tree, growing in different parts of the United States from New England to Louisiana, and flourishing also in Mexico, where, as well as in our Southern States, it sometimes attains a great mag- nitude. In warm latitudes a balsamic, juice flows from its trunk when wounded. This has attracted some attention in Europe, where it is known by the name of liquidamber, or copalm balsam, and is sometimes, though erroneously, called liquid storax. It is not afforded by the trees which grow in the Middle States, and is obtained from Mexico and Louisiana. It is a liquid of the consistence of thin honey, more or less transparent, of a yellowish colour, of a peculiar, agreeable, balsamic odour, and a bitter, warm, and acrid taste. By cold it becomes thicker and less transparent. It concretes also by time, as- suming a darker colour. According to M. Bonastre, it contains a colourless volatile oil, a semi concrete substance which rises in distillation and is separated from the water by ether, a minute proportion of benzoic acid, a yellow colouring substance, an oleo-resin, and a peculiar principle, insoluble in water and cold alcohol, for which M. Bonasue pro- Appendix. 1281 poses the name of styradne. The proportion of benzoic acid is greatly increased by time. Mr. Hodgson obtained from a specimen which he examined 4-2 per cent. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., vi. 190.) Another product is said to be obtained from the same tree by boiling the young branches in water, and skimming off the fluid which rises to the surface. It is of a thicker con- sistence and darker colour than the preceding, is nearly opaque, and abounds in impu- rities. This also has been confounded with liquid storax, which it resembles in properties, though derived from a different source. Liquidamber may be employed for the same purpose as storax, but is very seldom used, and is almost unknown in the shops of the United States. LITHIA. Protoxide of Lithium. This is the protoxide of a metallic radical called lithium, and ranks with potassa and soda as one of the fixed alkalies. It is a constituent of several minerals (petalite, spodumene, lepidolite, &c), and has been found in a num- ber of the mineral waters of Europe, principally in the state of carbonate or bicarbonate. Its carbonate in solution in water has been proposed by Mr. A. Ure as a solvent for uric acid calculi, injected into the bladder. By experiments made out of the body, conducted at the heat of the blood, it was found that a solution of this salt was a better solvent of uric acid than either borax or the carbonates of potassa and soda. Carbonate of lithia is a white powder, soluble in 100 parts of cold water, and insoluble in alcohol. Its effects when exhibited by the stomach have not been tried. LITHOSPERMUM OFFICINALE. Gromwell. Milium Solis. A European peren- nial, the seeds of which are ovate, of a grayish-white or pearl colour, shining, rather larger than millet seeds, and of a stony hardness, from which the generic name of the plant originated. From an opinion formerly prevalent, that nature indicates remedies adapted to certain diseases by some resemblance between the remedy and the character of the complaint or of the part affected, the seeds of this plant were applied to the treat- ment of calculous disorders; and they retained their ground in the estimation of physicians as a diuretic, useful in complaints of the urinary passages, long after the fanciful notion in which their use originated had been abandoned. But they are at present considered nearly inert, and are not employed. LYCOPODIUM CLAVATUM. Club-moss. The capsules of this moss, and of others belonging to the same genus, contain a fine dust or powder, which is collected in Switzer- land and Germany, and used in the shops of Europe under the name of lycopodium, or vegetable sulphur. This powder is considered by some as the pollen of the plant, by others as the' seed. It is extremely fine, very light, of a delicate yellow colour, inodorous and tasteless, and exceedingly inflammable, so much so that it takes fire like gunpowder when thrown upon a burning body. It is said to be often adulterated with the pollen of the pines and firs, and sometimes with talc and starch. In medicine, it is used as an ab- sorbent application to excoriated surfaces, especially those which occur in the folds of the skin in infants. In pharmacy, it answers the purpose of facilitating the rolling of the pilular mass, and of preventing the adhesion of the pills when formed. It is not much used in this country. The moss itself has been esteemed diuretic, antispasmodic, &c.; and has been employed, in the form of decoction, in rheumatism, epilepsy, and complaints of the lungs and kidneys; but it has fallen into discredit. MALAMBO or MATIAS BARK. A bark received from S.America by Dr. Alexander Ure, under the name of matias bark, was found to have the characters of the malambo bark, which is held in high esteem in New Granada where it is produced, and has been long known to the French Pharmacologists. It is described by Dr. Ure as being three or four lines thick, brittle though somewhat fibrous, of a brown colour, and covered with an ash-coloured tuberculous epidermis. It has an aromatic odour, and a bitter pungent taste, and yields these properties to water and alcohol. Its active ingredients appear to be a volatile oil, and a bitter extractive matter. According to Dr. Mackay, it has been used successfully in intermittents, convalescence from continued fever, hemicrama, dyspepsia, and other cases in which tonic remedies are useful, and also as an adjuvant to diuretics. It is probably nothing more than an aromatic tonic Dr. Ure has often administered it with good effect as a substitute for Peruvian bark. (Pharm. Journ. and Trans., m. 169.) MANDRAGORA OFFICINALIS. Atropa Mandragora. Linn. Mandrake. Mandra- sora A perennial European plant, with spindle-shaped root, which is often forked be- neath and is therefore compared, in shape, to the human figure. In former times this root was supposed to possess magical virtues, and was used as an amulet to promote fecundity &c • and the superstition is still cherished by the vulgar in some parts of Europe The'plant is a poisonous narcotic, somewhat similar in its properties to bella- donna to which it is botanically allied. It was much used by the ancients with a view 81 1282 Appendix. to its narcotic effects; and the root has been recommended by some eminent modern physicians, as an external application to scrofulous, scirrhous, and syphilitic tumours. It is unknown as a remedy in the United States. MATICO. The leaves of the Piper angustifolium of Ruiz and Pavon, growing in the interior of Peru. Dr. Martius speaks of their employment by the natives, externally as a vulnerary, and internally as aphrodisiac (Pharm. Cent. Blatt, 1843, p. 12); and, accord- ing to Dr. Scrivener, who practised medicine at Lima, they are much used in Peru locally for arresting hemorrhage, and in the treatment of ulcers. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 175.) In a dried specimen, presented to one of the authors by Dr. Ruschenberger, of the U. S. Navy, the leaves are sessile or very shortly petiolate, oval lanceolate, two or three inches long by about an inch in breadth, bright-green on the upper surface, paler and downy beneath, crenate, minutely and strongly reticulated, of an agreeable aromatic odour, and a warm, spicy taste. According to Dr. Hodges, they contain chlorophylle, a soft dark-green resin, brown and yellow colouring matters, gum, salts, lignin, volatile oil, and a peculiar bitter principle which he calls matidn. (Philos. Mag., Sept. 1844, p. 206.) The leaves and flower- ing tops were imported into England by Dr. Jeffreys, of Liverpool, and employed by him with advantage in diseases of the mucous membranes, as gonorrhoea, leucorrhoea, monor- rhagia, catarrh of the bladder, hemorrhoids, and epistaxis. Other practitioners have also employed the medicine with benefit in similar cases, and it is said to have proved useful also in haemoptysis, haematemesis, dysentery, and haematuria. Dr. Ruschenberger gives strong testimony in its favour in several of the affections above mentioned. He admin- istered the powder in the dose of a drachm. (Misso. Med. and Surg. Journ., iii. 62, from Bost. Med. and Surg. Journ.) The medicine may also be given in infusion made in the proportion of an ounce to a pint. The dose is one or two fluidounces four times a day. A tincture is also used, made with two ounces and a half to a pint of diluted alcohol, and given in the dose of from one to three fluidrachms. The leaves have been used locally as a styptic. The virtues of matico probably depend on its volatile oil and resin. (Braithwaite's Retrospect, viii. 37.) The root of another species of pepper, the P. methisticum, is used in the Sandwich Islands to form an intoxicating beverage, under the name of ava or kava. See an article by Mr. Morson in the Pharm. Journ. and Trans., iii. 472, where the plant is figured. MEDEOLA VIRGINICA. Gyromia Virginica. Nuttall. Indian Cucumber. An indi- genous perennial herb, growing in all parts of the United States. The root, which in shape and flavour bears a strong resemblance to a small cucumber, is said by Pursh to be eaten by the Indians. According to the late Professor Barton, it has been thought useful in dropsies, and probably possesses diuretic properties. It is figured and described by Dr. William Barton in his Medical Botany. MELILOTUS OFFICINALIS. Melilot. An annual or biennial plant, indigenous in Europe, and growing also in this country. We have two varieties, one with yellow, the other with white flowers, which are considered by some as distinct species. The plant, when in flower, has a peculiar sweet odour, which, by drying, becomes stronger and more agreeable, somewhat like that of the tonka bean. Indeed, according to M. Guille- mette, the odorous principle of the two substances is identical. (Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 172.) The taste of melilot is slightly bitterish. It has little medical power, and, though formerly recommended in various diseases, is at present not employed internally. As a local application, it is used, in the form of decoction or cataplasm, in moderate inflam- mations, though probably with little other advantage than such as results from the com- bination of warmth and moisture. MENISPERMUM CANADENSE. This is a climbing plant, growing in various parts of the United States, from the northern boundary to the Gulf of Mexico. It is described in the Flora of North America by Torrey and Gray, vol. i. p. 48. In an unpublished inaugural dissertation by Dr. Geo. F. Terrell (Feb. 1844), it is stated that the root of this plant is considerably employed in Virginia, both in domestic practice and by phy- sicians, as a substitute for sarsaparilla. in scrofulous affections. It has a bitter taste, and is said to be a gently stimulating tonic. MESEMBRYANTHEMUM CRYSTALLINUM. Ice-plant. A biennial plant, grow. ing spontaneously in the South of Europe, and cultivated as a curiosity in colder coun- tries, by the aid of artificial warmth. The stem and under surface of the leaves are covered with crystalline drops, which give the plant the appearance of being coated with ice. The herb is without smell, and has a saline somewhat nauseous taste. It is con- sidered demulcent and diuretic, and has been highly lauded as a remedy in various com- plaints, especially in those affecting the mucous membrane of the lungs and urinary passages. It has also been used in dropsy. The expressed juice is the form in which the remedy has been generally employed. Appendix. 1283 MOMORDICA BALSAMINA. Balsam Apple. Balsamina. An annual climbing plant, a native of the East Indies, but cultivated in our gardens for the sake of the fruit. This is ovate, attenuated towards each extremity, angular, warty, not unlike a cucumber in appearance, of a lively red or orange-yellow colour, easily falling when touched, and spontaneously separating into several pieces. It was formerly highly esteemed as a vulnerary, and is still in use among the common people. A liniment formed by infus- ing the fruit, deprived of its seeds, in olive or almond oil, is applied to chapped hands, burns, old sores, piles, prolapsus ani, &c, and the fruit itself is sometimes mashed and used in the form of poultice. According to M. Descourtlitz, it is poisonous when taken internally, having proved fatal to a dog in the quantity of two or three drachms. An extract prepared from it is said to be useful in dropsy, in the dose of from six to fifteen grains. MONESIA. Under this name, a vegetable extract from South America was, a few years since, introduced to the notice of the medical profession in France by M. Bernard Derosne, and for a time attracted much attention. Its origin was for some time uncer- tain; but it appears to have been ascertained to be derived from the bark of the Chryso- phyllum glycyphlccum, a tree of middling size, growing in the forests near Rio Janeiro, and elsewhere in Brazil. (Virey, Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., vi. 63.) Specimens of the bark were obtained along with the extract. The bark is in pieces, some of which are three or four lines thick, is very compact and heavy, of a deep-brown or chocolate colour, contrasting strongly with the grayish colour of the epidermis when this remains, and of a smooth fracture. The extract was received from S. America in cakes weighing rather more than a pound, from three-quarters of an inch to an inch in thickness, of a dark-brown almost black colour, very brittle, of a frac- ture neither very dull nor very shining, and of a taste at first sweet, then astringent, and ultimately acrid; the acrimony being very persistent, and especially felt in the fauces. It is entirely soluble in water. The bark was analyzed by MM. Derosne,. Henry, and Payen, and was found to contain in 100 parts, P2 of stearin, chlorophydemand wax, 14 of glycyrrhizin, 4-7 of an acrid principle analogous to saponin, called monesin, 7-5 of tannic acid, 92 of a red colouring substance, V3 of malic acid and malate of lime, 30 of various salts, including silica and oxides of iron and manganese, and 71-7 of pectic acid or pectin and lignin, including loss, besides traces of an aromatic principle, and of gum. Monesin. was obtained by treating the bark-or extract with alcohol, adding to the tincture an ex- cess of hydrate of lime in fine powder, filtering, evaporating the clear liquor to dryness, treating the residue with water and animal charcoal, filtering, and again evaporating to dryness. Thus procured it was in transparent yellowish scales, which were easily pul- verized, forming a white powder. It was readily dissolved by alcohol and water, to the latter of which it gave the property of frothing; but was insoluble in ether. It could not be made to crystallize. It had no power to saturate acids, was without odour, but had a slightly bitterish taste, followed by a very decided and permanent acrimony in the posterior mouth and fauces. (Journ.de Pharm., Janvier, 18-11.) Monesia owes its activity probably to this principle and to tannic acid. The effects of this medicine upon the system appear to be those of a moderate stoma- chic excitant, a general alterative, and a feeble astringent. In over-doses, it is said to produce heat in the epigastrium with obstinate constipation and tenesmus. It has been used internally with asserted advantage in diarrhoea, haemoptysis, menorrhagia, scrofula,. scurvy, the chronic catarrh of old people, and dyspepsia. As a local remedy it has been found useful in leucorrhcea, ulcerations of the mouth and fauces, spongy and scorbutic- gums, carious teeth, and obstinate scrofulous and otherwise unhealthy ulcers upon the. surface. The extract may be given in pill or powder, in aqueous solution, in tincture . or in syrup. The dose of it is from two to ten grains, repeated every hour, two, or three hours, or less frequently. From ten grains to a drachm may be given daily. In scrofulous affections, it must be given in large quantities, and persevered in for several weeks, in order to obtain its curative effects. Monesia is applied to ulcers either by being sprinkled in powder upon the surface, or in the form of ointment made with one part of the ex- tract and seven parts of simple ointment. Monesin, or the acrid principle,has been given internally in the dose of about half a grain, and has also been applied to ulcers. MURIATIC ETHER. jEther Muriaticus. Muriate of Etherine. Chloride of Ethyle. This ether was discovered by Rouelle, but first obtained in sufficient quantities to permit the examination of its properties by Basse. It may be procured by several processes, but the following is the best—Distil a mixture of equal measures of concentrated muriatic ■icid and alcohol, and receive the product, by means of a curved glass tube, in a tubu- lated bottle half filled with water at a temperature between 70° and 80 ,and connected by means of a second tube with another bottle, loosely corked, and surrounded by a mix 1284 Appendix. ture of common salt with snow or pounded ice. The ether which comes over into the first bottle, is mixed with alcohol and acid, which are retained by the water, while the pure ether passes forward, and is condensed in the refrigerated bottle. This ether must be kept in strong bottles, well secured with ground stoppers covered with leather. Be- fore being opened, the bottle should be cooled down to the freezing point. Muriatic ether is colourless, has a strong, slightly saccharine, alliaceous taste, and a penetrating, ethereal, alliaceous smell. Its sp. gr. at the temperature of 41° is 0-774. It is extremely volatile, entering into ebullition at 54°; so that in summer it may be collected in the gaseous state, in bell glasses over water. Its density in the state of vapour is 2'22. When kindled as issuing from a fine orifice, it burns with an emerald-green flame with- out smoke, diffusing a strong odour of muriatic acid; but when set on fire in quantities, it burns with a greenish-yellow smoky flame. Water dissolves one-fiftieth of its weight of this ether, and acquires a sweetish, ethereal taste, and alcohol unites with it in all proportions. These solutions are not precipitated by nitrate of silver, showing that the muriatic acid present is in a peculiar state of combination. Like sulphuric and nitric ether, it dissolves sulphur and phosphorus, the fat and volatile oils, and many other sub- stances. It consists of one eq. of muriatic acid 36'42, and one of etherine 28=64-42; or, in volumes, of two volumes of the acid, and one volume of the vapour of etherine, con- densed into two volumes. Muriatic ether, like the other substances of this class, is a diffusible stimulant; but, owing to its extreme volatility, cannot be kept in the shops. It may, however, be pre- served in a cool cellar, the temperature of which does not rise above 45° or 50°, being well secured in bottles, which should be placed reversed. When used as a medicine, it is generally mixed with an equal bulk of alcohol, forming what is called alcoholic muri- atic ether. The dose is from five to thirty drops, given in sweetened water, or other convenient vehicle. MUSHROOMS. Fungi. This extensive family of cryptogamous plants is interesting to the physician, from the consideration, that, while some of them are very largely con- sumed as food, others are deleterious in their nature, and capable, when eaten, of produc- ing poisonous effects. Their substance is made up of a cellular tissue, which is usually of that soft consistence denominated fungous, but is sometimes corky, ligneous, or even gelatinous. Many of them have an agreeable odour and taste, while others are un- pleasant or offensive both to the nostrils and palate. According to Braconnot, most of them contain, among other substances, a peculiar principle denominated fungin, a pecu- liar acid called fungic acid usually combined with potassa, and a peculiar saccharine matter less sweet than the other varieties of sugar, less soluble in alcohol and water than that of the cane, and distinguished by some writers as the sugar of mushrooms. Fungin constitutes the basis of these vegetables, and is the principle upon which their nutritive properties chiefly depend. It is the fleshy substance which remains when they are treated with boiling water holding a little alkali in solution. It is whitish, soft, and in- sipid; inflammable; insoluble in water, alcohol, ether, weak sulphuric acid, and weak solutions of potassa and soda; soluble in heated muriatic acid; decomposed by nitric acid, and by concentrated alkaline solutions; and converted by destructive distillation into substances resembling those which result from the distillation of animal matters. It is highly important for those who employ mushrooms as food, to be able to distin- guish those which are wholesome from the poisonous. The following general rules are given by M. Richard in the Dictionnaire des Drogues. Those should be rejected which have a narcotic or fetid odour, or an acrid, bitter, or very acid taste; which occasion a sense of constriction in the throat when swallowed; which are very soft, liquefying, changing colour, and assuming a bluish tint upon being bruised; which exude a milky, acrid, and styptic juice; which grow in very moist places, and upon putrefying sub- stances; in fine, all such as have a coriaceous, ligneous, or corky consistence. The last, however, are injurious in consequence rather of their indigestible than of their poisonous nature. Even mushrooms whicli are usually edible, may prove poisonous, if collected too late,or in places which are too moist. It is said, moreover, that the poisonous species sometimes become innocent when they grow under favourable circumstances; and that the most noxious maybe rendered edible by boiling them in water acidulated with vine- gar. Immense quantities of mushrooms are eaten in France, Germany, Italy, and other parts of continental Europe; and they are said to constitute the chief food of the people in certain provinces. The symptoms produced by the poisonous mushrooms are anxiety, nausea, faintness, vomiting, and, if they are not rejected from the stomach, somnolence, stupor, small and intermittent pulse, tension of the abdomen, cold extremities, livid skin, and death in thirty-six or forty-eight hours. Sometimes violent pains in the stomach and bowels are experienced ; and occasionally severe vomiting and purging occur, and save the patient. Appendix. 1285 The remedies are emetics, if the physician is called in time, accompanied with the free use of warm drinks, and followed by cathartics. After the evacuation of the alimentary canal, demulcent and nutritive beverages should be given,and the strength of the patient sustained by mild tonics or stimulants. Ether is particularly recommended. (Merat and De Lens!) Some of the poisonous species have been used as medicines; but in this country they are never employed; and too little seems to be precisely known of their modes of action ; and their qualities, even in the same species, vary too much, according to the circum- stances of their growth and situation, to justify their introduction into the materia medica, without further investigation. MUSK, ARTIFICIAL. Moschus Factitius. This is prepared, according to M. Eisner, by adding, by little portions at a time, one part of rectified oil of amber to three parts of fuming nitre acid. The resulting resin is washed with water, to separate acid,and brought to the consistence of a firm extract in a salt water bath. Thus prepared it is a dark brownish-red substance, having a burning, bitter, aromatic taste, and a musky odour. It is very soluble in alcohol, ether, and the volatile oils; its alcoholic solution reddening litmus. Triturated with caustic potassa, it gives off ammonia. When set on fire, it burns with a very smoky flame, and leaves a shining, porous charcoal. Its for- mula, deduced from its combination with protoxide of lead, is N2C13H807. Comparing its composition with that of the oil of amber, the action of the nitric acid evidently con- sists in eliminating a portion of carbon and hydrogen, adding to the oxygen, and furnish- ing nitrogen. M. Eisner found oil of amber to consist of several oily principles, having different boiling points, one of which, resembling eupione, he calls amber eupione. As this substance yields artificial musk by the action of fuming nitric acid, he believes the property possessed by oil of amber of yielding the same substance, is due to its presence. (Journ. de Pharm., 34. ser., ii. 144.) Dr. S. W. Williams gives the following formula for the preparation of artificial musk. Add gradually, drop by drop, three drachms and a half of concentrated nitric acid to a drachm of rectified oil of amber, contained in a glass tumbler, or very large wineglass. The mixture grows hot, and emits offensive fumes, which the operator must avoid. When die ordinary nitric acid is employed, which is not of full strength, the reaction must be assisted by heat; in which case Dr. Williams recommends that the vessel con- taining the mixed ingredients be placed in a plate before the fire, they being, meanwhile, continually stirred with a glass rod. After the mixture has remained at rest for twenty- four hours, it acquires a resinous appearance, and divides into two portions, an acid liquid below, and a yellow resin above resembling musk in smell. This being tho- roughly washed, first with cold and then with hot water, until all traces of acid are removed, is the artificial musk. (Am. Journ. of Pharm., viii. 14, from the Boston Med. and Surg. Journ.) Artificial musk is an antispasmodic and nervine, and possesses the general thera- peutic properties of the natural substance, though in a weaker degree. It is praised by Dr. Williams in the treatment of hooping-cough, typhoid states of fever, and nervous diseases generally. When combined with water of ammonia, compound spirit of laven- der, or laudanum, he found no remedy so efficient in the sinking faintness occurring in the last stage of pulmonary consumption. The average dose for an adult is ten grains; for a child of two years old from half a grain to a grain, repeated, in each case, every two or three hours. It may be prepared as the musk mixture, or with almonds in the form of emulsion. According to Berzelius, the tincture is formed by dissolving a drachm of artificial musk in an ounce of alcohol, equivalent to ten fluidrachms of the sp. gr. 0835. Of this the dose for an adult is a teaspoonful. Though artificial musk is not equal in power to the natural substance when genuine, yet it is in all probability superior to the adulte- rated article, so frequently sold under the name of musk. MYROBALANS. Myrobalani. These are the fruits of various East India trees, par- ticularly of different species of Terminalia. They are noticed here partly on account of their ancient reputation, partly because they are still occasionally to be found in the shops, though seldom, if ever, used in medicine. Five varieties are distinguished by authors. 1. Myrobalani bellirica. These are obtained from the Terminalia Belhrwa. They are roundish or ovate, from the size of a hazelnut to that of a walnut, of a grayish- brown colour, smooth, marked with five longitudinal ribs, and sometimes furnished with a short, thick footstalk. They consist of an exterior, thin, firm, resinous, brown, fleshy portion, and an interior kernel, which is light brown, inodorous, and of a bitterish very astringent taste. 2. Myrobalani chebulce. This variety is produced by the Terminalia Chebula, The fruit is oblong, pointed at each extremity, from fifteen to eighteen lines in length, of a dark-brown colour, smooth and shining, with five longitudinal wrinkles, but 1286 Appendix. without footstalks. In their internal arrangement and their taste, they resemble the pre- ceding. 3. Myrobalani dlrina ve\ flava. These are from a variety of the same tree which affords the last-mentioned myrobalans, from which they differ only in being some- what smaller, of a light brown or yellowish colour, and of a taste rather more bitter. They were formerly sometimes sold in the shops in Philadelphia, under the name of white galls, to which, however, they bear no other resemblance than in taste. 4. Myrobolani Indica vel nigra. These are thought to be the unripe fruit of the Terminalia Chebula,or T. Bellirica. They are ovate oblong, from four to eight lines long, and from two to three lines thick, of a blackish colour, wrinkled longitudinally, and presenting, when broken, a thick, brown mass, without kernel, but with a small cavity in the centre. They are sourish and very astringent. 5. Myrobalani emblica. This variety is wholly different from the preceding, and derived from a plant having no affinity to the Terminalise, namely, the Phyllanthus Emblica of Linnaeus. It is often in segments, as kept in the shops. When the fruit is entire, it is blackish, spherical, depressed, of the size of a cherry, presenting six obtuse ribs with as many deep furrows, and separating into six valves, and has a strongly astringent and acidulous taste. These fruits were in high repute with the Arabians, and were long employed by European practitioners, as primarily laxative and secondarily astringent, in various com- plaints, particularly diarrhoea and dysentery. Their dose was from two drachms to an ounce. They are not now employed as medicines. We have been told that they have been used as a substitute for galls in the preparation of ink-powder. NAPHTHALINE. This may be obtained by subjecting coal-tar to distillation, when it passes over after the coal-naphtha. It is a white, shining, concrete, crystalline sub- stance, fusible at 176° and boiling at 423°. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, naphtha, and the oils, but insoluble in water. It has been proposed byDupasquier as an expectorant, and has been found, on trial, to act decidedly as such. In the impending suffocation, some- times occurring in the chronic pulmonary catarrh of old persons, and in humoral asthma, it facilitated expectoration in a remarkable degree. Being a stimulating remedy, it is not proper in acute bronchitis, or where pulmonary inflammation exists. The dose is from eight to thirty grains, given in emulsion or syrup, and repeated at intervals of a quarter of an hour, until an abundant expectoration takes place. (Jown. de Pharm., 3e ser., ii. 513.) M. Rossignon considers naphthaline to act like camphor, and to be capable of replacing it on many occasions as a remedy. It produced excellent effects in verminose affections. It has been found useful by M. Emery, in the form of ointment made by mixing a scruple of naphthaline with five drachms of lard, in dry tetter, psoriasis, and lepra vulgaris. (Annuaire de Thirap., 1843, p. 64 and 66.) NAPLES YELLOW. A yellow pigment prepared by calcining a mixture of lead, sulphuret of antimony, dried alum, and muriate of ammonia, or a mixture of carbonate of lead, diaphoretic antimony, dried alum, and muriate of ammonia. (Gray.) NARCISSUS PSEUDO-NARCISSUS. Daffodil. This well-known bulbous plant is a native of Europe, but is very common in the gardens of this country, where it attracts attention by the early appearance of its conspicuous yellow flowers. Both the bulb and flowers have been used in medicine. The latter have a feeble peculiar odour, and both have a bitter mucilaginous taste. They are emetic, though uncertain in their operation. It is probable that the flowers of the wild plant are more powerful than those of the cultivated. They may be given dried and powdered, or in the form of extract. The dose of the powder, to produce an emetic effect, varies, according to the statements of different physicians, from a scruple to two drachms; while the extract is said to vomit in the dose pf two or three grains. It is conjectured that the emetic property is deve- loped by the agency of water. The bulb is most powerful in the recent state, and, within our own knowledge, is occasionally used as an emetic in domestic practice in this country. When dried and powdered, it has been given in the dose of thirty-six grains without vomiting. The flowers are said also to possess antispasmodic powers, and have been used in France, with supposed advantage, in hooping-cough, epilepsy, and other convul- sive affections. It is probable, however, that they operated in these cases by their nau- seating or emetic property. They have, moreover, been advantageously employed in diarrhoea, dysentery, and intermittent fever. Other species of Narcissus are said to possess the same properties, though they have not been so much used. NARD. Spikenard. Several aromatic roots were known to the ancients under the name of nardus, distinguished, according to their origin or place of growth, by the names of nardus Indica, nardus Celtica, nardus montana, &c. They are supposed to have been derived from different species of Valeriana. Thus the nardus Indica is referred to the V. Jatamensi of Bengal, the nardus Celtica to the V. Celtica, inhabiting the Alps, Apen- nines, &c, and the nardus montana to the V. tuberosa, which grows in the mountains of Appendix. 1287 the South of Europe. The Indian nard, or spikenard, sometimes also called Syrian nard, is still occasionally to be found in the shops. It is a small, delicate root, from one to three inches long, beset with a tuft of soft, light-brown, slender fibres, of an agreeable odour, and a bitter, aromatic taste. It was formerly very highly esteemed as a medicine, but is now almost out of use. Its properties are analogous to those of the officinal vale- rian. NASTURTIUM OFFICINALE. R. Brown. Sisymbrium Nasturtium. Linn. Water-cress. A small, perennial, herbaceous, succulent plant, growing in springs, rivulets, and ponds, in North America, Europe, and some parts of Asia. The fresh herb has a quick pene- trating odour, especially when rubbed, and a bitterish, pungent taste, but loses both when dried. In sensible and medical properties it bears some reserpblance to scurvy grass, though milder, and on this account is preferred for the table. It is thought to be useful in scorbutic affections, and visceral obstructions. The expressed juice is sometimes given in the dose of one or two ounces; but the herb is more frequently used in the form of a salad. Other species of Nasturtium, as the N. palustre, or marsh water-cress, and the N. amphihium or water-radish, grow in similar situations with the N. qffidnale, and possess similar virtues. NIGELLA SATIVA. Nutmeg flower. Small fennel flower. A small annual plant grow- ing wild in Syria and the South of Europe, and cultivated in various parts of the world. The seeds, which are sometimes kept in the shops under the name of semen nigella, are ovate, somewhat compressed, about a line long and half as broad, usually three-cornered, with two sides flat and one convex, black or brown externally, white and oleaginous within, of a strong, agreeable, aromatic odour, like that of nutmegs, and a spicy pungent taste. Their chief constituents are a volatile and fixed oil, and a peculiar bitter princi- ple denominated mgellin, which exists in the seeds in very minute proportion. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., ii. 128.) NITRATE OF SODA. Cubic Nitre. This salt may be formed by treating carbonate of soda with nitric acid. It exists naturally, in inexhaustible quantities, in the desert of Atacama, in Peru, where it forms a bed of variable thickness, covered with clay, of one hundred and fifty miles in extent. Considerable quantities have been extracted for the purposes of commerce. Occasionally a cargo is brought to the United States. Nitrate of soda, when pure, is a white salt, crystallizing in rhomboidal prisms, and having a sharp, cooling, and bitter taste. It attracts moisture slightly from the air, and dissolves in about twice its weight of water at 60°. It has been praised as a remedy in dysentery by two German physicians, Drs. Velsen and Meyer, given in the quantity of from half an ounce to an ounce in the course of the day, dissolved in gum water or other mucilaginous liquid. The crude salt, as it comes from Peru, is in dirty-white saline lumps, rather soft and friable, and damp on the surface. It is cheaper than nitre, for which salt it may be substituted in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, and in the prepa- ration of nitric acid, chrome yellow, &c. According to M. Lembert it sometimes con- tains iodine. (See page 40.) As nitrate of soda has been imposed upon our merchants for nitre, it may be useful to mention that the former salt may be distinguished by its giving rise to an orange-yellow flame when thrown on burning coals, and by the rhomboidal shape of its crystals; those of nitre being long six-sided prisms. (Seepage 569.) NITROSULPHATE OF AMMONIA. This compound, discovered by Pelouze in 1835, may be formed by passing nitric oxide through a solution of sulphate of ammonia in five or six times its volume of water of ammonia. A large number of crystals are formed, which must be quickly washed with liquid ammonia previously refrigerated, and dried without heat. Nitrosulphate of ammonia has been used at the Hotel Dieu in Paris, in doses of twelve grains, with apparent advantage, in typhoid fevers. Its com- position corresponds with one eq. of nitric oxide, one of sulphurous acid, and one of am- monia; but as the salt is not precipitated by barytic water, Pelouze conceives that the nitric oxide and sulphurous acid, together, form a peculiar acid winchi he calls mtrosul- phuric add, consisting of one eq. of nitrogen, one of sulphur, and four of oxygen. NYMPHvEA ODORATA. Sweet-scented Water-lily. An indigenous herbaceous peren- nial growing in most parts of the United States, in fresh water ponds and the borders of streams and distinguished by the beauty and delicious odour of its large, white, many- netaled flowers. Its root is, when fresh, large and fleshy, but becomes light, spongy, and friable by drying. It is very astringent and bitter, and, according to Dr. Bigelow, con- much tannin and gallic acid. It is sometimes employed, in the form of poultice, discutient application. The root of the Nymphaa alba, or European white water-lily, esteemed aphrodisiac by the ancients, but has long lost this reputation. Like that tains as a was of the American plant, it is bitter and styptic, and may have been useful by its astrin 1288 Appendix. ency in some cases of leucorrhcea, gonorrhoea, dysentery, &c, in which it was formerly employed for its reputed sedative virtues. OCHRES. These are native mixtures of argillaceous or calcareous earth and oxide of iron, employed in painting. They are prepared for use by agitating them with water, decanting the turbid liquor after the coarser particles have subsided, then allowing it to rest in order that the finer parts may be deposited, and, lastly, drying the sediment which forms. The colour of the ochres varies with the state of oxidation of the iron, and with the proportion which it bears to the other ingredients, and is sometimes artificially modi- fied by the agency of heat. Several varieties are kept in our shops under different names, according to their colour or place of origin. Such are the brown ochre, the yellow ochre, the red ochre, the Roman ochre of a brownish-yellow changing by heat to a purple red, the Oxford ochre of a brownish-yellow colour less deep than the Roman, and the French ochre whicli is yellow. The Indian red from the Persian Gulf, and Spanish brown, may also be ranked in this class of pigments. Sometimes ochres come in a powdery state, and sometimes in hard masses; in the latter state they are called stone ochres. OCIMUM BASILICUM. Basil. An annual plant, a native of India and Persia, and cultivated in Europe and in this country in gardens. The whole plant has a strong, peculiar, agreeable, aromatic odour, which is improved by drying. The taste is aromatic, and somewhat cooling and saline. Basil has the ordinary properties of the aromatic plants, and is in some places considerably used as a condiment. The seeds are said by Ainslie to be used in India, in the form of infusion, as a remedy in gonorrhoea and ne- phritic affections. CENANTHE CROCATA. Hemlock Water-dropwort. A perennial umbelliferous aquatic European plant, exceedingly poisonous both to men and inferior animals. The root, which has a sweetish, not unpleasant taste, is sometimes eaten by mistake for other roots, with the most dangerous effects; and numerous instances of fatal results are on record. The symptoms produced are such as attend irritation or inflammation of the stomach, united with great cerebral disturbance, indicated by giddiness, convulsions, and coma. Externally applied, the root produces redness and irritation of the skin, with an eruptive affection. It is said to be sometimes used empirically as a local remedy in piles; and a case is recorded in which an obstinate leprosy was cured by the continued use of the juice of the plant. Other species of QHnanthe are poisonous, and the whole genus should be regarded among the suspected plants. We have two or three indigenous species. The proper remedies, in cases of poisoning from these plants, are emetics, followed, after the stomach has been thoroughly evacuated, by demulcent drinks. A peculiar resinoid principle, denominated ananthin has been found by M. Gerding in CEnanthe fistulosa, of which half a grain, given to an adult produced long-continued irritation of the fauces, with hoarseness, and a grain occasioned vomiting. (See Am. Journ. of Pharm., xxi. 68.) CENANTHE PHELLANDRIUM. Sprengel. Phellandrium aquaticum. Linn. Fine- leaved Water-hemlock. A biennial or perennial, umbelliferous, European water-plant, the fresh leaves of which are said to be injurious to cattle, producing a kind of paralysis when eaten. By drying, they lose their deleterious properties. The seeds have been used in Europe to a considerable extent, in the treatment of disease. They are from a line to a line and a half in length, ovate oblong, narrow above, somewhat compressed, marked with ten delicate ribs, and crowned with the remains of the calyx, and with the erect or reverted styles. Their colour is yellowish-brown, their odour peculiar, strong, and disagreeable; their taste acrid and aromatic. Among their constitueats is a volatile oil, upon which their aromatic flavour depends. By different writers they are described as aperient, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, and sedative. They probably unite mild narcotic properties with the stimulant powers which are common to most of the aromatics, and may be directed, according to circumstances, to different secretory organs. In over-doses they produce vertigo, intoxication, and other narcotic effects. They appear to have been used most successfully in chronic pectoral affections, such as bronchitis, pulmonary consumption, and asthma. They have been given also in dyspepsia, inter- mittent fever, obstinate ulcers, &c. The dose of the seeds, to commence with, is five or six grains, so repeated as to amount to a drachm in twenty-four hours. They should be given in powder. (ENOTHERA BIENNIS. Tree Primrose. A biennial indigenous plant, growing in fields and along fences, from Canada to Carolina. It is from two to five feet high, with a rough stem, alternate, ovate-lanceolate leaves, and fine yellow flowers, which make their appearance in July and August. Schoepf states that it is esteemed useful as a vulnerary. Dr. R. E. Griffith, late of the University of Virginia, has found a strong de- coction of the small branches, with the leaves and cortical part of the stem and larger branches, very beneficial in eruptive complaints, especially tetter. He applies the de- Appendix. 1289 coction several times a day to the affected part. He thinks the virtues of the plant reside in the cortical part, which has a mucilaginous taste, and leaves a slight sensation of acrimony in the fauces. (Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iv. 292.) OIL OF EUPHORBIA. A fixed oil, obtained from the seeds of the Euphorbia La- thyris, a biennial plant growing wild in this country, though believed to have been intro- duced from Europe. It is often found near gardens and in cultivated fields, and is gene- rally called mole plant, under the impression that moles avoid the grounds where it grows. (Pursh.) It is the Caper plant of England. (Loudon's Encyc. of Plants.) Like the other species of Euphorbia, it contains a milky juice, which is extremely acrid; and the whole plant possesses the properties of a drastic purge; but the oil of the seeds is the only part used in regular practice. This may be extracted by expression, or by the agency of alcohol or of ether. In the first case, the bruised seeds are pressed in a canvass or linen bag, and the oil which escapes is purified by decanting it from the whitish floc- culent matter which it deposits upon standing, and by subsequent filtration. By the latter process, the bruised seeds are digested in alcohol or macerated in ether, and the oil is obtained by filtering and evaporating the solution. According to Soubeiran, however, the oils obtained by these different processes are not identical. That procured by ex- pression is probably the purest. Oil of euphorbia is colourless, inodorous, and, when recent, nearly insipid; but it speedily becomes rancid, and acquires a dangerous acrimony. Soubeiran has ascertained that it has a complex composition, containing, besides the pure oil, four distinct proximate principles. (Journ. de Pharm., xxi. 259.) From 40 to 44 parts are obtained by expres- sion from 100 of the seed. This oil is a powerful purge, operating with much activity in a dose varying from five to ten drops. It was, some years since, much used by certain Italian and French physi- cians, who did not find it to produce inconvenient irritation of the stomach and bowels. Its want of taste, and the smallness of the dose, recommended it especially in the cases of infants. It was said to be less acrid and irritating than the croton oil, over which it also had the advantage of greater cheapness. Some trials which have been made with it on this side of the Atlantic have not tended to confirm these favourable reports. It was found uncertain in its cathartic effect, and very liable to vomit. (Scattergood, Journ. of the Phil. Col. of Pharm., iv. 124.) It may be given in pill with the crumb of bread, or in emulsion. OIL OF JASMINE. This oil is obtained from the flowers of the Jasminum offirinale or common white jasmine, and from those also of the /. Sambac and /. grandiflorum. Alter- nate layers of the fresh flowers, and of cotton saturated with the oil of ben (expressed oil of Hyperanthera Moringa), or perhaps other fixed oil, are exposed in a covered vessel to the warmth of the sun; the flowers being occasionally renewed till the oil becomes im- pregnated with their odour, when it is separated from the cotton by pressure. This method is necessary, as the flowers do not yield their aroma by distillation. The oil of jasmine is used only as a perfume. ORANGE RED. Orange Mineral. Sandix. Red oxide of lead, prepared by calcining carbonate of lead. It is of a brighter colour than minium, and is used as a pigment. OROBANCHE VIRGINIANA. Epifagus Americanus. Nuttall. Beech-drops. Cancer- root. This is a parasitic, fleshy plant, with a tuberous, scaly root, and a smooth stem, branched from the base, from twelve to eighteen inches high, furnished with small ovate scales, of a yellowish or purplish colour, and wholly destitute of verdure. It is found in all parts of North America, growing upon the roots of the beech tree, from which it ob- tained its popular name. It is in some places very abundant. The plant has a bitter, nauseous, astringent taste, which is said to be diminished by drying. It has been given internally in bowel affections; but its credit depends mainly upon the idea that it is useful in obstinate ulcers of a cancerous character, to which it is directly applied in the state of powder. The late Professor Barton conjectured that it was an ingredient of a secret remedy, at one time famous as Martin's cancer powder, of which, however, the most active constituent was arsenious acid. Other species of Orobanche, growing in America and Europe, have been employed. They are all parasitic, fleshy plants, without verdure, and of a bitter, nauseous taste. In Europe they are called broom-rape. The O. Americana and O. uniflora, of this country, are said to be used for the same purposes as the species above noticed, and like it are called cancer root. ORPIMENT. King's Yellow. A native tersulphuret of arsenic, consisting of one equiv. of metal 75 and three equiv. of sulphur 48=123. It is in masses of a brilliant lemon-yellow colour, composed of flexible laminae, and slightly translucent It exists in 1290 Appendix. various parts of the world, but is obtained for use from Persia and China. (Guibourt.) It is sometimes mixed with realgar, which gives it a reddish or orange hue. A similar sulphuret may be made artificially by passing sulphuretted hydrogen through a solution of arsenious acid in muriatic acid. There is reason to believe that neither the native sulphuret, nor the artificial, when prepared in the manner just mentioned and well washed, is poisonous, at least in a degree at all comparable to other arsenical compounds. Artificial orpiment is prepared for use by fusing together equal parts of arsenious acid and sulphur. (Turner.) In Germany, according to Guibourt, it is prepared by subliming a mixture of these two substances. In this case, however, it retains a large portion of the acid undecomposed, and is therefore highly poisonous. Guibourt found a specimen which he examined to contain 96 per cent, of arsenious acid, and only 6 per cent, of the sulphuret of arsenic. Orpiment is an ingredient of certain depilatories. Atkinson's depilatory is said to consist of one part of orpiment and six parts of quicklime, with some flour and a yellow colouring matter. (Ann. der Pharm., xxxiii. 348.) But this arsenical sulphuret is chiefly used in fireworks, and as a pigment. ORYZA SATIVA. Rice. This is an annual plant, originally, perhaps, derived from the East Indies, but now cultivated in all parts of the globe where the climate and soil are adapted to its growth. The rice of commerce consists of the seeds of the plant de- prived of their husk. Carolina rice was found by Braconnot to contain 8507 per cent. of starch, 3-60 of gluten, 0-71 of gum, 0-29 of uncrystallizable sugar, 0'13 of fixed oil, 4-80 of vegetable fibre, 5-00 of water, and 0-40 of saline substances. This grain is highly nutritious and of easy digestion, and constitutes the almost exclusive diet of whole na- tions. Being wholly free from laxative properties, it is admirably adapted to cases of weak bowels, in which there is a strong tendency to diarrhoea. Care, however, should be taken that it be boiled till it becomes soft. A decoction of rice, usually called rice- water, is a good nutritive drink in fevers, and inflammatory affections of the bowels, lungs, and kidneys. There appears to be no ground for the opinion, which has been enter- tained by some, that a diet of rice is injurious to the eyes. OXALIC ACID. Acidum Oxalicum. This acid is found both in animals and vege- tables. It is generated occasionally in consequence of a diseased action in the kidneys, and deposited in the bladder as oxalate of lime, forming a peculiar concretion, called from its appearance the mulberry calculus. In vegetables, it occurs in a free state in the bristles of the chick-pea (Cicer arietinum), combined with potassa as a supersalt in the Rumex acetosa or common sorrel, and the Oxalis Acetosella or wood sorrel, and united with lime in several species of lichen, and in the roots of rhubarb, valerian, and several other plants. It is from the generic appellation Oxalis, that it takes its name. Preparation. The usual process for obtaining oxalic acid, consists in decomposing sugar by nitric acid. Four parts of sugar are acted upon by twenty-four parts of nitric acid of the sp. gr. P22, and the mixture is heated so long as any nitric oxide is disengaged. A part of the carbon of the sugar is converted into carbonic acid, by oxygen derived from the nitric acid, which is thereby partially converted into nitric oxide. The undecomposed nitric acid, reacting on the remaining elements of the sugar, generates oxalic and saccharic (oxalhydric) acids; the former of which crystallizes as the materials cool, while the latter remains in solution. The crystals being removed, a fresh crop may be obtained by further evaporation. The thick mother-water which now remains is a mixture of saccharic, nitric, and oxalic acids; and, by treatment with six times its weight of nitric acid, the greater part of the saccharic acid will be converted into oxalic acid. The new crop of crystals, however, will have a yellow colour, and contain a portion of nitric acid, the greater part of which may be got rid of by allowing them to effloresce in a warm place. From the experiments of Mr. L. Thompson, it appears probable that, in the reaction occurring between nitric acid and sugar, half the carbon of the latter is converted into carbonic acid, and the other half into oxalic acid. The manufacturing chemists are said to obtain oxalic acid on a large scale by heating a mixture of 112 lbs. of sugar, 560 lbs. of nitrate of potassa, and 280 lbs. of sulphuric acid. The products are 135 lbs. of oxalic acid, and 480 lbs. of supersulphate of potassa, or sal enixum. (L. Thompson.) Many substances, besides sugar, yield oxalic acid by the action of nitric acid; as for example molasses, potato starch, gum, wool, hair, silk, and many vegetable acids. In every case in which it is thus generated, the proportional excess of oxygen which it con- tains, compared with every other organic compound, is furnished by the nitric acid. Organic substances yield oxalic acid also, when heated with potassa. Thus shavings of wood, if mixed with a solution of caustic potassa, and exposed to a heat considerably higher than 212°, will be partially decomposed and converted into oxalic acid, which then combines with the alkali. This process constitutes, perhaps, the cheapest method of obtaining oxalic acid. Appendix. 1291 Properties. Oxalic acid is a colourless crystallized solid, possessing considerable vola- tility, and a strong, sour taste. Its crystals have the shape of slender, flattened, four or six-sided prisms, with two-sided summits; and, when exposed to a very dry atmosphere, undergo a slight efflorescence. It dissolves in about nine times its weight of cold, and in its own weight of boiling water. The solution of the crystals takes "place with slight crepitation. It dissolves also, but not to the same extent, in alcohol. The presence of nitric acid renders it more soluble in water. It combines with salifiable bases, and forms salts called oxalates. The most interesting of these are the three oxalates of potassa, severally called oxalate, binoxalate, and quadroxalate, and the oxalate of lime. The quadroxalate, sold under the name of binoxalate of potassa or salt of sorrel, sometimes absurdly called the essential salt of lemons, is employed for removing iron moulds from linen, and acts by its excess of acid, which forms a soluble salt with the sesquioxide of iron constituting the stain. Oxalic acid is used for removing ink stains and iron moulds, for cleaning the leather of boot-tops, and for discharging colours in calico-printing. This acid has a very strong affinity for lime, and forms with it an insoluble precipitate consisting of oxalate of lime, whenever the acid and earth are brought into contact in solution. Hence, oxalic acid and its soluble combinations are the best tests for lime; and, conversely, a soluble salt of lime for oxalic acid. When lime is searched for, the oxalate of ammonia forms the most convenient test. So strong is the mutual attraction between this acid and lime, that the former takes the latter even from sulphuric acid. Hence, the addition of a soluble oxalate disturbs the transparency of a solution of sul- phate of lime. Oxalic acid is distinguished from all other acids by the form of its crystals, and by its solution yielding a precipitate with lime-water, insoluble in an excess of the acid. Composition. Oxalic acid consists of two eqs. of carbon 12, and three of oxygen 24=36. When crystallized, three eqs. of water 27 must be added, making the eq. of the crystals 63. Two eqs. of this water may be driven off by a regulated heat, by which the acid is made to effloresce, but the third cannot be expelled without destroying the acid itself Accordingly, we have no knowledge of anhydrous oxalic acid in an uncom- bined state. From the constitution of oxalic acid, as above given, it is plain that this acid corresponds in composition to carbonic acid and carbonic oxide taken together, and is, therefore, inter- mediate in the quantity of oxygen which it contains, between that acid and oxide. Not- withstanding that it contains less oxygen than carbonic acid, it is incomparably stronger as an acid, which circumstance may be accounted for by supposing some peculiarity in the mode in which its constituents are combined. The composition of the acid not only corresponds with the united constituents of carbonic acid and oxide, but there is Teason to believe that these two compounds are actually its proximate constituents; for, if treated with strong sulphuric acid, the whole of the water will be abstracted, and the elements of the dry oxalic acid are instantly resolved into equal volumes of carbonic acid and carbonic oxide. Oxalic acid combines with salifiable bases in two principal ways. Sometimes it drops its essential equivalent of water, which at other times it retains. Thus the oxalate of lead is a compound of the dry acid and the protoxide of lead; while the oxalate of lime retains one equivalent of water. Medical and Toxicohgical Properties. According to Dr. A. T. Thomson, oxalic acid, in small doses, largely diluted with water and sweetened to the taste, forms an agreeable, cooling beverage, which may be used in febrile diseases as a substitute for lemonade. M. Nardo recommends it as an antiphlogistic and anodyne in inflammation of the mucous membranes, given in the dose of a grain and a half dissolved in eight fluidounces of liquid. Notwithstanding the safety of its employment in medicinal doses, it is a viru- lent poison, producing death with great rapidity and certainty. Instances are on record of its proving fatal in ten minutes, and few survive the effects of a poisonous dose beyond an hour. As this acid is generally kept in the shops, and not a few instances are on record of its fatal effects, when taken by design, or by mistake for Epsom salt, we shall feel ourselves justified in being somewhat full on its toxicological relations. Oxalic acid was first noticed as a poison by Mr. Royston, in 1814; since which time it has been principally investigated in this relation by Dr. A. T. Thomson, of London, Dr. Percy of Lausanne, Dr. Coindet, of Geneva, and Dr. Christison, of Edinburgh. Since its properties of certainty and rapidity, as a poison have been more generally known, its employment for committing suicide has become more frequent. From the general resemblance which the crystallized oxalic acid bears to Epsom salt, many fatal mistakes have occurred, in consequence of its being sold for that saline pur- gative Nothing, however, can be easier than to distinguish them; for upon tasting a minute portion of the acid, which may be done with perfect safety, it will be found 1292 Appendix. strongly sour, whereas the salt in question is bitter. Unfortunately, however, in the in- stances of these fatal mistakes, no suspicions being awakened, the solution is swallowed with haste, and the mischief is done before the victim is aware of his danger. Oxalic acid acts on the economy in two principal ways, according as its solution is concentrated or dilute. When concentrated, it causes exquisite pain, followed by violent efforts to vomit, then sudden dulness, languor, and great debility, and finally death with- out a struggle. When dilute, it acts in a different manner. Dissolved in twenty times its weight of water, it possesses no corrosive and hardly any irritating power, and yet operates as a deadly poison, causing death by acting on the brain, spinal marrow, and heart. This statement, however, does not accord with the observations of Dr. Letheby, who asserts that the acid, whether in strong or weak solution, always exercises a cor- roding or softening power on the animal tissues. The morbid appearances caused by oxalic acid are various. In a dissection reported by Dr. Christison, the mucous coat of the throat and gullet had an appearance as if scalded, and that of the gullet could be easily scraped off. The inner part of the stomach was pultaceous, in many points black, in others red, and that of the intestines, similarly but less violently affected. In another case, recorded by the same author, the whole villous coat of the stomach was either softened or removed, as well as the inner membrane of the oesophagus: so that the muscular coat was exposed, and this coat exhibited a dark gangrenous appearance, being much thickened and highly injected. The stomach usu- ally contains a dark fluid, resembling coffee-grounds, consisting chiefly of altered blood. In a few cases after death by this acid, no morbid appearances have been discovered. In the treatment of poisoning by oxalic acid, the remedial measures must be employed with great promptitude. If the antidotes are not at hand and vomiting is not free, emetics will be proper. The stomach pump would be useful, but no delay in the application of other remedies is admissible, in the expectation of its use. Dr. Christison objects to the use of warm water to promote vomiting, from a fear that it would increase the danger by promoting the absorption of the poison; but it may be a question whether this evil, considering the incidental benefit of the water in promoting vomiting, is not less than that of the corrosion of the stomach, which copious dilution has a tendency to prevent. The proper antidote is chalk or magnesia, mixed with water; and as soon as either can be procured, it must be administered in large and frequently repeated doses. Chalk was first proposed for this purpose by Dr. A. T. Thomson, of London. These substances act by neutralizing the poison, forming with it an insoluble oxalate either of lime or mag- nesia, both of whicli are inert. The soluble salts of oxalic acid, as the oxalate of am- monia and the oxalates of potassa, are likewise poisonous, and the antidotes for them are the same as for the acid. The best tests for the detection of oxalic acid in the contents of the stomach or in the vomited matter, in cases of suspected poisoning by this acid, are chloride of calcium, sul- phate of copper, and nitrate of silver. The first causes a white precipitate of oxalate of lime, known by its being soluble in nitric acid; the second, a bluish-white precipitate of oxalate of copper; and the third, a dense white precipitate of oxalate of silver, which, when dried and healed, becomes brown and detonates faintly. When the antidotes have been freely used during life, the poison will be in the state of oxalate either of lime or magnesia. In this case the oxalate found is to be boiled with a solution of carbonate of potassa, whereby an oxalate of potassa will be generated; and this must then be ex- amined by the reagents above indicated. OX-GALL. Fel Bovinum. The bile of the ox is a viscid fluid, of a green or greenish- yellow colour, a peculiar nauseous odour, and a bitter taste. The exact composition of bile is not yet settled. According to Berzelius, it contains, 1. bilin, 2. cholepyrrhin, td which the bile owes its colour, 3. mucus, 4. extractive matters, 5. a peculiar fatty matter, origin- ally found in biliary calculi, called cholesterin, 6. oleate, margarate, and stearate of soda, with a little fatty matter not saponified, 7. chloride of sodium, sulphate, phosphate, and lactate of soda, and phosphate of lime. Of these substances the most abundant and essential is bilin. This when pure is uncrystallizable, colourless, translucent, inodorous, of an acrid and bitter taste, with an after-taste of sweetness, inflammable, soluble in all proportions in water and anhydrous alcohol, insoluble in ether, neither alkaline nor acid, and composed partly of nitrogen. One of its most striking properties is the great facility with which it undergoes decomposition ; and hence the numerous principles which dif- ferent chemists have found in bile, many of which are nothing more than metamor- phoses of bilin. Under the action of acids, it is changed into two resinous acids called respectively fellinic acid and cholinic add, into taurin, and ammonia. The union of these two acids with a portion of bilin, constitutes the choleic acid of M. Demaroay. The colouring principle or cholepyrrhin is also readily changed, and gives rise to various new products, among which are biliverdin,a green colouring matter resulting from the absorp- Appendix. 1293 tion of oxygen, and bilifulvin, a yellow colouring matter, which is a double salt of lime and soda with a peculiar azotized acid. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e ser., iii. 177, from the Journ. fur praktische Chemie.) E. A. Plainer succeeded in separating the chief constituent of bile in a crystalline form, and considered it a compound of soda with a peculiar organic body. Liebig denominated this compound bilate of soda. The most recent an- alysis of bile that we have seen is that of A. Strecker, whose views differ essentially from those of Berzelius. According to Strecker, the bile of the ox, independently of the colouring, fatty, and saline matters above mentioned, consists essentially of a mixture of a nitrogenous acid free from sulphur, which he calls cholic acid, and a sulphuretted acid free from nitrogen. Both of these acids are combined with soda. The sulphuret- ted constituent undergoes decomposition with great facility, yielding a resin, taurin, and ammonia; so that it is with difficulty obtained separate. It is probably this constituent to which the picromel, biliary sugar, and bilin of other chemists may be referred. (Chem. Gaz., A. D. 1848, p. 154 and 155, from Ann. der Chem. und Pharm.) Bile was formerly highly valued as a remedy in numerous complaints, and was con- sidered peculiarly applicable to cases attended with deficient biliary secretion. It is sup- posed to be tonic and laxative. It is prepared for use by evaporating it to the consist- ence of an extract. The dose is from five to ten grains. Refined ox-gall, much used by limners and painters, is prepared, according to Gray, in the following manner. Take of" fresh ox-gall one pint; boil, skim, add one ounce of alum, and keep it on the fire for some time; to another pint, add one ounce of common salt in the same manner; keep them bottled up for three months, then decant off the clear; mix them in an equal pro- portion; a thick yellow coagulum is immediately formed, leaving the refined gall clear and colourless." OXIDE OF SILVER. Argenti Oxidum. This oxide has been proposed as a substitute for nitrate of silver, as having the therapeutic action of the latter, without its escharotic effect, and its objectionable power of discolouring the skin. It is usually prepared by adding a solution of caustic potassa in excess to one of nitrate of silver. The precipi- tate thrown down is to be carefully washed and dried, and kept from the air and light. When thus obtained it is an olive-brown powder. It may also be obtained by the pro- cess of Gregory, namely, by boiling the moist, recently prepared chloride of silver with a very strong solution of caustic potassa (sp. gr. 125 to 130.) When thus prepared it is a very dense pure-black powder. Oxide of silver consists of one eq. of silver and one of oxygen. Medical Properties. Oxide of silver was first employed in medicine by Van Mons and Sementini. More recently it has been recommended by Mr. C. H. B. Lane, who con- siders it to act as a sedative. Mr. Lane has used it with more or less success in nausea, cardialgia, pyrosis, various painful affections of the stomach independent of organic lesion, dysentery, diarrhoea, night sweats without other obvious affection, dysmenorrhcea, mo- norrhagia, leucorrhcea, chronic enlargements of the uterus, attended with flooding, &c. It appeared that the oxide exerted a peculiar control over uterine fluxes. Some of the cases treated required the use of tonics after the salutary influence of the oxide had been exerted. Dr. Golding Bird has also obtained favourable effects from the use of the oxide of silver, and confirms to a certain extent the results of Mr. Lane, especially as to its valuable powers in menorrhagia. Thus far no case of cutaneous discoloration has occurred, though Mr. Lane has given the oxide repeatedly for two months, and Dr. Bird in more than a hundred cases, in one for four months. Mr. Lane has observed one case in which repeated salivation occurred, and Dr. Bird, several in which the gums were affected. In stomach disease, characterized by a glairy discharge, instead of a watery one, this physician derived not the slightest benefit from the oxide, though he used it in thirty cases. In epilepsy it is supposed that the oxide will accomplish all that can be expected from the nitrate, with less risk to the stomach, and without incurring the dan- ger of blackening the skin. The dose of oxide of silver is half a grain, twice or thrice a day, given in pill. In no case did Mr. Lane carry the dose beyond six grains in the twenty four hours. It has been used in the form of ointment, composed of from five to ten grains to the drachm of lard, as an application to venereal sores, and to the urethra] membrane in gonorrhoea, smeared on a bougie. P^EONIA OFFICINALIS. Peony. This well known plant is a native of Southern Europe but is everywhere cultivated in gardens for the beauty of its flowers. The root, flowers' and seeds were formerly officinal. The root consists of a caudex about as thick as the thumb which descends several inches into the ground, and sends off in all direc- tions spindle-shaped tubers, which gradually taper into thread-like fibres, by which they han" together. It has a strong, peculiar, disagreeable odour, and a nauseous taste, which is at°first sweetish, and afterwards bitter and somewhat acrid. The odour disappears 1294 Appendix. or is much diminished by drying. Peony-root was in very great repute among the an- cients, who used it both as a charm and as a medicine in numerous complaints, particu- larly epilepsy. In modern times it has also been given in epilepsy and various nervous affections, but is at present seldom used. The dose of the fresh root is from two drachms to an ounce, boiled in a pint of water down to half a pint, which should be taken daily. It is said to be less active when dried. The expressed juice of the recent root is re- commended in the dose of an ounce. It is milky, of a strong odour, and very disagree- able taste. The flowers are usually of a deep-red colour, though in some varieties of a light-red, and even whitish. They have, when fresh, an odour similar to that of the root, but feebler, and an astringent, sweetish, herbaceous taste. When dry, they are inodorous. As a medicine they have little power, and are scarcely used. The seeds are roundish oval, about as large as a pea, externally smooth, shining, and nearly black, internally whitish, inodorous when dry, and of a mild, oleaginous taste. By some authors they are said to be emetic and purgative, and by others are considered antispasmodic. They may be given in the same dose with the root, but are not used in regular practice. PALM OIL. This highly valuable fixed oil is the product of the Elais Guiniensis, a palm growing on the Western coast of Africa, and cultivated in the West Indies and South America. It is among the handsomest trees of its graceful family which flourish in the tropical regions of Africa. The oil is obtained by expression from the fruit. It is brought to this country chiefly from Liberia, and other places on the African coast, though prepared also in the West Indies, Cayenne, and Brazil. It is not improbable that various species of palms contribute to the supply of this article of commerce. Palm oil has the consistence of butter, a rich, orange-yellow colour, a sweetish taste, and an agreeable odour, compared by some to that of violets, by others to that of the Florentine orris. By age and exposure it becomes rancid and of a whitish colour. It melts with the heat of the hand, and when perfectly fluid passes readily through blotting paper. Highly rectified alcohol dissolves it at common temperatures, and in ether it is soluble in all proportions. According to M. Henry, it consists of 31 parts of stearin and 69 of olein. But from the experiments of Fremy and Stenhouse, it appears that the stearin has peculiar properties entitling it to be considered as a distinct principle, and it has accordingly received the name of palmitin. This is converted into palmitic add by saponification. (Kane's Chemistry.) It appears also that a considerable proportion of this acid, together with some glycerin, exists uncombined in the oil, as ascertained by MM. Pelouze and Boudet; so that the changes which are effected in oils, through the agency of alkalies, in the process of saponification, take place, to a certain extent, spon- taneously in palm oil. (Journ. de Pharm., xxiv. 389.) Hence it is more easily saponified than any other fixed oil. It is said to be frequently imitated by a mixture of lard and suet, coloured with turmeric, and scented with Florentine orris. It is much employed in the manufacture of a toilet soap, which retains its pleasant odour. Palm oil is emol- lient, and has sometimes been employed in friction or embrocation, though not superior for this purpose to many other oleaginous substances. PARIETARIA OFFICINALIS. Wall Pellitory. A perennial European herb, grow- ing on old walls and heaps of rubbish. It is inodorous, has an herbaceous, somewhat rough and saline taste, and contains nitre derived from the walls where it flourishes. It is diuretic and refrigerant, and is said also, but without good reason, to be demulcent and emollient. The ancients employed it in various complaints, and it is still considerably used on the continent of Europe, especially in domestic practice. It is given in com- plaints of the urinary passages, dropsy, and febrile affections, usually in the form of de- coction. The expressed juice is also used, and the fresh plant is applied in the shape of a cataplasm to painful tumours. PATENT YELLOW. Mineral Yellow. A pigment, consisting of chloride combined with protoxide of lead. It is prepared by mixing common salt and litharge with a suffi- cient quantity of water, allowing the mixture to stand for some time, then washing out the liberated soda, and exposing the white residue to heat. PAULLINIA. Guarana. This is a new medicine introduced into Europe from Brazil, which has attracted some attention from the asserted fact, that it contains a principle identical with caffein. The name of paullinia has been bestowed upon it from the generic title of the plant from which it is obtained. That of guarana by which it was previously known, was derived from a tribe of aborigines, called Guaranis, who are said to use it extensively as a corrigent of their vegetable diet. It is prepared from the seeds of the Paullinia sorbilis of Martius, a climbing shrub, belonging to the class and order Octandria Tryginia of the Linnaean system, and the natural family of the Sapindacese. Appendix. 1295 The seeds, whicli are contained in a three-celled, three-valved, coriaceous capsule, are lenticular and almost thorny, and invested with a flesh-coloured arillus which is easily separable when dry. They are prepared by powdering them in a mortar, or upon a chocolate stone previously heated, mixing the powder with a little water,exposing it for some time to the dew, then kneading it into a paste, mixing with this some of the seeds either whole or merely bruised, and finally forming the mixture into cylindrical or globu- lar masses, which are dried and hardened in the sun, or by the smoke of a fire. These masses are of a reddish-brown colour, rugose on the surface, very hard, and of a marbled appearance when broken. Paullinia is of a somewhat astringent and bitterish taste, and in this as well as in its odour, bears some resemblance to chocolate, though not oleagin- ous. It swells up and softens in water, which partially dissolves it. Martius found in it a crystallizable principle which he named guaranin, and which seems to have been proved by the researches Of MM. Berthemot and Dechastelus to be identical with caffdn. The discovery of caffein in four plants belonging to distinct natural families, namely, the coffee and tea plants, the Paraguay tea, and the Paullinia. is a highly interesting result of recent chemical investigations. It is said to be more abundant in the paul linia than in either of the other vegetables. According to Berthemot and Dechastelus, it exists in the seeds united with tannic acid, with which it appears to form two com- pounds, one crystallizable and soluble in water, the other of a resinoid appearance and insoluble. Besides these ingredients, the seeds contain also free tannic acid, gum, albumen, starch, and a greenish fixed oil. (Journ. de Pharm., xxvi. 514.) The effects of paullinia upon the system are said to be those of a tonic; but they do not appear to have been very accurately investigated. It is highly probable, both from its composition and the use made of it by the natives of Brazil, that it has an influence over the nervous system similar to that of tea and coffee. It is habitually employed by the Indians, either mixed with articles of diet, as with cassava or chocolate, or in the form of drink prepared by scraping it and suspending the powder in sweetened water. It is considered by them useful in the prevention and cure of bowel complaints. Dr. Gavrelle, who was formerly physician to Don Pedro, in Brazil, and there became ac- quainted with the virtues of this medicine, called the attention of the profession to it some years since in France. He had found it advantageous in the diarrhoea of phthisis, sick-headache, paralysis, tedious convalescence, and generally as a tonic. It may be given in substance, in the quantity of one or two drachms, scraped into powder and mixed with sweetened water; but the most convenient form of administration is that of spirituous extract. According to M. Dechastelus, alcohol is the only agent which com- pletely extracts its virtues; ether and water effecting this object but partially. Of the extract eight or ten grains may be given during the day in the form of pills. Paullinia may also be taken along with chocolate as a drink. PHLORIDZIN. This is a bitter principle, discovered by Dr. Konink, of Germany, in the bark of the apple, pear, cherry, and plum trees. It is most abundant in the bark of the root, and derived its name from this circumstance. (From two Greek words, Xoi; bark, and L^a a root) It is light, white, crystallizable in silky needles, of a bitter taste, soluble in about 1000 parts of cold and in all proportions in boiling water, very soluble in alcohol, scarcely soluble in ether cold or hot, dissolved without change by solutions of the alkalies, especially by ammonia, deprived of its water of crystallization at 212°, and fusible at a somewhat higher temperature. It is without acid or alkaline reaction, and consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. To obtain it, the fresh bark of the root of the apple tree should be selected, as the dried bark is said to contain it in much smaller proportion. The bark is to be boiled for an hour or two successively in two separate portions of water, each sufficient to cover it, and the decoctions set aside. At the end of thirty hours they will have deposited a considerable quantity of coloured phloridzin, which may be purified by boiling for a few minutes with distilled water and animal charcoal filtering, repeating this process two or three times, and then allowing the solu- tion to cool slowly. The phloridzin is deposited in the crystalline state. An additional quantity may be obtained by evaporating the decoction to one-fifth of its bulk, allowing it to cool and purifying the substance deposited in the same manner as before. Phloridzin is said to possess the anti-intermittent property m a high degree, and to have proved successful where quinia had failed. It was employed by Dr. Konink in the dose of ten or fifteen grains, and in this quantity effected cures in several cases of intermittent fever. PHOSPHATE OF AMMONIA. Ammonia Phosphas. 1 here are several phosphates of ammonia- but the one here described is generally called the neutral phosphate, and n ns of one eq. of phosphoric acid, two of oxide of ammonium, and one of basic water f2NH 0 HO+PO-). It may be made by saturating a somewhat concentrated solution 1296 Appendix. of phosphoric acid with ammonia, applying heat,.and setting the solution aside that crys- tals may form. (See Acidum Phosphoricum Dilutum.) Another method of forming it is to saturate the excess of acid in superphosphate of lime by means of carbonate of ammonia. Phosphate of lime is precipitated, and phosphate of ammonia obtained in solution, which, being duly concentrated by a gentle heat, affords the salt in crystals upon cooling. (See the paper of Mr. Charles Ellis on the mode of procuring this salt, Am. Journ. of Pharm., xviii. 10.) The method of obtaining the superphosphate of lime is given at page 1130. Phosphate of ammonia is a white salt, crystallizing in rhombic prisms with dihedral summits, very soluble in water, but insoluble in alcohol. Exposed to the air it effloresces, loses ammonia, and becomes acid. This salt was first brought under the notice of the profession, as a remedy for gout and rheumatism, by Dr. T. H. Buckler, of Baltimore, in a paper published in the Am. Journal of the Med. Sdences, for Jan. 1846. In this paper a number of cases are reported of these diseases, which were treated mainly by this remedy by Dr. Buckler and several of his medical friends, and with apparently good effects. Dr. Buckler was led to employ the salt on theoretical grounds. He conceives that the "matter of gout"' consists of two salts, the urates of soda and lime, existing in the blood; and that the phosphate of am- monia, by reacting with them, would give rise to soluble salts. The new salts formed, if the double decomposition should take place, would be urate of ammonia, and the phos- phates of soda and lime. Unfortunately for this theory, as furnishing the means of eliminating uric acid, urate of ammonia is not more soluble than urate of soda. Never- theless, apart from all theory, the therapeutic powers of phosphate of ammonia deserve to be investigated; and the thanks of the profession are due to Dr. Buckler, for having brought it forward as a remedy. The dose of the salt is from ten to forty grains, three or four times a day, dissolved in a tablespoonful of water. PHYSALIS ALKEKENGI. Common Winter Cherry. A perennial herbaceous plant, growing wild in the South of Europe, and cultivated in our gardens. The fruit is a round red berry, about as large as a cherry, enclosed in the calyx, and containing numerous flat kidney-shaped seeds. The berries are very juicy, and have an acidulous, bitterish taste. The calyx is very bitter. By drying they shrink, and become of a brownish-red colour. They are said to be aperient and diuretic, and have been recommended in suppression of urine, gravel, and other complaints of the urinary passages. From six to twelve ber- ries, or an ounce of the expressed juice, may be taken for a dose; and much larger quan- tities are not injurious. They are consumed to a considerable extent in some parts of Europe as food. The berries of the Physalis viscosa, of this country, are said by Clayton to be remarkably diuretic. PICHURIM BEANS. The seeds of an uncertain tree, growing in Brazil, Guiana, Venezuela, and other parts of South America. The tree has been supposed to be the Ocotea Pichurim of Kunth (Laurus Pichurim, Richard, Aydendron Laurel, Nees); but this is positively denied by F. Nees von Esenbeck; and the brother of that botanist refers the seeds to the Nectandra Puchury. The beans are the kernels of the fruit separated into halves. They are ovate oblong or elliptical, flat on one side, convex on the other, of a grayish-brown colour externally, chocolate-coloured within, of an aromatic odour between that of nutmegs and sassafras, and of a spicy pungent taste. There are two kinds, one about an inch and a half long by half an inch in breadth, the other little more than half as large, rounder, and of a dark-brown colour. Their virtues depend on a volatile oil. In medical properties they resemble the common aromatics, and may be employed for the same purposes. They are rare in this country. PIMPINELLA SAXIFRAGA. Small Burnet Saxifrage. Saxifraga. A perennial umbelliferous European plant, growing on sunny hills, and in dry meadows and pastures. The root is officinal in some parts of Europe. It has a strong, aromatic, yet unpleasant odour, and a sweetish, pungent, biting, aromatic, bitterish taste. Its active constituents are volatile oil, and an acrid resin. It is considered diaphoretic, diuretic, and stomachic; and has been used in chronic catarrh, asthma, dropsy, amenorrhosa, &c. The dose in substance is about half a drachm, and in infusion two drachms. The root is used also as a masticatory in toothache, as a gargle in palsy of the tongue and in collections of viscid mucus in the throat, and externally to remove freckles. PINCKNEYA PUBENS. Michaux. A large shrub or small tree, growing in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, in low and moist places along the sea coast. It is closely allied, in botanical characters, to the Cinchonae, with which it was formerly ranked by some botanists. The bark is bitter, and has been used with advantage in intermittent fever. Dr. Law, of Georgia, cured six out of seven cases in which he administered it. The dose and mode of preparation are the same with those of cinchona. The chemical Appendix. 1297 composition and medical properties of this bark deserve a fuller investigation than thev have yet received. PLANTAGO MAJOR. Plantain. A well known perennial herb, growing in fields, by the roadsides, and in grass plats, and abounding both in Europe and in this country. The leaves are saline, bitterish, and austere to the taste, the root saline and sweetish. The plant has been considered refrigerant, diuretic, deobstruent, and somewhat astringent. The ancients esteemed it highly, and employed it in visceral obstructions, hemorrhages, particularly from the lungs, consumption, dysentery, and other complaints. In modern times it has been applied to similar purposes, and the root is said to have proved useful in intermittents. At present, however, it is generally believed to be very feeble, and is little used internally. As an external application it has been recommended in ulcers of various kinds, and in indolent scrofulous tumours. Among the vulgar it is still much used as a vulnerary, and as a dressing for blisters and sores. The dose of the expressed juice is from one to four fluidounces. Two ounces of the fresh root or leaves may be boiled in a pint of water, and given during the day. Externally the leaves are applied whole or in decoction. The Plantago media, and the P. lancifolia or rib-grass, which are also indigenous, possess properties similar to those of the P. major, and may be used for the same purposes. Under the name of semen psyllii, the seeds of several species of Plantago, growing in different parts of Europe, are sometimes kept in the shops. The best are obtained from the Plantago Psyllium or fleawort, which grows in the South of Europe and Barbary. They are small, about a line long by half a line in breadth, convex on one side, concave on the other, flea-coloured, shining, inodorous, and nearly tasteless, but very mucilaginous when chewed. They are demulcent and emollient, and may be used internally and externally in the same manner as flaxseed, whicli they closely resemble in medical properties. PLATINUM. In 1826 Prof. Gmelin, of Tubingen, made experiments to determine the action of this metal on the economy. Within a few years Dr. Ferdinand Hoefer has investigated the same subject. The latter experimented chiefly with the bichloride, and the double chloride of platinum and sodium. They are both poisonous; the bichloride in the dose of 15 grains, the double chloride in that of 30 grains. When a concentrated solution of the bichloride is applied to the skin, it produces violent itching, followed by an eruption. Administered internally it irritates the mucous membrane of the stomach, and occasions headache. The double chloride has no action when externally applied, and, when given internally, operates on the system in a less sensible manner than the bichloride. It possesses the power of augmenting the urine. Dr. Hoefer ranks the pre- parations of platinum with the alteratives, by the side of those of gold, iodine, and arsenic. He considers them particularly suited to the treatment of syphilitic diseases; the bi- chloride to cases of long standing and inveterate, the double chloride to those which are recent The dose of the bichloride is from one to two grains twice a day, given in pill. Eight grains may be made into sixteen pills, with a drachm of the extract of guaiacum wood of the French Codex, and sufficient powdered liquorice root. Of these one, two, or three may be taken morning and evening. The double chloride may be prepared for administration by dissolving five grains of the bichloride and eight of pure chloride of sodium in seven fluidounces of gum-water. This quantity may be taken by tablespoonfuls in the course of twenty-four hours. Dr. Hoefer used for frictions on indolent ulcers, an ointment composed of sixteen grains of the bichloride, thirty-two grains of extract of belladonna, and an ounce of lard. (Journ. de Pharm., xxvii. 213.) PLUMBAGO EUROPCEA. Leadwort. Dentcllaria. A perennial, herbaceous plant, growing in the South of Europe. It has an acrid taste, and, when chewed, excites a flow of saliva. This is particularly the case with the root, which has been long used to relieve toothache. Hence the plant derived the name of dentelaire, by which it is known in France. A decoction of the root in olive oil has been highly recommended for the cure of the itch Writers differ much in their statements in relation to the activity of the plant, some speaking of it as rubefacient, vesicatory, and caustic, and, when swallowed, as violently emetic and liable to produce dangerous irritation of the alimentary canal; while others consider it nearly inert. Perhaps the difference may be ascribed in part to the use of the plant in the recent state in one case, and dried or long kept in the other. A crystallizable, acrid principle, called plumbagin, has been extracted from the root by Dulong. POLYPODIUM VULGARE. Common Polypody. A fern belonging both to the old and new continents and growing in the clefts of old walls, rocks, and decayed trunks of trees. The root which is the part considered medicinal, is rather long, about as thick as a goose- quill somewhat contorted, covered with brown, easily separable scales, furnished with '82 1298 Appendix. slender radicles, and marked by numerous small tubercles. As found in the shops, it is sometimes destitute of the scales and radicles. Its colour is reddish-brown with a tinge of yellow, its odour disagreeably oleaginous, its taste peculiar, sweetish, somewhat bitter, and nauseous. The root of the variety growing upon the oak has been preferred, though without good reason. It was deemed purgative by the ancients, who employed it for the evacuation of bile and pituitous humours, in melancholic and maniacal cases. Modern physicians have used it in similar complaints, and as a pectoral in chronic catarrh and asthma. At present, however, it is scarcely ever employed, being considered nearly inert. It was given in doses varying from a drachm to an ounce, usually in connexion with cathartics. POPULUS. Poplar. Several trees belonging to this genus have attracted some atten- tion in a medical point of view. In most of them the leaf buds are covered with a resinous exudation, which has a peculiar, agreeable, balsamic odour, and a bitterish, bal- samic, somewhat pungent taste. This is abundant in the buds of the Populus nigra or black poplar of Europe, which are officinal in some parts of that continent. They con- tain resin and a peculiar volatile oil. The buds of the P. balsamifera, growing in the northern parts of N. America and in Siberia, are also highly balsamic; and a resin is said to be furnished by the tree, which is sometimes, though erroneously, called tacamahac The virtues of the poplar buds are probably analogous to those of the turpentines and balsams. They have been used in pectoral, nephritic, and rheumatic complaints, in the form of tincture; and a liniment, made by macerating them in oil, has been applied externally in local rheumatism. The unguentum populeum of European pharmacy is made, according to the directions of the French Codex of 1837, by bruising in a marble mortar, and boiling in 2000 parts of lard, with a gentle fire, till the moisture is dissipated, 250 parts, each, of the fresh leaves of the black poppy, deadly nightshade, henbane, and black nightshade; then adding of the dried buds of the black poplar, bruised, 375 parts; digesting for 24 hours; straining with strong expression; and finally allowing the oint- ment to cool after defecation. This is an anodyne ointment, occasionally employed in Europe in painful local affections. The bark of som species of poplar is possessed of tonic properties, and has been used in intermittent fever with advantage. Such is the case with that of the P. tre- muloides or American aspen, and of the P. tremula or European aspen. In the bark of the latter, Braconnot found salidn, and another crystallizable principle which he named populin. It is in these, probably, that the febrifuge properties of the bark reside. They may be obtained by precipitating a saturated decoction of the bark with solution of sub- acetate of lead, filtering, precipitating the excess of lead by sulphuric acid, again filtering, evaporating, adding animal charcoal towards the end of the evaporation, and filtering the liquor while hot. Saliein gradually separates, upon the cooling of the liquor, in the form of crystals. If, when this principle has ceased to crystallize, the excess of sulphuric acid in the liquid be saturated by a concentrated solution of carbonate of potassa, the populin will be precipitated. If this be pressed between folds of blotting paper, and redissolved in boiling water, it will be deposited, upon the cooling of the liquid, in the crystalline state. The leaves of the P. tremula also afford populin, and more largely even than the bark. It is probable that both principles exist also in the bark of the P. tremuloides, and other species. Saliein is described under Salix. Populin is very light, purely white, and of a bitter, sweetish taste, analogous to that of liquorice. When heated it melts into a colourless and transparent liquid. It is soluble in 2000 parts of cold, and about 70 parts of boiling water; and is more soluble in boiling alcohol. Acetic acid and the diluted mineral acids dissolve it, and, upon the addition of an alkali, let it fall unchanged. PORTULACA OLERACEA. Garden Purslane. An annual succulent plant, growing in gardens and cultivated grounds in the United States, Europe, and most other parts of the globe. It has an herbaceous, slightly saline taste, and is often used as greens, being boiled with meat, or other vegetables. It is considered a cooling diuretic, and is recom- mended in scurvy, and affections of the urinary passages. The seeds have been thought to be anthelmintic; but they are tasteless and inert. POTENTILLA REPTANS. Cinquefoil. A perennial, creeping, European herb, with leaves which are usually quinate, and have thus given origin to the ordinary name of the plant. The root has a bitterish, styptic, slightly sweetish taste, and was formerly used in diarrhoea and other complaints for which astringents are usually prescribed. PRUNELLA VULGARIS. Self-heal. Heal-all A small perennial labiate plant, com- mon both in Europe and the United States, growing especially by the way-sides. It is inodorous, but has an austere bitterish taste. The herb in flower was formerly used, in the state of infusion or decoction, in hemorrhages and diarrhoea, and as a gargle in sore- tliroat. In this country it is not employed in regular practice. Appendix. 1299 PULMONARIA OFFICINALIS. Lungwort. An herbaceous perennial, indigenous in Europe, and sometimes cultivated in this country in gardens. The leaves are inodorous, anu nave an herbaceous, somewhat mucilaginous, and feebly astringent taste. They have been considered pectoral and demulcent, and employed in catarrh, haemoptysis consumption, and other affections of the chest; but their virtues are doubtful, and they were probably used in pectoral complaints as much on account of the supposed resem- blance of their speckled surface to that of the lungs, as from the possession of any posi- tively useful properties. PUMICE STONE. Pumex. A very light porous stone, found in the vicinity of active and extinct volcanoes, and believed to have been thrown up during their eruption. The pumice stone of commerce is said to be obtained chiefly from Lipari. It is used whole, , in the mariner of a file, for removing the outer surface of bodies, or for rubbing down inequalities, and, in the state of powder, for polishing glass, metals, stones, &c, purposes to which it is adapted by the hardness of its particles. PYRETHRUM PARTHENIUM. Willd. Matricaria Parthenium. Linn. Chrysan- themum Parthenium. Persoon. Feverfew. A perennial herbaceous plant, about two feet, high, with an erect, branching stem, pinnate leaves, oblong, obtuse, gashed, and dentate leaflets, and compound flowers borne in a corymb upon branching peduncles. It is a native of Europe, but cultivated in our gardens. The whole herbaceous part is used. The plant has an odour and taste analogous to those of chamomile, which it resembles also in the appearance of its flowers, and in its medical properties. Though little em- ployed, it is undoubtedly possessed of useful tonic properties. PYROACETIC SPIRIT. Pyroacetic Ether. Acetone. Erroneously called Naphtha and Wood-naphtha. This substance may be obtained by carefully distilling acetate of lime, and rectifying the product by repeated distillations from quicklime in a water bath ;. until its boiling point becomes constant, whereby it is freed from water and empyreumatic oil. It is a colourless, volatile, inflammable liquid, having a peculiar penetrating smell, and a pungent taste like that of peppermint. Its sp. gr. is 0-7922 and boiling point 132°. As found in the shops, its density is generally not lower than 0820. It is miscible with water, ether, and alcohol in all proportions. It should not become turbid when mixed with water. When water produces this effect, it has not been freed from empyreumatic oil. Its formula is C3H30. Pyroacetic spirit has been recommended by Dr. John Hast- ings as a remedy in pulmonary consumption; but it has no control whatever over that disease. Recently, be has employed it, with great asserted success, in gout, and in acute and chronic rheumatism. As a substance possessing activity it deserves investigation by the profession. The dose is from ten to forty drops, three times a day, sufficiently diluted with water. REALGAR. This is the bisulphuret of arsenic, consisting of one eq. of arsenic 751 and two of sulphur 32=107. It is found native in Saxony, Bohemia. Transylvania, and in various volcanic regions. Realgar is artificially made by melting arsenious acid with about half its weight of sulphur. (Turner.) Thus prepared, it is of a crystalline texture, of a beautiful ruby-red colour, of a uniform conchoidal fracture, somewhat trans- parent in thin layers, and capable of being sublimed without change. Native realgar is said to be innocent when taken internally, while that artificially prepared is poisonous, in consequence, according to Guibourt, of containing a little arsenious acid. Realgar is used only as a pigment. RED CHALK. Reddle. A mineral substance of a deep-red colour, of a compact tex- ture, dry to the touch, adhering to the tongue, about as hard as chalk, soiling.the fingers when handled, and leaving a lively red trace when drawn over paper. It consists of clay and oxide of iron, and is intermediate between bole and red ochre, containing more oxide of iron than the former, and less than the latter. It is used for drawing lines upon wood, &c, and is sometimes made into crayons by levigatingand elutriating it, then form- ing it into a paste with mucilage of gum Arabic, moulding this into cylinders, and drying it in the shade. It has been used internally as an absorbent and astringent. RESEDA LUTEOLA. Weld. Dyers'Weed. An annual European plant, naturalized in the United States. It is inodorous, and has a bitter taste, which is very adhesive. Chevreul obtained from i^by sublimation a peculiar yellow colouring matter, which he called luteolin. In medicine it has been employed as a diaphoretic and diuretic, but is now neglected. On the continent of Europe it is much employed for dyeing yellow, and, before the introduction of quercitron into England, was extensively applied to the same purpose in that country. The whole plant is used. RHODODENDRUM CRYSANTHUM. Yellow-flowered Rhododendron. This is a beau- tiful evergreen shrub, about a foot high, with spreading branches, and oblong, obtuse, thick 1300 Appendix. leaves, narrowed towards their footstalks, reflexed at the margin, much veined, rugged and deep-green upon their upper surface, ferruginous or glaucous beneath, and surround- ing the branches upon strong petioles. The flowers are large, yellow, on long peduncles, and in terminal umbels. The corolla is wheel-shaped, with its border divided into five roundish, spreading segments. The plant is a native of Siberia, delighting in mountainous situations, and flowering in June and July. The leaves are the part used. When fresh, they have a feeble odour, said to resemble that of rhubarb. In the dried state they are inodorous, but have an austere, astringent, bitterish taste. They yield their virtues to water and alcohol. They are stimulant, narcotic, and diaphoretic, producing, when first taken, increase of heat and arterial action, subsequently a diminished frequency of the pulse, and, in large doses, vomiting, purging, and delirium- They have been long employed in Siberia as a remedy in rheumatism, and their use has extended to various parts of Europe. Their action is said to be accompanied with a sensation of creeping or pricking in the affected part, which subsides in a few hours, leaving the part free from pain. They have been recommended also in gout, lues venerea, and palsy. In Siberia, they are prepared by infusing two drachms of the dried leaves in about ten ounces of water, in a close vessel, and keeping the liquid near the boiling point during the night. The strained liquor is taken in the morning; and a repetition of the dose three or four days successively gene- rally effects a cure. The remedy is not used in this country. RIGA BALSAM. Balsamum Carpaticum. Balsamum Libani. This is a product of the Pinus Cembra, a large tree growing in the mountainous regions and northern latitudes of Europe and Asia. The juice exudes from the extremities of the young twigs, and is collected in flasks suspended from them. It is a thin white fluid, having an odour analogous to that of juniper, and possessing the ordinary terebinthinate properties. In this country it is very rare; but it is occasionally brought from Riga or Cronstadtin bottles. A similar product, called Hungarian Balsam, is obtained in the same manner from the Pinus Pumilio, growing on the mountains of Switzerland, Austria, and Hungary. It is scarcely known in the United States. ROTTEN STONE. Terra Cariosa. An earthy mineral, occurring in light, dull, friable masses, dry to the touch, of a very fine grain, and of an ash-brown colour. It is obtained from Derbyshire in England, and is used for polishing metals. SALEP. Though not directed by any of the British Colleges, nor by our national Pharmacopoeia, this substance deserves a slight notice, as it is frequently mentioned by ■writers on the materia medica, and is occasionally to be found in the shops. The name is given to the prepared bulbs of the Orchis mascula and other species of the same genus. The male orchis is a native of Europe, the Levant, and northern Africa. Its bulbs, which are two in number, oval or roundish, internally white and spongy, are prepared by re- moving their epidermis, plunging them into boiling water, then stringing them together, and drying them in the sun or by the fire. By this process they acquire the appearance and consistence which distinguish them as found in the shops. They were t formerly procured exclusively from Asia Minor and Persia, but are now prepared in France, and perhaps other parts of Europe. Salep is in small, oval, irregular masses, hard, horny, semi-transparent, of a yellowish colour, a feeble odour, and a mild mucilaginous taste. It is sometimes kept in the state of powder. In composition and relation to water it is closely analogous to tragacanth, consisting of a substance insoluble, but swelling up in cold water (bassorin), of another in much smaller proportion, soluble in cold water, and of minute quantities of saline matters. It also occasionally contains a little starch. It is highly nutritive, and may be employed for the same purposes with tapioca, sago, &c. The reputation which it en- joyed among the ancients, and still enjoys in the East, of possessing aphrodisiac proper- ties, is wholly without foundation. On account of its hardness, salep, in its ordinary state, is of difficult pulverization; but the difficulty is removed by macerating it in cold water until it becomes soft, and then rapidly drying it. SANDARACH. Sandaraca. This is a resinous substance obtained from the Thuya articulata, an evergreen tree growing in the North of Africa. It is in small, irregular, roundish oblong grains or tears, of a pale yellow colour, sometimes inclining to brown, more or less transparent, dry and brittle, breaking into a powSer under the teeth, of a faint agreeable odour increased by warmth, and of a resinous slightly acrid taste. It melts with heat, diffusing a strong balsamic odour, and easily inflames. It is almost entirely soluble in ordinary alcohol, and entirely so in that liquid when anhydrous, and in ether. Heated oil of turpentine also dissolves the greater part of it, but very slowly. According to Unverdorben, it consists of three different resins, varying in their relations to alcohol, ether, and the oil of turpentine. The sandaradn of Geise, which remains Appendix. 1301 after sandarach has been exposed to the action of ordinary alcohol, is a mixture of two of these resins. Sandarach was formerly given internally as a medicine, and enters into the composition of various ointments and plasters. At present it is used chiefly as a varnish. It is sometimes employed as incense, and its powder is rubbed,upon paper in order to prevent ink from spreading, after letters have been scratched out. SAN1CULA MARILANDICA. Sanicle. An indigenous, umbelliferous, perennial, herbaceous plant, two or three feet in height, growing in woods and thickets, in almost all parts of the United States, as far south as S. Carolina. For its botanical character see Eaton's Botany, and Torrey and Gray's N. Am. Flora, vol. i. p. 601. The root is the part used, and is popularly known in some parts of the country by the name of black snakeroot. It is fibrous and of an aromatic taste, and has been used as a domestic remedy in intermittent fever. Dr. J. B Zabriskii has found it highly effectual in chorea. He considers it most efficient in substance, and gives the powder to children of eight or ten years old in the dose of half a drachm three times a day. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sd., N. S, xii. 374.) SAPONARIA OFFICINALIS. Soapwort. A perennial herbaceous plant, growing wild in this country, in the vicinity of cultivation, but probably introduced from Europe. It is commonly known by the vulgar name of boundng bet. It is one or two feet high, with smooth lanceolate leaves, and clusters of conspicuous whitish or slightly purplish flowers, which appear in July and August. The root and leaves are employed. They are inodorous, and of a taste at first bitterish and slightly sweetish, afterwards somewhat pungent, continuing long, and leaving a slight sense of numbness on the tongue. They impart to water the property of forming a lather when agitated, like a solution of soap, whence the name of the plant was derived. This property, as well as the medical virtues of the plant, resides in a peculiar proximate principle, obtained from the root by Bucholz, and called by him saponin. This principle constitutes, according to Bucholz, 34 per cent, of the dried root, which contains also a considerable quantity of gum and a little bassorin, resin, and altered extractive, besides lignin and water. Saponin is ob- tained, though not absolutely pure, by treating the watery extract with alcohol and evaporating. It is brown, somewhat translucent, hard and brittle, with a sweetish taste, followed by a sense of acrimony in the fauces. It is soluble in water and officinal alco- hol, but is insoluble in anhydrous alcohol, ether, and the volatile oils. Its watery solu- tion froths when agitated. This principle has been found also in various other plants, as different species of Silene, Dianthus, Lychnis, and Anagallis. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., x. 339.) Soapwort has been much used in Germany as a remedy in venereal and scrofulous affections, cutaneous eruptions, and visceral obstructions. It appears to act as an alterative, like sarsaparilla, to which it has been deemed superior in efficacy by some physicians. The plant is given in the form of decoction and extract, which may be freely taken. From two to four pints of the decoction daily are recommended in lues. The inspissated juice, given in the quantity of half an ounce in the course of a day, is said by Andry generally to cure gonorrhoea in about two weeks, without any other remedy. According to Dr. Bonnet and M. Malapert, this and other plants containing saponin are capable of producing poisonous effects. (Journ. de Pharm., 3e sir., x. 339.) SARCOCOLLA. A peculiar vegetable product, exuding spontaneously from the Penaa Sarcocolla, P. mucronata, and other species of Pencea, small shrubs growing at the Cape of Good Hope, in Ethiopia, Arabia, &c. It is in the form of small, roundish, irregular grains, sometimes agglutinated in masses, friable, opaque or semi transparent, of a yel- lowish or brownish red colour, inodorous unless heated, when they have an agreeable smell, and of a peculiar, bitter, sweetish, and acrid taste. Sarcocolla, according to Pelle- tier consists of 65-3 per cent, of a peculiar substance, considered by Dr. Thomson, as holding an intermediate place between gum and sugar, and called sarcocolhn or pure sarcocolla, 4 6 of gum, 3 3 of a gelatinous matter having some analogy with bassorin, and 26-8 of lignin, &c. It is said to be purgative, but at the same time to produce serious inconvenience by its acrid properties. The Arabian physicians used it internally, and by the ancients it was employed as an external application to wounds and ulcers, under the idea that it possessed the property of agglutinating the flesh, whence its name was derived. It is at present out of use. SASSA GUM. This 'name has been applied by Guibourt to a gum, occasionally brought into market from the East, and answering so exactly to Bruce's description of the product of a tree which he calls sassa, that there is reason to believe in their iden- tity According to Guibourt's description, it is in mammillary masses, or in convoluted pieces resembling an ammonite, of a reddish colour, and somewhat shining surface, and more transparent than tragacanth. Its taste is like that of tragacanth, but slightly acrid. When introduced into water, it becomes white, softens, and swells to four or five times 1302 Appendix. its original bulk; but it preserves its shape, neither like tragacanth forming a mucilage, nor like Bassora gum separating into distinct flocculi. It is rendered blue by iodine. SATUREJA HORTENSIS. Summer Savory. An annual labiate plant, growing spontaneously in the South of Europe and cultivated in gardens as a culinary herb. It has an aromatic odour and taste, analogous to those of thyme, and was formerly used as a gentle, carminative stimulant; but is now employed only to give flavour to food. The S. montana, or winter savory, which is also cultivated in gardens, has similar properties, and is similarly employed. SCOLOPENDRIUM OFFICINARUM. Smith. Asplenium Scolopendrium. Linn. Harts- tongue. A fern indigenous in Europe and America. Its vulgar name was derived from the shape of its leaves, which were the part formerly used in medicine. They have a sweetish, mucilaginous, and slightly astringent taste, and, when rubbed, a disagreeable oily odour. They were used as a deobstruent in visceral affections, as an astringent in hemorrhages and fluxes, and as a demulcent in pectoral complaints; but their properties are feeble, and they have fallen into neglect. SCUTELLARIA LATERIFLORA. Scullcap. This is an indigenous perennial herb, belonging to the Linnaean class and order Didynamia Gymnospermia, and to the natural order Labiata. Its stem is erect, much branched, quadrangular, smooth, and one or two feet high. The leaves are ovate, acute, dentate, subcordate upon the stem, opposite, and supported upon long petioles. The flowers are small, of a pale-blue colour, and disposed in long, lateral, leafy racemes. The calyx has an entire margin, which, after the corolla has fallen, is closed with a helmet-shaped lid. The tube of the corolla is elongated, the upper lip concave and entire, the lower three lobed. The plant grows in moist places, by the sides of ditches and ponds, in all parts of the Union. To the senses it does not indicate, by any peculiar taste or smell, the possession of medicinal virtues. It is even destitute of the aromatic properties which are found in many of the labiate plants. When taken internally, it produces no obvious effects. Notwithstanding this apparent inertness, it obtained, at one period, extraordinary credit throughout the United States, as a preven- tive of hydrophobia, and was even thought to be useful in the disease itself. A strong infusion of the plant was given in the dose of a teacupful, repeated several times a day, and continued for three or four months after the bite was received; while the herb itself was applied to the wound. Strong testimony has been adduced in favour of its prophy- lactic powers; but it has already shared the fate, which in this case is no doubt deserved, of numerous other specifics against hydrophobia, which have been brought into tempo- rary popularity only to be speedily abandoned. The Scutellaria galericulata, or common European scullcap, which also grows.wild in this country, has a feeble, somewhat allia- ceous odour, and a bitterish taste. It has been employed in intermittents, and externally in old ulcers, but is now out of use. Another indigenous species, the S. integrifolia, of which the -d crystallized - - - NaO,2COs+HO 84-3 carbonate - - %?>C?,W 1 ' crystallized - - NaO,CO,+ 10HO 143-3 diphosphate (medicinal phosphate) 2NaO,PO ld4-b P crystallized - - - 2NaO,P054-25HO 359-6 hydrate (caustic soda) - - NaO,HO 40-d muriate. See Sodium, chloride. ^T ^ AT^ ok o nitrate..... NaO,N05 85-3 -ISST. : : - -S&o lilt ,_SS??„wfl o.ia . NaO,S03 71-3 NaO,SO„+10HO 161-3 tartrate - NaO,C4H205 Sodium or Natrium - - - J™ £? * chloride (common salt) - - **)* jj° ' ~ sesquioxide - - 3 Soluble tartar. See Potassa, tartrate. ^. - - - ! 12S-0 W 51-8 Strontia - ^ 43.g S™°i'TIl"M """-"- NAH2A «^7 ^'c,mia " " . - C>A 171 Sugar, cane - u " u of lead. See Lead, acetate of protoxide. Sulphate of alumina and potassa (alum) ^A^»+^g'^ ££ 5° Sulphate of ether and etherine - C41 1 A>s(|+C4H4,S03 145 Sulphuretted hydrogen. See Acid, hydrosulphuric. Tartar emetic. Vec Tartrate of antimony and potassa Tartrate of antimony and pnta.sa - £b(> ^A + KO,C4H,Os -15 Tartrate of iron and potassa - - K>AAUA+K0AHA ~5J 15 sulphate (Glauber's salt) - Jt?'^f PiWnllized - - - NaO,SOs + 10xiw xuiu crystallized NaOC.H.,0. 97-3 1336 Appendix. Name. Symbol or Formula. Equivalent. Tartrate of potassa and soda - - KO,Q 210-45 Tellurium - . . . Te 64-2 Terbium ... . ? ? Thebaina ... . NC2J1J403 202 Thorina - - . - .' ThO 67-6 Thorium . Th 59-6 Tin or Stannum . Sn 58-9 Titanium - . Ti 24-3 Tungsten or Wolfram - . W 99-7 Turpeth mineral. See Mercui •y, subsulphate of deutoxide. Uranium - U 60 Urea ... - . NAHA 00 Vanadium - - - - V 68-5 Veratria - NCLH.A, 288 Verdigris. See Copper, diacetate of protoxide. Vitriolated tartar. See Potassa, sulphate. Water. See Hydrogen, protoxide. White lead.....2(PbO,COa)+PbO,I10 387-8 precipitate. See Mercury, ammoniated. vitriol. See Zinc, sulphate of protoxide. Yttria - - - Yttrium..... Zinc...... acetate of protoxide - - carbonate of protoxide (calamine) chloride - cyanuret - - - - - iodide - protoxide (flowers of zinc) sulphate of protoxide (white vitriol) crystallized sulphuret (blende) - Zirconia - Zirconium..... YO 40-2 Y 32-2 Zn 32-3 ZnO,C4H303 ZnO,COa 'ZnCl 91-3 62-3 67-72 ZnCy Znl 58-3 158-6 ZnO 40-3 ZnO,S03 ZnO,S03 + 7HO ZnS 80-3 143-3 48-3 Zr303 91-4 Zr 33-7 Appendix. 1337 V. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN DIFFERENT THER- MOMETERS. In Fahrenheit's thermometer, which is universally employed in this country and Great Britain, the freezing point of water is placed at 32°, and the boil- ing point at 212°, and i«he number of intervening.degrees is 180. The Centigrade thermometer, which has long been used in Sweden under the name of Celsius's thermometer, and is now most generally employed on the continent of Europe, marks the freezing point zero, and the boiling point 100°. In Reaumur's thermometer, used in France before the revolution, the freezing point is at zero, and the boiling point at 80°. In De L isle's thermometer, used in Russia, the graduation begins at the boiling point, which is marked zero, Avhile the freezing point is placed at 150°. From the above statement it is evident that 180 degrees of Fahrenheit are equal to 100° of the centigrade, 80° of Reaumur, and 150° of De Lisle; or 1 degree of the first is equal to § of a degree of the.second, f of a degree of the third, and -*- of a degree of the last. It is easy, therefore, to convert the degrees of one into the equivalent number of degrees of the other; but in ascertaining the corresponding points upon the different scales, it is necessary to take into consideration their different modes of graduation. Thus, as the zero of Fahrenheit is 32° below the point at which that of the centigrade and of Reaumur is placed, this number must be taken into account in the calcula- tion. The following propositions will embrace all the cases which can arise in relation to the three last-mentioned thermometers. That of De Lisle is seldom or never referred to in works which are read in this country. 1. If any degree on the centigrade scale, either above or below zero, be multiplied by 9 and divided by 5, or if any degree of Reaumur above or below zero be multiplied by 9 and divided by 4, the quotient will, in either case, be the number of degrees above or below 32°, or the freezing point of Fahrenheit. , . , •> The number of degrees between any point of Fahrenheit s scale and 32°' if multiplied by 5 and divided by 9, will give the corresponding point on the centigrade; if multiplied by 4 and divided by 9, will give the corre- sponding point on the scale of Reaumur. 3 YnY degree of the centigrade multiplied by 4 and divided by 5, will give the corresponding degree of Reainnur; and conversely, any degree of Reaumnr multiplied by 5 and divided by 4, will give the corresponding degree of the centigrade. 1338 Appendix. VI. TABLES, showing the specific gravity corresponding with the several de- grees OF DIFFERENT HYDROMETERS IN USE. Baume's hydrometer is usually employed in France. In this instrument, the sp. gr. of distilled water is assumed as the zero of the descending scale, in relation to fluids heavier than itself, while it is assumed as 10 on the ascending scale, in relation to lighter fluids. In the Pharmacopoeia Batava, a modification of the instrument has been adopted, in which the sp. gr. of distilled water has been assumed as the zero of both scales. Beck's hydro- meter is used in Germany. In the following tables, the specific gravity of liquids is given, corresponding with the several degrees of these three hydro- meters. For Liquids lighter than Water. Specific Gravity. Specific Gravity. Degree of hydro- Degree of hydro- meter. By Baume\ In Pharm. Batava. By Beck. meter. By Baume\ In Pharm. Batava. By Beck. 0 1000 1-0000 32 0-8638 819 0-8415 1 993 0-9941 33 0-8584 814 0-8374 2 987 0-9883 34 0-8531 810 0-8333 3 980 0-9826 35 0-8479 805 0-8292 4 974 0-9770 36 0-8428 800 0-8252 5 967 0-9714 37 0-8378 796 0-8212 6 961 0-9659 38 0-8329 792 0-8173 7 954 0-9604 39 0-8281 787 0-8133 8 948 0-9550 40 0-8233 782 0-8095 9 941 0-9497 41 0-8186 778 0-8050 10 1-0000 935 0-9444 42 0-8139 774 0-8018 11 0-9930 929 0-9392 43 0-8093 770 0-7981 12 0-9861 923 0-9340 44 0-8047 766 0-7943 13 0-9792 917 0-9289 45 0-8001 762 0-7906 14 0-9724 911 0-9239 46 0-7956 758 15 0-9657 906 0-9189 47 0-7911 754 16 09591 900 0-9139 48 0-7866 750 i 17 0-9526 895 0-9090 49 0-7821 746 18 0-9462 889 0-9042 50 0-7777 742 19 0-9399 884 0-8994 51 0-7733 20 0-9336 878 0-8947 52 0-7689 21 0-9274 873 0-8900 53 0-7040 22 0-9212 868 0-8854 54 0-7003 23 0-9151 863 0-8808 55 0-7560 24 0-9091 858 0-8702 56 0-7518 25 0-9032 852 0-8717 57 0-7476 26 0-8974 847 0-8673 58 0-7435 27 0-8917 842 0-8629 59 0-7394 28 0-8860 837 0-8585 60 0-7354 29 0-8804 832 0-8542 01 0-7314 30 0-8748 828 0-8500 62 0-7251 31 0-8693 823 0-8457 Appendix. 1339 For Liquids heavier than Water. Specific Gravity. Degree of hydro- meter. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 20 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 30 37 38 39 40 By Baum<5. In Pharm. Batava. 1-0000 1-0070 10141 1-0213 1-0286 1-0360 10435 1-0511 1-0588 1-0666 1-0745 1-0825 1-0906 1-0988 1-1071 11155 1-1240 1-1326 11414 11504 1-1590 1-1690 1-1785 1-1882 1-1981 1-2082 1-2184 1-2288 1-2394 1-2502 1-2612 1-2724 1-2838 ] -2954 1-3072 1-3190 1-3311 1-3434 1-3559 1-30S6 1-3815 By Beck. 1000 1007 1014 1022 1029 1036 1044 1052 1060 1067 1075 1083 1091 1100 1108 1110 1125 1134 1143 1152 1161 1171 1180 1190 1199 1210 1221 1231 1242 1252 1261 1275 1286 1298 1309 1321 1334 1346 1359 1372 1384 0000 0059 0119 0180 0241 •0303 •0366 •0429 •0495 •0559 •0625 ■0692 1-0759 1-0828 1-0897 10968 1-1039 11111 11184 1-1258 11333 1-1409 1-1486 1-1465 1644 1724 1806 1888 1972 2057 2143 1-2230 1-2319 1-2400 1-2500 1-2593 1-2087 1-2782 1-2870 1-2077 1-3077 Specific Gravity. Degree of hydro meter. | By Baume\ In Pharm Batava. 41 42 43 44 45 40 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 —••> i •) 74 75 7G 77 78 79 1-3047 1-4082 1-4219 1-4359 1-4501 1-4645 1-4792 1-4942 1-5096 1-5253 1-5413 1-5576 1-5742 1-5912 1-6086 1-6264 By Beck. 1-6446 1-6632 1-6823 1-7019 1-7220 1-7427 1-7640 1-7858 1-8082 1-8312 1-8548 1-8790 1-9038 1-9291 1-9548 1-9809 2-0073 2-0340 20010 1398 1-3178 1412 1-3281 1426 1-3386 1440 1-3492 1454 1-3600 1470 1-3710 1485 1-3821 1501 1-3944 1516 1-4050 1532 1-4167 1549 1-4286 1566 1-4407 1583 1-4530 1601 1-4655 1618 1-4783 1637 1-4912 1656 1-5044 1070 1-5179 1695 1-5315 1714 1-5454 1736 1-5596 1758 1-5741 1779 1-5888 1801 1-6038 1823 1-6190 1847 1-6346 1872 1-6505 1897 1-6667 1921 1-6832 1940 1-7000 1974 1-7172 2002 1-7347 2031 1-7526 2059 1-7708 2 OS 7 1-7895 2116 1-8085 1-8280 1-8478 1-8681 1-8889 1340 Appendix. The French Codex employs Baume's hydrometer to indicate the density of liquids heavier than water; but for those lighter than water, it has re- course to the instrument of Cartier, as the one most diffused in commerce. This differs from Baume's only in a slight modification of the scale. In both, the lowest point is 10°; but 30° of Cartier correspond with 32° of Baume, so that 20 degrees of the former are equivalent to 22 of the latter. Such, at least,, was the original relation of the two instruments; but that of Cartier has subsequently undergone some slight modifications. The following table, extracted from the Codex, shows the value of the several degrees of Baume's scale in those of Cartier's. The centesimal alcoholmeter of Gay-Lussac is ap- plicable only to alcohol. The scale of this instrument is divided into 100 unequal degrees, the zero corresponding to pure water, and 100° to absolute alconol; and every intermediate degree expresses the per centage of pure alcohol contained in the liquors examined. Thus, when the instrument stands at 40° in any alcoholic liquid, it indicates that 100 parts of the liquid con- tain 40 of pure alcohol and 60 of water. But, as it was graduated for the temperature of 59° of Fahrenheit, the liquors to be tested should be brought to that temperature. In page 62 of this Dispensatory is a tabie indicating the specific gravity corresponding with each per centage of alcohol, and con- sequently with each degree of the alcoholmeter; and as, in the table given in the next page, the value of Cartier's degrees in those of the alcoholmeter is stated, there can be no difficulty in converting the degrees of any one of these instruments into those of another, or of ascertaining the specific gravity to which they respectively correspond. Table showing the Value of the Degrees of Baume's Hydrometer in those of Cartier's. Baum<§. Cartier. Baum6. Cartier. BaumeV Cartier. 10 10 23 21-94 36 33-88 11 10-92 24 22-85 37 34-80 12 11-84 25 23-77 38 35-72 13 12-76 20 24-09 39 36-63 14 13-67 27 25-61 40 37-55 ! 15 14-59 28 20-53 41 38-46 16 15-51 29 27-44 42 39-40 17 16-43 30 28-38 43 40-31 18 17-35 31 29-29 44 41-22 19 18-26 32 30-31 45 42 14 20 1918 33 3113 46 43 06 21 20-10 34 32-04 47 43-98 22 21-02 35 32-96 48 44-90 Appendix. 1341 Table showing the Value of the Degrees of Cartier's Hydrometer in those of Gay-Lussac's Centesimal Alcoholmeter. Centesimal Centesimal Centesimal Cartier. Alcoholmeter. Cartier. Alcoholmeter. Cartier. Alcoholmeter. 10 0-2 22 58-7 34 86-2 11 51 23 61-5 35 88 12 11-2 24 64-2 36 89-6 13 18-2 25 66-9 37 91-2 14 25-2 26 69-4 38 92-7 15 31-6 27 71-8 39 941 16 369 28 74 40 95-4 17 41-5 29 76-3 41 966 18 45-5 30 78-4 42 97-7 19 49-1 31 80-5 43 98-8 20 52-5 32 82-6 44 99-8 21 55-6 33 84-4 INDEX. Abbreviations, table of 1319 Abelmoschus escu- lentus 1268 Abelmoschus mos- chatus 1267 Abies balsamea 709 Abies Canadensis 544 Abies communis 543 Abies excelsa 543 Abies larix 710 Abies nigra 710 Abies pectinata 710 Abies picea 543,710 Abies tasifolia 710 Abietis resina 543 Absinthic acid 5 Absinthin 5 Absinthium 4 Absolute alcohol 61 Acacia 5 Acacia Adansonii 6 Acacia Arabica 6 Acacia catechu 191 Acacia decurrens 6 Acacia Khrenbergiana 6 Acacia floribunda 6 Acacia gummifera 6 Acacia karroo 6 Acacia Nilotica 6 Acacia nostras 7 Acacia Senegal 6 Acacia seyal 6 Acacia tortilis 6 Acacia vera 6 Acaciae vera? succus 7 Acer saccharinum 614 Aceta 773 Acetate of alumina 1305 Acetate of ammonia, so- lution of 831 Acetate of copper, crys- tals of 291 Acetate of iron 954 Acetate of iron, tincture of 954 Acetate of lead 549 Acetate of magnesia 1222 Acetate of mercury 978 Acetate of morphia 1039 Acetate of potassa 1082 Acetate of quinia 239 Acetate of soda 668 Acetate of zinc 1213 Acetate of zinc, tincture of 1214 Acetated tincture of opium 11S0 Acetic acid 780 Acetic acid, aromatic 779 Acetic acid, camphor- ated 778 Acetic acid, diluted 783 Acetic ether 1222 Acetic extract of colchi- cum 938 Acetification 15 Acetone 782, 1299 Acetosella 12 Acetum 13 Acetum Britannicum 13 Acetum cantharidis 775 Acetum colchici 775 Acetum destillatum 773 Acetum Gallicum 13 Acetum opii 776 Acetum scillae 777 Acetum vini 13 Achillea millefolium 1222 Acid, absinthic 5 Acid, acetic 780 Acid, aconitic 54 Acid, amygdalic 91 Acid, anacardic 1227 Acid, anchusic 1226 Acid, antimonic 106 Acid, antimonious 106 Acid, aromatic acetic 779 Acid, aromatic sulphuric 797 Acid, arsenic 18 Acid, arsenious 17 Acid, asparmic 76 Acid, aspartic 76 Acid, benzoic 784 Acid, boracic 669 Acid, caffeic 1250 Acid, caffeo-tannic 1250 Acid, cahincic 1237 Acid, camphoric 155 Acid. carbonic 859 Acid, cirthamic 180 Acid, caryophyllic 488 Acid, catechuic 194 Acid, cevadic Acid, chlorohydric Acid, cinchonic Acid, cinnamic *»a Acid, citric Acid, colophonic 586 Acid, coniic 266 Acid, copaivic 272 Acid, crotonic 503 Acid, cyanohydric 786 Acid, digitalic 299 Acid, diluted acetic 783 Acid, diluted muriatic 792 Acid, diluted nitric 31 239 793 Acid, diluted phosphoric 795 Acid, diluted sulphuric 798 Acid, elaidic 481 Acid, ellagie 341 Acid, ethalic 203 Acid, etherosuiphuric 810 Acid, eugenic 488 Acid, ferric 327 Acid, gallic 1260 Acid, gatnbogic 345 Acid, gentisic 347 Acid, glacial phosphoric 796 Acid, glucic 617 Acid, guaiacic 360 Acid, hircic 662 Acid, hydriodic 1268 Acid, hydrochloric 31 Acid, hydrocyanic 786 Acid, hydrosulphuric 974 Acid, hyperiodic 391 Acid, hypermanganic 445 Acid, hypopicrotoxic 252 Acid, hyposulphuric 696 Acid, hyposulphurous 696 Acid, igasuric 477 Acid, iodic 391 Acid, iodous 391 Acid, kinic 239 Acid, kinovic 236 Acid, krameric 419 Acid, lactic 1279 Acid, lobelic 434 Acid, manganic 445 Acid, margaric 630 Acid, meconic 518 Acid, medicinal hydro- cyanic 789 Acid, melassic 617 Acid, tnetaphosphoric 796 Acid, muriatic 31 Acid, myronic 665 Acid, myrrhic 476 Acid, nitrtc 36 Acid, nitromuriatic 793 Acid, oleic 630 Acid, oxalic 1290 Acid, palmic 497 Acid, paratartaric 728 Acid, pectic 179 Acid, picrotoxic 252 Acid, pinic 586 Acid, polygalic 650 Acid, prussic 786 Acid, pure sulphuric 799 Acid, pyroligneous 41 Acid, quercitric 583 Acid, quinic 239 Acid, racemic 72S Acid, rhabarbaric 595 1344 Index. Acid, ricinic 497 Acid, sabadillic 609 Acid, saccharic 617, S16 Acid, sacchulmic 617 Acid, salicylous 623 Acid, stearic 630 Acid, succinic 796 Acid, sulphovinic S10 Acid, sulphuric 43 Acid, sulphurous 696 Acid, sylvic 586 Acid, tanacetic 7C4 Acid, tannic ' 800 Acid, tartaric 49 Acid, turpentinic 500 Acid, ulmic 726 Acid, valerianic 731 Acid, veratric 609 Acid, virgineic 650 Acida 779 Acids 779 Acidulous water of car- bonate of soda 1125 Acidum aceticum 7S0 Acidum aceticum cam- phoratum 778 Acidum aceticum dilu- tum 783 Acidum arseniosum 17 Acidum benzoicum 784 Acidum citricum 28 Acidum gal lieu in 1260 Acidum hydriodicum 1268 Acidum hydrochloricum 31 Acidum hydrochloricum dilutum 792 Acidum hydrocyanicum 786 Acidum hydrocyanicum dilutum 786 Acidum lacticum 1279 Acidum muriaticum 31 Acidum muriaticum dilu- tum 792 Acidum nitricum 36 Acidum nitricum dilutum 793 Acidum nitromuriaticum 793 Acidum oxalicum 1290 Acidum phosphoricum dilutum 795 Acidum prussicum 786 Acidum pyroligneum 41 Acidum succinicum 796 Acidum sulphuricum 43 Acidum sulphuricum aro- maticum 797 Acidum sulphuricum di- lutum 79S Acidum sulphuricum pu- rum 799 Acidum sulphuricum ve- nale 43 Acidum tannicum 800 Acidum tartaricum 49 Acipenser huso 387 Acipenser ruthenus 387 Acipenser stellatus 3S7 Acipenser sturio 387 Aconite 52 Aconitia 54, 803 Aconitic acid 54 Aconitina 54,803 Aconitum 52 Aconitum anthora 52 Aconitum cammarum 52 Aconitum ferox 53 Aconitum napellus^, 53 Aconitum neomontanum 52 Aconitum Neubergense 53 Aconitum paniculatum 52 Aconitum Sinense 53 Aconitum Taurieum 53 Aconitum uncinatum 53 Acorus 145 Acorus calamus 145 Actaea alba 1222 Actaea Americana 1222 Actoea racemosa 210 Actaea rubra 1222 Aetata spicata 1222 Adansonia digitata 1223 Adeps 55 Adeps ovillus praeparatus 662 Adeps suillus praeparatus 55 Adhesive plaster 921, 922 Adiaiitum capillus veneris 1223 Adiantum pedatum 1223 Administering medicines, mode of 1316 jErugo 290 jEsculus hippocastanum 1223 /Ether aceticus 1222 /Ether hydrocyanicus 1268 jEther muriaticus 1283 iEther nitrosns 815 jKther sulphuricus 805 ^Etherea 805 .ZEthiops vegetabilis 1258 Agaric 1223 Agaric of the oak 1224 Agaric, purging 1223 Agaric, white 1223 Agathis Damarra 713 Agathosmas 301 Agathotes chirayta 209 Agave Americana 1224 Agave Virginica 1224 Agnmonia eupatoria 1224 Agrimony, common 1224 Aix la Cliapelle water 113 Ajuga chamaepitys 1225 Ajuga pvramidalis 1225 Ajuga replans 1225 Alantin 389 Albumen, as an antidote for corrosive sublimate 983 Albumen ovi 529 Albumen, vegetable 723 Albuminate of iron 1225 Albuminate of iron and potassa, syrup of 1225 Alceae iEgyptiacae 1268 Alchemilla vulgaris 1225 Alcohol, Lond.. Ed., Dub. 60 Alcohol, U. S.' 57 Alcohol, absolute 61 Alcohol, ammoniated 834 Alcohol, as a poison 63 Alcohol, diluted 822 Alcohol dilutum 822 Alcohol, preparations of 822 Alcoholic extract of aco- nite 934 Alcoholic extract of bel- S- ladonna 936 Alcoholic extract of hem- lock 940 Alcoholic extract of hen- bane 943 Alcoholic fermentation 58 Alcoholic muriatic ether 1284 Alcoholic potassa 1081 Alcoholmeter, Gay-Lus- sac's centesimal 1341 Alcornoque 1225 Aldehyd 15, 817 Aldehyd resin 15, 817 Alder, American 1226 Aldpr, black 574 Alder, common Euro- pean 1226 Ale 741 Alembic 760 Aleppo scammony 642 Aletris 64 Aletris farinosa 64 Alexandria senna 653 Alhagi Maurorum 447 Alisma plantago 1225 Alizarin 602 Alkalimetry 564 Alkanet 1225 Alliaria officinalis 1226 Allium 64 Allium cepa 67 Allium porrum 559 Allium sativum 65 Allspice 539 Allyle 665 Almond confection 892 Almond emulsion 1029 Almond mixture 1029 Almond oil soap 631 Almonds, bitter 89,90 Almonds, sweet 89, 90 Alnus glutinosa 1226 Alnus serrulata 1226 Aloe 67 Aloe arborescens 67, 72 Aloe Barbadensis 67 Aloe commelyni 67 Aloe hepatica 67 Aloe Indica 67, 7L Aloe multiformis 67 Aloe purpurascens 67, 72 Aloe Socotrina 68 Aloe spicata 68 Aloe vera 68 Aloe vulgaris 68 Aloes 67 Aloes, Barbadoes 72 Aloes, Bethelsdorp 69 Aloes, caballine 72 Aloes, Cape 69 Aloes, fetid 72 Aloes, hepatic 71 Aloes, horse 72 Aloes, Mocha 72 Aloes, shining 69 Aloes, Socotrine 70 Index. 1345 Aloesin 73 Aloetic pills 1060 Alpinia cardamomum 176 Alpinia galanga 1259 Alteratives 3 Althaea 75 Althaea officinalis 75 Althaea rosea 76 Alum 77 Alum, ammoniacal 78 Alum cataplasm 883 Alum, dried 823 Alum ores, 77 Alum, preparations of 823 Alum-root 369 Alumen 77 Alumen exsiccatum 823 Alumen siccatum 823 Alumen ustum 824 Alumina 79 Alumina, sulphate of 1305 Alumina? sulphas 1305 Amber 693 Amber eupione 1285 Ambergris 1226 Ambra grisea 1226 Ambrein 1226 American agave 1224 American aloe 1224 American centaury 611 American columbo 336 American dittany 1254 American gentian 337 American hellebore 734 American ipecacuanha 323, 353 American sanicle 369 American senna 187 American silver fir 710 American spikenard 117 Amide 1004 Amidin 95 Amidogen 1004 Ammonia 80 Ammonia, aromatic spirit of, 834 Ammonia, bicarbonate of 824 Ammonia, carbonate of 825 Ammonia, hydrochlorate of 84 Ammonia, hydrosulphuret of 827 Ammonia, muriate of 84 Ammonia, preparations of 824 Ammonia, sesquicarbo- nate of Ammonia, solution of Ammonia, spirit of Ammonia, stronger solu tion of Ammonia, succinate of Ammonia, water of Ammoniac Ammoniac mixture Ammoniac plaster Ammoniacal alum Ammoniacal ointment, vesicating 85 Ammoniacum 87 Ammoniae acetatis aqua 831 Ammoniae aqua 828 Ammonias aqua fortior 82 Ammoniae arsenias 1230 Ammoniae bicarbonas 824 Ammoniae carbonas 825 Ammoniae carbonatis aqua Ammoniae causticae aqua 827 828 827 82 1295 825 828 833 82 796 828 87 1029 911 78 Ammoniae citras 1246 Ammoniae hydrochloras 84 Ammoniae hydrosulphu- retum Ammoniae liquor fortior Ammoniae murias Ammoniae phosphas Ammoniae sesquicarbonas 825 Ammoniated alcohol 834 Ammoniated copper 897 Ammoniated copper, so- lution of 899 Ammoniated iron 974 Ammoniated mercury 1004 Ammoniated tincture of castor 1166 Ammoniated tincture of guaiac 1173 Ammoniated tincture of opium 1180 Ammoniated tincture of valerian 1187 Ammonii iodidum 1272 Ammonio-chloride of iron 974 Ammonio-chloride of iron, tincture of 975 Ammonio-chloride of sil- ver 1241 Ammonio-citrate of iron 1246 Ammonio-tartrate of iron 1227 Ammonium 81 Ammonium, chloride of 86 Ammonium, iodide of 1272 Ammonium, oxide of 81 Amomum angustifolium 175 Amomum cardamomum 175 Amomum grana paradisi Amomum maximum Amomum melegueta Amomum repens Amomum zingiber Amorphous quinia Amygdala amara Amygdala dulcis Amygdalae oleum Amygdalic acid Amygdalin Amygdaline soap Amygdalus communis Amygdalus Persiea Aniylum Amyris caranna Amyris commiphora Amyris elemifera Amyris Gileadensis Amyris kataf Amyris tomentosum 176 175 176 176 749 1117 89, 90 89,90 484 91 91 631 89 93 94 1240 1232 310 1231 474 1306 Anacardic acid 1227 Anacardium occidentale 1227 Anacyclus officinarum 578 Anacyclus pyrethrum 578 Anagallis arvensis 1227 Anagallis caerulea 1227 Anamirta cocculus 251 Anchusa Italica 1228 Anchusa officinalis 1227 Anchusa tinctoria 1225 Anchusic acid 1226 Anderson's pills 1060 Andira inermis 349 Andira retusa 349 Andromeda arborea 1228 Andromeda mariana 122S Andromeda speciosa 1228 Anemone, meadow 1228 Anemone nemorosa 1228 Anemone pratensis 122S Anemone pulsatilla 1228 Anemonin 1228 Anethum 97 Anethum fceniculum 335 Anethum graveolens 97 Angelica 98 Angelica archangelica 98 Angelica atropurpurea 98 Angelica officinalis 98 Angelica-tree bark 117 Angelicic acid 99 Angustura 99 Angustura, false 101 Anhydrous alcohol 61 Anhydrous hydrocyanic acid 788, 790 Animal charcoal 170 Animal charcoal as an agent for procuring vegetable active prin- ciples SS2 Animal charcoal, purified 882 Animal oil 85 Animal oil soda soap 632 Anime 1228 Anise 102 Aniseed, star 103 Anisum 102 Annotta 1228 Anodyne liniment 1021 Anodynes 3 Antacids 3 Anthelmintics 3 Anthemis 103 Anthemis arvensis 103 Anthemis cotula 27S Anthemis nobilis 104 Anthemis pyrethrum 578 Anthemis tinctoria 104 Anthracite 169 Anthrakokali 1229 Anthriscus cerefolium 1229 Antilithics 2 Antimonial ointment 1192 Antimonial powder 852 Antimonial wine 847 Antimonic acid 106 Antimonii et potassas tar- tras S37 Antimonii oxidum S35 1346 Index. Antimonii oxydum nitro- muriaticum Antimonii oxysulphure- tum Antimonii potassio-tar- tras Antimonii sesquisulphu- retum Antimonii sulphuretum Antimonii sulphuretum aureum Antimonii sulphuretum praecipitatum Antimonii sulphuretum praeparatum Antimonious acid Antimonium Antimonium diaphoreti- cum 836 837 107 107 106 105 1255 Antimonium tartarizatum 837* Antimony Antimony ash Antimony, crocus of Antimony, nitromuriatic oxide of Antimony, oxide of Antimony, oxychloride of 836 Antimony, oxysulphuret of Antimony, precipitated sulphuret of Antimony, preparations of Antimony, prepared sul phuret of Antimony, suboxide of Antimony, sulphuret of Antimony, tartarized Antimony, teroxide of Antirrhinic acid Antirrhinum linaria Antispasmodics Apiin Apis mellifica 198, 455 Apium petroselinum 535 Apocynin 109 Apocynum androsaemifo- lium 108 Apocynum cannabinum 108 Apothecaries' measure 1323 Apothecaries' weight Apotheme Application of heat Approximative measure ment Aqua Aqua acidi carbonici 105 105 838 836 835 848 848 835 S48 106 107 837 835 299 1229 2 535 1323 926 758 1327 109 858 Aqua aluminosa Bateana 824 Aqua ammoniae 828 Aqua anethi 860 Aqua Binelli 1229 Aqua calcis 877 Aqua calcis composita 878 Aqua camphorae 860 Aqua carbonatis sodae acidula 1125 Aqua carui 861 Aqua cassiae S61 Aqua chlorinii 861 Aqua cinnamomi 863 Aqua destillata 855 Aqua riorum aurantii 863 Aqua fluvialis 111 Aqua fceniculi 863 Aqua fontana HI Aqua fortis 37 Aqua lauro-cerasi 863 Aqua luciae 631 Aqua menthae piperitae 864 Aqua menthae pulegii 864 Aqua menthae viridis 864 Aqua phagedaenica 981,982 Aqua picis liquidae 865 Aqua pimentae 865 Aqua pulegii 864 Aqua regia 794 Aqua rosae 865 Aqua sambuci 866 Aqua sapphirina 292 Aquae destillata? 856 Aquae medicatae 856 Aquilegia vulgaris 1229 Arabin 9 Aralia hispida 117 Aralia nudicaulis 116 AraHa racemosa 117 Aralia spinosa 117 Araucaria Dombeyi 713 Arbor vita? 1310 Arbutus uva ursi 729 Arcanum duplicatum 571 Archil 420 Arctium lappa 117 Arctostaphylos uva ursi 729 Ardent spirits of com- merce 59 Areca catechu 194, 1229 Areca nut 1229 Argel 653 Argemone Mexicana 1230 Argenti chloridum 1241 Argenti cyanidum 866 Argenti cyanuretum 866 Argenti iodidum 1274 Argenti nitras 866 Argenti nitras fusum 866 Argenti nitratis crystalli 871 Argenti oxidum 1293 Argentine flowers of an- timony 106 Argentum 118 Argol 560 Arica bark 227 Aricina 235 Aristolochia clematitis 657 Aristolochia hastata 659 Aristolochia hirsuta 658 Aristolochia Indica 658 Aristolochia longa 657 Aristolochia pistolochia 657 Aristolochia reticulata 659 Aristolochia rotunda 657 Aristolochia sagittata 659 Aristolochia semper vi- rens 658 Aristolochia serpentaria 658 Aristolochia tomentosa 658 Armoracia 119 Arnica 121 Arnica montana 121 Arnotta 1228 Aromatic acetic acid 779 Aromatic confection 893 Aromatic mixture of iron 1031 Aromatic plaster 912 Aromatic powder 1109 Aromatic spirit of ammo- nia 834 Aromatic spirit of vinegar 779 Aromatic sulphuric acid 797 Aromatic syrup of rhu- barb 1151 Aromatic vinegar 779 Arrow-root 449 Arseniate of ammonia 1230 Arseniate of iron 1230 Arsenic acid 18 Arsenic, bisulphuret of 1299 Arsenic, metallic 17 Arsenic, preparations of 871 Arsenic, tersulphuret of 1289 Arsenical paste 20 Arsenical solution 871 Arsenical solution of Pearson 18 Arsenici iodidum 1272 Arsenici oxydum album 17 Arsenici oxydum album sublimatum 871 Arsenicum album 17 Arsenious acid 17 Arsenious acid as a poison 20 Arsenious acid, tests for 24 Arsenite of potassa, solu- tion of 871 Arsenite of quinia 239 Art of prescribing medi- cines 1315 Artemisia abrotanum 4 Artemisia absinthium 4 Artemisia Chinensis 466 Artemisia contra 122 Artemisia glomerata 122 Artemisia Indica 466 Artemisia Judaica 122 Artemisia moxa 466 Artemisia Pontica 4 Artemisia santonica 122 Artemisia vulgaris 4 Arterial stimulants 2 Artichoke, garden 1255 Artificial camphor 500 Artificial Cheltenham salt 1241 Artificial gum 96 Artificial musk 1285 Artificial naphtha 534 Artificial Seltzer water 858 Arum 123 Arum maculatum 123 Arum triphyllum 123 Asagraea officinalis 609 Asarabacca 124 Asarin 125 Asarum 124, 125 Asarum Canadense 125 Asarum Europaeum 124 Asbolin 1304 Asclepias curassavica 1230 Index. 1347 Asclepias, flesh-coloured 126 Asclepias gigantea 1237 Asclepias incarnata 126 Asclepias pseudosarsa 1267 Asclepias Syriaca 127 Asclepias tuberosa 127 Asclepias vincetoxicum 1255 Ash-bark 223 Asiatic pills 20 Asparagin 76 Asparagus 1230 Asparagus officinalis 1230 Asparamide 76 Asparmic acid 76 Aspartic acid 76 Aspen 1298 Asphaltum 534 Aspidium 332 Aspidium filix faemina 1231 Aspidium filix mas 332 Asplenium adiantum ni- grum 1231 Asplenium filix fcemina 1231 Asplenium scolopendrium 1302 Asplenium trichomanes 1231 Assafetida 128 Assafetida mixture 1030 Assafetida pills 1061 Assafetida plaster 913 Assafoetida 128 Astragalus aristatus 720 Astragalus Creticus 720 Astragalus gummifer 720 Astragalus massiliensis 720 Astragalus strobiliferus 720 Astragalus tragacantha 720 Astragalus verus 720 Astringents 2 Athyrium filix fcemina 1231 Atkinson's depilatory 1290 Atropa belladonna 137 Atropa mandragora 1281 Atropia 138 Attar of roses 498 Aurantii aqua 863 Aurantii cortex 131 Aurantii oleum 132 Aurantium 131 Aurum 1262 Ava 1282 Avena 134 Avena sativa 134 Avenae farina 134 A^ens, purple 351 Avens, root of 352 Avens, water 351 Avoirdupois weight 1323 Axungia 55 Aydendron laurel 1296 Azedarach 135 Azure 1303 B ;her, tonic pills of 942 austines 358 m 456 Balm of Gilead 712, 1231 Balsam apple 1283 Balsam, Canada 712 Balsam, Carpathian 709 Balsam, Hungarian 1300 Balsam of copaiva 270 Balsam of fir 712 Balsam of Gilead 1231 Balsam of Peru 473 Balsam of sulphur 1231 Balsam of Tolu 715 Balsam, Riga 1300 Balsam-weed 1270 Balsamina 1283 Balsamodendron Gilea- dense 1231 Balsamodendron myrrha 474 Balsamum Canadense 708 Balsamum Carpaticum 1300 Balsamum Gileadense 1231 Balsamum Libani 1300 Balsamum Peruvianum 473 Balsamum Tolutanum 715 Balsamum tranquilans 1231 Balsamum traumaticum 1163 Balston Spa water ' 114 Baneberry i222 Baobab 1223 Baphia nitida 1238 Baptisia tinctoria 1232 Barbadoes aloes 72 Barbadoes nuts 705 Barbadoes tar 533 Barbary gum 8 Barberry 1234 Barii chloridum 873 Barii iodidum 1274 Barilla 672, 673 Barium 135 Barium, chloride of 873 Bark, ash 223 Bark, Calisaya 225 Bark, Caribaean 234 Bark, crown 222 Bark, Cusco 227 Bark, gray 223 Bark, Huamilies 224 Bark, Huanuco 223 Bark, Jaen 223 Bark, Lima 223 Bark, Loxa 222 Bark, Maracaybo 230 Bark, new 233 Bark, pale 221 Bark, Peruvian 212 Bark, pitaya 234 Bark, red 229 Bark, St. Lucia 234 Bark, Santa Martha 232 Bark, silver 223 Bark, yellow 225 Barks, Carthagena 230 Barks, false 234 Barley 373 Barley sugar 617 Barley water 905 Baroselenite 137 Barosma crenata 301 Baryta 136 Barvta, carbonate of 136 Baryta, muriate of 873 Baryta, preparations of 873 Baryta, sulphate of 137 Baryta water 136 Barytae carbonas 136 Barytae murias 873 Barytae muriatis aqua 875 Barytae sulphas 137 Barytina 733 Basil 1288 Basilicon ointment 889 Bassora gum 1232 Bassorin 1232 Bastard ipecacuanha 1230 Bastard dittany 1256 Bateman's drops 1181 Bates's alum water 824 Bath water 114 Baths 115 Baume de commandeur 1163 Baume tranquille 1231 Baume's hydrometer 754 Baume's hydrometer, ta- ble of the value of the degrees of, in sp. gr. 1338 Bay salt 677 Bay tree berries and leaves 425 Bdellium 1232 Bead tree, common 135 Beaked hazel 1254 Bean of St. Ignatius 1233 Bearberry 729 Bear's-foot 1267 Beaver tree 443 Bebeerin 1233 Bebeeru bark 1233 Beccabunga 1313 Beck's hydrometer, value of the degrees of, in sp. gr. 1338 Bedeguar 1233 Bedford spring water 114 Beech-drops 1289 Beet sugar 614 Belladonna 137 Belladonnin 139 Bendee 1268 Bengal opium • 511 Benne 660 Benne oil 660 Benzoic acid 784 Benzoin 141 Benzoin, flowers of 784 Benzoin odoriferum 1233 Benzoinum 141 Benzyle 92, 785 Berberin 1234 Berberis Canadensis 1234 Berberis vulgaris 1234 Bergamii oleum 485 Bergamotae oleum 485 Betel 1230 Betel-nut 1229 Bethelsdorp aloes 69 Betonica officinalis 1234 Betony, wood 1234 Betulaalba 1234 Betula lenta 1234 Betula papyracea 123<* 1348 Index. Betulin 1234 Bezoar 1234 Biborate of soda 671 Bibromide of mercury 1236 Bicarbonate of ammonia 824 Bicarbonate of potassa 1089 Bicarbonate of soda 1122 Bichloride of mercury 979 Bicyanide of mercury 991 Bicyanuret of mercury 991 Biferrocyanuret of potas- sium 787 Bignonia catalpa 1240 Bilifulvin 1293 Bilin 1292 Biliverdin 1292 Biniodide of mercury 993 Binoxalate of potassa 12, 1291 Binoxide of mercury 999 Birch, European 1234 Birch, sweet 1234 Bird-lime 1234 Bismuth 142 Bismuth, magistery of 876 Bismuth, protoxide of 143 Bismuth, sesquioxide of 143 Bismuth, subnitrate of 875 Bismuth, white oxide of 875 Bismuthi subnitras 875 Bismuthi trisnitras 875 Bismuthum 142 Bismuthum album 875 Bistort root 558 Bisulphate of potassa 1095 Bisulphuret of carbon 1235 Bisulphuret of mercury 1002 Bitartrate of potassa 560 Biting stone-crop 1302 Bitter almonds 89, 90 Bitter candytuft 1269 Bitter cucumber 259 Bitter polygala 558 Bittersweet 304 Bitumen petroleum 533 Bituminous coal 169 Bixa orellana 1228 Black alder 574 Black ash 672 Black birch 1234 Black cyanuret of potas- sium 1099 Black draught 1016 Black drink 1270 Black drop 776 Black flux 562, 1088 Black hellebore 365 Black ipecacuanha 401 Black lead 1240 Black mustard seeds 664 Black nightshade 304 Black oxide of iron 966 Black oxide of manganese 445 Black oxide of mercury 994 Black pepper 540 Black pitch 546 Black poplar 1298 Black poppy 506 Black salts 563 Black snakeroot 210, 1301 Black spruce 710 Black sulphuret of mer cury 1001 Black tea 1308 Blackberry-root 603 Black-oak bark 581 Bladder-senna 1252 Bladder-wrack 1258 Blazing star 64 Bleaching powder 149 Blende 746 1219 Blessed thistle 196 Blistering cloth 887 Blistering paper 887 Blistering plaster 885 Blisters, use of 164 Block tin 684 Blood weed 1230 Bloodroot 626 Blue flag 405 Blue gentian 348 Blue pills 1067 Blue stone 291 Blue vitriol 291 Blunt-leaved dock 605 Bog-bean 459 Boheic acid Bole Armenian 1235 Boles 1235 Boletus fomentarius 1224 Boletus igniarius 1224 Boletus laricis 1223 Boletus ribis 1224 Boletus ungulatus 1224 Bolus Veneta 1312 Bone 527 Bone-ash 528 Bone-black 172 Bone-earth 528 Bone-phosphate of lime 528 Boneset 320 Bone-spirit 84 Bonplandia trifoliata 99 Boracic acid 670 Boracic acid, native 669 Borage 1235 Borago officinalis 1235 Borate of soda 669 Borax 669 Borax, octohedral 670 Borax, prismatic 670 Bordeaux turpentine 711 Borneo camphor 156 Boswellia serrata 505 Boullay's filter 763 Bouncing bet 1301 Brake, common 1231 Bran 724 Brandy 57 Brandy mixture 1033 Brasiletto 1236 Brass 747 Brazil wood 1236 Briancon manna 447 Brighton water 113 Brimstone 694 British barilla 672 British gum 95 British oil 502 British vinegar 15 Bromide of iron 1236 Bromide of potassium 1097 Bromides of mercury 1236 Bromine 143 Brominum 143 Brooklime 1313 Broom 647 Broom, Spanish 1304 Broom-rape 1289 Broussonnetia tinctoria 1259 Brown mixture 1321 Brown sugar 613, 618 Brucea antidysenterica 101 Brucia 477 Bryonia alba 1236 Bryonia dioica 1236 Bryonin 1236 Bryony 1236 Bubon galbanum 338 Bucharian rhubarb 59S ,594 Buchu 301 Buckbean 459 Buckthorn berries 586 Buckwheat 559 Buena 213 Bugle, common 1225 Bugle-weed 436 Bugloss 1227 Burdock 118 Burgundy pitch 542 Burnett's disinfecting li- quid 1216 Burning bush 1257 Burnt alum S24 Burnt hartshorn 881 Burnt sienna 1303 Burnt sponge 1136 Burnt umber 1311 Bursera gummifera 1240 Butea frondosa 416 Butea gum 416 Butter of zinc 1215 Buttercup 584 Butterfly-weed 127 Butternut 410 Button snakeroot 318, 1280 c Caballine aloes 72 Cabbage-tree bark 349 Cacao 1248 Cadmii sulphas 1305 Cadmium, sulphate of 1305 Casnotus 316 Caesalpina Braziliensis 1236 Caesalpina crista 1236 Caesalpina echinata 1236 Caesalpina sappan 1236 Caffeic acid 1250 Caffein 1250 Caffeo-tannic acid 1250 Cahinca 1236 Cahincic acid 1237 Cajeput oil 4S6 Cajuputi 486 Calamina 748 Calamina praeparata 1214 Index. 1349 Calamine 748 Calamine, prepared 1214 Calamus 145 Calamus aromaticus 145 Calamus draco 1256 Calamus rotang 1256 Calcii chloridum 146 Calcination 764 Calcined magnesia 1024 Calcined mercury 998 Calcis carbonas 283 Calcis carbonas praecipi- tatum 878 Calcis hydras 147 Calcis murias 146 Calcis muriatis aqua 880 Calcis muriatis solutio 880 Calcis phosphas praecipi- tatum 881 Calendula officinalis 1237 Calendulin 1237 Calico bush 1276 Calisaya bark 225 Callicocca ipecacuanha 399 Calomel 985 Calomel, Howard's 987 Calomel, Jewell's 987 Calomel pills 1069 Calomel pills, compound 1061 Calomel, precipitated 990 Calomelas 985 Calomelas praecipitatum 990 Calomelas sublimatum 985 Calophyllurn inophyllum 1306 Calophyllurn tacamahaca 1306 Caltoropis gigantea 1237 Calotropis madarii Indico- orientalis 1237 Calumba 261 Calx 147 Calx chlorinata 149 Cambogia 342 Camellia sasanqua 1308 Camphene 155 Camphor 153 Camphor, artificial 500 Camphor liniment 1020 Camphor liniment, com- pound 1020 Camphor water 860 Camphora 153 Camphora officinarum 153 Camphorated acetic acid 778 Camphorated soap lini- ment 1021 Camphorated tincture of opium 1181 Camphorated tincture of soap 1184 Camphoric acid 155 k Cam wood 1238 Canada balsam 712 Canada fleabane 316 Canada pitch 544 Canada snakeroot 125 Canada turpentine 708, 712 Canarium commune 311 Canary seed Cancer-root Candytuft, bitter 1269 Cane brimstone 695 Cane sugar 614 Canella 158 Canella alba 158 Canna 159 Canna coccinea 159 Canna starch 159 Cannabis Indica 1238 Cannabis sativa 1238 Cantharides 161 Cantharidin 162 Cantharis 160 Cantharis asneas 166 Cantharis albida 166 Cantharis aszelianus 166 Cantharis atrata 166 Cantharis cinerea 165 Cantharis marginata 166 Cantharis Nuttalli 166 Cantharis politus 166 Cantharis vesicatoria 161 Cantharis vittata 165 Caoutchouc 1239 Cap cement 762 Cape aloes 69 Cape gum 9 Caper-bush 1239 Caper plant 1289 Caphopicrite 595 Capnomor 279 Capparis spinosa 1239 Capsicin 168 Capsicum 167 Capsicum annuum 167 Capsicum baccatum 167 Capsicum frutescens 167 Capsules of gelatin 1261 Caramel 617 Caranna 1240 Caraway 180 Caraway water 861 Carbo 169 Carbo animalis 170 1289 Carbo animalis purificatus 882 Carbo ligni 173 Carbo-hydrogens 17Q Carbon 169 Carbonate of ammonia 825 Carbonate of baryta 136 Carbonate of iron, pills of 1065 Carbonate of iron, preci- pitated 969 Carbonate of lead 551 Carbonate of lime 283 Carbonate of lime, preci- pitated 878 Carbonate of magnesia 438 Carbonate of potassa 1084 Carbonate of potassa from crystals of tartar 1087 Carbonate of potassa from pearlash 1084 Carbonate of potassa, im- pure 562 Carbonate of potassa, pure 1087 Carbonate of potassa, so- lution of 1088 Carbonate of soda 673 Carbonate of soda, dried 1122 Carbonate of soda, water of 1122 Carbonate of zinc 748 Carbonated waters 112 Carbonic acid 859 Carbonic acid water 858 Carburet of iron 1240 Carburet of sulphur 1235 Cardamine 174 Cardamine pratensis 174 Cardamom 174 Cardamomum 174 Cardinal flower 436 Cardol 1227 Carduus benedictus 196 Caribaean bark 234 Carminative, Dalby's 440 Carminatives 3 Carmine 253 Carnation 296 Carolina pink 680 Carota 178 Carotin 179 Carpathian balsam 709 Carpobalsamum 1231 Carrageen 209 Carrageenin 210 Carrot cataplasm 883 Carrot root 179 Carrot seeds 178 Carthagena barks 230 Carthamic acid 180 Carthamine 180 Carthamus 180 Carthamus tinctorius 180 Cartier's hydrometer 1340 Carui 180 Carum 180 Carum carui 181 Caryophylli oleum 487 Caryophyllic acid 488 Caryophyllin 183 Caryophyllus 181 Caryophyllus aromaticus 182 Cascarilla 184 Cascarillin 185 Cashew nut 1227 Cassava 705 Cassia 186, 249 Cassia acutifolia 652 Cassia iEthiopica 653 Cassia Brasiliana 187 Cassia buds 250 Cassia caryophyllata 1253 Cassia elongata 652 Cassia fistula 186 Cassia lanceolata 652, 653 Cassia Marilandiea 187 Cassia obovata 652 Cassia ovata 653 Cassia, purging 186 Cassia senna 651 Cassia? fistula? pulpa 1107 Cassia? oleum 488 Cassiae pulpa 1107 Cassina 1270 Cassumuniar 1314 Cassuvium pomiferum 1227 1350 Index. Castanea 188 Castanea pumila 188 Castile soap 632 Castillon's powders 880 Castor 1S9 Castor fiber 189 Castor oil 494 Castoreum 189 Castorin 190 Cat thyme 1309 Catalpa cordifolia 1240 Catalpa tree 1240 Cataplasma aluminis 883 Cataplasma carbonis ligni 883 Cataplasma conii 883 Cataplasma dauci 883 Cataplasma fermenti 884 Cataplasma lini 884 Cataplasma simplex 884 Cataplasma sinapis 884 Cataplasmata 882 Cataplasms 882 Cataria 190 Catawba tree 1240 Catch-fly 1303 Catechu 191 Catechuic acid 194 Catechuin 194 Catechus, non-officinal 194 Cathartic clyster 923 Cathartics 2 Cathartin 656 Cathartocarpus fistula 186 Catmint 191 Catnep 190 Caustic potassa 1080 Caustics - 2 Causticum commune acerrimum 1081 Causticum commune mitius 1082 Cayenne pepper 167 Ceanothus Americanus 1240 Cedar apples 413 Cedar, red 413 Celandine 1240 Celastrus scandens 1240 Cement for broken glass 761 Cement, soft 762 Centaurea benedicta 196 Centaurin 197 Centaurium 197 Centaury, American 611 Centaury, European 197 Centesimal alcoholmeter 755, 1340 Cephaelis ipecacuanha 399 Cera 198 Cera alba 199 Cera flava 198 Cerain 199 Cerasin 9 Cerasus lauro-cerasus 426 Cerasus serotina 576 Cerasus Virginiana 576 Cerata 885 Cerate of calamine 891 Cerate of carbonate of zinc 891 Cerate of mercury, com- pound 888 Cerate of Spanish flies 885 Cerate of subacetate of lead 889 Cerate, simple, 891 Cerated glass of antimony 1261 Cerates Ceratum Ceratum calaminae Ceratum cantharidis, Lond. Ceratum cantharidis, U. S. Ceratum cetacei Ceratum hydrargyri com- positum 888 Ceratum plumbi acetatis 1203 Ceratum plumbi compo- situm 889 Ceratum plumbi subace- tatis Ceratum resinae Ceratum resina? composi- 885 891 891 1193 888 889 turn 889 Ceratum sabina? 890 Ceratum saponis 890 Ceratum simplex, Ed. 88S Ceratum simplex^ U. S 891 Ceratum zinci carbonatis 891 Cerevisia? fermentum 201 Cerin 199 Ceroxylon Andicola 200 Ceruse 551 Cerussa acetata 549 Cervus elaphus 276 Cervus Virginianus 276 Cetaceum 202 Cetin 203 Cetraria 203 Cetraria Islandica 203 Cetraric acid 204 Cetrarin 204 Cevadic acid 609 Cevadilla 608 Ceylon cardamom 175 Ceylon cinnamon 249 Chaerophyllum sativum 1229 Chalk 283 Chalk mixture 1031 Chalk, prepared 879 Chalk, red 1299 Chalybeate bread 1279 Chalybeate waters 112 Chamaedrys 1309 Chamaemelum 103 Chamaepitvs 1225 Chamomile 103 Chamomile, German 454 Chamomile, wild 279 Charcoal 173 Charcoal, animal 170 Charcoal cataplasm 883 Charcoal, pure 169 Cheese-rennet 1259 Chela? cancrorum 1254 Cheledonic acid 1240 Chelerythrin 1240 Chelidonin 1240 Chelidonium majus 1240 Chelidoxanthin 1240 Cheltenham salt, artifi- cial 1241 Cheltenham water 113, 114 Chenopodium 205 Chenopodium ambrosi- oides 206 Chenopodium anthelmin- ticum 206 Chenopodium botrys 206 Cherry birch 1234 Cherry-laurel 426 Cherry-laurel water 863 Chervil 1229 Chian turpentine 708,713 Chillies 167 Chimaphila 207 Chimaphila maculata 207 Chimaphila umbellata 207 China root 634 Chinese cinnamon 249 Chinese rhubarb 591 Chinoidine 1117 Chinquapin 188 Chiococca anguifuga 1237 Chiococca densifolia 1237 Chiococca racemosa 1236 Chirayta 209 Chiretta 20S Chironia angularis 611 Chironia centaurium 197 Chlorate of potassa 565 Chloric ether 1242 Chloride of aluminium 1305 Chloride of ammonium 81,86 Chloride of barium 873 Chloride of barium, solu- tion of 875 Chloride of calcium 146 Chloride of calcium, so- lution of 880 Chloride of ethyle 1283 Chloride of gold 1263 Chloride of gold and so- dium 1263 Chloride of iron, tincture of 975 Chloride of lead 1074 Chloride of lime 149 Chloride of magnesium 1241 Chloride of potassa, so- lution of 1241 Chloride of silver 1241 Chloride of soda, solu- tion of 1126 Chloride of sodium 677 Chloride of sodium, pure 1129 Chloride of zinc 1215 Chlorinated lime 149 Chlorinated soda, solu- tion of n26 Chlorine 862 Chlorine ethers 1241 Chlorine inhalations 862 Chlorine water 861 Chloroaurate of ammonia 1263 Chloroform 1242 Chlorogenic acid 1250 Chlorohydric acid 31 Index. 1351 Chlorophylle Chocolate Chocolate nuts Choke cherry Cholepyrrhin 309 Cinchonia, kinate of 240 Club-moss 1281 1248 Cinchonia, sulphate of Clyster, cathartic 923 1248 238 , 1117 Clyster, fetid 923 576 Cinchonic acid 239 Clyster of aloes 923 1292 Cinchonic red 236 Clyster of colocynth 923 Cholesterin 1292 Cinchovatin 235 Clyster of opium 923 Cholic acid 1293 Cinnabar 1002 Clyster of turpentine 924 Chondrus 209 Cinnabaris 1002 Clysters 922 Chondrus crispus 209 Cinnamic acid 489 Cnicin 197 Christmas rose 366 Cinnamomi oleum 4S8 Cnicus benedictus 196 Chrome green 1245 Cinnamomum 245 Cobalt blue 1247 Chrome yellow 1245 Cinnamomum aromati- Cobweb 1247 Chrysanthemum parthe- cum 247 Coccoloba uvifera 415 nium 1299 Cinnamomum cassia 247 Cocculus 251 Chrysene 693 Cinnamomum culilawan Cocculus Indicus 251 Chrysophyllum glycy- 247 1254 Cocculus lacunosus 251 phlaeum 1283 Cinnamomum Loureirii 247 Cocculus Levanticus 251 Chulariose 613 Cinnamomum nitidum 247 Cocculus palmatus 261 Churrus 1238 Cinnamomum rubrum 247 Cocculus Plukenetii 251 Cichorium endivia 1245 Cinnamomum sintoc 247 Cocculus suberosus 251 Cichorium intybus 1245 Cinnamomum tamala 247 Coccus 252 Cicuta 265 Cinnamomum Zeylanicum Coccus cacti 252 Cicuta maculata 1246 246 Coccus lacca 1277 Cicuta virosa 1245 Cinnamon 245 Cochineal 252 Cicutine 266 Cinnamon water 863 Cochinilin 253 Cider 741 Cinnamyle 489 Cochlearia armoracia 120 Cimicifuga 210 Cinquefoil 1298 Cochlearia officinalis 254 Cimicifuga racemosa 210 Cissampelina 532 Cocin 1248 Cimicifuga serpentaria 210 Cissampelos glaberrima 532 Cocinic acid 1248 Cincholin 238 Cissampelos pareira 532 Cocoa 1248 Cinchona 2-12 Cistus Canadensis 1266 Cocoa butter 1248 Cinchona acutifolia 217 Cistus Creticus 1276 Codeia 515 Cinchona angustifolia 215 Cistus ladaniferus 1276 Cod-liver oil 124S Cinchona bicolorata 234 Cistus laurifolius 1276 Coffea Arabica 1249 Cinchona caduciflora 217 Citrate of ammonia 1246 Coffee 1249 Cinchona cava 218 Citrate of iron 1246 Cohobation 765, 1048 Cinchona cinerea 212 ,223 Citrate of iron and quinia Cohosh 211 Cinchona Condaminea 215 1246 Cohosh, red 1222 Cinchona cordifolia 216 Citrate of magnesia 1246 Cohosh, white 1222 Cinchona corona? 212 Citrate of potassa 1093 Coke 169 Cinchona crassifolia 218 Citrate of potassa, solu- Colchici cormus 255 Cinchona dichotoma 218 tion of 1092 Colchici radix 256 Cinchona flava 212 ,225 Citrate of quinia 239 Colchici semen 258 Cinchona glandulifera 217 Citric acid 28 Colchicia 257 Cinchona hirsuta 217 Citrine ointment 1199 Colchicum autumnale 255 Cinchona Humboldtiana 217 Citron 429 Colchicum root 255 Cinchona lanceolata 217 Citrus acris 429 Colchicum seed 255 Cinchona lancifolia 215 Citrus aurantium 131 Colchicum variegatum 1267 Cinchona lucumaefolia 217 Citrus decumana 131 Colcothar 45, 968 Cinchona macrocalyx 218 Citrus limetta 485 Cold bath 115 Cinchona macrocarpa 217 Citrus limonium 429 Cold cream 1192 Cinchona magnifolia 216 Citrus medica 429 Collinsonia Canadensis 1251 Cinchona micrantha 215 Citrus vulgaris 132 Collodion 1252 Cinchona Muzonensis 218 Civet 1247 Colocynth 259 Cinchona nitida 217 Claret 738 Colocynthin 260 Cinchona oblongifolia Clarification 758 Colocynthis 259 216 ,217 Clarified honey 1025 Colomba 261 Cinchona ovalifolia 217 Clarry 625 Colombin 262 Cinchona ovata 217 Cleansing of vessels 767 Colophonic acid 586 Cinchona pallida 212 ,221 Cleavers 1259 Colophony 585 , 712 Cinchona Pavonii 218 Clematis crispa 1247 Coloquintida 259 Cinchona pelalba 218 Clematis erecta 1247 Colouring principles 1272 Cinchona pubescens 217 Clematis flammula 1247 Coltsfoot 72c Cinchona purpurea 217 Clematis viorna 1247 Columbine 1229 Cinchona rotundifolia 217 Clematis Virginica 1247 Columbo 261 Cinchona rubra 212 ,229 Clematis vitalba 1247 Columbo, American 336 Cinchona scrobiculata 215 Climbing staff-tree 1240 Colutea arborescens 654, 1252 Cinchona stenoearpa 218 Clove bark 1253 Comfrey 1306 Cinchona villosa 217 Clove pink, flowers of 296 Commercial carbonate o f Cinchonia 237, 1117 Cloves 181 soda 671 1352 Index. Common American tur- pentine 711 Common caustic, milder 1082 Common caustic, strong- est 1081 Common European tur- pentine 711 Common salt 677 Common silkweed 127 Compound calomel pills 1061 Compound camphor lini- ment 1020 Compound cathartic pills 1062 Compound cerate of mer- cury . 888 Compound decoction of aloes 900 Compound decoction of barley 905 Compound decoction of broom 909 Compound decoction of guaiacum wood 904 Compound decoction of mallows 905 Compound decoction of sarsaparilla 908 Compound extract of co- locynth 939 Compound galbanum plaster 915 Compound honey of squill 1155 Compound infusion of catechu 1009 Compound infusion of gentian 1012 Compound infusion of mint 1013 Compound infusion of orange peel 1008 Compound infusion of Peruvian bark 1010 Compound infusion of roses 1014 Compound lime-water 878 Compound liniment of ammonia 1019 Compound liniment of mercury 1021 Compound mixture of cascarilla 1031 Compound mixture of gentian 1033 Compound mixture of iron 1032 Compound ointment of galls 1195 Compound ointment of iodine 1202 Compound ointment of lead 1203 Compound pills of aloes 1060 Compound pills of chlo- ride of mercury 1061 Compound pills of colo- cynth 1063 Compound pills of galba- num 1066 Compound pills of gam- boge 1067 Compound pills of hem- lock 1063 Compound pills of ipeca- cuanha 1069 Compound pills of iron 1066 Compound pills of rhu- barb 1071 Compound pills of saga- penum 1071 Compound pills of soap 1071 Compound pills of squill 1071 Compound pills of storax 1072 Compound plaster of Spanish flies 913 Compound powder of aloes 1109 Compound powder of alum 1109 Compound powder of antimony 852 Compound powder of asarabacca 1110 Compound powder of chalk 1110 Compound powder of chalk with opium 1110 Compound powder of jalap 1112 Compound powder of kino 1112 Compound powder of rhubarb 1113 Compound powder of scammony 1113 Compound powder of tragacanth 1113 Compound resin cerate 889 Compound saline pow- der 1113 Compound soap plaster 922 Compound solution of alum 824 Compound solution of iodine 1018 Compound spirit of ani- seed 1132 Compound spirit of horse- radish 1132 Compound spirit of juni- per 1133 Compound spirit of laven- der 1134 Compound spirit of sul- phuric ether 814 Compound sulphur oint- ment 1205 Compound syrup of sar- saparilla 1152 Compound syrup of squill 1154 Compound tincture of ammonia 1161 Compound tincture of benzoin 1162 Compound tincture of cardamom 1165 Compound tincture of cinnamon 1168 Compound tincture of colchicum 1169 Compound tincture of gentian 1172 Compound tincture of iodine 1175 Compound tincture of Peruvian bark 1167 Compound tincture of quassia 1182 Compound tincture of rhubarb 1182 Compound tincture of senna 1185 Comptonia asplenifolia 1252 Concentration 762 Concrete oil of nutmeg 470 Concrete oil of wine 813 Confectio amygdala? 892 Confectio aromatica 893 Confectio aurantii corticis 893 Confectio cassiae 893 Confectio opii 894 Confectio piperis nigri 894 Confectio rosae 895 Confectio rosae canina? 895 Confectio ruta? 895 Confectio scammonii 896 Confectio sennae 896 Confection, aromatic 893 Confection of black pep- per 894 Confection of cassia 893 Confection of dog rose 895 Confection of opium 894 Confection of orange peel 893 Confection of roses 895 Confection of rue 895 Confection of scammony 896 Confection of senna 896 Confectiones 891 Confections 891 Conia 266 Conii folia 264 Conii semen 264 Coniic acid 266 Conium 264 Conium maculatum 264 Conserva amygdalarum 892 Conserva aurantii 893 Conserva rosae 895 Conserva rosa? fructus 895 Conserva ruta? 895 Conserva? 891 Conserve of roses S95 Conserves 891 Constantinople opium 510 Contrayerva 268 Convallaria majalis 1252 Convallaria multiflora 1253 Convallariapolygonatum 1252 Convolvulus batatas 94 Convolvulus jalapa 405 Convolvulus orizabensis 408 Convolvulus panduratus 269 Convolvulus scammonia 641 Cooper's gelatin 3S8 Copaiba 270 Copaiba? oleum 271 Copaifera Beyrichii 270 Index. 1353 Copaifera bijuga 270 Creasote mixture 1031 Cuprum 288 Copaifera cordifolia 270 Creasotum 279 Cuprum ammoniatum 897 Copaifera coriacea 270 Cremor tartari 560 Curcuma 293 Copaifera Guianensis 270 Creta 283 Curcuma angustifolia 450 Copaifera Jaquini 270 Creta alba 283 Curcuma longa 293 Copaifera Jussieui 270 Creta praeparata 879 Curcuma rotunda 293 Copaifera Langsdorffii 270 Crocus 284 Curcuma zedoaria 1313 Copaifera laxa 270 Crocus of antimony 838 Curcuma zerumbet 1313 Copaifera Martii 270 Crocus sativus 284 Currant wine 740 Copaifera multijuga 270 Croton cascarilla 184 Currants, Corinthian 728 Copaifera nitida 270 Croton Eleutheria 184 Cusco bark 227 Copaifera oblongifolia 270 Croton lacciferum 1277 Cusparia 99 Copaifera officinalis 270 Croton lineare 184 Cusparia febrifuga 100 Copaifera Sellowii 270 Croton oil 502 Cusparin 101 Copaivic acid 272 Croton pavana 504 Cuttle-fish bone 1255 Copal 1253 Croton pseudo-china 184 Cyanide of silver * 866 Copalehi bark 184 Croton tiglium 502 Cyanogen 790 Copalm balsam 1280 Crotonic acid 503 Cyanohydric acid 786 Copper 288 Crotonin 503 Cyanuret of ethyle 1268 Copper, ammoniated 897 Crotonis oleum 502 Cyanuret of gold 1263 Copper as a poison 289 Crowfoot 583 Cyanuret of mercury 991 Copper, preparations ol 897 Crown bark of Loxa 222 Cyanuret of potassium 1098 Copper, subacetate of 290 Crucibles 759 Cyanuret of silver 866 Copper, sulphate of 291 Crude antimony 107 Cyanuret of zinc 1255 Copperas 972 Crude borax 669 Cycas circinalis 620 Coptis 274 Crude sal ammoniac 85 Cycas revoluta 620 Coptis teeta 275 Crude saltpetre 569 Cydonia 294 Coptis trifolia 274 Crude sulphur 695 Cydonia vulgaris 294 Coral 1253 Crude tartar 560 Cydonin 294 Corallium rubrum 1253 Crystal mineral 569 Cyminum 295 Coriander 275 Crystallization 762 Cynanchum argel 653 Coriandrum sativum 275 Crystals of acetate of Cynanchum Monspelia- Coriaria myrtifolia 654 copper 291 cum 645 Corn poppy 598 Crystals of nitrate of silver 871 Cynanchum oleaefolium 653 Cornine 277 Crystals of tartar 560 Cynanchum vincetoxi- Cornu 276 Crystals of Venus 291 cum 1255 Cornu ustum 881 Cubeba 286 Cynara scolymus 1255 Cornua cervina 276 Cubebin 287 Cynips quercusfolii 340 Cornus circinata 276 Cubebs 286 Cynoglossum officinale 1255 Cornus Florida 277 Cubic nitre 1287 Cytisin 121 Cornus sericea 278 Cubic pyrites 974 Cytisus scoparius 648 Correspondence between Cuckoo-flower 174 different thermometers 1337 Cucumber tree 443 Corrosive chloride of Cucumis colocynthis 259 mercury 979 Cucumis melo 1254 D Corrosive sublimate 979 Cucumis sativus 1254 Corsican moss 1258 Cucurbita citrullus 1254 Daffodil 1286 Cortex caryophyllata 1253 Cucurbita lagenaria 1254 Dalby's carminative 440 Cortex culilaban 1254 Cucurbita pepo 1254 Damarra turpentine 713 Cortex frangula? 587 Cudbear 420 Danais 213 Corylus rostrata 1254 Cudweed 1262 Dandelion 706 Cosmibuena 213 Cuichunchulli 402, 1276 Daphne Alpina 461 Cotton 356 Culilawan 1254 Daphne gnidium 460 Cotton, gun 1264 Culver's physic 1279 Daphne laureola 460 Cotula 278 Cumin seed 295 Daphne mezereum 460 Couch grass 1311 Cuminum 295 Daphnin 461 Coumarin 1310 Cuminum cyminum 295 Datura ferox 690 Coumarouna odorata 1310 Cunila mariana 1254 Datura stramonium 688 Court plaster 1163 Cunila pulegioides 365 Datura tatula 689 Cowbane 1245 Cupels 528 Daturia 689 Cowhage 468 Cupri acetas, Crystalli 291 Dauci radix 178 Cow-parsnep Crabs' claws 368 Cupri ammoniati aqua 899 Daucus carota 178 1254 Cupri ammoniati solutio 899 Deadly nightshade 137 Crabs' eyes Crabstones 1254 Cupri ammonio-SHlphas 897 Decocta 899 1254 Cupri subacetas 290 Decoction 762 Cranesbill 350 Cupri subacetas praepara - Decoction of aloes, com Cream of tartar 560 turn 897 pound 900 Cream of tartar, soluble 670 Cupri sulphas 291 Decoction ofbarley 904 Cream of tartar whey 562 Cupro-sulphate of ammo Decoction ofbarley, com- Creasote 279 nia 898 pound 9UO 1354 Index. Decoction of bittersweet 903 Decoction of broom, com- pound 909 Decoction of cabbage-tree bark 903 Decoction of chamomile 901 Decoction of dandelion 909 Decoction of dogwood 903 Decoction of elm bark 909 Decoction of guaiacum wood, compound 904 Decoction of Iceland moss 901 Decoction of liquorice root - 904 Decocticm of logwood 904 Decoction of mallows, compound 905 Decoction of marsh-mal- low 901 Decoction of mezereon 905 Decoction of oak bark 906 Decoction of Peruvian bark 902 Decoction of pipsissewa 901 Decoction of pomegran- ate 904 Decoction of poppy 906 Decoction of quince seeds 903 Decoction of sarsaparilla 906 Decoction of sarsaparilla, compound 908 Decoction of seneka 909 Decoction of the woods 904 Decoction of tormentil 909 Decoction of uva ursi 910 Decoction of white helle- bore 910 Decoction of white oak bark 906 Decoction of wintergreen 901 Decoction of Zittmann 908 Decoctions 899 Decoctum ad ictericos 1241 Decoctum aloes composi- tum 900 Decoctum althaea? 901 Decoctum amyli 1045 Decoctum cetraria? 901 Decoctum chamaemeli compositum 901 Decoctum chimaphila? 901 Decoctum cinchona? 902 Decoctum cornus Florida? 903 Decoctum cydonia? 903 Decoctum dulcamara? 903 Decoctum geoffroya? 903 Decoctum glycyrrhiza? 904 Decoctum granati 904 Decoctum guaiaci compo- situm 904 Decoctum hasmatoxyli 904 Decoctum hordei 904 Decoctum hordei compo- situm 905 Decoctum lichenis Islan- dici 901 Decoctum malva? compo- situm 905 Decoctum mezerei 905 Decoctum papaveris 906 Decoctum pyrola?, 901 Decoctum quercfts 906 Decoctum quercus albas 906 Decoctum sarsaparilla? 906 Decoctum sarsaparilla? compositum 908 Decoctum scoparii com- positum 909 Decoctum senegae 909 Decoctum taraxaci 909 Decoctum tormentilla? 909 Decoctum ulmi 909 Decoctum uva? ursi 910 Decoctum veratri 910 Decoctum Zittmanni 908 Deer-berry 345 Delphinia 685 Delphinium 295 Delphinium consolida 295 Delphinium exaltatum 296 Delphinium staphisagria 685 Demulcents 2 Dentellaria 1297 Deobstruents 3 Depilatory, Atkinson's 1290 Deshler's salve 890 Dewberry root 603 Dextrine 96 Diachylon 920 Diamond 169 Dianthus caryophyllus 296 Diaphoretic antimony 1255 Diaphoretics 2 Diastase 373 Dictamus albus 1256 Diet drink, Lisbon 908 Digestion 762 Digitalic acid 299 Digitalin 298 Digitalis 297 Digitalis purpurea 297 Dill seeds 97 Dill water 860 Diluted acetic acid 783 Diluted alcohol 822 Diluted-jnuriatic acid 792 Diluted nitric acid 793 Diluted phosphoric acid 795 Diluted solution of sub- acetate of lead 1074 Diluted sulphuric acid 798 Dinneford's magnesia 439 Dinner pills 1060 Diosma 301 Diosma crenata 301 Diospyros 302 Diospyros Virginiana 302 Diplolepis gallae tinctoria? 340 Dippel's animal oil • 1256 Dipterix odorata 1310 Dirca palustris •' 1256 Diserneston gummiferum 87 Dispensing of medicines 765 Displacement, method of 763, 769 Distillation 760, 772 Distillation, apparatus for 772 Distillation in vacuo 760 Distilled oils 482, 1046 Distilled verdigris 291 Distilled vinegar 773 Distilled water 855 Distilled waters 856 Disulphate of quinia 1118 Dittany, American 1254 Dittany, bastard 1256 Diuretic salt 1084 Diuretics 2 Division, mechanical 755 Dixon's antibilious pills 75 Dock, blunt-leaved 605 Dock, water 605 Dock, yellow-rooted water 606 Dog-grass 1311 Dog rose 599 Dog's-bane 108 Dog's tooth violet 319 Dogwood 277 Dogwood, round-leaved 276 Dogwood, swamp 278 Dolichos pruriens 469 Dolomite 441 Dombeya excelsa 713 Dombeya turpentine 713 Donovan's solution 1273 Dorema ammoniacum 87 Dorstenia Brasiliensis 269 Dorstenia contrayerva 269 Dorstenia Drakena 269 Dorstenia Houstonia 269 Dose of medicines 1315 Double aqua fortis 37 Dover's powder 1111 Dracaena draco 1257 Draconin 1257 Dracontium 303 Dragon-root 123 Dragon's blood 1256 Dried alum 823 Dried carbonate of soda 1122 Dried sulphate of iron 973 Drimys Chilensis 744 Drimys Winteri 744 Drops, table of 1328 Dry wines 737 Drying oils 480 Dryobalanops aromatica 156 Dryobalanops camphora 156 Dulcamara 304 Dupuytren's ointment of Spanish flies 1193 Dutch pink 1257 Dwarf elder 117 Dwarf nettle 1311 Dyers' alkanet 1225 Dyers' broom 1260 Dyers' madder 602 Dyers' oak 340 Dyers' saffron 180 Dyers' weed 1260, 1299 E Eau de Javelle Eau de luce 1241 631, 1161 Index. 1355 Eau medicinale d'Husson 258 Ecbalium elaterium 307 Effervescing draught 1093, 1321 Effervescing powders 1110 Effervescing solution of potassa 1091 Effervescing solution of soda 1125 Egg 529 Egyptian opium 510 Elasocarpus copalliferus 1253 Elaidic acid 481 El aid in 481 Elain 56 Elais Guiniensis 1294 Elaphrium elemiferum 311 Elaphrium tomentosum 1306 Elaterin 309 Elaterium 307 Elder flowers 625 Elder ointment 1204 Elder water Elecampane Electuaria Electuaries 866 389 891 891 Electuarium aromaticum 893 893 894 894 894 896 896 896 894 310 483 176 797 1161 1183 1185, 1186 341 Eleetuarium cassia? Electuarium catechu Electuarium opii Electuarium piperis Electuarium scammonii Electuarium senna? Electuary, lenitive Electuary of catechu Elemi Eleoptene Elettaria cardamomum Elixir of vitriol Elixir proprietatis Elixir sacrum Elixir salutis Ellagie acid Elm bark Elm, red Elm, slippery Elm, white Elutriation Emery Emetia Emetic tartar Emetics Emmenagogues Emollients Emplastra Emplastrum adhaesivum Emplastrum ammoniaci Emplastrum ammoniaci cum hydrargyro Emplastrum aromaticum 912 Emplastrum assafoetida? 913 Emplastrum belladonna? 913 Emplastrum calefaciens 917 Emplastrum cantharidis 885 Emplastrum cantharidis compositum 913 Emplastrum cerae 914 Emplastrum de Vigo cum mercurio ;'5 Emplastrum epispasticum 8fc5 726 726 726 727 756 1257 400 837 2 2 2 910 921 911 912 Emplastrum ferri 914 Emplastrum galbani 914 Emplastrum galbani com- positum 915 Emplastrum gummosum 915 Emplastrum hydrargyri 915 Emplastrum lithargyri 918 Emplastrum lithargyri cum resina 921 Emplastrum opii 916 Emplastrum picis 917 Emplastrum picis cum cantharide 917 Emplastrum plumbi 918 Emplastrum resina? 921 Emplastrum roborans 914 Emplastrum saponis 921 Emplastrum saponis com- positum 922 Emplastrum simplex 914 Emplastrum thuris 914 Empyreumatic oils 765 Emulsin 90 Emulsio Arabica 1028 Emulsion 1028 Endive 1245 Enema aloes 923 Enema anodynum 923 Enema catharticum 923 Enema colocynthidis 923 Enema fcetidum 923 Enema opii 923 Enema tabaci 1017 Enema terebinthinae 924 Enemata 922 English port 739 English rhubarb 593 Ens martis 975 Epidendrum vanilla 1312 Epifagus Americanus 12S9 Epigaea repens 1.257 Epispastics 2 Epsom salt 440 Equivalents, table of pharmaceutical 1329 Ergot 311 Ergota 311 Ergota?tia abortifaciens 312 Ergotin 313 Erigeron Canadense 316 Erigeron heterophyllum 317 Erigeron Philadelphicum 317 Erigeron pusilum 316 Errhines * Eryngium 318 Eryngium aquaticum 318 Eryngo, water 318 Erysimum alliana l^o Erysimum officinale 1303 Erythraea centaurium 197 Erythrasa Chilensis 197 Erythronium 318 ErythroniumAmericanum 319 Erythronium lanceolatum 319 Escharotics 2 Essence de petit grain 133 Essence of ambergris 1134 Essence of bergamot 485 Essence of peppermint 117V Essence of roses 498 Essence of spearmint 117S Essence of spruce 710 Essential oils 482, 1046 Essential salt of lemons 12, 1291 Ethal 203 Ethalic acid 203 Ether 805 Ether, acetic 1222 Ether, hydric ) 809 Ether, hydrocyanic 1268 Ether, hyponitrous 815 Ether, nitric 815 Ether, nitrous 815 Ether, oenanthic 739 Ether, rectification of 808 Ether, sulphuric 805 Ether, unrectified sulphu- ric 805 Ethereal oil 812 Ethereal solution of gun cotton 1252 Ethereal tincture of lobe- lia H77 Etherification, theory of 809 Etherine 809 Etherization 811 Etherole 813 Etherosuiphuric acid 810 Ethers 805 Ethiops mineral 1001 Ethyle 809 Eucalyptus mannifera 447 Eucalyptus resinifera 417 Eugenia caryophyllata 182 Eugenia pimenta 539 Eugenic acid 488 Eugenin 183 Euonymus Americanus 1257 Euonymus atropurpureus 1257 Euonymus Europaeus 1257 Eupatorium 319 Eupatorium aya-pana 320 Eupatorium cannabinum 320 Eupatorium perfoliatum 320 Eupatorium pilosum 319 Eupatorium purpureum 319 Eupatorium teucrifolium 319 Eupatorium verbenaefo- lium 319 Euphorbia antiquorum 324 Euphorbia Canariensis 324 Euphorbia corollata 321 Euphorbia hypericifolia 321 Euphorbia ipecacuanha 323 Euphorbia lathyris 1289 Euphorbia maculata 322 Euphorbia officinarum 324 Euphorbium 324 Euphrasia officinalis 1258 Eupione 279 European centaury 197 European rhubarb 593 Euxanthic acid 1271 Evaporation 762 Everitt's salt 787 Exogonium purga 406 Exostemma 213 Exostemma Caribaea 234 Exostemma floribunda. 234 1356 Index. Expectorants 2 Expressed oils 480 Expression 758 Extemporaneous pre- scriptions, examples of 1319 Extract of aconite 933 Extract of aconite, alco- holic 934 Extract of aloes, purified 934 Extract of belladonna 935 Extract of belladonna, al- coholic 936 Extract of bittersweet 941 Extract oflblack hellebore 942 Extract of broom tops 952 Extract of butternut 945 Extract of chamomile 935 Extract of colchicum acetic 938 Extract of colchicum cormus 938 Extract of colocynth 938 Extract of colocynth, compound 939 Extract of dandelion 953 Extract of foxglove 941 Extract of gentian 941 Extract of hemlock 940 Extract of hemlock, alco- holic 940 Extract of henbane 943 Extract of henbane, alco- holic 943 Extract of hops 943 Extract of jalap 944 Extract of lettuce 946 Extract of logwood 942 Extract of may-apple 948 Extract of nux vomica 946 Extract of oak bark 949 Extract of opium 947 Extract of pareira brava 948 Extract of Peruvian bark 936 Extract of poppy 948 Extract of quassia 949 Extract of rhatany 945 Extract of rhubarb 949 Extract of rue 950 Extract of sarsaparilla 950 Extract of sarsaparilla,' fluid 951 Extract of scammony 952 Extract of stramonium leaves 952 Extract of stramonium seed 953 Extract of uva ursi 954 Extract of wormwood 935 Extracta 924 Extracta simpliciora 933 Extractive 925 Extracts 924 Extractum aconiti 933 Extractum aconiti alco- holicum ^934 Extractum alo'es hepatica? 934 Extractum alo'es purifi- catum 934 Extractum anthemidis 935 Extractum artemisia? ab- False sarsaparilla 116 sinthii 935 False sunflower 1266 Extractum belladonnas 935 Farina 722 Extractum belladonna? Fat lute 761 alcoholicum 936 Fat manna 448 Extractum chamaemeli 935 Febure's remedy for can- Extractum cinchona? 936 cer 20 Extractum colchici ace- Fel bovinum 1292 ticum 938 Female fern 1231 Extractum colchici cormi Fennel seed 334 938 Fennel water 863 Extractum colocynthidis 938 Fenugreek 1310 Extractum colocynthidis Fermentation, alcoholic 58 compositum 939 Fermentation, vinous 58 Extractum conii 940 Fern, male 332 Extractum conii alcoholi Feronia elephantum 7 cum 940 Ferri acetas 954 Extractum digitalis 941 Ferri acetatis tinctura 954 Extractum dulcamara? 941 Ferri ammonio-chloridum Extractum elaterii 307 974 Extractum gentianae 941 Ferri ammonio-tartras 1227 Extractum glycyrrhizae 325 Ferri arsenias 1230 Extractum haematoxyli 942 Ferri bromidum 1236 Extractum hellebori 942 Ferri carbonas 969 Extractum humuli lupuli 943 Ferri carbonas sacchara Extractum hyoscyami 943 turn 955 Extractum hyoscyami al- Ferri carburetum 1240 coholicum 943 Ferri citras 1246 Extractum jalapa? 944 Ferri cyanuretum 959 Extractum juglandis 945 Ferri et potassae tartras 956 Extractum krameriae 945 Ferri et quiniae citras 1246 Extractum lactuca? 946 Ferri ferrocyanuretum 959 Extractum lupuli 943 Ferri filum 329 Extractum nucis vomica? 946 Ferri iodidi syrupus 964 Extractum opii 947 Ferri iodidum 961 Extractum opii aquosum 947 Ferri lactas 127S Extractum opii purifica- Ferri limatura 329 tum 947 Ferri muriatis tinctura 975 Extractum papaveris 948 Ferri oxidum hydratum 965 Extractum pareira? 948 Ferri oxidum nigrum 966 Extractum podophylli 948 Ferri oxidum rubrum 969 Extractum quassia? 949 Ferri oxydum rubrum 96S Extractum quercus 949 Ferri percyanidum 959 Extractum rhei 949 Ferri phosphas 968 Extractum rutae 950 Ferri potassio-tartras 956 Extractum sarsaparilla? 950 Ferri ramenta 329 Extractum sarsaparillae Ferri rubigo 969 fluidum 951 Ferri sesquioxidum 969 Extractum sarzae 950 Ferri subcarbonas 969 Extractum sarza? fluidum 951 Ferri sulphas 971 Extractum scammonii 952 Ferri sulphas exsiccatum 973 Extractum spartii scopar 952 Ferri sulphuretum 973 Extractum stramonii 953 Ferri tannas 1306 Extractum stramonii fo- Ferri tartarum 656 liorum 952 Ferri valerianas 1311 Extractum stramonii se- Ferric acid 327 minis 953 Ferrocyanate of potassa 572 Extractum styracis 1140 Ferrocyanate of quinia 239 Extractum taraxaci 953 Ferrocyanide of potas- Extractum uva? ursi 954 sium 572 Eyebright 1258 Ferrocyanogen 573 Ferrocyanuret of iron 959 Ferrocyanuret of potas- F sium 572 Ferrocyanuret of zinc 125S Ferroprussiate of potassa 572 Faba-Sancti Ignatii 1233 Ferrugo 965 Fagara octandra 1306 Ferrum 326 False' angustura 101 Ferrum ammoniatum 974 | False barks 234 Ferrum. Oxydi squama? 330 Index. 1357 Ferrum tartarizatum 956 Ferula assafcetida 128 Ferula ferula'go 338 Ferula galbanifera 338 Ferula Persiea 129 Ferula tingitana 87 Fetid aloes 72 Fetid clyster 923 Fetid spirit of ammonia 835 Fever-bush 1233 Feverfew 1299 Fever-root 721 Fibrin, vegetable 723 Ficus 331 Ficus carica 331 Ficus Indica 1277 Ficus religiosa 1277 Figs 331 Figwort leaves 648 Filix 332 Filix mas 332 Filter, Boullay's 763 Filters 757 Filtration 757 Filtration at a boiling heat 757 Filtration by displace- ment 763,769 Fine-leaved water hem- lock 1288 Fishery salt 678 Fixed air 859 Fixed oils 480 Flag, blue 405 Flag, sweet 145 Flake manna 447 Flammula Jovis 1247 Flax 430 Flax, purging 432 Flaxseed 430 Flaxseed cataplasm 884 Flaxseed meal 431 Flaxseed oil 491 Fleabane, Canada 316 Fleabane, Philadelphia 317 Fleabane, various leaved 317 Fleawort 1297 Flesh-coloured asclepias 126 Foliated earth of tartar 1084 Form in which medicines are exhibited 1318 Formula? for prescrip- tions 1319 Fossil salt 677 Fothergill's pills 75 Fowler's solution S71 Foxglove 297 Frangula? cortex 587 Frankincense 505, 543 Frasera 336 Frasera Carolinensis 336 Frasera Walteri 336 Fraxinella, white 1256 Fraxinus excelsior 446 Fraxinus ornus 447 Fraxinus parviflora 446 French berries 587 French chalk 1258 French rhubarb 594 French vinegar 15 Friar's balsam 1163 Frost-weed 1266 Frostwort 1266 Fruit sugar 613 Fucus crispus 209 Fucus helminthocorton 1258 Fucus vesiculosus 1258 Fuligo ligni 1304 Fuligokali 1258 Fumaria officinalis 1258 Fuming sulphuric acid of Nordhausen 45 Fumitory 1258 Fungi 1284 Fungic acid 1284 Fungin 1223, 1284 Fungus rosarum 1233 Funnel stands 757 Furnace, black lead cru- cible 759 Furnaces 758 Fusel oil 59 Fusiform jalap 408 Fusion 764 Fustic 1259 Flies, potato Flies, Spanish Flix weed Florence receiver Florentine orris Flores martiales Flores sulphuris Florida anise tree Flour Flowering ash Flowers of benzoin Flowers of sulphur Flowers of zinc Fluid extract of rhubarb 950 Fluid extract of sarsapa- rilla 951 Fluid extract of senna 1156 Fluid extract of spigelia 1017 Fceniculum 334 Fceniculum dulce JM Fceniculum officinale 335 Fceniculum vulgare 6io 165 160 1303 1049 404 975 696 1270 722 447 784 696 1218 G Gadus morrhua Galanga Galanga] Galbanum Galbanum officinale Galbanum plaster Galbanum plaster, com pound Galega officinalis Galega tinctoria Galega Virginiana Galena Galipea cusparia Galipea officinalis Galipot Galium aperine Galium tinctorium Galium verum 1248 1259 1259 338 338 914 915 1259 1272 1259 546 100 100 712 1259 1260 1259 Gall a 340 Gallic acid 1260 Gallo-tannic acid 801 Galls 340 Gambir 194 Gamboge 342 Gambogia 342 Gambogic acid 345 Garbling of drugs 753 Garcinia cambogia 342 Garcinia morella 344 Garden angelica 98 Garden carrot-root 17S Garden endive 1245 Garden purslane 1298 Garlick 64 Gas liquor 84 Gaultheria 345 Gaultheria procumbens 345 Gay feather 1280 Gelatin, capsules of 1261 Genista tinctoria 1260 Gentian 346 Gentian, blue 348 Gentiana 346 Gentiana Catesbaei 348 Gentiana chirayta 209 Gentiana lutea 346 Gentiana macrophylla 347 Gentiana Panonica 347 Gentiana punctata 347 Gentiana purpurea 347 Gentiana saponaria 349 Gentianin 347 Gentisic acid 347 Gentisin 347 Geoffroya inermis 349 Geoffroya Surinamensis 349 Geranium 350 Geranium maculatum 350 Geranium Robertianum 1260 German chamomile 454 Germander 1309 Geum 351 Geum rivale 351 Geum urbanum 352 Gigartina helminthocor ton Gillenia Gillenia stipulacea Gillenia trifoliata Ginger Ginger, wild Ginseng Glacial acetic acid Glacial phosphoric acid Glass of antimony Glass of borax Glass of lead Glauber's salt Glechoma hederacea Glu Glucic acid Glucose Glue Gluten Glycerin Glyceryle Glycion Glycocoll 919, 1258 353 353 353 749 125 530 783 796 1261 670 1261 675 1261 1235 617 613 1261 723 1262 1262 355 38? 1358 Index. Glycyrrhiza 354 Glycyrrhiza echinata 354 Glycyrrhiza glabra 354 Glycyrrhiza lepidota 355 Glycyrrhizin 355 Gnaphalium margarita- ceum 1262 Gnaphalium polycepha- lum 1263 Goat's rue 1259 Godfrey's cordial 1181 Gold, preparations of 1262 Golden sulphur of anti- mony 850 Golden-rod 679 Goldthread 274 Gombo 1268 Gondret's vesicating oint- ment 84 Goose-grass 1259 Gossypium 356 Gossypium herbaceum 356 Goulard's cerate 889 Goulard's extract 1074 Grain oil 59 Grain soap 630 Grain tin 684 Grains of paradise 176 Grana Molucca 502 Grana moschata 1268 Grana paradisi 176 Grana tiglia 502 Granati fructus cortex 357 Granati radicis cortex 357 Granatum 357 Grape, Catawba 737 Grape, El Paso 737 Grape, great mustang 737 Grape, Herbemont 737 Grape, Missouri 737 Grape, Schuylkill mus- cadel 737 Grape, Scuppernong 737 Grape sugar 613 Gratiola officinalis 1264 Gravel-root 319 Gray bark 221 Green tea 1308 Green vitriol 971 Green weed 1260 Griffith's antihectic myrrh mixture 1032 Groats 134 Gromwell 1281 Ground ivy 1261 Ground laurel 1257 Ground pine 1225 Groundsel, common 1303 Gruel, oatmeal 134 Guaiac 361 Guaiac mixture 1033 Guaiaci lignum 359 Guaiaci resina 361 Guaiacic acid 360 Guaiacin 362 Guatiacum 361 Guaiacum arboreum 360 Guaiacum officinale 359 Guaiacum sanctum 360 Guaiacum wood 359 Guarana 1294 Guaranin 1295 Guilandina bonduc 209 Guinea grains 176 Gum 9 Gum anime 1228 Gum Arabic 5 Gum Arabic emulsion 1028 Gum Arabic mixture 1028 Gum, artificial 96 Gum, Barbary 8 Gum, Bassora 1232 Gum, Cape 9 Gum, caranna 1240 Gum elastic 1239 Gum Galam 8 Gum gedda 7 Gum, India 8 Gum, pectoral 11 Gum plaster 915 Gum, Senegal 8 Gum turic 7 Gum, Turkey 7 Gum-resins 977 Gummi acacia? 5 Gummi gutta 343 Gummi-resina? 977 Gun cotton 1264 Gun cotton, etherial so- lution of 1252 Gunjah 1238 Gutta percha 1264 Gyromia Virginica 1282 H Hoematoxylon 363 Ha?matoxylon Campechi- anum 363 Hamamelis Virginica 1265 Hard water 110 Hardhack 682 Harrowgate water 113 Hartshorn 276 Harts-tongue 1302 Hashish 1238 Heal-all 1251, 1298 Heat, modes of applying 758 Heavy oil of wine 812 Hebradendron cambo- gioides 342 Hedeoma 365 Hedeoma pulegioides 365 Hedera helix 1266 Hederin 1266 Hedge garlic 1226 Hedge hyssop 1264 Hedge mustard 1303 Hedysarum Alhagi 447 Helenin 389 Helenium autumnale 1266 Helianthemum Cana- dense 1266 Helianthemum corym- bosum 1267 Helianthus annuus 467 Hellebore, American 734 Hellebore, black 365 Hellebore, white 732 Helleborus 365 Helleborus fcetidus 1267 Helleborus niger 365 Helleborus officinalis 360 Helleborus orientalis 366 Helleborus viridis 366 Helminthocorton 1258 Helonias officinalis 609 Hematin 364 Hematoxylin 364 Hemidesmic acid 1267 Hemidesmus Indicus 634 1267 Hemlock 265 Hemlock cataplasm 883 Hemlock gum 544 Hemlock leaves 264 Hemlock, oil of 545 Hemlock pitch 544 Hemlock seed 264 Hemlock spruce 544 Hemlock water-drop- wort 1288 Hemp 1238 Hemp, Indian 108, 1238 Henbane leaves; 383 Henbane seed » ' 383 Henry's aromatic spirit of vinegar 779 Henry's magnesia 1023 Hepar sulphuris 1106 Hepatic aloes 71 Hepatica 367 Hepatica acutiloba 368 Hepatica Americana 368 Hepatica triloba 368 Heptree 599 Heracleum 36f- Heracleum gummiferum 87 Heracleum lanatum 368 Herb Christopher 1222 Herb Robert 1260 Hermodactyls 1267 Heuehera 369 Heuehera Americana 369 Heuehera cortusa 369 Heuehera viscida 369 Heudelotia Africana 1232 Hevea Guianensis 1239 Hibiscus abelmoschus 1267 Hibiscus esculentus 1268 Hickory ashes and soot, infusion of 1304 Hiera picra 1109 Hircic acid 662 Hircin 662 Hirudo 369 Hirudo decora 370 Hirudo medicinalis 370 Hive-syrup 1154 Hoffmann's anodyne liquor 814 Holly 1270 Hollyhock 76 Homberg's pyrophorus 78 Honey 455 Honey, clarified 1025 Honey of borax 1026 Honey of roses 1026 Index. 1359 Honey, preparations of 1025 Honey, prepared Hooper's pills Hops Hordein Hordeum Hordeum distichon Hordeum perlatum Hordeum vulgare Horehound Horn lead Horse brimstone Horse aloes Horse-balm Horsechestnut Horsemint Horse-radish Horse-weed Hot bath Hound's tongue Houseleek, common Houseleek, small Howard's hydrosubli- mate of mercury Huamilies bark Huanuco bark Huile de morue Humulus Humulus lupulus Hundred-leaved roses Hungarian balsam Husband's magnesia Huxham's tincture of bark Hydracids Hydrargyri acetas Hydrargyri ammonio- chloridum Hydrargyri bichloridum Hydrargyri bicyantWum Hydrargyri biniodidum Hydrargyri binoxydum Hydrargyri bisulphu- retum Hydrargyri chloridum Hydrargyri chloridum corrosivum Hydrargyri chloridum mite Hydrargyri cyanuretum Hydrargyri iodidum Hydrargyri iodidum rubrum Hydrargyri murias cor- rosivum Hydrargyri nitrico-oxy- dum Hydrargyri oxidum ni- grum Hydrargyri oxidum ru- brum, U. S. Hydrargyri oxydum. Lond. Hydrargyri oxydum nitri- cum Hydrargyri oxydum ru- brum, Dub. Hydrargyri oxydum sul- phuricum 100° Hydrargyri persulphas 1000 1026 1060 374 373 373 373 374 373 452 1075 695 72 1251 1223 462 119 1251 115 1255 1303 1302 987 224 223 1248 374 375 600 1300 1024 1168 779 978 1004 979 991 993 999 1002 985 979 985 991 992 993 979 996 994 996 994 996 998 Hydrargyri precipitatum album 1004 Hydrargyri submurias ammoniatum 1004 Hydrargyri sulphas fla- vus 1000 Hydrargyri sulphuretum cum sulphuie 1001 Hydrargyri sulphuretum nigrum 1001 Hvdrargyri sulphuretum "rubrum 1002 Hydrargyrum 377 Hydrargyrum ammonia- 'turn 1004 Hydrargyrum cum cretal 1005 Hydrargyrum cum mag- nesia 1006 Hydrargyrum praecipita- tum per se 999 Hydrargyrum purificatum 978 Hydrastis Canadensis 1268 Hydrate of lime 147 Hydrate of potassa 1080 Hydrated oxide of iron 965 Hydrated oxide of lead 1077 Hydrated sesquioxide (peroxide) of iron 965 Hydric ether 809 Hydriodate of ammonia 1272 Hydriodate of arsenic and mercury, solu- tion of 1273 Hydriodate of potassa 1100 Hydriodic acid 1268 Hydrochlorate of ammo- nia 84 Hydrochlorate of lime 146 Hydrochlorate of mor- phia 1040 Hydrochloric acid 31 Hydrocyanic acid 786 Hydrocyanic acid, anhy- drous 789, 790 Hydrocyanic ether 1268 Hydrogen 1219 Hydrometer, Baume's 754, 1338 Hydrosublimate of mer- cury 9S7 Hydrosulphates Hydrosulphuret of ammo nia Hydrosulphurets Hydrosulphuric acid Hymenaea courbaril Hymenasa verrucosa Hymenodyction Hyoscyami folia Hyoscyami semen Hyoscyamia Hyoscyamus Hyoscyamus albus Hyoscyamus niger Hyperanthera moringa Hypericum perforatum Hypermanganic acid Hyperoxymuriate of po- tassa Hypochlorite of lime 827 974 974 1228 1253 213 383 383 384 383 384 383 12S9 1269 445 565 149 Hypochlorite of soda 1127 Hyponitrous ether S15 Hypopicrotoxic acid 252 Hyposulphite of soda 1269 Hyssop 1269 Hyssopus officinalis 1269 I beris amara ce plant celand moss chthyocolla cica icieariba ctodes fcetidus drialine gasuric acid natia amara 1269 1282 203 387 310 303 693 477 1233 ex 1270 ex aquifolium 1234, 1270 ex cassina 1270 ex dahoon 1270 lex mate 1270 lex opaca 1270 lex Paraguaiensis 1270 lex vomitoria 1270 licin 1270 llicium anisatum 103, 1270 llicium Floridanum 1270 llicium parviflorum 1270 mpatiens balsamina 1271 mpatiens fulva 1270 mpatiens noli-me-tan- gere 1270 mpatiens pallida 1270 mperatoria ostruthium 1271 mperial 562 mperial measure 1323 mpure carbonate of po- tassa 562 mpure carbonate of soda 671 mpure oxide of zinc 1311 mpure potassa 562 mpure subcarbonate of potassa 562 ncineration 764 ncitants 2 ndelibleink 1271 ndia gum 8 ndia opium 511 ndia rhubarb 591 ndia senna 655 ndian corn 1313 ndian cucumber 1282 ndian hemp 108, 1238 ndian physic 353 ndian poke 734 ndian red 1271 ndian rubber 1239 ndian sarsaparilla 1267 ndian tobacco 434 ndian turnip 123 ndian yellow 1271 ndigo 1272 ndigo, wild 1232 ndigofera tinctoria 1272 ndigotin 1272 nfusa 1006 1360 Index. Infusion 762 Infusum colomba? 1010 Iodine, Lugol's solution Infusion of angustura Infusum cusparia? 1007 of 394 bark 1007 Infusum digitalis 1011 Iodine ointment of Lugol 395 Infusion of broom 1016 Infusum diosma? 1011 Iodine rubefacient solu- Infusion of buchu 1011 Infusum eupatorii 1012 tion 395 Infusion of cascarilla 1008 Infusum gentiana? com- Iodinei liquor composi- Infusion of catechu, com - positum 1012 tus 1018 pound 1009 Infusum humuli 1012 Iodinii tinctura 1174 Infusion of chamomile 1007 Infusum krameria? 1012 Iodinum 390 Infusion of chiretta 1009 Infusum lini 1013 Iodism 392 Infusion of cloves 1008 Infusum lini compositum 1013 Iodo-hydrargyrate of po Infusion of columbo 1010 Infusum lupuli 1012 tassium 1275 Infusion of flaxseed 1013 Infusum menthae compo - Iodous acid 391 Infusion of foxglove 1011 situm 1013 Ionidium ipecacuanha 402 Infusion of gentian, com - Infusum menthae simplea 1013 Ionidium marcucci 402, 1276 pound 1012 Infusum pareira? 1013 Ionidium microphyllum 402 Infusion of hickory ashes Infusum pruni Virgini- Ionidium parviflorum and soot 1304 ana? 1013 402, 1276 Infusion of hops 1012 Infusum quassia? 1014 Ipecacuanha 398 Infusion of horse-radish 1008 Infusum rhei 1014 Ipecacuanha, American Infusion of mint, com- Infusum rosae acidum 1014 323 , 353 pound 1013 Infusum rosae composi- Ipecacuanha, black 401 Infusion of mint, simple 1013 tum 1014 Ipecacuanha, Peruvian 401 Infusion of orange-peel, Infusum sarsaparilla? 1015 Ipecacuanha spurge 323 compound 1008 Infusum sarsaparillae Ipecacuanha, striated 401 Infusion of pareira brava 1013 compositum 1015 Ipecacuanha, undulated 402 Infusion of Peruvian bark 1009 Infusum scoparii 1016 Ipecacuanha, white 402 Infusion of Peruvian bark j Infusum senega? 1016 Ipomasa jalapa 406 compound 1010 Infusum senna? 1016 Ipomaea macrorhiza 406 Infusion of pinkroot 1017 Infusum senna? composi Ipomaea purga 406 Infusion of quassia 1014 turn 1016 Iris Florentina 404 Infusion of rhatany 1012 Infusum sennae cum ta- Iris foetidissima 404 Infusion of rhubarb 1014 marindis 1016 Iris Germanica 404 Infusion of roses, com- Infusum serpentaria? 1017 Iris pseudo-acorus 404 pound 1014 Infusum simaruba? 1017 Iris tuberosa 404, 1267 Infusion of sarsaparilla 1015 Infusum spigelia? 1017 Iris versicolor 405 Infusion of seneka 1016 Infusum tabaci 1017 Irish moss 209 Infusion of senna 1016 Infusum ulmi 1018 Iron 326 Infusion of senna with Infusum Valeriana? 1018 Iron, acetate of 954 tamarinds 1016 Inspissated juice of elder 950 Iron, ammbriiated 974 Infusion of simaruba 1017 Inspissated juices 932 Iron, ammonio-chloride Infusion of slippery elm Inspissation 762 of 974 bark 1018 Inula 389 Iron, ammonio-tartrate Infusion of thorough- Inula helenium 389 of 1227 wort 1012 Inulin 389 Iron and potassa, tartrate Infusion of tobacco 1017 Iodic acid 391 of 956 Infusion of valerian 1018 Iodide of ammonium 1272 Iron, black oxide of 966 Infusion of Virginia Iodide of arsenic 1272 Iron, bromide of 1236 snakeroot 1017 Iodide of arsenic and Iron, dried sulphate of 973 Infusion of wild-cherry mercury, solution of 1273 Iron, ferrocyanuret of 959 bark 1013 Iodide of barium 1274 Iron filings 329 Infusions 1006 Iodide of gold 1263 Iron, hydrated oxide of 965 Infusum angustura? 1007 Iodide of iron 961 Iron in fine powder 330 Infusum anthemidis 1007 Iodide of iron, solution of Iron, iodide of 961 Infusum armoracia? 1008 964 Iron, lactate of 1278 Infusum armoracia? com Iodide of iron, syrup ol 964 Iron, phosphate of 968 positum 1008 Iodide of lead 1075 Iron plaster 914 Infusum aurantii compo Iodide of mercury 992 Iron, precipitated carbo situm 1008 Iodide of potassium 1100 nate of 969 Infusum buchu 1011 Iodide of silver 1274 Iron, preparations of 954 Infusum calumba? 1010 Iodide of starch 1274 Iron, red oxide of 968 Infusum caryophylli 1008 Iodide of sulphur 1142 Iron, rust of 969 Infusum cascarilla? 1008 Iodide of zinc 1274 Iron, saccharine carbo- Infusum catechu compo Iodine 390 nate of 955 situm 1009 Iodine baths 395 Iron, sesquioxide of 969 Infusum chamasmeli 1007 Iodine caustic 395 Iron, subcarbonate of 969 Infusum chiretta? 1009 Iodine, compound solu- Iron, sulphate of 971 Infusum cinchona? 1009 tion of 1018 Iron, sulphuret of 973- Infusum cinchona? com- Iodine inhalation 396 Iron, table of the prepa rations of positum 1010 Iodine lotion 395 328 Index. 1361 Iron, tannate of 1306 Iron, tartarized 956 Iron, tartrate of protoxide of 959 Iron, teroxide of 327 Iron, valerianate of 1311 Iron wire 329 Isatis tinctoria 1276 Isinglass 387 Isis nobilis 1253 Isonandra gutta 1265 Issue peas 132, 404 1266 Ivory-black 170 Ivy 1266 Ivy gum 1266 Kempferid Kermes mineral Keyser's pills Kinate of cinchonia Kinate of quinia King's yellow Kinic acid Kino Kinovic acid Kinovic bitter Knives, apothecaries' *Knot-grass Knot-root Krameria Krameria ixina Krameria triandra Krameric acid Krimea rhubarb Jaen bark Jaggary Jalap Jalap, fusiform Jalap, male Jalapa Jalapin Jamaica pepper James's powder Jamestown weed Janipha manihot Jasminum officinale Jatropha curcas Jatropha elastica Jatropha manihot Java cardamom Javelle's water Jelly, vegetable Jerusalem oak Jervina Jesuits' drops Jesuits' powder Jewell's hydrosublimate of mercury Jewel-weed Juglans Juglans cathartica Juglans cinerea Juglans nigra Juglans regia Jujuba? Jujube paste Juniper Juniperus Juniperus communis Juniperus lycia Juniperus sabina Juniperus Virginiana K Kaempferia rotunda Kalium Kalmia angustifolia Kalmia glauca Kalmia latifolia Kava Kelp 86 223 614 405 408 408 405 407 539 853 689 705 1289 705 1239 705 175 1241 179 206 733 1163 242 987 1270 410 410 410 410 410 1314 1314 411 411 411 505 612 413 Labarraque's disinfecting soda liquid Labdanum Labrador tea Lac Lac ammoniaci Lac assafetida? Lac sulphuris Laccin Lacmus Lactate of iron Lactate of quinia Lactic acid Lactide Lactin Lactuca Lactuca altissima Lactuca elongata Lactuca sativa Lactuca scariola Lactuca virosa Lactucarium Lactucerin Lactucic acid Lactucin Lactucone Ladanum Ladies' mantle Lady Webster's pills Lake water Lakes Lamps, alcoholic Lana philosophica Lancaster black drop Lapilli cancrorum Lapis calaminaris Lappa minor Larch, European Lard Large-flowering spurge 1313 Larix Europaea 560 Larkspur 1276 Laudanum 1276 Laudanum, Rousseau's 1276 Laudanum, Sydenham's 1212 1282 Laurel 673 Lauri bacca? 1259 Lauri folia 425 849 Lauro-cerasus 426 979 Laurus benzoin 1233 240 Laurus camphora 153 240 Laurus cassia 247 1289 Laurus cinnamomum 246 239 Laurus culilawan 1254 414 Laurus nobilis 426 236 Laurus pichurim 1296 236 Laurus sassafras 640 767 Lavandula 427 558 Lavandula spica 428 1251 Lavandula vera 428 418 Lavender 427 419 Lavender water 1134 418 Lead 546 419 Lead, acetate of 549 594 Lead, as a poison 547 Lead, carbonate of 551 Lead, chloride of 1074 Lead, dinoxide of 547 Lead, hydrated oxide of 1077 Lead, iodide of 1075 f Lead, nitrate of 1076 1126 Lead plaster 918 1276 Lead, preparations of 1072 1279 Lead, red 554 1277 Lead, red oxide of 554 1029 Lead, sernivitrified oxic e 1030 of 555 1141 Lead, sesquioxide of 547 1277 Lead, sugar of 549 420 Lead, tannate of 1307 1278 Lead, white 551 239 Lead-water 1074 1279 Leadwort 1297 1279 Leather flower 1247 614 Leather wood 1256 422 Ledoyen's disinfecting 423 fluid 1077 420 Ledum latifolium 1279 422 Ledum palustre 1279 421 Leeches 369 421 Leek root 559 422 Lee's New London pill s 75 424 Lee's Windham pills "75 425 Lemon peel 428 423 Lemons 428 424 Lenitive electuary 896 1276 Lentisk 453 1225 Leontodon taraxacum 706 1060 Leopard's-bane 121 111 Leptandra purpurea 1279 1279 Leptandra Virginica 1279 759 Lettuce 422 1218 Lettuce opium 423 777 Lettuce, strong scented 421 1254 Lettuce, wild 420 748 Leucol 238 118 Levigation 756 710 Liatris scariosa 1280 55 Liatris spicata 1280 321 Liatris squarrosa 1280 710 Lichen Islandicus 203 295 Lichen tartareus 420 1179 Lichenin 204 1212 Lichstearic acid 205 1212 Life-everlasting 1262 1276 Light oil of wine 813 425 Light wines 737 1362 Index. Lignum colubrinum 477 Lignum vita? 360 Ligusticum levisticum 1280 Ligustrin 1280 Ligustrum vulgare 1280 Lilac, common 1306 Lilacin 1306 Lilium candidum 1280 Lily, common white 1280 Lily of the valley 1252 Lima bark 223 Lime 147 Lime, preparations of 877 Limes 429 Limestone 283 Lime-water -877 Lime-water, compound 878 Limon 428 Limonis cortex 428 Limonum oleum 490 Linaria vulgaris 1229 Lini oleum 491 Liniment, anodyne 1021 Liniment, camphorated soap 1021 Liniment of ammonia 1019 Liniment of ammonia, compound 1019 Liniment of lime 1020 Liniment of mercury, compound 1021 Liniment of opium 1021 Liniment of sesquicar- bonate of ammonia 1020 Liniment of Spanish flies 1021 Liniment of turpentine 1022 Liniment, simple 1022 Liniment, volatile 1019 Linimenta 1019 Liniments 1019 Linimentum aeruginis 1027 Linimentum ammoniae 1019 Linimentum ammoniae compositum 1019 Linimentum ammonia? sesquicarbonatis 1020 Linimentum anodynum 1021 Linimentum arcaei 1195 Linimentum calcis 1020 Linimentum camphora? 1020 Linimentum camphora? compositum 1020 Linimentum cantharidis 1021 Linimentum hydrargyri compositum 1021 Linimentum opii 1021 Linimentum saponis 1184 Linimentum saponis camphoratum 1021 Linimentum saponis cum opio 1021 Linimentum simplex 1022 Linimentum terebin- thina? 1022 Linin 432 Linseed 430 Linseed oil 491 Linum 430 Linum catharticum 432 Linum usitatissimum 430 Liquefaction 759,764 Liquid storax 1280 Liquidambar orientale 691 Liquidambar styraciflua 691, 1280 Liquidamber 1280 Liquids from solids, se- paration of 756 Liquids, separation of 758 Liquor aethereus oleosus 812 Liquor aethereus siilphu- ricus 805 Liquor aluminis compo- situs 824 Liquor ammoniae 828 Liquor ammonia? acetatis 831 Liquor ammonia? fortior 82 Liquor ammonia? sesqui- carbonatis 827 Liquor argenti nitratis 870 Liquor arsenicalis 871 Liquor arsenici et hy- drargyri iodidi 1273 Liquor barii chloridi 875 Liquor calcii chloridi 880 Liquor calcis 877 Liquor cupri ammonio- sulphatis 899 Liquor ferri iodidi 964 Liquor ferri ternitratis 1309 Liquor hydrargyri bichlo- ridi 985 Liquor hydrargyri su- pernitratis 1305 Liquor iodini compositus 1018 Liquor morphia? sulpha- tis 1044 Liquor plumbi diacetatis 1072 Liquor plumbi subaceta- tis 1072 Liquor plumbi subaceta- tis dilutus 1074 Liquor potassae 1077 Liquor potassa? arsenitis 871 Liquor potassa? carbona- tis 1088 Liquor potassae chlori- nata? 1241 Liquor potassae citratis 1092 Liquor potassae efferves- cens 1091 Liquor potassii iodidi compositus 1018 Liquor soda? chlorinata? 1126 Liquor soda? effervescens 1125 Liquor tartari emetici 847 Liquorice 325 Liquorice root 354 Liriodendrin 433 Liriodendron 432 Liriodendron tulipifera 432 Lisbon diet drink 908 Litharge 555 Litharge, gold 556 Litharge, plaster 918 Litharge, red 556 Litharge, silver 556 Litharge, yellow 556 Lithargyrum 555 Lithia 1281 Lithia, carbonate of 1281 Lithia in mineral waters 113 Lithospermum officinale 1281 Lithospermum tinctorium 1226 Litmus 420 Liver of sulphur 1106 Liverwort 367 Lixiviation 762 Lixivus cinis 562 Lobelia 434 Lobelia cardinalis 436 Lobelia inflata 434 Lobelia syphilitica 436 Lobelic acid 434 Lobelina 435 Loblolly pine 709 Logwood 363 Long pepper 542 Long-leaved pine 709 Loosestrife 437 Loss by pulverization, table of 755 Lovage 1280 Loxa bark 222 Lozenges 1188 Luculia 213 Lunar caustic 866 Lungwort 1299 Lupulin 375 Lupulina 375 Lupulite 376 Lupulus 374 Luteolin 1299 Lutes 761 Lycopodium 1281 Lycopodium clavatum 1281 Lycopus 436 Lycopus Europaeus 437 Lycopus Virginicus 436 Lythrum salicaria 437 Lytta 160 M Mace 472 Maceration 762 Macis 472 Macrotys racemosa 210 Madagascar cardamom 175 Madar 1237 Madder 602 Madeira wine 738 Magistery of bismuth 876 Magnesia 1022 Magnesia, acetate of 1222 Magnesia alba 438 Magnesia, calcined 1024 Magnesia, carbonate of 438 Magnesia, citrate of 1246 Magnesia, Dinneford's 439 Magnesia, Henry's 1023 Magnesia, preparations of 1022 Magnesia, sulphate of 440 Index. 1363 Magnesia? acetas 1222 Magnesiae carbonas 438 Magnesia? citras 1246 Magnesiae sulphas 440 Magnesia? sulphas pu- rum 1025 Magnesium 1024 Magnesium, chloride of 1241 Magnetic pyrites 974 Magnolia 442 Magnolia acuminata 443 Magnolia glauca 442 Magnolia grandiflora 442 Magnolia tripetala 443 Mahogany tree 1305 Mahy's plaster 920 Maidenhair 1223 Malabathri folia 247 Malambo bark 1281 Male fern 332 Male jalap 408 Male orchis 1300 Mallow, common 444 Malt 373 Malt vinegar 15 Maltha 534 Malva 444 Malva alcea 76 Malva rotundifolia 444 Malva sylvestris 444 Malwa opium 511 Mandioca 705 Mandragora 1281 Mandragora officinalis 1281 Mandrake 556, 1281 Manganese 445 Manganese, oxide of 445 Manganesii oxidum 445 Manganic acid 445 Manna 446 Manna, Briangon 447 Manna canulata 447 Mannite 448 Maracaybo bark 230 Maranta 449 Maranta allouya 450 Maranta arundinacea 449 Maranta galanga 1259 Maranta Indica 450 Maranta nobilis 450 Marble 451 Marbled Castile soap 632 Marbled soap 630 Margaric acid 630 Margarin 56, 481 Marine acid 31 Marjoram, common 526 Marjoram, sweet 527 Marmor 451 Marrubium 452 Marrubium vulgare 452 Marseilles vinegar 779 Marsh rosemary 686 Marsh tea 1279 Marsh trefoil 459 Marsh water 111 Marsh water-cress 1287 Marshmallow 75 Martial ethiops Marygold Massicot Masterwort Mastich Mastiche Masticin 547, 554 98, 368, 1271 453 453 453 1237 Matias bark 1281 Matico 1282 Matonia cardamomum 176 Matricaria 454 Matricaria chamomilla 454 Matricaria parthenium 1299 May-apple 556 Mayflower 1257 Maynard's adhesive liquid 1252 May-weed 278 Mead 741 Meadow anemone 1228 Meadow-saffron 255 Mealy starwort 64 Measurement, approxi- mate 1327 Measures and weights 753, 1323 Mecca senna 655 Mechanical division 755 Mechoacan 408 Meconic acid 518 Meconin 517 Medeola Virginica 1282 Medicated waters 856 Medicated wines 1209 Medicinal hydrocyanic acid 789 Medicines, preservation of 753 Mel 455 Mel iEgyptiacum 1027 Mel boracis 1026 Mel despumatum 1025 Mel prasparatum 1026 Mel rosa? 1026 Mel scillae compositum 1155 Melaleuca cajuputi 486 Melaleuca hypericifolia 486 Melaleuca leucadendron 486 Melaleuca minor 486 Melampodium 367 Melassic acid 617 Melegueta pepper 176 Melia azedarach 135 Melilot 1282 Melilotus officinalis 1282 Melissa 456 Melissa officinalis 456 Mellita 1025 Meloe majalis 160 Meloe niger 166 Meloe proscaraba?us 160 Meloe trianthemae 160 Menispermin 252 Menispermum Cana- dense 1282 Menispermum cocculus 251 Menispermum palmatum 261 Mentha piperita 457 Mentha pulegium 458 Mentha viridis 458 Menvanthes 459 Menvanthes trifoliata 459 Menyanthin 459 Mercure doux a la vapeur 987 Mercurial ointment 1195 Mercurial pills 1067 Mercurial plaster 915 Mercurius 377 Mercury 377 Mercury, acetate of 978 Mercury, ammoniated 1004 Mercury, bibromide of 1236 Mercury, bichlori'de'of 979 Mercury, bicyanide of 991 Mercury, biniodide of 993 Mercury, binoxide of 999 Mercury, bisulphuret of 1002 Mercury, black oxide of 994 Mercury, black sulphuret of 1001 Mercury, bromides of 1236 Mercury, calcined 998 Mercury, corrosive chlo- ride of 979 Mercury, cyanuret of 991 Mercury, hydrosublimate of 987 Mercury, iodide of 992 Mercury, mild chloride of 985 Mercury, persulphate of 1000 Mercury, preparations of 978 Mercury, protiodide of 992 Mercury, protobromide of 1236 Mercury, prussiate of 991 Mercury, purified 978 Mercury, red iodide of 993 Mercury, red oxide of 996, 998 Mercury, red sulphuret of 1002 Mercury, table of the preparations of 381 Mercury with chalk 1005 Mercury with magnesia 1006 Mercury, yellow sulphate of 1000 Mesembryanthemum crys- tallinum 1282 Metaphosphoric acid 796 Method of displacement 763 Metroxylon sagu 620 Mezereon 460 Mezereum 460 Mild chloride of mer- cury 985 Mild mercurial ointment 1195 Mild volatile alkali 825 Milder common caustic 1082 Milfoil 1222 Milium solis 1281 Milk of ammoniac 1029 Milk of assafetida 1030 Milk of lime 148 Milk of sulphur 1141 Milk-weed 127, 322 Mimosa Nilotica 6 Mindererus, spirit of 831 Mineral, ethiops 1001 Mineral, kerme'f 849 Mineral tar 534 1364 Index. Mineral, turpeth Mineral water Mineral waters Mineral yellow Minium Mint Mistletoe Mistura acacia?, Ed 1000 858 112 1294 554 458 1313 1028 Mistura acacia?, Lond. 1045 Mistura althaeae 901 Mistura ammoniaci 1029 Mistura amygdala? 1029 Mistura assafoetida? 1030 Mistura camphora? 860 Mistura camphora? cum magnesia 1030 Mistura cascarillae com- posita 1031 Mistura creasoti 1031 Mistura creta 1031 Mistura ferri aromatica 1031 Mistura ferri composita 1032 Mistura gentiana? com- posita 1033 Mistura guaiaci 1033 Mistura hordei 905 Mistura moschi 1033 Mistura scammonii 1033 Mistura spiritus vini Gallic! 1033 Mistura? 1028 Mithridate 894 Mixture, almond 1029 Mixture, ammoniac 1029 Mixture, assafetida 1030 Mixture, brandy 1033 Mixture, brown 1321 Mixture, chalk 1031 Mixture, creasote 1031 Mixture, guaiac 1033 Mixture, gum Arabic 102S Mixture, musk 1033 Mixture, neutral 1092, 1321 Mixture of camphor with magnesia 1030 Mixture of cascarilla, compound 1031 Mixture of gentian, compound 1033 Mixture of iron, aromatic 1031 Mixture of iron, com- pound 1032 Mixture, oleaginous 1321 Mixture, scammony 1033 Mixtures 1028 Mocha senna 655 Mode of administering medicines 1316 Molasses 613, 618 Mole-plant 1289 Momordica balsamina 1283 Momordica elaterium 307 Monarda 462 Monarda punctata 462 Monesia 1283 Monesin 1283 Monkshood ^3 Montpellier scammony 645 Mora 463 Morphia Morphia, acetate of Morphia, hydrochlorate of Morphia, muriate of Morphia, sulphate of Morphia? acetas Morphia? hydrochloras Morphia? murias Morphia? muriatis solutio 1033 1039 Morphiae sulphas Morrhua Americana Mortars Morus alba Morus nigra Morus rubra Morus tinctoria Moschus Moschus factitius Moschus moschiferus Mountain laurel Mountain rhubarb Mountain damson Mountain mahogany Mountain-tea Moxa Mucilage Mucilage of gum Arabic 1045 1040 1040 1043 1039 1040 1040 1043 1043 388 755 463 463 463 1259 463 1285 463 1276 607 662 1234 346 466 431 Mushrooms Musk Musk, artificial Musk mixture Must Mustard 1284 463 1285 1033 736 663 Mucilage of starch 1045 Mucilage of tragacanth 1045 Mucilages 1044 Mucilagines 1044 Mucilago 1045 Mucilago acacia? 1045 Mucilago amyli 1045 Mucilago gummi Ara- bici Mucilago tragacantha? Mucuna Mucuna pruriens Mucuna prurita Mudar Mugwort Mulberries Mullein leaves Muriate of ammonia Muriate of baryta Muriate of baryta, solu- tion of Muriate of iron, tincture of Muriate of lime Muriate of lime, solution of 880 Muriate of magnesia 1241 Muriate of morphia 1040 Muriate of morphia, solu- tion of 1043 Muriate of quinia 239 Muriate of soda 677 Muriate of soda, pure 1129 Muriatic acid Muriatic acid, diluted Muriatic acid gas Muriatic acid, table of the specific gravity of 33 Muriatic ether 1283 Muriatis ferri liquor 975 Muscovado sugar 613 1045 1045 468 469 469 1237 4 463 735 84 873 S75 975 146 Mustard cataplasm 884 Mustard seeds, black 664 Mustard seeds, white 664 Mustard, volatile oil of 665 Mylabris cichorii 160 Mylabris pustulata 160 Mynsicht's acid elixir 797 Myrica cerifera 200 Myricin 199 Myristica 470 Myristica moschata 470 Myristica officinalis 470 Myristica? adeps 470 Myristica? oleum 492 Myristicin 492 Myrobalani 12S5 Myrobalans 12S5 Myronic acid 664, 665 Myrospermum peruife- rum 473 Myrosyne 664, 666 Myroxylon 473 Myroxylon peruiferum 473 Myroxylon toluiferum 715 Myrrh 474 Myrrha 474 Myrrh ic acid 476 Myrrhin 476 Myrtle wax 200 Myrtus acri# 1253 Myrtus caryophyllata 1253 Myrtus pimenta 539 31 792 35 N Naphtha 533, 1299 Naphtha, artificial 534 Naphthaline 1286 Naples yellow 1286 Narcein 516 Narcissus pseudo-nar- cissus 1286 Narcotics 2 Narcotin 513 Narcotina 513 Nard 1286 Narthex assafoetida 128 Nasturtium amphibium 1287 Nasturtium officinale 1287 Nasturtium palustre 12S7 Native soda 671 Natron 672 Nauclea gambir 194 Neats-foot oil 485 Nectandra puchury 1296 Nectandra Rodiei 1233 Nepeta cataria 191 Nepeta glechoma 1261 Nephrodium filix mas 332 Neroli 132 Nettle, common 1311 Nettle, dwarf 1311 Index. 1365 Neutral mixture 1092, 1321 CEnanthe crocata 1288 Oil of wine, heavy 812 New bark 233 CEnanthe phelland rium 1288 Oil of wine, light 813 New Jersey tea 1240 GEnanthic ether 739 Oil of wormseed 1051 Nicaragua wood 1236 CEnanthin 1288 Oil, olive 492 Nicotia 699 CEnothera biennis 1288 Oil, palm 1294 Nicotiana fruticosa 698 Officinal directions , gene- Oil, phosphorated 537 Nicotiana paniculata 698 ral 768 Oils 480 Nicotiana quadrivalvis 698 Oil, benne 49? , 660 Oils, distilled 482, 1046 Nicotiana rustica 698 Oil, cajeput 486 Oils, drying 480 Nicotiana tabacum 697 Oil, castor 494 Oils, empyreumatic 765 Nicotianin 700 Oil, cod-liver 1248 Oils, essential 482 Nicotin 699 Oil, croton 502 Oils, expressed 480 Nicotina 699 Oil, ethereal 812 Oils, fixed 480 Nigella sativa 1287 Oil, flaxseed 491 Oils, volatile 482, 1046 Nigellin 1287 Oil, neats-foot 485 Ointment, antimonial 1192 Nightshade, black 304 Oil of almonds 484 Ointment, citrine 1199 Nightshade, common 304 Oil of amber 1056 Ointment, compound Nightshade, deadly 137 Oil of amber, rectified 1057 sulphur 1205 Nightshade, woody 305 Oil of anise 1050, 1270 Ointment, elder 1204 Nihil album 1218 Oil of ben 1289 Ointment, mercurial 1195 Nitrate of lead 1076 Oil of benne 661 Ointment, mercurial, Nitrate of potassa 567 Oil of bergamot 485 mild 1195 Nitrate of potassa, puri- Oil of bitter almon ds 91 Ointment, mercurial, fied 1094 Oil of camphor 156 strong 1195 Nitrate of silver 866 Oil of caraway 1051 Ointment of acetate of Nitrate of silver, crys- Oil of cassia 489 lead 1203 tals of 871 Oil of chamomile 1050 Ointment of ammonia- Nitrate of silver, solu- Oil of cinnamon 488 ted mercury 1198 tion of 870 Oil of cloves 487 Ointment of biniodide Nitrate of soda 1287 Oil of copaiba 271 1051 of mercury 1198 Nitre 567, . Oil of cubebs 490 Ointment of black pep- Nitre-beds, artificial 567 Oil of dill 1050 per 1203 Nitre, sweet spirit of 817 Oil of elder flowers 1056 Ointment of black Nitric acid 36 Oil of ergot 313, 316 pitch 1203 Nitric acid, diluted 793 Oil of euphorbia 1289 Ointment of bromide of Nitric acid fumigation 41 Oil of fennel 1051 potassium 1098 Nitric acid, table of the Oil ofhemlock 545 Ointment of carbonate specific gravity of 39 Oil of horsemint 1054 of lead 1203 Nitric ether 815 Oil of jasmine 1289 Ointment of cocculus Nitromuriatic acid 793 Oil of juniper 1052 Indicus 1194 Nitromuriatic oxide of Oil of lavender 1053 Ointment of creasote 1194 antimony 836 Oil of lemons 490 Ointment of elemi 1194 Nitrosulphate of ammo- Oil of mace 471 Ointment of figwort 1204 nia 1287 Oil of marjoram 1054 Ointment of galls 1195 Nitrosulphuric acid 1287 Oil of mustard 664 Ointment of galls, com- Nitrous ether S15 Oil of nutmeg 492 pound 1195 Nitrous powders 570, 1319 Oil of origanum 1054 Ointment ofhemlock 1194 Nopal 252 Oil of partridge-berry 1052 Ointment of hydriodate Nordhausen, fuming sul - Oil of pennyroyal, Ame of potassa 1203 phuric acid of 45 rican 1052 Ointment of iodide of Norway spruce 543 Oil of pennyroyal, Eu- lead 1203 Nutmeg 470 ropean 1053 Ointment of iodide of Nutmeg, concrete oil of 471 Oil of peppermint 1053 mercury 1198 Nutmeg-flower 1287 Oil of pimento 1055 Ointment of iodine 1201 Nux moschata 470 Oil of rosemary 1055 Ointment of iodine, Nux vomica 476 Oil of roses 498 compound 1202 Nymphaea alba 1287 Oil of rue 1055 Ointment of lead, com- Nymphasa odorata 1287 Oil of sassafras 1056 pound 1203 Oil of savine 1056 Ointment of mezereon 1202 Oil of spearmint 1054 Ointment of naphthaline 1286 Oil of spike 1053 Ointment of nitrate of 0 Oil of sweet marjoram 1055 mercury 1199 Oil of tar 545 Ointment of nitric acid 1191 Oak bark 582 Oil of turpentine 499 Ointment of oxide of Oatmeal 134 Oil of turpentine, puri- zinc 1206 Oatmeal gruel 134 fied 1058 Ointment of red oxide Ochres 1288 Oil of valerian 731 of mercury 1201 Ocimum basilicum 1288 Oil of vitriol 43 Ointment of rose water 1192 Ocotea pichurim (Enanthate of ether 1296 Oil of wine campl or S13 Ointment of Spanish 739 Oil of wine, concrete 813 flies 1192 1366 Index. 1204 Ointment of stramo- nium Ointment of subacetate of copper H94 Ointment of sulphuric acid 1191 Ointment of the powder of Spanish flies 1193 Ointment of white helle- bore 1206 Ointment of white pre- cipitate H98 Ointment, simple 1204 Ointment, spermaceti 1193 Ointment, sulphur 1205 Ointment, tar 1202 Ointment, tartar emetic 1192 Oleum rosae 498 Oleum rosrnarini 1055 Oleum rutae 1055 Oleum sabina? 1056 Oleum sambuci 1056 Oleum sassafras 1056 Oleum sesami 499, 660 Oleum succini 1056 Oleum succini rectifi- catum Oleum sulphuratum Oleum tartari per de- liquium Oleum terebinthina? Oleum terebinthina? puri 1057 1231 1086 499 Ointment, tobacco Ointments Okra Old field pine Olea Olea destillata Olea essentialia Olea Europaea Olea expressa Olea fixa Olea frag ran s Olea volatilia Oleaginous mixture Oleic acid Olein Oleo-saccharum Oleum aethereum Oleum amygdala? Oleum anethi Oleum anisi Oleum anthemidis Oleum bergamii Oleum bubulum Oleum cajuputi Oleum camphoratum Oleum cari Oleum carui Oleum caryophylli Oleum chenopodii Oleum cinnamomi Oleum copaiba? Oleum cornu cervi Oleum cubebae Oleum foeniculi Oleum gaultheria? Oleum hedeoma? Oleum hyperici Oleum jecoris aselli Oleum juniperi Oleum lavandula? Oleum limonis 490 Oleum lini 491 Oleum menthae piperita? 1053 Oleum mentha? pulegii 1053 Oleum menthae viridis Oleum monardae Oleum myristica? Oleum oliva? Oleum origani Oleum phosphoratum Oleum pimenta? Oleum pulegii Oleum ricini 1054 1054 492 492 1054 537 1055 1053 494 ficatum Oleum thymi Oleum tiglii Olibanum Oliva? oleum Olive oil Olive oil soda soap Olivile Onion Opiate pills of lead Opium Opium, Bengal Opium, Constantinople Opium, Egyptian Opium, India Opium, Malwa Opium, Patna Opium, Persia Opium plaster Opium, Smyrna Opium, tests of Opium, Thebaicum Opium, Turkey Opobalsamum Opodeldoc Opoidia galbanifera Opopanax Opopanax chironium Opuntia cochinillifera Orange berries Orange flower water Orange mineral Orange peel Orange red Orange root Oranges Orchill Orchis mascula Orenburgh gum Orgeat, syrup of Origanum Origanum majorana Origanum majoranoides Origanum vulgare Orleana Ornus Europaea Ornus rotundifolia Orobanche Americana Orobanche uniflora Orobanche Virginiana Orpiment Orpiment, artificial Orris, Florentine Oryza sativa Os 1058 1310 502 505 492 492 632 493 67 1070 506 511 510 510 511 511 511 511 916 509 518 508 509 1231 1021 338 525 525 252 133 863 1289 131 1289 1268 133 420 1300 710 1147 526 527 527 526 1228 447 446 1289 1289 1289 1289 1290 404 1290 527 Os sepia? Ossa Ostrea edulis Otolithus regalia Otto of roses Ovum Oxacids Oxalate of potassa Oxalhydric acid Oxalic acid Oxalis acetosella Oxalis crassicaulis Oxalis violacea Ox-gall Oxide of antimony Oxide of gold Oxide of manganese Oxide of silver Oxide of zinc 1255 527 714 388 498 529 779 1291 816 1290 12 13 12 1292 835 1263 445 1293 1217 Oxychloride of antimony 107, 836 Oxychloride of sodium 1127 Oxymel 1027 Oxymel colchici 1027 Oxymel cupri subacetatis 1027 Oxymel of colchicum 1027 Oxymel of squill 1027 Oxymel of subacetate of copper 1027 Oxymel seilla? 1027 Oxymuriate of lime 149 Oxvsulphuret of antimony ' 848 Oyster 714 Oyster-shell 714 Oyster-shell, prepared 879 Paeonia officinalis Pale bark Palm oil Palm soap Palm sugar Palma Christi Palmic acid Palmin Palmitic acid Palmitin Panacea lapsorum Panax 1293 221 1294 631 614 494 497 497 1294 1294 122 530 Panax quinquefolium 530 Panax schinseng 530 Pansy 743 Papaver 531 Papaver orientale 506 Papaver rhoeas 598 Papaver somniferum 506 Papaverina 513 Paraffine 279 Paraguay tea 1270 Paramenispermin 252 Paramorphia 516 Paratartaric acid 728, 736 Paregoric elixir 1181 Pareira 532 Pareira brava 532 Parietaria officinalis 1294 Index. 1367 Pariglin 637 Parillinic acid 637 Paris white 1313 Parsley root 535 Partridge-berry 345 Pastel 1276 Pastinaca opopanax 525 Patent yellow 1294 Patna opium 511 Paullinia 1294 Paullinia sorbilis 1294 Peach leaves 93 Peach wood 1236 Pearl barley 374 Pearl sago 621 Pearl white 876 Pearlash 562 Pearson's arsenical solu- tion 18 Pectic acid 179 Pectin 179 Pectoral gum 11 Pectose 179 Pellitory 578 Penasa mucronata 1301 Penaea sarcocolla 1301 Pennsylvania sumach 598 Pennyroyal 365 Pennyroyal, European 458 Pennyroyal water 864 Peony 1293 Pepper, black 540 Pepper, Cayenne 167 Pepper, long 542 Pepper, white 540 Peppermint 457 Peppermint water 864 Percolation 769 Periploca Indica 1267 Periploca secamone 643 Pernambuco wood 1236 Peroxide of manganese 445 Perry 741 Persea camphora 153 Persia opium 511 Persiea vulgaris 93 Persicaria mitis 558 Persicaria urens 558 Persimmon 302 Persulphate of mercury 1000 Peruvian bark 212 Peruvian ipecacuanha 401 Peter's pills 75 Petroleum 533 Petroleum Barbadense 533 Petroselinum 535 Petroselinum sativum 535 Phalaris Canariensis 1238 Pharmaceuticul equiva- lents, table of 1329 Phellandrium aquaticum 1288 Philadelphia fleabane 317 Phloridzin 1295 Phoenix farinifera 620 Phosphate of ammonia 1295 Phosphate of iron 968 Phosphate of lime, pre- cipitated 881 Phosphate of quinia 239 Phosphate of soda 1129 Phosphorated oil 537 Phosphoric acid, diluted 795 Phosphorus 535 Phosphorus, ethereal solution of 537 Phyllanthus emblica 1286 Physalis alkekengi 1296 Physalis viscosa 1296 Physeter macrocephalus 202 Phytolacca decandra 537 Phytolacca? bacca? 537 Phytolacca? radix 537 Picamar 279 Pichurim beans 1296 Picraena excelsa 579 Picroglycion 306 Picrotoxic acid 252 Picrotoxin 251 Pills 1058 Pills, aloetic 1060 Pills, Asiatic 20 Pills, assafetida 1061 Pills, blue 1067 Pills, calomel 1069 Pills, compound calomel 1061 Pills, compound cathartic 1062 Pills, mercurial 1067 Pills of aloes and assa- fetida 1060 Pills of aloes and iron 1061 Pills of aloes and myrrh 1061 Pills of aloes, compound 1060 Pills of ammoniated cop- .per 1064 Pills of calomel and opium 1062 Pills of carbonate of iron 1065 Pills of chloride of mer- cury, compound 1061 Pills of colocynth and henbane 1063 Pills of colocynth, com- pound 1063 Pills of copaiba 1064 Pills of digitalis and squill 1064 Pills of galbanum, com- pound 1066 Pills of gamboge, com- pound 1067 Pills of hemlock, com- pound 1063 Pills of iodide of mercury 1069 Pills of ipecacuanha and opium 1069 Pills of ipecacuanha, compound 1069 Pills of iron, compound 1066 Pills of lead, opiate 1070 Pills of mild chloride of mercury 1069 Pills of opium 1069 Pills of rhubarb 1070 Pills of rhubarb and iron 1071 Pills of rhubarb, compound 1071 Pills of sagapenum, com- pound 1071 Pills of soap, compound 1071 Pills of squill, compound 1071 Pills of storax, compound 1072 Pills of sulphate of iron 1066 Pills of sulphate of quinia 1070 Pills, Vallet's ferruginous 1065 Pilulae 1058 Pilulae aloes 1060 Pilulae aloes compositae 1060 Pilulae aloes et assafetida? 1060 Pilulae aloes et ferri 1061 Pilula? aloes et myrrhae 1061 Pilulae assafetida? 1061, 1066 Pilulae calomelanos com- positae 1061 Pilulae calomelanos et opii 1062 Pilula? cambogia? com- posita? 1067 Pilulae cathartica? com- posita? 1062 Pilula? colocynthidis compositae 1063 Pilulas colocynthidis et hyoscyami 1063 Pilula? conii compositae 1063 Pilulae copaibas 1064 Pilulae cupri ammoniati 1064 Pilula? de cynoglosso 1255 Pilulae digitalis et scillae 1064 Pilula? e styrace 1072 Pilula? ferri carbonatis 1065 Pilula? ferri compositae 1066 Pilulas ferri sulphatis 1066 Pilula? galbani composita? 1066 Pilula? gambogiae com- posita? 1067 Pilula? hydrargyri 1067 Pilula? hydrargyri chlo- ridi composita? 1061 Pilulae hydrargyri chlo- ridi mitis 1069 Pilula? hydrargyri iodidi 1069 Pilula? ipecacuanha? com- posita? 1069 Pilula? ipecacuanha? et opii 1069 Pilula? opii 1069 Pilula? plumbi opiata? 1070 Pilula? quinia? sulphatis 1070 Pilula? rhei 1070 Pilulae rhei compositae 1071 Pilula? rhei et ferri 1071 Pilulae sagapeni compo- sita? 1071 Pilulae saponis composita? 1071 Pilulae saponis cum opio 1071 Pilula? seilla? composita? 1071 Pilula? stomachica? 1060 Pilulae styracis composita? 1072 Pilulae Thebaicae 1069 Pimenta 539 Pimento 539 Pimento water 865 Pimpernel, scarlet 1227 Pimpinella anisum 102 1368 Index. Pimpinella saxifraga 1296 Plaster of carbonate of Poplar 433, 1298 Pinckneya 213 lead 920 Poppy, black 506 Pinckneya pubens 1296 Plaster of pitch with Poppy capsules 531 Pine nuts 709 Spanish flies 917 Poppy, corn 598 Pinic acid 586 Plaster of Spanish flies 913 Poppy, red 598 Pink, Carolina 680 Plaster of Spanish flies, Poppy, white 506 Pink, wild 1303 compound 913 Poppy-heads 531 Pinkroot 680 Plaster, strengthening 914 Populin 1298 Pinus abies 543 Plaster, warming 917 Populus 1298 Pinus australis 709 Plasters 910 Populus balsamifera 1298 Pinus balsamea 709 Plasters, spreading of 765,911 Populus nigra 1298 Pinus Canadensis 544 Platinum 1297 Populus tremula 1298 Pinus cembra 709, 1300 Pleurisy-root 127 Populus tremuloides 1298 Pinus Damarra 713 Plumbagin 1297 Porphyroxin 517 Pinus Lambertiana 447 Plumbago 169, 1240 Porrum 559 Pinus larix 710 Plumbago Europaea 1297 Port, English 739 Pinus maritima 709 Plumbi acetas 549 Port wine 738 Pinus nigra 710 Plumbi carbonas 551 Portable soup 528 Pinus palustris 709 Plumbi chloridum 1074 Porter 740 Pinus picea 710 Plumbi diacetatis solutio 1072 Portland arrowroot 124 Pinus pinaster 709 Plumbi iodidum 1075 Portland powder 1309 Pinus pinea 709 Plumbi nitras 1076 Portland sago 124 Pinus pumilio 709, 1300 Plumbi oxidum rubrum 554 Portulaca oleracea 1298 Pinus rigida 545 Plumbi oxidum semivit- Potash 563 Pinus sylvestris 709 reum 555 Potashes, kinds of 564 Pinus taeda 709 Plumbi oxydum hydra- Potassa 1080 Piper 540 turn 1077 Potassa, acetate of 1082 Piper angustifolium 1282 Plumbi subacetatis liquorl072 Potassa, alcoholic 1081 Piper betel 196 Plumbi subacetatis liquor Potassa-alum 78 Piper caninum 287 compositus 1074 Potassa, bicarbonate of 1089 Piper cubeba 287 Plumbum 546 Potassa, binoxalate of Piper longum 542 Plummer's pills 1062 12, 1291 Piper methisticum 1282 Plunket's caustic 19 Potassa, bisulphate of 1095 Piper nigrum 540 Podalyria tinctoria 1232 Potassa, bitartrate of 560 Piperin 541 Podophyllin 557 Potassa, carbonate of 1084 Pipsissewa 207 Podophyllum 556 Potassa, caustic 1080 Pistacia lentiscus 453 Podophyllum peltatum 556 Potassa caustica 1080 Pistacia terebinthus 710 Poison-oak 717 Potassa caustica cum Pitaina 234 Poison-vine 718 calce 1081 Pitaya bark 234 Poke berries 537 Potassa, chlorate of 565 Pitch, 546 Poke root 537 Potassa cum calce 1081 Pitch, black 546 Polychroi'te 285 Potassa, dry 560 Pitch, Burgundy 542 Polygala amara 558, 649 Potassa, effervescing so u- Pitch, Canada 544 Polygala, bitter 558 tion of 1091 Pitch, hemlock 544 Polygala paucifolia 1052 Potassa, ferrocyanate of 572 Pitch pine 709 Polygala polygama 558 Potassa, hydrate of 1080 Pitch plaster 917 Polygala rubella 558 Potassa, hydriodate of 1100 Pittacal 280 Polygala senega 649 Potassa, impure carbo- Pix abietis 542 Polygala vulgaris 649 nate of 562 Pix arida 546 Polygallic acid 650 Potassa, nitrate of 567 Pix Burgundica 542 Polygonatum multiflorum Potassa, preparations o '1077 Pix Canadensis 544 1253 Potassa, pure carbonate Pix liquida 545 Polygonatum uniflorum 1252 of 1087 Pix nigra 546 Polygonum aviculare 558 Potassa, pure hydrate of 1081 Plantago lancifolia 1297 Polygonum bistorta 558 Potassa, sesquicarbonate Plantago major 1297 Polygonum fagopyrum 559 of 1091 Plantago media 1297 Polygonum hydropiper 558 Potassa, solution of 1077 Plantago psyllium 1297 Polygonum hydropipe- Potassa, sulphate of 571 Plantain 1297 ' roides 559 Potassa, sulphuret of 1105 Plantain, water 1225 Polygonum persicaria 558 Potassa, supertartrate o f 560 Plants, collecting of 752 Polygonum punctatum 559 Potassa, tartrate of 1096 Plants, drying of 752 Polygonum tinctorium 1272 Potassa with lime 1081 Plaster, adhesive 92 ,922 Polypodium filix fcemina 1231 Potassae acetas 1082 Plaster, aromatic 912 Polypodium filix mas 332 Potassa? aqua 1077 Plaster, blistering 885 Polypodium vulgare 1297 Potassa? aqua effervescens Plaster measurer 765 Polypody, common 1297 1091 Plaster, mercurial 915 Pomegranate rind 357 Potassa? biantimonias 1255 Plaster of ammoniac Pomegranate root, bark of357 Potassae bicarbonas 1089 with mercury 912 Pompholix 1218 Potassa? bisulphas 1095 Plaster of belladonna 913 Pontefract cakes 326 Potassa? bitartras 560 • Index. 1369 1096 1097 1098 572 1305 1105 560 1097 Potassae carbonas 1084 Potassa? carbonas e lixivo cinere 1084 Potassa? carbonas fe tartari crystallis 1087 Potassa? carbonas impurus 562 Potassa? carbonas purus 1087 Potassa? carbonatis aqua 1088 Potassa? causticae aqua 1077 Potassa? chloras 565 Potassae et sodae tartras 1128 Potassae hydras 1080 Potassa? hydriodas 1100 Potassa? nitras 567 Potassa? nitras purificatum 1094 Potassa? sulphas 571 Potassa? sulphas cum sul- phure 1094 Potassae sulphureti aqua 1107 Potassa? sulphuretum 1105 Potassa? tartras Potassii bromidum Potassii cyanuretum Potassii ferrocyanidum Potassii ferrocyanuretum 572 Potassii iodidum 1100 Potassii sulphocyahure- tum Potassii sulphuretum Potassium Potassium, bromide of Potassium, cyanuret of 1098 Potassium, ferrocyanuret of 572 Potassium, iodide of 1100 Potassium, sulphuret of 1105 Potassium, teroxide of 560 Potato 305 Potato flies 165 Potato starch Potentilla reptans Potentilla tormentilla Pothos Potus imperialis Powder, antimonial Powder, aromatic Powder, compound saline 1113 Powder, Dover's 1111 Powder folder 766 Powder for a cataplasm 1112 Powder of Algaroth 836 Powder of aloes and ca- nella 1109 Powder of aloes, com- pound 1109 Powder of alum, com- pound 1109 Powder of asarabacca, compound 1110 Powder of chalk, com- pound 1110 Powder of chalk with opium, compound 1110 Powder of ipecacuanha and opium 1111 Powder of jalap, com- pound 1H2 96 1298 717 303 562 852 1109 Powder of kino, com- pound 1112 Powder of rhubarb, com- pound 1113 Powder of scammony, compound 1113 Powder of tin 1137 Powder of tragacanth, compound 1113 Powder, Portland 1309 Powdering, methods of 755 Powders 1108 Powders, effervescing 1110 Powders, Seidlitz 52 Powders, soda 1111 Precipitate per se 998 Precipitated calomel 990 Precipitated carbonate^f iron 969 Precipitated carbonate of lime 878 Precipitated phosphate of lime 881 Precipitated sulphur 1141 Precipitated sulphuret of antimony 848 Precipitating jars 756 Precipitation 756, 763 Prepared calamine 1214 Prepared carbonate of zinc 1214 Prepared chalk 879 Prepared honey 1026 Prepared oyster-shell 879 Prepared subacetate of copper 897 Prepared sulphuret of an- timony 848 Prescribing medicines, art of 1315 Prescriptions, formula? for 1319 Preservation of infusions, &c. 765 Preservation of medicines 753 Preserved vegetable juices 1159 Prickly ash 117,745 Prickly poppy 1230 Pride of China 135 Pride of India 135 Prinos 574 Prinos verticillatus 574 Privet 1280 Proof spirit 59, 822 Proof vinegar 15 Protein 724 Protiodide of mercury 992 Protochlorine ether 1241 Protoxide of lead 547 Protoxide of manganese 445 Protoxide of tin 684 Prunella vulgaris 1298 Prunes 575 Pruni pulpa 1108 Prunum 575 Prunus domestica 575 Prunus lauro-cerasus 426 Prunus spinosa 7 Prunus Virginiana 576 Prussian blue 960 Prussiate of mercury 991 Prussiate of potassa 572 Prussic acid 786 Pseudomorphia 517 Psychotria emetica 401 Psyllii semen 1297 Pteris aquilina 1231 Pterocarpus 628 Pterocarpus draco 1257 Pterocarpus erinaceus 416 Pterocarpus marsupium 414 Pterocarpus santalinus 628 Puccoon 627 Puce oxide of lead 547 Pulmonaria officinalis 1299 Pulp of prunes 1108 Pulp of purging cassia 1107 Pulp of tamarinds 1108 Pulpa? 1107 Pulps 1107 Pulveres 1108 Pulveres effervescentes 1110 Pulverization 755 Pulvis aloes compositus 1109 Pulvis alo'es et canellas 1109 Pulvis aluminis compo- situs 1109 Pulvis antirnonialis 852 Pulvis antimonii compo- situs 852 Pulvis aromaticus 1109 Pulvis asari compositus 1110 Pulvis Capucinorum 610 Pulvis cinnamomi compo- situs 1109 Pulvis comitissa? 242 Pulvis cornu cervini usti 881 Pulvis cretae compositus 1110 Pulvis creta? compositus cum opio 1110 Pulvis cretas opiatus 1110 Pulvis hydrargyri cinereus 995 Pulvis ipecacuanha? com- positus 1111 Pulvis ipecacuanhae et opii 1111 Pulvis jalapa? compositus 1112 Pulvis kino compositus 1112 Pulvis pro cataplasmate 1112 Pulvis rhei compositus 1113 Pulvis salinus compositus 1113 Pulvis scammonii compo- situs 1113 Pulvis spongia? ustae 1136 Pulvis stanni 1137 Pulvis tragacantha? com- positus 1113 Pumex 1299 Pumice stone 1299 Punica granatum 357 Punicin 358 Pure carbonate of potassa 1087 Pure chloride of sodium 1129 Pure muriate of soda 1129 Pure Prussian blue 959 1370 Index. Pure sulphate of mag- nesia 1025 Pure sulphuric acid 799 Pure water HO Purging cassia 186 Purging flax 432 Purging nuts 705 Purified animal charcoal 882 Purified extract of aloes 934 Purified mercury 978 Purified nitrate of potassa 1094 Purified oil ofturpentine 1058 Purified storax 1140 Purified sugar 616, 618 Purple avens 351 Purple willow-herb 437 Purree 1271 Purreic acid 1271 Purslane, garden 1298 Pyrethrum 578 Pyrethrum parthenium 1299 Pyretin, acid 1304 Pyretine 546 Pyrmont water 113 Pyroacetic spirit 782, 1299 Pyrola umbellata 207 Pyroligneous acid 41 Pyrophosphate of soda 1131 Pyroxyline 1264 Pyrrole &30 Pyrus cydonia 294 Q Quadroxalate of potassa 1291 Quinia, amorphous 1117 Quinia, kinate of 240 Quinia, preparations of 1113 Quinia, salts of 239 Quinia, sulphate of 1113 Quinia? sulphas 1113 Quinic acid 239 Quinoidine 1H7 Quinolein 238 R Quassia Quassia amara Quassia excelsa Quassia simaruba Quassin Queen's delight Queen's-root Quercin Quercitric acid Quercitrin Quercitron Quercus Quercus aegilops Quercus alba Quercus cerris Quercus excelsa Quercus falcata Quercus ilex Quercus infectoria Quercus montana Quercus pedunculata Quercus prinus Quercus robur Quercus tinctoria Quercus virens Quevenne's iron Quickens Quicklime Quicksilver Quina Quince seeds Quinia 579 579 579 662 580 687 687 582 583 583 583 5S1 340 581, 582 340 340 581 340 340 581 581 581 340, 5S1 581,582 582 330 1311 147 377 238 294 238 Racemic acid '28 Radcliff's elixir 75 Radical vinegar 783 Radices colubrina? 477 Radix caryophyllata? 352 Radix zedoaria? 1313 Ragwort 1303 Raia batis 1249 Raia clavata 1249 Rain water HI Raisins 727 Ranunculus 583 Ranunculus acris 584 Ranunculus bulbosus 584 Ranunculus flammula 584 Ranunculus repens 584 Ranunculus sceleratus 584 Raspberry syrup 1149 Rattlesnake's master 1224, 1280 Ray, oil of 1249 Realgar 1299 Rectification 765 Rectification of ether SOS Rectified oil of amber 1057 Rectified spirit 57 Red bark 229 Red cedar 413 Red chalk 1299 Red coral 1253 Red elm 726 Red iodide of mercury 993 Red lead 554 Red oxide of iron 968 Red oxide of lead 554 Red oxide of manganese 445 Red oxide of mercury, Dub. 998 Red oxide of mercury, V. S. 996 Red pepper 167 Red poppy 598 Red precipitate 996 Red roses 600 Red saunders 628 Red sulphuret of mer- cury 1002 j Red tartar 560 j Red wine vinegar 16 Red wines 736 Reddle 1299 Redhead 1230 Red-root 1240 Refrigerants 3 Refrigeratory 772 Regulus of antimony 105 Remijia ~1° Renealmia cardamomum 176 Reseda luteola 1299 Resin 58o Resin cerate Resin cerate, compound 889 Resin of jalap 944 Resin of scammony 952 Resin plaster 921 Resin, white 586 Resin, yellow 585 Resina 585 Resina alba 585 Resina flava 585 Resina jalapa? 944 Resina scammonii 952 Resine de chibou 1240 Resine de Gomart 1240 Rhabarbaric acid 595 Rhabarbarin 595 Rhabarbarum 588 Rhamnin 587 Rhamnus 586 Rhamnus catharticus 586 Rhamnus frangula 587 Rhamnus infectorius 5S7 Rhamnus zizyphus 1314 Rhapontic rhubarb 594 Rhatany 418 Rhein 595 Rheum 587 Rheum australe 590 Rheum Capsicum 590 Rheum compactum 589 Rheum crassinervium 590 Rheum emodi 590 Rheum hybridum 590 Rheum leucorrhizum 590 Rheum Moorcraftianum 590 Rheum palmatum 589 Reum Rhaponticum 590 Rheum Russicum vel Turcicum 592 Rheum Sinense vel lndicum 591 Rheum speciforme 590 Rheum undulatum 5*9 Rheum Webbianum 590 Rhododendrum crysan- thum 1299 Rhoeas 598 Rhubarb 587 Rhubarb, Batavian 592 Rhubarb, Bucharian 592 Rhubarb, Chinese 591 Rhubarb, Dutch trimmed 592 Rhubarb, English 593 Rhubarb, European 593 Rhubarb, French 594 Rhubarb, India 591 Rhubarb, Krimea 594 Rhubarb, Rhapontic 594 Rhubarb, Russian 592 Rhubarb, Turkey 592 Rhus coriaria 1260 Rhus cotinus 1259 Rhus glabrum 598 Rhus pumilum 719 Rhus radicans 717 Rhus toxicodendron 718 Index. 1371 Rhus vernix 718 Ruta 607 Salsepanne G£7 Rib-grass 1297 Ruta graveolens 607 Salsola G',2 Rice 1290 Rutulin 623 Salt, common 677 Richardsonia Brazili- Rye 1302 Salt of sorrel 12, 1291 ensis 402 Salt of tartar 1087 Richardsonia emetica 402 Salt of wisdom 981 Richardsonia scabra 402 Salt of wormwood 5 Richweed 1251 s Saltpetre 567 Ricin 497 Salvia 624 Ricini oleum 494 Sabadilla 608 Salvia officinalis 624, Ricinic acid 497 Sabadillia 610 Salvia pratensis 625 Ricinus communis 494 Sabadillic acid 609 Salvia selarea 625 Riga balsam 1300 Sabbatia 611 Sambucus G25 River water 111 Sabbatia angularis 611 Sambucus Canadensis 625 Roccella tinctoria 420 Sabina 612 Sambucus nigra 625 Roche alum 78 Sacchari fa?x 613 Samovey isinglass 3S7 Rochelle salt 1128 Saccharic acid 611 ,816 Sampfen wood 1236 Rock oil 533 Saccharine carbonate of Sandaraca 1300 Itock salt 677 iron 955 Sandarach 1300 Rock-rose 1266 Saccharine fermentation 58 Sandaracin 1300 Roll sulphur 695 Saccharine iodide of iron 965 Sand-bath 759 Roman alum 78 Saccharum 613 Sandix 1289 Roman cement 761 Saccharum commune 613 Sanguinaria 626 Roman chamomile 104 Saccharum officinarum 614 Sanguinaria Canadensis 626 Roman vitriol 291 Saccharum saturni 549 Sanguinarina 627 Rosa canina 599 Sacchulmic acid 617 Sanguis draconis 1256 Rosa centifolia 600 Sacchulmin 617 Sanguisuga medicinalis 370 Rosa damascena 498 Sack 738 Sanguisuga officinalis 370 Rosa Gallica 600 Sacred elixir 1183 Sanicle 1301 Rosa moschata 498 Safflower 180 Sanicula Marilandiea 1301 Rosa? oleum 498 Saffron 284 Santa Martha bark 232 Rose, dog 599 Sagapenum 619 Santalin 629 Rose water 865 Sage 624 Santalum 628 Rosemary 601 Sago 620 1 Santonin 122 Roses, hundred leaved 600 Sago meal 621 Sap green 587 Roses, red 600 Sago, pearl 621 Sapo 629 Rosin 585 Saguerus Rumphii 620 Sapo durus 62£ ,631 Rosin soap 632 Sagus laevis 620 Sapo guaiacinus 363 Rosmarinus 601 Sagus Ruffia 620 Sapo mollis 62! ,631 Rosmarinus officinalis 601 Sagus Rumphii 620 Sapo vulgaris 62£ , 631 Rosmarinus sylvestris 1279 Saint John's wort 1269 Saponaria officinalis 1301 Rotten stone 1300 Saint Lucia bark 234 Saponification 629 Roucou 1228 Sal absinthii 5 Saponin 1301 Rouge 180 Sal aeratus 1091 Sappan wood 1236 Rough wines 737 Sal alembroth 981 Saratoga water 114 Round-leaved dogwood 276 Sal ammoniac 84 Sarcocolla 1301 Rousseau's laudanum 1212 Sal de duobus 571 Sarcocollin 1301 Rubefacients 2 Sal diureticus 1084 Sarsaparilla 634 Rubia 602 Sal enixum 1096 Sarsaparilla, false 116 Rubia tinctorum 602 Sal gemma? 677 Sarsaparilla, Indian 1267 Rubigo ferri 969 Sal polychrestus Glaseri 1095 Sarsaparillin 637 Rubus trivialis 603 Sal pfunelle 569 Sarza 634 Rubus villosus 60; , 604 Salep 1300 Sassa gum 1301 Rue 607 Saliein 623 Sassafras medulla 639 Rufus's pills Rumex 1061 Salicornia 672 Sassafras officinale 640 605 Salicyle 623 Sassafras pith 63S , 640 Rumex acetosa 605 Salicylous acid 623 Sassafras radicis cortex 639 Rumex acetosella 605 Saline mixture 1093 Sassafras root, bark of 641 Rumex acutus 606 Saline waters 113 Satureja hortensis 1302 Rumex Alpinus 606 Saliretin 623 Satureja montana 1302 Rumex aquaticus 605, 606 Salix 622 Saunders, red 628 Rumex Britannica 605 ,606 Salix alba 622 Savine 612 Rumex crispus 606 Salix Babylonica 622 Savine cerate S90 Rumex obtusifolius 60£ ,606 Salix caprea 622 Savon vert 629 Rumex patientia Rumex sanguineus 606 Salix fragilis 622 Savory 1302 606 Salix helix 624 Saxifraga 1296 Rumex scutatus 606 Salix nigra 622 Scabious 318 Rumicin 606 Salix pentandra 622 Scales of the oxide of Russian rhubarb 592 Salix purpurea 622 iron 330 Rust of iron 969 Salix Russeliana 622 Scammonium. 641 1372 Index. Scammony 641 Sevum 662 Smooth sumach 598 Scammony mixture 1033 Sheep-laurel 1276 Smyrna opium 509 Scandix cerefolium 1229 Shell lac 1277 Smyrna scammony 642 Scarlet pimpernel 1227 Sherry wine 738 Snakeroot, black 210, 1301 Schuylkill water 112 Shining aloes 69 Snakeroot, button 318, 1280 Seilla 645 Sialagogues 2 Snakeroot, Canada 125 Seilla maritima 645 Siberian rhapontic root 594 Snakeroot, seneka 649 Scillitin 646 Siberian rhubarb 594 Snakeroot, Virginia 657 Sclerotium clavus 311 Sienna 1303 Sneezewort 1266 Scolopendrium officina- Sieves 756 Snow water 111 rum 1302 Signs and abbreviations. Soap 629 Scoparius 647 table of 1319 Soap, almond oil 631 Scotch fir 709 Silene Virginica 1303 Soap, amygdaline 631 Scrophularia nodosa 648 Silicate of zinc 748 Soap balls 631 Scullcap 1302 Silk-weed, common 127 Soap, Castile 632 Scurvy-grass 254 Silurus glanis 387 Soap cerate 890 Scutellaria galericulata 1302 Silver 118 Soap, common 629 ,631 Scutellaria hyssopifolia 1302 Silver bark 223 Soap, common yellow 632 Scutellaria integrifolia 1302 Silver, cyanide of 866 Soap, grain 630 Scutellaria lateriflora 1302 Silver, cyanuret of 866 Soap liniment 1184 Sea salt 677 Silver fir, American 710 Soap liniment, campho- Sea water 114 Silver fir, European 710 rated 1021 Sealing wax 1277 Silver, iodide of 1274 Soap, marbled 630 Sea-side balsam 184 Silver, nitrate of 866 Soap of guaiac 363 Sea-side grape 415 Silver, preparations of 866 Soap, palm 631 Sea-wrack 1258 Simaruba 662 Soap plaster 921 Secale cereale 311, 1302 Simaruba amara 662 Soap plaster, compound 922 Secale cornutum 311 Simaruba excelsa 579 Soap, rosin 632 Sedum acre 1302 Simaruba officinalis 662 Soap, soft 629, 631 , 632 Seed lac 1277 Simple cataplasm 884 Soap, Starkey's 631 Seidlitz powders 52 Simple cerate 891 Soap, transparent 631 Seidlitz water 114 Simple infusion of mint 1013 Soap, Windsor 631 Seignette's salt 1129 Simple liniment 1022 Soaps, insoluble 630 Self-heal 1298 Simple ointment 1204 Soaps, soluble 630 Seltzer water 113 Simple syrup 1145 Soapwort 1301 Seltzer water, artificial 858 Sinapis 663 Socotrine aloes 70 Semen abelmoschi 1268 Sinapis alba 663 Soda, acetate of 668 Semen contra 123 Sinapis nigra 663 Soda ball 672 Semen nigella? 1287 Sinapisin 665, 666 Soda, biborate of 671 Semen psyllii 1297 Sinapisms S84 Soda, bicarbonate of 1122 Sernivitrified oxide of Single aqua fortis 37 Soda, borate of 669 lead 555 Sipeerin 1233 Soda, carbonate of 673 Sempervivum tectorum 1303 Siphonia cahuchu 1239 Soda, dried carbonate of 1122 Senecio aureus 1303 Siphonia elastica 1239 Soda, effervescing solu- Senecio vulgaris 1303 Sirop de capWtoire 1223 tion of 1125 Senega 649 Sirop de Cuisinier 1153 Soda, hypochlorite of 1127 Senegal gum 8 Sisymbrium nasturtium 1287 Soda, hyposulphite of 1269 Senegin 649 Sisymbrium officinale 1303 Soda, impure carbonate Seneka 649 Sisymbrium sophia 1303 of 671 Seneka oil 534 Sium latifolium 1303 Soda liquid, Labarraque 's Senna 651 Sium nodiflorum 1303 1126 Senna, American 187 Sium sisarum 1303 Soda, muriate of 677 Senna, fluid extract of 1156 Skirret 1303 Soda, native 671 Separation of liquids 758 Skunk cabbage 303 Soda of commerce, arti- Separation of solids from Slippery elm bark 726 ficial 672 liquids 756 Small burnet saxifrage 1296 Soda of vegetable origir 672 Separatory 758 , 1049 Small fennel-flower 1287 Soda, phosphate of 1129 Sepia 1255 Small houseleek 1302 Soda powders 1111 Sepia officinalis 1255 Smalt 1303 Soda, preparations of 1122 Serpentaria 657 Smart weed 558 Soda, sesquicarbonate c f Sesamum 660 Smilacin 637 672 1122 Sesamum lndicum 661 Smilasperic acid 1267 Soda soap, animal oil 632 Sesamum orientale 661 Smilax aspera 634 Soda soap, olive oil 632 Sesquicarbonate of am- Smilax China 634 Soda, sulphate of 675 monia 825 Smilax Cumanensis 634 Soda, tartarized 1128 Sesquicarbonate of po- Smilax medica 635 Soda, vitriolated 675 tassa 1091 Smilax officinalis 635 Soda water 858 Sesquicarbonate of sod a j Smilax papyracea 635 Soda-ash 673 672 , 1122 Smilax sarsaparilla 634 Soda? acetas 668 Sesquioxide of iron .969 S»:ilax syphilitica 635 Soda? aqua effervescens 1125 Index. 1373 Soda? bicarbonas 1122 Soda? boras 669 Sodae carbonas 673 Soda? carbonas exsiccatus 1122 Soda? carbonas impura 671 Soda? carbonas venale 671 Soda? carbonatis aqua 1122 Soda? et potassa? tartras 1128 Soda? hyposulphis 1269 Soda? murias 677 Sodae murias purum 1129 Soda? phosphas 1129 Soda? potassio-tartras 1128 Soda? sesquicarbonas -1122 Soda? sulphas 675 Sodii chloridum 677 Sodium 667 Sodium, chloride of 677 Sodium, sesquioxide of 667 Soft soap 629, 631, 632 Soft water 110 Solania 306 Solanum dulcamara 305 Solanum nigrum 304 Solanum tuberosum 305 Solidago 679 Solidago odora 679 Solidago virgaurea 679 Solids from liquids, sepa- ration of 756 Solomon's seal 1252 Soluble cream of tartar 670 Soluble tartar 1096 Solutio baryta? muriatis 875 Solution of acetate of ammonia 831 Solution of ammonia 828 Solution of ammoniated copper 899 Solution of arsenite of potassa 871 Solution of bichloride of mercury 985 Solution of carbonate of ammonia S27 Solution of carbonate of potassa 1088 Solution of chloride of barium 875 Solution of chloride of calcium 880 Solution of chloride of potassa . 1241 Solution of chloride of soda 1126 Solution of chlorinated soda 1126 Solution of citrate of po- tassa 1092 Solution of hydriodate of arsenic and mercury 1273 Solution of hydrosulphate of ammonia 827 Solution of iodide of iron 964 Solution of iodine, com- pound 1018 Solution of muriate of baryta 875 Solution of muriate of lime 880 Solution of muriate of morphia 1043 Solution of nitrate of sil- ver 870 Solution of potassa 1077 Solution of sesquicarbo- nate of ammonia 827 Solution of subacetate of lead 1072 Solution of subacetate of lead, diluted 1074 Solution of sulphate of morphia 1044 Solution of supernitrate of mercury 1305 Solution of ternitrate of iron 1309 Soot 1304 Sophora tinctoria 1232 Soporifics - 3 Sorrel 605 Sorrel-tree 1228 South American saltpetre 569 Southernwood 4 Southernwood, Tartarian 122 Spa water 113 Spanish broom 1304 Spanish brown 1304 Spanish flies 160 Sparkling wines 737 Spartium junceum 1304 Spartium scoparium 648 Spearmint 458 Spearmint water 864 Specific gravity 754 Specific gravity bottle 755 Speediman's pills 75 Speedwell 1313 Speltre 746 Spermaceti 202 Spermaceti cerate 888 Spermaceti ointment 1193 Sphacelia segetum 312 Sphaerococcus crispus 209 Spice-wood 1233 Spiced syrup of rhubarb 1151 Spider's web 1247 Spigelia 680 Spigelia anthelmintica 680 Spigelia, fluid extract of 1017 Spigelia Marilandiea 680 Spikenard Spikenard, American Spikenard, small Spindletree Spiraea Spiraea lobata Spiraea tomentosa Spiraea ulmaria Spirit lamps Spirit of ammonia 117 116 1257 6S2 1052 682 1052 759 833 1132 1133 1134 1134 831 36 817 1135 1135 1135 1135 1136 31 1135 Spirit of ammonia, aroma tic Spirit of ammonia, fetid Spirit of aniseed Spirit of aniseed, com- pound Spirit of caraway 834 835 1132 1132 1133 Spirit of cassia 1133 Spirit of cinnamon 1133 Spirit of hartshorn 276 Spirit of horse-radish, compound Spirit of juniper, com- pound Spirit of lavender Spirit of lavender, com pound Spirit of Mindererus Spirit of nitre Spirit of nitric ether Spirit of nutmeg Spirit of pennyroyal, European Spirit of peppermint Spirit of pimento Spirit of rosemary Spirit of sea-salt Spirit of spearmint Spirit of sulphuric ether 814 Spirit of sulphuric ether, compound 814 Spirit of turpentine 499 Spirit of wine 57 Spirit, proof 59, 822 Spirit, pyroacetic 782, 1299 Spirits 1132 Spirituous wines 737 Spiritus 1132 Spiritus aethereus nitro- sus Spiritus astheris nitrici Spiritus aetheris sulphu- rici Spiritus aetheris sulphu- rici compositus Spiritus ammoniae Spiritus ammonia? aro- maticus Spiritus ammonia? fcetidus 835 Spiritus ammonias succi- natus 1161 Spiritus anisi 1132 Spiritus anisi compositus 1132 Spiritus armoracia? com positus Spiritus camphoratus Spiritus carui Spiritus cassiae Spiritus cinnamomi Spiritus colchici ammo- niatus Spiritus juniperi compo situs Spiritus lavandula? Spiritus lavandula? com- positus Spiritus menthae piperita? 1135 Spiritus menthae pulegii 1135 Spiritus menthae viridis 1135 Spiritus Mindereri S31 Spiritus myristicae 1135 Spiritus nitri dulcis 817 Spiritus nucis moschata? 1135 Spiritus pimenta? 1135 Spiritus rectificatus 57 Spiritus rosmarini 1136 817 817 S14 814 S33 834 1132 1163 1133 1133 1133 1169 1133 1134 1134 1374 Index. Spiritus tenuior 822 Spiritus vini Gallici 57 Spleenwort, black 1231 Spleenwort, common 1231 Spleenwort fern 1252 Sponge 683 Sponge, burnt 1136 Sponge tent 684 Spongia 683 Spongia officinalis 683 Spongia usta 1136 Spotted winter green 207 Spring water 111 Spruce beer 710 Spruce, essence of-. 710 Spruce fir 543 Spunk 1223 Spurge, ipecacuanha 323 Spurge, large flowering 321 Spurge laurel 460 Spurred rve 311 Squill ' 645 Squilla maritima 645 Squirting cucumber 307 Staff-tree, climbing 1240 Stalagmitis cambogioides 342 Stanni pulvis Stannic acid Stannum Staphisagria Star aniseed Star grass Starch Stark ey's soap Statice Statice Caroliniana Statice limonium Stavesacre Stearic acid Stearin Stearoptene Steel Stibium Stick lac 103 1137 684 684 685 1270 64 94 631 686 6S6 686 685 630 56, 481 483 328 I 105 1277 Still and worm, common 760 Still, small 760 Stillingia ; 687 Stillingia sylvatica 687 Stimulants 2 Stizolobium pruriens 469 St. John's wort 1269 St. Lucia bark 234 Stone-crop, biting 1302 Stone-pine 709 Stone-root 1251 Storax 691 Storax, purified 1140 Stoved salt 678 Strainers 757 Stramonii folia 688 Stramonii radix 688 Stramonii semen 688 Stramonium 688 Strasburgh turpentine 713 Strengthening plaster 914 Striated ipecacuanha 401 Strong mercurial oint- ment 1195 Stronger solution of atn- monia 82 Strongest common caus- tic 1081 Strong-scented lettuce 421 Strychnia 477, 1137 Strychnos colubrina 477 Strychnos Ignatia 1233 Strychnos nux vomica 476 Styracine 1281 Styrax 691 Styrax benzoin 141 Styrax colatus 1140 Styrax officinale 691 Styrax purificata 1140 Subacetate of copper 290 Subacetate of copper, prepared 897 Subacetate of lead, solu- tion of 1072 Subcarbonate of iron 969 Sublimate 761 Sublimation 761 Sublimatus corrosivus 979 Sublimed sulphur 694, 696 Sublimed white oxide of arsenic 871 Subnitrate of bismuth 875 Succi spissati 924, 932 Succinate of ammonia 796 Succinic acid 796 Succinum 693 Succory 1245 Succus spissatus aconiti 933 Succus spissatus bella- donna? 935 Succus spissatus conii 940 Succus spissatus hyos- cyami 943 Succus spissatus sambuci 950 Suet 662 Sugar 613 Sugar, barley 617 Sugar, brown 613, 618 Sugar cane 614 Sugar, Havanna 615 Sugar maple 614 Sugar, muscovado 613 Sugar of gelatin 388 Sugar of grapes 613 Sugar of lead 549 Sugar of milk 614 Sugar of mushrooms 1284 Sugar, palm 614 Sugar, purified 616, 618 Sugar, uncrvstallizable 613 Sugar, white 616, 618 Sugar-candy 617 Sugar-house molasses 616, 618 Sulphate of alumina 1305 Sulphate of alumina and potassa 77 Sulphate of baryta 137 Sulphate of cadmium 1305 Sulphate of cinchonia 238, 1117 Sulphate of copper 291 Sulphate of ether and etherine 812 Sulphate of indigo 1272 Sulphate of iron 971 Sulphate of iron, dried 973 Sulphate of magnesia 440 Sulphate of magnesia. pure ' 1025 Sulphate of morphia 1043 Sulphate of morphia, solution of 1044 Sulphate of potassa 571 Sulphate of potassa with sulphur 1094 Sulphate of quinia 1113 Sulphate of soda 675 Sulphate of zinc 121S Sulphocyanuret of po- tassium 1305 Sulpho-salts 696 Sulpho-sinapisin 665, 666 Sulphovinic acid 810 Sulphur 694 Sulphur antimoniatum fuscum 848 Sulphur, crude 695 Sulphur, flowers of 695, 696 Sulphur, iodide of 1142 Sulphur lotum 694 Sulphur, milk of 1141 Sulphur, native 694 Sulphur ointment 1205 Sulphur prascipitatum 1141 Sulphur, precipitated 1141 Sulphur, preparations of 1141 Sulphur, roll 695 Sulphur, soft amorphous 696 Sulphur sublimatum 694 Sulphur, sublimed 695, 696 Sulphur vivum 695 Sulphur, washed 694, 696 Sulphurated oil 1231 Sulphuret of antimony 107 Sulphuret of iron Sulphuret of mercury with sulphur Sulphuret of potassa Sulphuret of potassium 1105 Sulphuretted hydrogen 696,974 Sulphuretted waters 112 Sulphuric acid 43 Sulphuric acid, diluted 798 Sulphuric acid, pure 799 Sulphuric acid, table of the specific gravity of Sulphuric ether Sulphuric ether, unrec- tified Sulphuric ethereal liquor 805 Sulphuris iodidum 1142 Sulphurous acid 696 Sumach 598 Sumach, swamp 718 Sumatra camphor 156 Summer savory 1302 Supernitrate of mercury, solution of 1305 Suspension of substances, means of 766 Swamp dogwood 278 Swamp hellebore 734 Swamp sumach 718 Swamp-laurel 1276 973 1001 1105 47 805 805 Index. 1375 Sweet almonds 89,90 Sweet bay 443 Sweet birch 1234 Sweet fern 1252 Sweet flag 145 Sweet marjoram 527 Sweet principle of oils 1262 Sweet spirit of nitre 817 Sweet wines 737 Sweet-gum 1280 Sweet-scented water-lily 1287 Swietenia febrifuga 1305 Swietenia mahagoni 1305 Sydenham's laudanum 1211 Sylvic acid 586 Symphytum officinale 1306 Symplocarpus fcetidus 303 Synaptase 90 Syrian herb mastich 1309 Syringa vulgaris 1306 Syrup 617, 1145 Syrup of albuminate of iron and potassa 1225 Syrup of almonds 1147 Syrup of buckthorn 1150 Syrup of garlic 1146 Syrup of ginger 1157 Syrup of iodide of iron 964 Syrup of iodide of zinc 1274 Syrup of ipecacuanha 1148 Syrup of lemons 1149 Syrup of marshmallow 1146 Syrup of mulberries 1149 Syrup of orange peel 1147 Syrup of orgeat 1147 Syrup of pineapples 1149 Syrup of poppies 1149 Syrup of raspberries 1149 Syrup of red poppy 1151 Syrup of red roses 1152 Syrup of rhatany 1149 Syrup of rhubarb 1151 Syrup of rhubarb, aro- matic 1151 Syrup of roses 1152 Syrup of saffron 1148 Syrup of sarsaparilla 1152 Syrup of sarsaparilla, compound 1152 Syrup of seneka 1155 Syrup of senna 1156 Syrup of squill 1154 Syrup of squill, com- pound 1154 Syrup of strawberries 1149 Syrup of tolu 1156 Syrup of vinegar 1146 Syrup of violets 1157 Syrup of wild-cherry bark 578 Syrup, simple 1145 Syrupi l'42 Syrups 1142 Syrupus 1145 Syrupus aceti 1146 Syrupus all it 1146 Syrupus althaea? 1146 Syrupus amygdalae 1147 Syrupus aurantii corticis 1147 Syrupus balsami Tolutani 1156 Syrupus croci 1148 Syrupus empyreumaticus 613 Syrupus ipecacuanha? 1148 Syrupus krameria? 1149 Syrupus limonis 1149 Syrupus mori 1149 Syrupus papaveris 1149 Syrupus papaveris rhceadis 1151 Syrupus rhamni 1150 Syrupus rhei 1151 Syrupus rhei aromaticus 1151 Syrupus rhceados 1151 Syrupus rosa? 1152 Syrupus rosae Gallica? 1152 Syrupus sarsaparilla? 1152 Syrupus sarsaparilla? compositus 1152 Syrupus scillae 1154 Syrupus scillae com- positus 1154 Syrupus senegae 1155 Syrupus sennae 1156 Syrupus simplex 1145 Syrupus tolutani 1156 Syrupus viola? 1157 Syrupus zingiberis 1157 Tabacum 697 Table of Baume's and Cartier's hydrometer 1340 Table of Cartier's hy- drometer and the cen- tesimal alcoholmeter 1341 Table of drops 1328 Table of pharmaceuti- cal equivalents 1329 Table of signs and ab- breviations 1319 Tables of the value in sp. gr. of Baume's and Beck's hydro- meter degrees 1338 Tables of weights and measures 1323 Tacamahac 1306 Tacca oceanica 450 Tacca pinnatifida 450 Tamarindi pulpa 1108 Tamarinds 702 Tamarindus 702 Tamarindus Indica 702 Tamarix Gallica 446 Tanacetic acid 704 Tanacetum 703 Tanacetum vulgare 704 Tannate of iron 1306 Tannate of lead 1307 Tannate of quinia 239 Tannic acid 800 Tannin 800 Tansy 703 Tapioca 704 Tar 545 Tar, Barbadoes 533 Tar, mineral 534 Tar ointment 1202 Tar water 865 Taraxacin 707 Taraxacum 706 Taraxacum dens-leonis 706 Tartar 49,560 Tartar, cream of 560 Tartar, crude 560 Tartar, crystals of 560 Tartar emetic 837 Tartar emetic ointment 1192 Tartar, red 560 Tartar, salt of 1087 Tartar, soluble 1096 Tartar, white 560 Tartarian southernwood 122 Tartaric acid 49 Tartarized antimony 837 Tartarized iron 956 Tartarized soda 1128 Tartarum emeticum 837 Tartarum vitriolatum 571 Tartrate of antimony and potassa 837 Tartrate of iron and potassa 956 Tartrate of potassa 1096 Tartrate of potassa and magnesia 1129 Tartrate of potassa and soda 1128 Tartrate of protoxide of iron 959 Taschkent rhubarb 593 Tasteless ague drop 872 Tea 1307 Tea-berry 345 Tegeneria domestica 1247 Tegeneria medicinalis 1247 Tela aranea? 1247 Temperature, officinal, for different operations 769 Teneriffe wine 738 Tephrosia Apollinea 653 Tepid bath 115 Terchloride of formyle 1242 Terebinthina 708,711 Terebinthina Canadensis 708 Terebinthina Chia 70S Terebinthina Veneta 708 Terebinthina vulgaris 708 Terebinthina? oleum 499 Terminalia bellirica 1285 Terminalia benzoin 141 Terminalia chebula 1285 Ternitrate of iron, solu- tion of 1309 Teroxide of antimony 835 Terra cariosa 1300 Terra di sienna 1303 Terra foliata tartari 66S Terra Japonica 194 Terra Tripolitana 1310 Terra Umbria 1311 Terra? sigillata? 1235 Tersulphuret of antimony 107 Testa 714 1376 Index. Testa praeparata 879 Testa? 714 Teucrium chamaedrys 1309 Teucrium marum 1309 Teucrium scordium 1309 Thallochlor 205 Thea bohea 1307 Thea Chinensis 1307 Thea stricta ]307 Thea viridis 1307 Thebaina 516 Thein ]308 Theobroma cacao 1248 Theobromin 1248 Theriaca 894 Thermometers, compara- tive value of the de- grees of 1337 Thieves' vinegar 779 Thornapple 688 Thoroughwort 319 Thridace 423 Thus 543 Thuja occidentalis 1310 Thuya articulata 1300 Thyme 1310 Thymus serpillum 1310 Thymus vulgaris 1310 Tiglii oleum 502 Tin 684 Tin, powder of 1137 Tincal 669 Tinctura acetatis ferri cum alcohol 955 Tinctura aconiti 1160 Tinctura aetherea cum phosphoro 537 Tinctura aloes 1160 Tinctura aloes composita 1161 Tinctura alo'es et myrrha? 1161 Tinctura ammonia? com- posita 1161 Tinctura angustura? 1161 Tinctura assafetida? 1162 Tinctura aurantii 1162 Tinctura balsami Tolu- tani 1186 Tinctura belladonna? 1162 Tinctura benzoini com- posita 1162 Tinctura buchu 1163 Tinctura calumba? 1169 Tinctura camphora? 1163 Tinctura camphora? com- posita 1181 Tinctura cantharidis 1164 Tinctura capsici 1164 Tinctura cardamomi 1164 Tinctura cardamomi com- posita 1165 Tinctura cascarilla? 1165 Tinctura cassia? 1165 Tinctura castorei 1166 Tinctura castorei ammo- niata 1166 Tinctura catechu 1166 Tinctura cinchona? 1167 Tinctura cinchona? com- posita 1167 Tinctura cinnamomi 1168 Tinctura cinnamomi composita 1168 Tinctura colchici 1169 Tinptura colchici com- posita 1169 Tinctura colchici seminis 1169 Tinctura colomba? 1169 Tinctura conii 1170 Tinctura croci 1170 Tinctura cubeba? 1170 Tinctura cusparia? 1161 Tinctura digitalis 1171 Tinctura ferri ammonio- chloridi 975 Tinctura ferri chloridi 975 Tinctura ferri sesqui- chloridi 975 Tinctura galbani 1171 Tinctura gallae 1171 Tinctura gentianae com- posita 1172 Tinctura guaiaci 1172 Tinctura guaiaci ammo- niata 1173 Tinctura hellebori 1173 Tinctura humuli 1173 Tinctura hyoscyami 1174 Tinctura iodini 1174 Tinctura iodini compo- sita 1175 Tinctura jalapa? 1176 Tinctura kino 1176 Tinctura krameria? 1176 Tinctura lactucarii 1176 Tinctura lavandula? com- posita 1134 Tinctura lobelia? 1177 Tinctura lobelia? astherea 1177 Tinctura lupuli 1177 Tinctura lupulina? 1177 Tinctura melampodii 1173 Tinctura moschi 1177 Tinctura myrrha? 1178 Tinctura nucis vomicae 1178 Tinctura olei menthae piperitae 1178 Tinctura olei mentha? viridis 1178 Tinctura opii 1179 Tinctura opii acetata 1180 Tinctura opii ammoniata 1180 Tinctura opii camphorata 1181 Tinctura quassia? 1182 Tinctura quassia? compo- sita 1182 Tinctura rhei 1182 Tinctura rhei composita 1182 Tinctura rhei et aloes 1183 Tinctura rhei et gentiana? 1183 Tinctura rhei et senna? 1183 Tinctura sanguinaria? 1184 Tinctura saponis cam- phorata 1184 Tinctura seilla? 1185 Tinctura senna? compo- sita 1185 Tinctura senna? etjalapae 1185 Tinctura serpentaria? 1186 Tinctura stramonii 1186 Tinctura Thebaica 1179 Tinctura tolutani 1186 Tinctura Valeriana? 1187 Tinctura Valeriana? ammo- niata 1187 Tinctura zingiberis 1187 Tinctura? H5S Tincture of acetate of iron 954 Tincture of acetate of iron with alcohol 955 Tincture of acetate of zinc 1214 Tincture of aconite 1160 Tincture of aloes 1160 Tincture of aloes and myrrh 1161 Tincture of ammonia, compound 1161 Tincture of ammonio- chloride of iron 975 Tincture of angustura bark 1161 Tincture of assafetida 1162 Tincture of belladonna 1162 Tincture of benzoin, compound 1162 Tincture of black helle- bore 1173 Tincture of bloodroot 1184 Tincture of buchu 1163 Tincture of camphor 1163 Tincture of cardamom 1164 Tincture of cardamom, compound 1165 Tincture of cascarilla 1165 Tincture of cassia 1165 Tincture of castor 1166 Tincture of castor, am- moniated 1166 Tincture of catechu 1166 Tincture of Cayenne pepper 1164 Tincture of chloride of iron 975 Tincture of chloroform 1245 Tincture of cinnamon 1168 Tincture of cinnamon, compound 1168 Tincture of cloves 183 Tincture of colchicum, compound 1169 Tincture of colchicum seed H69 Tincture of columbo 1169 Tincture of cubebs 1170 Tincture of foxglove 1171 Tincture of galbanum 1171 Tincture of galls H71 Tincture of gentian, compound 1172 Tincture of ginger 1187 Tincture of guaiac 1172 Tincture of guaiac, ammoniated 1173 Tincture ofhemlock 1170 Tincture of henbane 1174 Index. 1377 Tincture of hops 1173 Tincture of iodine 1174 Tincture of iodine, compound 1175 Tincture of jalap 1176 Tincture of kino 1176 Tincture of lactucarium 1176 Tincture of lobelia 1177 Tincture of lobelia, ethereal 1177 Tincture oflupulin 1177 Tincture of muriate of iron 975 Tincture of musk 1177 Tincture of myrrh 1178 Tincture of nux vomica 1178 Tincture of oil of pep- permint 1178 Tincture of oil of spear- mint 1178 Tincture of opium 1179 Tincture of opium, ace- tated 1180 Tincture of opium, am- moniated 1180 Tincture of opium, cam- phorated 1181 Tincture of orange peel 1162 Tincture of Peruvian bark 1167 Tincture of Peruvian bark, compound 1167 Tincture of quassia 1182 Tincture of quassia, com- pound 1182 Tincture of rhatany 1176 Tincture of rhubarb 1182 Tincture of rhubarb and aloes 1183 Tincture of rhubarb and gentian 1183 Tincture of rhubarb and senna 1183 Tincture of rhubarb, compound 1182 Tincture of saffron 1170 Tincture of senna and jalap 1185 Tincture of senna, com- pound 1185 Tincture of soap 632 Tincture of soap, cam- phorated 1184 Tincture of Spanish flies 1164 Tincture of squill 1185 Tincture of stramonium 1186 Tincture of tolu 1186 Tincture of valerian 1187 Tincture of valerian, am- moniated 1187 Tincture of Virginia snakeroot 1186 Tinctures 1158 Tinder 1223 Tin-foil 684 Tinnevelly senna 655 Toadflax, common 1229 Tobacco 697 Tobacco-ointment • 1205 Tolene 716 87 Tolu, balsam of 715 Toluifera balsamum 715 Tolutanum 715 Tonics 2 Tonka bean 1310 Toothache tree 117 Tormentil 716 Tormentilla 716 Tormentilla erecta 717 Tormentilla officinalis 716 Touch-me-not 1270 Touchwood 1223 Tous les mois 159 Toxicodendron 717 Tragacanth 719 Tragacantha 719 Tragacanthin 721 Trailing arbutus 1257 Transparent soap 631 Traveller's joy 1247 Treacle 613 Tree primrose 1288 Trigonella fenumgraecum 1310 1310 1310 721 721 1310 Trillium Trillium erectum Triosteum Triosteum perfoliatum Tripoli 655 875 722 722 722 1311 1188 Tripoli senna Trisnitrate of bismuth Triticum asstivum Triticum compositum Triticum hybernum Triticum repens Troches Troches of bicarbonate ofsoda 1191 Troches of chalk 1189 Troches of gum Arabic 1189 Troches of ipecacuanha 1190 Troches of lactucarium 1190 Troches of liquorice 1189 Troches of liquorice and opium 1189 Troches of magnesia 1190 Troches of morphia 1190 Troches of morphia and ipecacuanha 1191 Troches of peppermint 1190 Troches of tartaric acid 1189 Trochisci Hs* Trochisci acaciae 1189 Trochisci acidi tartarici 1189 Trochisci creta? 1189 Trochisci glycyrrhizae 1189 Trochisci glycyrrhiza? et opii Trochisci ipecacuanhae 1190 Trochisci lactucarii 1190 Trochisci magnesia? 1190 Trochisci mentha? piperi- ta? H90 Trochisci morphia? 1190 Trochisci morphia? et ipe- cacuanha? 1191 Trochisci soda? bicarbon- atis H91 Trona 672 Tulip-tree bark 432 Tunbridge water 113 Turkey gum 7 Turkey opium 509 Turkey rhubarb 592 Turlington's balsam 1163 Turmeric 293 Tumor's cerate 891 Tuinsol 420 Turpentine 708 Turpentine, Bordeaux 711 Turpentine, Canada 708,712 Turpentine, Chian 708,713 Turpentine, common American 711 Turpentine, common European 708,711 Turpentine, Damarra 713 Turpentine, Dombeya 713 Turpentine, Strasburg 713 Turpentine, Venice 708, 712 Turpentine, white 711 Turpentinic acid 500 Turpeth mineral 1000 Tussilago 725 Tussilago farfara 725 Tutia 1311 Tutty 1311 Tutty ointment 1206 u Ulmic acid 726 Ulmin 726 Ulmus 726 Ulmus Americana 727 Ulmus campestris 726 Ulmus fulva 726 Ulmus rubra 726 Umber 1311 Umbrella tree 443 Uncaria gambir 194 Uncrystallizable sugar 613 Undulated ipecacuanha 402 Unguenta H91 Unguentum acidi nitrici 1191 Unguentum acidi sulphu- rici H91 Unguentum aeruginis 1194 Unguentum antimonii 1192 Unguentum aqua? rosae 1192 Unguentum calamina? 891 Unguentum cantharidis, Ed. H93 Unguentum cantharidis, U.S. H92 Unguentum cera? alba? 1204 Unguentum cera? flava? 1204 Unguentum cetacei, Dub. 8S8 Unguentum cetacei,Lond. 1193 Unguentum citrinum 1199 Unguentum cocculi 1194 Unguentum conii 1194 Unguentum creasoti 1194 Unguentum cupri subace- tatis 1194 Unguentum elemi 1194 Unguentum gallae 1195 1378 Index. Unguentum galla? compo- situm 1195 Unguentum hydrargyri 1195 Unguentum hydrargyri ammoniati 1198 Unguentum hydrargyri biniodidi 1198 Unguentum hydrargyri fortius 1195 Unguentum hydrargyri iodidi 1198 Unguentum hydrargyri mitius 1195 Unguentum hydrargyri nitratis 1199 Unguentum hydrargyri nitrico-oxydi 1201 Unguentum hydrargyri oxidi rubri 1201 Unguentum hydrargyri oxydi nitrici 1201 Unguentum infusi cantha- ridis 1192 Unguentum iodini 1201 Unguentum iodini com- positum 1202 Unguentum mezerei 1202 Unguentum oxidi hydrar- gyri 1201 Unguentum picis liquida? 1202 Unguentum picis nigra? 1203 Unguentum piperis nigri 1203 Unguentum plumbi ace- tatis 1203 Unguentum plumbi car- bonatis 1203 Unguentum plumbi com- positum 1203 Unguentum plumbi iodidi 1203 Uuguentum populeum 1298 Unguentum potassa? hy- driodatis 1203 Unguentum precipitati albi 1198 Unguentum resina? alba? 889 Unguentum resinosum 889 Unguentum sabinae 890 Unguentum sambuci 1204 Unguentum scrophularia? 1204 Unguentum simplex 1204 Unguentum stramonii 1204 Unguentum sulphuris 1205 Unguentum sulphuris compositum 1205 Unguentum tabaci 1205 Unguentum tartari eme- tici 1192 Unguentum tutiae 1206 Unguentum veratri albi 1206 Unguentum zinci 1206 Unguentum zinci oxidi 1206 Unrectified sulphuric ether 805 Upland sumach 598 Urtica dioica 1311 Urtica urens 1311 Ustulation 764 Uva passa 727 Uva ursi 729 Uva? passa? minores 728 V Vaccinium vitis Idasa 729 Valerate of zinc 1311 Valerian 730 Valeriana 730 Valeriana Celtica 1286 Valeriana dioica 732 Valeriana jatamensi 1286 Valeriana officinalis 730 Valeriana phu 732 Valeriana tuberosa 1286 Valerianate of iron 1311 Valerianate of quinia 239 Valerianate of zinc 1311 Valerianic acid 731 Valet's ferruginous pills 1065 Vanilla 1312 Vanilla aromatica 1312 Vapour bath 115 Vareck 672 Various-leaved fleabane 317 Varvicite 445 Vateria Indica 1228, 1253 Vegetable acids 779 Vegetable albumen 723 Vegetable charcoal 173 Vegetable ethiops 125S Vegetable fibrin 723 Vegetable jelly 179 Vegetable juices, pre- served 1159 Vegetable sulphur 1281 Vegetable wax 200 Vegeto-mineral water 1074 Venetian red 1312 Venice sumach 1259 Venice turpentine 708, 712 Veratria 610, 1206 Veratric acid 609 Veratrin 609 Veratrum album 732 Veratrum officinale 609 Veratrum sabadilla 609 Veratrum viride 734 Verbascum thapsus 735 Verbena hastata 1312 Verbena officinalis 1312 Verbena urticifolia 1312 Verdigris 290 Verdigris, distilled 291 Verditer 1312 Verjuice 728 Vermilion 1003 Veronica beccabunga 1313 Veronica officinalis 1313 Veronica Virginica 1279 Vervain 1312 Vesicating ammoniacal ointment 84 Vesicating taffetas 887 Vesicatories 2 Vienna caustic 1082 Vina medicata 1209 Vincetoxicum 1255 Vinegar 13 Vinegar, distilled 773 Vinegar generator 14 Vinegar of colchicum 775 Vinegar of opium 776 Vinegar of Spanish flies 775 Vinegar of squill 777 Vinegar, radical 783 Vinegars 773 Vinous fermentation 58 Vinum 736 Vinum allium Hispanum 736 Vinum aloes 1209 Vinum antimonii 847 Vinum colchici radicis 1210 Vinum colchici seminis 1210 Vinum ergota? 1211 Vinum ferri 958 Vinum gentianae 1211 Vinum ipecacuanha? 1211 Vinum opii 1211 Vinum rhei 1212 Vinum tabaci 1212 Vinum veratri albi 1212 Vinum Xericum 736 Viola 742 Viola odorata 742 Viola ovata 742 Viola pedata 743 Viola tricolor '743 Violet 742 Violine 743 Virgin scammony 642, 643 Virgineic acid 650 Virginia snakeroot 657 Virgin's bower, common 1247 Virgin's bower, sweet- scented 1247 Virgin's bower, upright 1247 Viscin 1235 Viscum album 1313 Vitellus ovi 529 Vitis vinifera 727 Vitriol, blue 291 Vitriol, green 971 Vitriol, white 1218 Vitriolated soda 675 Vitriolated tartar 571 Vitrum antimonii 1261 Viverra civetta 1247 Viverra zibetha 1247 Volatile alkali 80 Volatile alkali, mild 825 Volatile liniment 1019 Volatile oils 482, 1046 w Wade's balsam 1163 Wahoo 1257 Wake-robin 123 Wall pellitory 1294 Walnut, white 410 Warm bath 115 Warming plaster 917 Warner's gout cordial 1184 Index. 1379 Washed diaphoretic an- timony Washed sulphur Water Water avens Water, distilled Water dock Water eryngo Water germander Water hemlock Water of ammonia Water of ammonia, table of the strength of 830 Water of carbonate of ammonia Water of carbonate of soda Water of cassia Water of sulphuret of potassa Water plantain Water-bath Watercress Water-dropwort, hem- lock Water-lily, sweet- scented Water-lily, white Watermelon Watermelon seeds Wat'er-parsnep Water-pepper Water-radish Waters, distilled Waters, medicated Wax, myrtle Wax plaster Wax, vegetable Wax, white Wax, yellow Waxed cloth Weights and measures Weights and measures, tables of Weld Well water Wheat flour Wheat starch White arsenic White bay White bryony White Castile soap White elm White flux White fraxinella White hellebore White horehound White ipecacuanha White lead White lily White marble White mustard seeds White oxide of bismuth White pepper White poppy White precipitate White resin White sugar 616, 618 White sulphur water 113 White swallow-wort 1255 1256 694, 696 109 351 855 605 318 1309 1245 828 827 1122 861 1107 1225 759 1287 1288 1287 1287 1254 1254 1303 55S 1287 S56 856 200 914 200 199 198 887 753 1323 1299 111 722 96 17 443 1236 632 727 562 1256 732 452 402 551 1280 452 664 875 540 506 1004 586 White tastar White turpentine White vitriol White walnut White water lily White wax White wine vinegar White wines White-oak bark Whiting Id briar Id carrot Id chamomile Id cucumber Id ginger Id horehound Id indigo Id ipecac Id lemon Id lettuce Id pink Id potato Id sarsaparilla Id senna Id thyme ld-cherry bark How llow-herb, purple ndsor soap ne, antimonial ne, Madeira ne measure ne of aloes ne of colchicum root ne of colchicum seed ne of ergot ne of gentian ne of ipecacuanha ne of iron ne of opium ne of rhubarb ne of tobacco ne of white hellebore ne, Port ne, Sherry ne, Teneriffe ne vinegar ne-whey nes, acidulous nes, astringent nes, domestic nes, dry nes, light nes, medicated nes of different coun- tries Wines, red Wines, rough Wines, sparkling Wines, spirituous Wines, sweet Wines, table of the strength of Wines, whUe Winter cherry,common Winter savory Wintera Wintera aromatica Winter-berry 560 711 1218 410 1287 199 15 736 581 1313 599 178 279 307 125 319 1232 721 557 420 1303 269 116 188 1310 576 622 437 631 736 847 738 1323 1209 1210 1210 1211 1211 1211 958 1211 1212 1212 1212 738 738 738 15 741 737 737 740 737 737 1209 737 736 737 737 737 737 739 736 1296 1302 744 744 574 Winter-green 207, 346 Winter-green, spotted 207 Winter's bark , 744 Wistar'scoucrh lozenges 11.90 Witch-hazef 1265 Witherite 136 Woad 1276 Wolfsbane 53 Wood betony 1234 Wood-naphtha 1299 Wood vinegar 42 Wood-sorrel 12 Woody nightshade 305 Woorari 1313 Worm tea 682 Wormseed 205 Wormseed of Europe 122 Wormwood 4 Woulfe's apparatus 760 Wrightia tinctoria 1272 X Xanthorrhiza 745 Xanthorrhiza apiifolia 745 Xanthorrhiza tinctoria 745 Xanthoxylin 746 Xanthoxylum 745 Xanthoxylum fraxineum 745 Xylobalsamum 1231 Yarrow 1222 Yeast 201 Yeast cataplasm 884 Yellow bark 225 Yellow ladies bed-straw 1259 Yellow pine 709 Yellow resin 585 Yellow sulphate of mer- cury 1000 Yellow wax 198 Yellow-flowered rhodo- dendron 1299 Yellow-root 745, 1268 Yellow-rooted water dock 606 Zamia integrifolia 450 Zamia lanuginosa 620 Zea mays 1313 Zedoary 1313 Zein 1313 Zerumbet 1314 Zibethum 1247 Zinc 746 Zinc, acetate of 1213 Zinc, carbonate of 748 Zinc, chloride of 1215 Zinc, cyanuret of 1255 Zinc, flowers of 121S 1380 Index. Zinc, impure oxide of 1311 Zinc, iodide of 1274 Zinc, oxide of 1217 Zinc, preparations of 1213 Zinc, prepared carbonate of 1214 Zinc, silicate of 748 Zinc, sulphate of 1218 Zinc, table of the prepa- rations of • 747 Zinci acetas 1213 Zinci acetatis tinctura 1214 Zinci carbonas 748 Zinci carbonas impurum 748 Zinci carbonas impurum praeparatum 1214 Zinci carbonas prapara- tus 1214 Zinci chloridum 1215 Zinci cyanuretum 1255 Zinci ferrocyanuretum 1258 Zinci iodidum 1274 Zinci oxidum 1217 Zinci sulphas 1218 Zinci valerianas 1311 Zincum 746 Zingiber 749 Zingiber cassumuniar 1314 Zingiber officinale 749 Zingiber zerumbet 1314 Zittmann's decoction 908 Zizyphus jujuba 1314 Zizyphus lotus 1314 Zizyphus vulgaris 1314 THE END. OV 2 o 1959 NLM020947874